To mark the end of a successful 20^th anniversary year for its channels business in Africa, BBC Studios revealed a full stellar summer season of programming across BBC Lifestyle, BBC Earth, BBC First, BBC Brit and CBeebies.

South Africans can look forward to another local commission with a season 2 of Dinner Dates South Africa in partnership with SABC3. This will be BBC Studios third local commission in 2019 following season five of the ratings hit Come Dine With Me South Africa, which premiered on BBC Brit, channel 120 in 2019.

To compliment this local line-up BBC has also planned a vast array of world class shows over the next six months, featuring stars such as Tom Hardy, RuPaul, Reggie Yates, Helen McCrory, Oti Mabuse and Jamie Oliver to name a few.

Highlights include:

BBC Lifestyle:  Dinner Date SA, Season 2

Coming in 2020

Following the success of season one of Dinner Date South Africa, the popular dating competition series which puts love on the menu, it will be returning to screens in 2020 with a brand new line up of daters, willing to host a blind date in their homes in their quest to find a partner. Dinner Date follows one person who is given the chance to find true love over three meals, each cooked by a blind date in their own home. In each episode a participant will choose three menus from five put together by prospective partners. They then go on three dates with the “chefs”, who cook them a meal in their own homes. After the three dates, all the chefs prepare for a night out at a swanky restaurant, but the participant can only choose one to go with – leaving the other two with a night in alone and a takeaway.

BBC BRIT:  The Greatest Dancer

Coming early 2020.

Following what is sure to be another sensational series of unforgettable routines, spectacular showstoppers and magical moments on Strictly Come Dancing – viewers need not fear missing out as brand new talent show The Greatest Dancer arrives on BBC BRIT in the New Year. The brand new series will contain dramatic auditions, outstanding talent and jaw-dropping surprises as dancers give the performance of their lives. The brand-new dance competition will see dancers of any age and dance style compete to win £50,000 and a chance to perform on Strictly Come Dancing. South African ballroom star Oti Mabuse joins the judging panel as a ‘dance captain’ alongside multi-platinum-selling singer Cheryl and Broadway and Glee star Matthew Morrison.

BBC BRIT:  RuPauls Drag Race UK

Coming in 2020

A global, award-winning phenomenon, Ru Pauls Drag Race UK comes to BBC BRIT as viewers witness the search for the best and brightest drag queens the UK has to offer. Through a series of challenges that will test the queens’ comedy, modelling, and acting skills, host RuPaul will crown the UK’s Next Drag Superstar

BBC Earth: Seven Worlds, One Planet

Coming Early 2020.

Millions of years ago incredible forces ripped apart the Earth’s crust creating seven extraordinary continents. Seven Worlds, One Planet presented by Sir David Attenborough, will reveal how each distinct continent has shaped the unique animal life found there. This series will feature remarkable, new animal behavior from all the continents including the baking plains of Africa and the frozen waters off Antarctica. In Asia, the biggest of all continents, we will showcase life at the extremes, whilst in Europe we will reveal surprising wildlife dramas hidden right alongside us.

Visit https://www.bbcsouthafrica.com/ for more info, as well as the full schedule.

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BBC Studios in Africa has announced, at its bi-annual Upfront event held in Johannesburg, its stellar winter season of programming across BBC Lifestyle, BBC Earth, BBC First, BBC Brit and CBeebies. Exclusive to DStv, viewers in South Africa, can look forward to a vast array of world class shows over the next six months, featuring stars such as Richard Gere, Reggie Yates, Keeley Hawes, Oti Mabuse and John Boyega to name a few.

To revel in the excitement of what’s to come and launch her upcoming travel cooking series, Nadiya’s Asian Odyssey, TV Chef Nadiya Hussain attended the event and gave guests an exclusive cooking demonstration to learn how to make her delicious carrot cake pakoras. Nadiya, since winning The Great British Bake Off back in 2015 has seen her career take off and is now a regular face on BBC Lifestyle.

Season 5 of the SAFTA winning Come Dine With Me South Africa, currently airing on BBC Brit on Mondays at 8pm, has smashed ratings records and has pulled in the highest ratings for a single episode to date, across all of the channel portfolio (excluding the live broadcast of the Royal Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex).

Here are the Highlights of BBC Studios, per channel:

BBC BRIT – DStv channel 120

Top Gear

Coming in August, the world’s biggest motoring show is returning to BBC BRIT. Get ready for a fresh take on the most exciting cars on the planet, as a new line-up of Top Gear presenters prepares for tyre-shredding duty. Comedy actor Paddy McGuinness and cricketing legend Freddie Flintoff join racing driver Chris Harris on a humble mission: to take the world’s biggest motoring entertainment show to the next level. Details remain top secret, but expect the greatest cars, the biggest adventures, and top celebrity guests.

Reggie Yates’ Extreme China

Following his hugely popular documentary series investigating some of the challenges and issues faced in South Africa, documentary maker Reggie Yates is back, but this time he turns his focus to China. Reggie immerses himself and explores the China of today, as seen through the eyes of the millennial generation. He meets a range of characters who are re-defining their generation, from the new wave of self-made super rich kids to the young people who feel left behind. From the traditionalists to the dreamers, the self-taught innovators and the activists pushing for change, Reggie explores how this young generation is transforming China – and the world.

