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³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two reaches for the stars with an ambitious new season

A wide range of ambitious factual programmes, distinctive series and single dramas, and innovative new comedy offers stimulating, entertaining and rewarding television across all genres on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two this autumn and winter 2010/11.

Highlights include:

Says Janice Hadlow, Controller of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two: "This new season reflects ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two at its most ambitious and distinctive, bearing the early fruits of the extra investment in drama and offering viewers some fantastic new mainstream comedies alongside the greatest range of factual programming on TV.

"This autumn and winter, viewers can enjoy some big moments created around issues that matter, from schooling to live stargazing events; a focus on history in the autumn and then on literature in the winter; and programmes that reflect the contemporary world with moving human stories, like Neil Morrissey on childcare. We've also got lots of exciting new factual formats, including Michel Roux’s Service, Giles And Sue Live The Good Life and James May's Man Lab. Plus, I’m delighted to say that we have a fantastic range of inspiring, authoritative and entertaining talent on the channel in the worlds of fact and fiction."

The greatest range of factual programmes

As millions of children return to school after the summer break, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two launches a timely School Season, focusing on our schools, the tough choices parents have to make and whether we could all do better. In Gareth Malone's Extraordinary School For Boys, Gareth becomes a primary school teacher for a term with the mission to re-engage boys who don't like school and who lag behind their female peers. Documentaries in this season include: an exclusive look inside a boarding school through the eyes of three of Britain’s Youngest Boarders; John Humphrys examining why the education system is failing so many children, in Mind The Gap; education expert Dylan Wiliam setting up an experimental secondary school class to test some of the most innovative ideas for education in The Classroom Experiment; and Catchment, following a year-in-the-life of children, parents, schools and the Birmingham Education Authority as they go through the fraught application process for secondary schools. There's also a drama, Excluded, telling the moving story of a newly-qualified teacher and his relationship with a difficult boy, and the television premieres of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Films' Notes On A Scandal, starring Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, as well as Alan Bennett's critically acclaimed The History Boys.

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two's Troubled Families Season explores the subject of caring for children and families who have been through tough times. Actor Neil Morrissey was just 10-years-old when he was sent into care, separated from his brother Stephen who was sent to another children’s home. In Neil Morrissey – Care Home Kid, he hopes to discover why he was taken away from his family and to understand the impact that living in care had on him and his friends. Other documentaries include Families In Care, which follows the families who turn up at Save The Family's purpose built village near Chester, in a last ditch attempt to turn their lives around and prevent the family from being split up.

Literature is a big theme for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Four in the new year. On ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two there will be a major series with best-selling novelist Sebastian Faulks. Faulks On Fiction looks at the history of the novel through its characters – the hero, the lover, the snob and the villain. There's a Culture Show Special – The Books We Really Read, in which Sue Perkins seeks to discover the essential ingredients of a bestseller, and the channel will be premiering two ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Films, The Edge Of Love, a portrait of Dylan Thomas and the women in his life and Brideshead Revisited based on Evelyn Waugh's novel.

If the beginning of the year was about science on the channel, now the focus moves on to history with a wealth of programmes and new faces.

In a new series, Behind Closed Doors, historian Amanda Vickery goes behind the stately exterior of the Georgian house to reveal the secret emotional life of the home in stories of love and marriage, husbands and wives, furniture and wallpaper. In Pompeii, Cambridge Professor of Classics Mary Beard presents a fascinating insight into the people who lived in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius before its cataclysmic eruption in 79AD. Archaeologist and historian Richard Miles takes a six-part odyssey through Ancient Worlds to tell the story of civilisation – in all its complexities –which shaped the western world.

There are also some familiar faces tackling new subjects. In The Do-Gooders, Ian Hislop looks at some of the great social reformers of the Victorian world and asks what people in the 21st century can learn from their achievement. Neil Oliver embarks on an epic quest through the earliest years of the history of these islands to tell the story of how Britain and its people came to be. In this returning series, The History Of Ancient Britain – Part I examines the period of the Ice Age through to the Bronze Age.

