Evans unveils Channel 4 comeback
Chris Evans is to return to Channel 4 after two years away to create two ‘‘unique’’ shows, he revealed today.
The former television presenter and radio DJ is to produce two series for the channel, including a prime-time entertainment show already being tipped to take the slot once filled by TFI Friday and Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush.
Evans, 35, recently revealed he was to produce an afternoon show for Channel 5, presented by BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles, after a year away from British screens.
He has spent much of the past year abroad with his wife, pop star Billie Piper, after he left Virgin Radio’s early morning show abruptly last July after a series of highly publicised drinking binges and rows with the station.
But he now has the two-series deal with Channel 4, the afternoon show with Channel 5 and is reportedly in discussions with Channel 5 about producing a weekday morning show presented by Terry Wogan and Gaby Roslin.
Channel 4 said it was ‘‘delighted’’ that Evans was coming back, more than two years after he presented the final edition of TFI Friday.
He will produce a weekly prime-time entertainment show, Boys and Girls, which the channel said would be a ‘‘big-scale’’ live, hour-long studio-based series - the same format as TFI and Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush.
But a spokeswoman said Evans would not be recreating either of those programmes, saying: ‘‘It’s bound to be something completely different yet again because that’s the way he works.
‘‘What we are all aiming for is something that has the same degree of reinvention that those programmes had.’’
No presenters have yet been lined up for the 13-week series, which will be aimed at a 16 to 34-year-old audience.
It will hit British screens early next year, as will Evans’s other project for Channel 4, another entertainment show which was being kept under covers by the broadcaster.
Evans said: ‘‘I’m thrilled that Channel 4 has shown the level of commitment required to support these two unique show propositions.
‘‘We will try to create two stand-out television programmes, unlike anything currently on the UK’s screens.’’
Both series were commissioned by the channel’s head of entertainment Danielle Lux.
She said: ‘‘We are delighted that Chris has chosen to return to Channel 4.
‘‘It’s the natural home for his unique brand of bold, totally original broadcasting.
‘‘The ambition, energy and scale of his ideas are qualities we want to see more of in Channel 4 entertainment.’’
Evans first appeared on the channel in September 1992 as the co-anchor of The Big Breakfast. He has yet to reveal any plans to return to presenting.
