NUMBER ONE FAN: SALLY LINDSAY AND JILL HALFPENNY TO STAR IN NEW CHANNEL 5 DAYTIME TV FOCUSED THRILLER

Number One Fan (4x60’), from Clapperboard; a suspenseful thriller set in the world of daytime TV. The series focuses on Morning show presenter Lucy, who is saved from an attack by a strange woman named Donna who claims to be her “number one fan”.

Lucy’s gratitude quickly sours when Donna’s fandom turns into a darker obsession infiltrating Lucy’s career, family and friends. However to her horror Lucy comes to realise that Donna has a link to a hidden secret in her past which threatens to derail the career she has so carefully curated.

The series will star Channel 5 favourites Sally Lindsay and Jill Halfpenny in the lead roles with more casting due to be announced in due course. The series was greenlit by Deputy Chief Content Officer and Head of Scripted, Paramount UK, Sebastian Cardwell.

Channel 5 have teased that it's set to reboot a "huge" drama title. 5's Head Of Drama Sebastian Cardwell told Televisual: "We’ve got an IP play we’re close to rebooting, a very big show. That would be amazing. Hopefully we will have news of that early next year."

Cardwell added: "We’re shifting a little bit into comedy drama space. We will probably invest in bigger, richer character-driven precinct shows. Shows that viewers of Hardacres and All Creatures might move across to."

Meanwhile, Channel 5 have ordered a second run of drama anthology strand Play For Today following its relaunch earlier this year. The second run, due to air next year, will consist of six new stories. The recommission was revealed by Broadcast.

Inspired by the iconic Play for Today format, each production will champion new voices and focus on bringing low-income talent into the spotlight behind the scenes in writing, directing and production roles. 

Paul Testar, Commissioning Editor for 5, said: "The response to the first series of Play for Today was extraordinary, not only from audiences but from talent across the industry. This strand is about opening doors to new off-screen talent, taking creative risks, and giving new voices the space to thrive. We’re incredibly proud to expand the strand and discover the next wave of brilliant storytellers."

The second series will include: Wild - set in the Scottish highlands which follows three friends on their annual camping trip; The Quiet Hour - a story set in an NHS hospital during a nightshift; Village Idiot - a comedy about an older woman who resists eviction from her home by train developers.

Also: Closing Time - a story about an undocumented migrant working in his uncle's kebab shop; Tatters - a story about a woman forced between family and her political beliefs, and The Castle - a story about siblings who are left by themselves after their mother vanishes.

More details will be announced in due course.