27 Mar 2025
Award-winning production company CPL Productions has been nominated for a total two BAFTA Awards.
Hit series Love is Blind UK, produced for Netflix, is nominated in the reality category, while Sky Max series Rob & Romesh Vs – already a BAFTA winner – scooped a nomination for comedy performance for its stars Rob Becket and Romesh Ranganathan.
The BAFTA’s are the British television’s highest honours. This year’s juries saw more than 500 voters spend 127 hours participating in 43 juries to decide the nominations. The BAFTA Television awards will take place on Sunday 11 May and will be broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer.
17 Mar 2025
CPL, one of the UK’s leading production companies, today announces a bold new leadership structure as it enters the next chapter of its development.
Following the company’s successful management buyout in 2006, CPL has expanded from a small team to a thriving international business, delivering some of the UK’s most beloved TV programmes including the award-winning Married At First Sight, A League Of Their Own, Love Is Blind and the forthcoming Stranded on Honeymoon Island.
Under the leadership of Danielle Lux, Murray Boland and Janet Oakes, CPL has embraced a modern, creative-led approach to structure that will support the company’s ambitions for continued growth, while staying true to its core programme values.
To recognise the huge success of some of the company’s key brands—including Married at First Sight, Love Is Blind, and A League Of Their Own—CPL is proud to announce the promotion of Susy Price, Naz Karim, and David Taylor to the newly created roles of Creative Directors.
Alongside their respective teams, Susy, Naz, and David have played an integral role in shaping the commercial successes of these flagship programmes, driving international recognition and generating industry and audience acclaim.
In addition, CPL is delighted to promote Abigail Weller to Director of Production and Kate Brooks to Head of Production. Both Abigail and Kate have been invaluable members of the CPL team for many years, known for their talent, leadership, and programme-centred approach. Their contributions have been key to managing the company’s increasingly complex productions.
CPL’s founding directors Danielle Lux and Murray Boland will move into new roles within the senior management team to further drive the company’s vision.
Murray Boland will take on the role of Chief Content Officer, Janet Oakes will become Chief Operating Officer, and Danielle Lux will step into the position of Chief Executive Officer.
This restructuring will allow the company to better accommodate growth in the coming years and ensure the creative vision remains at the heart of everything they do.
“We are deeply grateful to our entire team for their continued hard work and dedication, which has played a key part in our programme successes,” said Danielle, newly appointed CEO. ” Talent and creativity are at the heart of everything we do at CPL and we’re excited to continue building a bright future with these exceptional, creative leaders.”
CPL remains committed to producing high-quality, popular content that resonates with audiences worldwide, and the leadership team looks forward to driving the company into an exciting new era.
12 Mar 2025
Sky in the UK has announced that the multi-BAFTA award-winning A League of Their Own is to return with a brand-new spinoff, A League of Their Own: The Rally from March 25 at 9pm.
Hosted by Romesh Ranganathan, the show sees team captains Jamie Redknapp, Jill Scott, and Micah Richards, go head-to-head in an epic race across Europe, complete with daring escapes and hilarious results.
The show brings together the best of British comedy and entertainment, with Alan Carr, Tom Davis, Maisie Adam, Big Zuu, and Alex Brooker joining Jamie, Jill, and Micah for the journey packed with laughs, surprises, and plenty of bad singing.
The teams will race from London to Turin across land, sea, and air, tackling Parisian traffic, raging rapids, and Mont Blanc snowstorms to win the title of Rally Champion and the inaugural ‘A League of Their Own Rally Cup’.
Throughout A League of Their Own: The Rally, the daring drivers will also face a series of treacherous – and sometimes ridiculous – off-road challenges, including chateau fencing, mountain climbing, romantic photography, and more. They’ll earn points as they race through Paris, Lake Geneva, and the Alps, before reaching Turin, home of The Italian Job, for the thrilling final stretch…
Produced by CPL Productions, a Seven.One Studios company, A League of Their Own: The Rally is commissioned by Phil Edgar-Jones, Executive Director of Unscripted Originals at Sky, for Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of Sky Studios & Chief Content Officer for Sky. The Commissioning Editor is Barbara Lee. Executive Producers for CPL Productions are Murray Boland, Danielle Lux and David Taylor.
A League of Their Own: The Rally is available weekly on Sky and streaming service NOW from March 25 at 9pm. All three episodes will be available upon release.
01 March 2025
Coming to BBC One and iPlayer in 2025, Stranded on Honeymoon Island is a bold and original new reality dating format, which sees twelve unlucky-in-love singles matched into couples, who then marry and immediately start their honeymoon on a tropical island.
Davina McCall will guide the singles through their journey as their marriages are put to the test.
Davina says: “I am a serial matchmaker…. So I jumped at the chance to host the BBC’s new dating show. I can’t wait to meet our couples and find out how they get on when they’re Stranded on Honeymoon Island. For some it will be challenging and others, idyllic!!! Hopefully it’s the start of some very beautiful relationships.”
Davina is one of the UK’s most loved TV personalities with a career spanning over three decades, she is most known as a presenter, author and fitness guru. She is no stranger to dating shows having hosted StreetMate (Channel 4), Singled Out (MTV) and most recently My Mum, Your Dad (ITV).
Davina will meet the singles at their first speed dating event in London, before they are matched into six couples and then stranded on a tropical island for the experience of a lifetime. Isolated and pitted against the forces of nature, will true love blossom and survive…or dive?
