WAR ROOM: CHANNEL 4 TO RECREATE UK's COBRA WAR ROOM FOR NEW FACTUAL REALITY SERIES

First announced by Deadline, Channel 4 have commissioned new factual reality series War Room (w/t), a new series from production company Expectation which will take a group of politicians, military and intelligence experts and put them into a simulated war room.

Image: COBRA/ Sky

The group will be in a purpose-built bunker, based on the UK's COBRA room (Cabinet Office Briefing Room A) which is used by politicians and senior leaders at times of national and international crisis and geopolitical turmoil. The show will combine documentary footage with dramatized events and will see the group forced to make key decisions under the pressure of the country's future is at stake.

Expectation's Colin Barr said: "It feels like every day brings fresh revelations about the threats facing Britain, both inside and out. Although our War Room will be a simulation, it will be driven by uncomfortable truths and shocking facts, creating edge-of-the-seat drama as we ask is Britain really ready for a modern war?"

Meanwhile, earlier this year Channel 4 announced new social experiment Incognito (w/t), fronted by Derren Brown. We all make snap judgements about people, built on years of social conditioning and personal prejudice.  But what happens when those prejudices are put to the test in the most unexpected circumstances? 

Ten strangers with wildly different backgrounds move into a mysterious institution for seven days. They all have one thing in common: an identity which leads people to make instant judgements about them.  There might be a Soldier, a Spy, a Priest or a Porn Star.  Each of the strangers think they have one aim: to learn the identity of the other players whilst keeping their own hidden.   

But Derren has other ideas; this isn’t really a gripping game of Guess Who, it’s a mischievous psychological experiment designed to explore how our identities shape who we are, how we act, and how our prejudices can sometimes blind us from the obvious.

Every game, every conversation and every elimination, will challenge the players’ preconceptions, making them re-evaluate the alliances they’ve made and the strategies they’ve adopted.  As the twists keep coming, players (and viewers) will begin to question their own long-held prejudices, and, perhaps, begin to feel empathy towards people they would normally dismiss in real-life. 

In an increasingly divided and polarised society, can Derren change the players’ long-standing views and help them discover a new empathy for their fellow contestants?  Or will the old prejudices remain once the masks are off? 

Derren Brown said, “This has been a fascinating new venture. With my previous shows I’ve normally had a clear idea of how things will conclude, this was very different. It’s a show about how we form opinions, live by our labels, judge others by them. And what happens when all that’s removed. It was a beautiful and extraordinary thing to make.” 

Channel 4’s Head of Live Events, Tom Beck said, “Any Derren Brown show is an event, but Incognito is unlike anything he has done before.  A social experiment disguised as a reality show, it’s ambitious, mischievous, challenging and, with its central question about how our personal prejudices affect the way we judge others, it couldn’t be more timely. The end results are fascinating, moving and wildly entertaining and I can’t wait for people to see it.”

More details on both titles will be announced in due course.