German broadcasters pick up “Junior Doctors,” “Food Factory”

July 6, 2012 by Kevin Ritchie

Junior Doctors

Three German broadcasters have ordered local versions of BBC formats from Cologne-based production company Tower Productions, a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and All3Media Germany.

ZDFneo commissioned 10 episodes of the BBC3 format Junior Doctors: Your Life in Their Hands (pictured) to air under the title Junior Docs in autumn 2013, while WDR ordered six episodes of the BBC1 format The Food Factory (Freitag tischt auf!) to air weekly beginning in mid-October.

Tower also wrapped production on the Love Production format Generation Gap for ARD and SWR. The two-part series, which originally aired on BBC2 as When Teenage Meets Old Age, follows three young people as they volunteer for the elderly, and will be called Jung trifft. It premieres in late July on ARD and will re-air on regional broadcaster SWR in October as a three-parter.

“These are three strong formats that speak to, educate and touch people. This is human interest television at its best, dealing with current issues and experiences in our communities,” said Stefan Oelze, Tower’s MD, in a statement. “UK viewers really responded to the unique stories being told in these series and I know German audiences will be equally enthralled.”

Tags: ARD, BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, Generation Gap, Germany, Junior Doctors: Your Life in Their Hands, Stefan Oelze, SWR, The Food Factory, Tower Productions, WDR, ZDFneo