Also on a big scale, in September the channel joins a pan-³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, with programmes including First Light, a drama-documentary based on Geoffrey Wellum's best-selling book, which tells the extraordinary story of his experience as a 19-year-old pilot, one of the youngest to participate in the battle.

In The Bible's Buried Secrets, Hebrew scholar Francesca Stavrakopoulou looks at what recent archaeological discoveries mean for the Bible and how they are forcing a re-assessment of the understanding of the legacy of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Plus, following the hugely successful Victorian Farm, archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn, and domestic historian Ruth Goodman return to ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two to experience life on an Edwardian Farm.

Science still has a prominent presence on the channel, with the return of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two's popular professor, Brian Cox. He presents an epic new series about the Wonders Of The Universe, which sees him visit some of the most dramatic parts of the globe to explain the fundamental principles that govern the laws of nature. And he presents a TV first during one of the most exciting weeks of the astronomical calendar, exploring the skies live on air for a special Stargazing event, encouraging the audience to set off on their own journey of discovery.

This sense of adventure and curiosity can be seen throughout the schedule. Space Dive follows one man's record breaking attempt to break the sound barrier in free-fall. Bruce Parry returns with a new series set in the spectacular wilderness of the Arctic to explore the dramatic changes its people are experiencing in Arctic With Bruce Parry. Professor Iain Stewart tells the story of how Scotland's landscape has revealed to the world how our planet works, in Men Of Rock. David Attenborough presents First Life, going back in time to the very roots of the tree of life, in search of the very first animals. He also narrates a magnificent insight into the extraordinary wildlife and the dramatic landscapes of Madagascar.

Meanwhile, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two's observational documentary series Wonderland returns with more films seeking out people and places that offer a glimpse of a modern Britain, including a film about Britain's leading all-boys cheerleading team from a south Leeds estate, as they prepare for the National Championships where they hope to be the first boys' team to lift the trophy.

Along with the focus on literature, the channel will continue to celebrate the arts through its regular strands and major series. Marking Hollywood's 100th anniversary, Paul Merton travels to America to explore how the language of cinema was laid down in the age of silent film in Paul Merton's Birth Of Hollywood. Music highlights include: The Goldie Project, which sees jungle and drum n bass star Goldie explore the transformative power of music in young people's lives; the Radio 2 Electric Proms, dedicated to creating new moments in music; and the focus on opera also continues with Verdi - The Director's Cut, tracing the production of Aida on the floating stage at Bregenz and the Birmingham Opera Company’s Othello.

New current affairs series include: Andrew Marr exploring John F Kennedy's time in office as the 50th anniversary of his election approaches, in JFK – The Making Of Modern Politics; the true story of Iraq since the invasion is told from an insiders' perspective in Secret Iraq, visiting some of the most troubled spots in Iraq and gathering memories and eyewitness testimonies of key Iraqi insurgents, as well as filming with soldiers, spies and politicians from both sides of the Atlantic; Kirsty Young follows up her successful series on the British family with an exploration of another major strand of British life in The British At Work; and the return of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two's international current affairs strand, This World, including the inside story of the kidnapping and incarceration of Ingrid Betancourt.

Finally, spanning the whole spectrum of factual, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two introduces some new factual formats reflecting contemporary life in an entertaining and stimulating way. We discover that there’s more to Michel Roux than good food as he takes on a personal mission to train eight novice young people to become front-of-house waiters and sommeliers, believing that good service is the key to a good meal in Michel Roux's Service. Thirty-five years after The Good Life, Sue Perkins and Giles Coren step back in time to 1975 to try their hand at becoming self-sufficient, hoping to live the good life. Jimmy Doherty presents A Farmer's Life For Me, in which nine couples who dream of living off the land find out exactly what it takes to run a successful farm with one of them potentially winning their own small holding for a year. Qualified chef, baker, patissier and former model, Lorraine Pascale, joins ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two’s roster of expert chefs to pass her tips on for Baking Made Easy. Alan Titchmarsh takes a personal journey through the gardens that he passionately believes have most influenced our gardening heritage in Alan’s Garden Secrets and joins HRH the Prince of Wales for the first ever in-depth exploration of the vision, spirit and passion embedded in Highgrove, in Alan At Highgrove.