BBC LIFESTYLE – DStv channel 174

Flirty Dancing

Dating can be a challenge at the best of times. This June, BBC Lifestyle brings South African audiences this brand new dating show. Presented by self-confessed romantic and choreographer Ashley Banjo of Britain’s Got Talent fame, this charming series brings back some much needed old fashioned romance to 21st century dating.

Ashely plays cupid to hopeful singles wanting to switch up their dating life, so trust in Ashley and his skills to find them their special someone through the art of dance. Cameras will follow each couple’s journey, throughout rehearsals, up to the day of the dance to see if sparks will fly on the dance floor and if they decide to see each other again. Will it be love at first dance?

First Dates South Africa

To celebrate the global hit, multi-award-winning dating format, First Dates, BBC Lifestyle, the home to the very best in dating and romance shows, will be producing a home-grown local version. First Dates South Africa will invite viewers to an intimate experience of the world of first dates.

From initial nerves to flirty smiles and sparks of passion, discreetly placed cameras capture every moment of the action as it unfolds. Promising to be packed with a diverse cast of some of South Africa’s most authentic characters all looking for love, each episode plays out like the funniest of romantic comedies.

BBC FIRST – DStv channel 119

Mother Father Son

This TV-Series is a thrilling drama series starring Richard Gere in his first major television role for 30 years and is written by bestselling author and Emmy-nominated writer Tom Rob Smith, who also was behind the pen of The Assassination of Gianni Versace.

Max, Gere’s character, owns one of the world’s most influential media empires. Information is his trade. He holds dark secrets on everyone, and uses his power ruthlessly. His son Caden, played by Billy Howle, is editor of Max’s mouthpiece in the UK, The National newspaper. But Caden is crumbling under the pressure of his father’s expectation which causes a massive stroke, rendering him a helpless child.

For Kathryn, as played by Helen McCrory, Max’s estranged wife, this is a chance to reconnect with the sensitive boy Max ripped away from her. As Max and Kathryn fight for the soul of their son, another fight is about to begin, a fight for the heart of the nation….

Peaky Blinders

Peaky Blinders returns to BBC First for a fifth and final season. After season four ended with the Shelby clan face off against American mob boss Luca Changretta, the notorious Birmingham gang are back once again to face off anyone who tries to threaten their supreme reign and Tommy takes a big step up in the world of powerful figures, as he becomes a Member of Parliament. Returning cast include Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory and Paul Anderson.

BBC EARTH – DStv channel 184

The Planets

Welcome to the greatest story that’s never been told. In a new, ground breaking series Professor Brian Cox is back to tell the story of the planets as never before. This June, The Planets, using the latest planetary science research, will piece together the gripping history of our universe.

These are stories of beauty and creation, violence and destruction that reveal the solar system and our place within it to be far more dramatic then we could ever have imagined. This is drama on a planetary scale, with characters and plot twists newly revealed.

Serengeti

From the man behind hit music acts such as the Spice Girls, Kelly Clarkson and iconic formats Pop and American Idols, Simon Fuller, and the man behind some of BBC Earth’s most popular natural history shows such as Spy in the Wild, John Downer, comes a new venture for families to enjoy called Serengeti.

The landmark series offers a ground-breaking approach to natural history storytelling, allowing the animals to share the unpredictable narratives, intertwining relationships and emotional moments they face – all from their own perspective. Step inside the world of a real-life animal drama set right in the heart of Africa.

Schedules will be confirmed on the Electronic Programme Guide, on your DStv Explora, or visit https://www.bbcsouthafrica.com/tv-guide/

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The SAFTA award winning Come Dine With Me South Africa will return for a fifth season on BBC BRIT, DStv channel 120, from Monday 11^th March at 8pm with the celebrity special to kick things of, with a repeat on Saturdays at 7Pm.

Candice Modiselle, Christall Kay, Gert Johan Coetzee, and Lucky Du Plessis will all take each other on to be crowned best dinner party host and win ten thousand rand for their chosen charity in this celebrity special.

The new series is bigger than ever with a further 12 episodes showcasing the bold, the brave, the beautiful and sometime the most bolshie of South Africans from across Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth, so expect anything.

The series that gets everyone talking, will once again be produced by Rapid Blue and feature the hilarious and sometime savage commentary of voiceover legend Dave Lamb. The commission of a fifth series of Come Dine With Me South Africa is part of BBC Studios in Africa’s on-going commitment to providing high quality local productions for its audiences in South Africa alongside the very best in hit global shows.

Come Dine With Me, which is distributed internationally by ITV Studios Global Entertainment has been produced in over 40 countries including Germany, France and Australia, having established itself as one of the world’s most successful television format exports, with over 14,000 episodes in many languages across the globe.

Come Dine With Me South Africa was the first local commission from BBC Worldwide for its channels in the EMEA region, and debuted in South Africa in 2011. The first three series have been huge ratings hits and in 2013 the programme won a Best International Format Show Award at the 7th Annual South African Film and Television Awards 2013 (SAFTAs).

