Channel 4 plans new nursing drama

Nurses are to get the same treatment as teachers in a new series commissioned as part of a bid by Channel 4 to strengthen its drama output, it was announced today.

A series about a group of four young women nurses from Leeds – billed as nursing’s equivalent of the Channel 4 series Teachers – will be scheduled next year.

The programme will be part of a beefed up drama output by the channel including a new series called Second Generation, chronicling the experiences of two Asian immigrant families in London, and Buried, a new drama about inmates and staff of a men’s prison to be shown from January.

The Channel 4 drama schedule for next year also includes a third series of Teachers and a new three-part drama called 40 starring Eddie Izzard, Joanne Whalley, Hugo Speer and Kerry Fox.

The forthcoming dramas were unveiled as Channel 4 revealed a £430m (€680m) programme budget for next year, the highest in the channel’s 20-year history.

Mark Thompson, Channel 4 chief executive, said the increased investment had been made possible by a cost cutting programme announced in August.

The budget represents a 4% increase on Channel 4’s forecast programme spend this year.

Speaking at the launch of the Channel’s winter season, Mr Thompson said he planned to have “every penny” they could spent on screen and as little as possible spent on overheads.

Radical plans for cutting costs would be announced later this week, he added.

He said: “One of the practical consequences of what we are going to do later this week is we are going to be able to put more money on the screen.”