Distinctive Drama

There is a new emphasis on drama this season, reflecting extra investment and the aims of the Strategic Review.

Matt Smith (Doctor Who) takes on a very different role to play young writer Christopher Isherwood, as he sets out on a process of self-discovery in the politically unstable world of Thirties Berlin with its thriving gay subculture, in a one-off drama written by acclaimed playwright Kevin Elyot, Christopher And His Kind.

Other single plays this Autumn/Winter include When Harvey Met Bob, telling the story of Bob Geldof and Harvey Goldsmith's roller-coaster ride to put on the Live Aid event in October 1984. Often hilarious and ultimately deeply moving, the drama stars Domhnall Gleeson as Geldof and Ian Hart as Goldsmith. The Song Of Lunch is a dramatisation of award-wining poet Christopher Reid’s witty and poignant poem about a couple's ill-fated reunion in a Soho restaurant, starring Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson and transmitting around National Poetry Day. Morecambe And Wise is about the earliest days of one of the best comedy double acts of all time, starring Victoria Wood as Morecambe's mother Sadie and written by Peter Bowker (Desperate Romantics, Occupation). ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two also hosts the UK premiere of The Special Relationship, Peter Morgan's third film to examine the history of Tony Blair, starring Dennis Quaid and Hope Davis as the Clintons and Michael Sheen and Helen McCrory as the Blairs.

The Crimson Petal And The White is a bold and original serial for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two, adapted from Michel Faber's international best-selling novel. It tells the story of a young prostitute and prominent businessman who embark on a dangerous relationship, set against the true underbelly of Victorian underground life.

Laconia is a two-part drama telling the true story of heroism shown by ordinary people in the face of extraordinary adversity, marking a return to the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ for acclaimed writer Alan Bleasdale. The story centres around the Second World War armed British vessel RMS Laconia, which was torpedoed and sunk before the German U-boat commander had a change of heart and came back to rescue survivors.

Clever Comedy and Entertainment

There's lots of new mainstream comedy on the channel this autumn and winter. Stephen K Amos launches his first show, blending stand-up, audience participation, sketches and comedy characters – The Stephen K Amos Show.

In a brand new comedy, Whites, Alan Davies stars as Roland White, a fantastic chef who is a little past his sell-by-date. Matt LeBlanc plays a larger-than-life version of himself in Episodes, a comedy set in London and Los Angeles about a happily married English couple (Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig) whose hit TV show is remade by an American TV network. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon take an improvised tour of the north of England to review restaurants, in The Trip. The story is fictional but based around their real personas. Also, Rob Brydon hosts his own show on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two, with stand up comedy and a guest comedian each week in The Rob Brydon Show.

Plus, the talented and award-winning Miranda is back for a second series and Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse bring their award-winning sketch show, Harry And Paul, to the channel.

Award-winning comedy thriller Psychoville also returns for an hour-long gothic special to mark the scariest night of the year, written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. Filled with tales to chill the bones, the Halloween Special weaves a cliff-hanging story of intrigue, mystery and weirdoes and will be followed by a second series in spring 2011.

James May's Man Lab is an innovative new entertainment format that sets James May on a mission to restore the meaning of modern manhood. Along with a team of today's similarly confused modern men, he embarks on a course of tests and surprises designed to give back to men the confidence and expertise their forefathers once possessed. They'll learn, for example, how to woo a lady or how to defuse a bomb.

Finally, in How TV Ruined Your Life, Charlie Brooker explores a different universal theme each week to try to explain where it all went wrong and just how wildly the TV and movie ideal differs from life's grim reality.