#ComeDineSA

Twitter: @BBCSouthAfrica

Instagram: @BBCStudiosza

Facebook: @BBCBritSA

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After record breaking runs in New York, London and Asia, The Illusionists direct from Broadway, will be in South Africa for the first time ever, opening at GrandWest on Wednesday, 07 February 2018 for a limited season ending on Sunday, 11 February 2018. The show then moves to Montecasino’s Teatro from Valentine’s Day, Wednesday, 14 February to Sunday, 11 March 2018.

“The Illusionists” has shattered box office records across the globe and continues to dazzle audiences of all ages with a powerful mix of the most outrageous and astonishing acts ever to be seen on stage. The show is packed with thrilling and sophisticated magic of unprecedented proportions. Witness stunning acts of grand illusion, levitation, mindreading, and disappearance in this mind-blowing spectacular that showcases the jaw dropping talents of eight of the most incredible Illusionists including award winning New York comedian, Harrison Greenbaum, The Trickster, who co-hosted and performed at the official Times Square New Year’s Eve World Wide Webcast in 2010 and 2011 live broadcast, to over 250 million viewers around the globe.

Infusing the old and new world of performance theatre in his magical illusion act, The Escapist, Krendl has performed over 1,200 shows in 12 years and was voted ‘best in show’ for the past 3 years at the international Magic Theatre. He has been featured on national television shows and performed on cruise ships and at resorts around the world.

Ben Blaque, The Weapon Master established himself as America’s foremost master of the crossbow after appearing 4 times on America’s Got Talent. His Danger Act made it to the quarterfinals and was then brought back by Howard Stern for the Wild Card Show. Ben performs incredibly dangerous acts using highly powerful crossbows to shoot various objects. His acts are as thrilling and action-packed as they are entertaining and are sure to leave you on the edge of your seat.

Combining a truly entrancing, poetic approach to card trickery with brilliant dexterity, Korean-born Den Den, The Manipulator’s ‘now you see it, now you don’t’ trickery keeps audiences utterly engrossed, mixing visually beautiful performance with mind bending magic. This master of manipulation was named Magician of the Year in 2014 by the Academy of Magical Arts and he received the highest accolade from the Society of American Magicians. His award-winning act has marked him as one of the best in the world of manipulation!

Chris Cox is The Mentalist, a self-proclaimed “mind reader who can’t read minds”. He is making a big name for himself at home in the United Kingdom and soon in South Africa as a funny, confident and charismatic performer; full of energy, warmth and charm. Chris delivers incredible mind-reading stunts with a silly and mischievous sense of fun that leaves audiences astounded, amazed and thoroughly entertained.

Kalin & Jinger are no strangers to South Africa, having previously performed at Sun City. Mark Kalin, The Showman is one of the most influential magicians of the last decade, bringing his amazing illusions to the stage and on television shows as well as his own experimental theatre in Reno, Nevada. As a young man Mark’s specialty was sleight-of-hand magic, but he later expanded his act, with Jinger Leigh, The Conjuress to include tigers, panthers and sensational, split-second marvels. They even presented the largest stage illusion of all time, vanishing an American Airlines jumbo jet at the Reno Hilton.

Working together as Kalin & Jinger, the duo has developed a reputation for their mix of innovative illusions and their distinctive, modern style. They were awarded Magicians of the Year from The Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle), the highest honor in magic, recognizing their unique achievements and charismatic performances. A modern sorceress in a very ancient art, Jinger Leigh’s unique blend of elegance and theatricality has redefined the role of the magician.

As a performance artist and modern interpreter of the art of illusion, Darcy Oakes, The Grand Illusionist transports audiences with his charm, his sleight of hand and logic-defying illusions. He has taken the rich heritage of the magic culture and put a fresh, young and modern twist on the profession. In 2014 Darcy made an appearance before 200 million viewers on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent. He impressed both the judges and the audience, catapulting this star much higher than even he had believed possible. In 2016, he made a guest appearance on America’s Got Talent proving once again that the impossible is possible.

Collectively these performers have been seen by millions of people around the world and this production showcases their incredible talents together on stage for the very first time. Audiences will witness stunning acts of grand illusion, levitation, mindreading, and disappearance…

CAPE TOWN SHOW INFORMATION

 DATES:

Wednesday, 07 February to Sunday, 11 February 2018

 VENUE:

GrandWest

SHOW TIMES:

No Monday performances

Weekdays: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays 20h00

Weekends: Saturdays 15h00, 20h00; Sundays 14h00, 18h00

 PRICES:

R250, R300, R400, R500 VAT inclusive

J OHANNESBURG SHOW INFORMATION

 VENUE:

Teatro at Montecasino

 DATES:

Wednesday, 14 February to Sunday, 11 March 2018

 SHOW TIMES:

No Monday performances

Weekdays: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays 20h00

Weekends: Saturdays 15h00, 20h00; Sundays 14h00, 18h00

 PRICES:

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays at 8pm and Sundays 6pm:  R200, R300, R400 inclusive

Fridays and Saturdays (matinee and evening) and Sunday matinees: R300, R400, R500 inclusive

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