On these remote beaches, fledgling relationships are soon put to the test as the couples live out their honeymoon together and fend for themselves with few resources. Together they must communicate and collaborate to get by, with nowhere to run when the going gets tough. Will an escape from modern life bring them closer together or push them apart? Will it lead to love or loathing?
CPL’s Murray Boland says: ‘we’re thrilled to be working with Davina on this project. Stranded on Honeymoon Island is a fascinating relationship experiment and there’s no one better than Davina to lead viewers on this dramatic journey as the couples navigate new love in their time together on the island.”
Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment at the BBC says: “Davina is the ideal addition to this bold and innovative dating reality show. On Stranded on Honeymoon Island, Davina will be the perfect guide for viewers as the couples embark on the love story of a lifetime where the newlyweds are put to the ultimate test. We’re delighted to be working with her alongside the brilliant team at CPL. It’s a match made in heaven!”
Produced by CPL Productions, the BAFTA Award winning production company behind Married At First Sight UK, Love Is Blind UK and A League Of Their Own. Stranded on Honeymoon Island was created by Snowman Productions, the team behind the world’s No 1 relationship format Married At First Sight.
First broadcast in Belgium, subsequent versions have aired in Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, and Czech Republic. The format has also been commissioned in Australia. Stranded on Honeymoon Island will be debuting on BBC One and BBC iPlayer later in 2025.
Stranded on Honeymoon Island (12 x 60’) was commissioned for BBC One and BBC iPlayer by Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment at the BBC. The Executive Producers for CPL are Murray Boland, Danielle Lux, and Rachel Viner. The Commissioning Editors for the BBC are Katie Taylor and Chantal Boyle. Snowman, CPL and Seven.One Studios International are all part of Seven.One Studios. Stranded on Honeymoon Island is distributed by Seven.One Studios International.
13 Feb 2025
From CPL Productions, the masterminds behind Married at First Sight UK, with GroupM Motion Entertainment, comes The Hunt (w/t) – a heart-pounding, high-stakes game of predator versus prey, where there is only one rule – hunt or be hunted.
Deep in a vast unforgiving forest, contestants are dropped into the ultimate real-world game of hide and seek – where losing means walking away with nothing and winning could mean pocketing up to £100,000. Surviving the game isn’t about being the fastest. It’s about being the smartest.
Each episode is built around a tense, dog-eat-dog hunt, where each player becomes either a Predator or Prey. The Prey hold the cash, desperately trying to protect their winnings while completing challenges to win more money. The Predators must hunt them down and steal their cash. If they succeed their roles are reversed and the entire game flips, with Predators suddenly become Prey.
Wearing cutting-edge tracking technology, no player can hide for long in the dense forest hunting ground. Each player must keep moving to remain in the game or forfeit their money.
Clever alliances, strategic teamwork, and mind games are the key to survival as at the end of each hunt, back at a futuristic basecamp it’s time, one player will face elimination from the game.
With every episode, the intensity escalates, fortunes shift, alliances shatter, and only the sharpest, strongest, and savviest will make it to the final showdown. Who will master the chase? Who will outthink the hunt? And who will walk away with the life-changing prize?
Steven Handley, Channel 4’s Head of Reality & Entertainment, comments: “The Hunt delivers high-octane Adventure Reality and takes innovative gaming tech to create a world where viewers can experience in real time what happens when we re-engage our primal instincts. I can’t wait to discover what strategies a group of ordinary Brits will use to survive in a world where there is only one rule – hunt or be hunted.”
Senior Commissioning Editor, Reality Entertainment, Lee McMurray adds: “The Hunt combines the classic Channel 4 ingredients of real people doing incredible things, on an epic scale. Having championed the idea through the Contestable Pot process, I’m excited to now be bringing it to life, and look forward to working with CPL and treating our audience to an entertaining, exhilarating new prime time treat.”
CPL’s Murray Boland comments: “The Hunt promises contestants a dose of fun and adrenaline in their quest for the cash. Amid prize money increasing, fortunes constantly changing, and loyalty put to the test, this is set to be one of the most ruthless games ever played on reality TV, with a sensational prize for the eventual winner.”
GroupM Motion Entertainment’s Deep Sehgal comments: “The purpose of our Contestable Fund partnership with Channel 4 is to bring the boldest, most compelling, and ambitious projects to the screen. The Hunt is a perfect contender that promises to deliver high-stakes, high-adrenaline entertainment from a world-class production team.”
The Hunt is a 9 x 60’ series commissioned for Channel 4 and Channel 4 Streaming by Steven Handley, Channel 4’s Head of Reality & Entertainment and Lee McMurray, Senior Commissioning Editor for Reality & Entertainment.
The series is produced by CPL and GroupM Motion Entertainment and based on an original idea by Redseven Entertainment. The series will be executive produced by CPL Productions’ Murray Boland, Danielle Lux, Susy Price and Anna Dunkley, along with GroupM Motion Entertainment’s Deep Sehgal, Head of Creative Diversity.
The Hunt (w/t) is commissioned following a competitive brief to independent production companies for Channel 4’s Contestable Pot, led by Head of Commissioning Development, Art Sejdiu, to find innovative formats to launch in Channel 4 peak time with support from GroupM Motion Entertainment. Seven.One Studios International has the international distribution rights.
27 Nov 2024
CPL Productions has landed an incredible four nominations at this year’s Broadcast Awards.
Married at First Sight UK, produced for E4, is nominated for best popular factual program; Sky series A League of Their Own and Netflix hit Love Is Blind UK are for up for best entertainment program; and CPL is nominated for best independent production company – up against 72 Films, Big Talk Studios, Hungry Bear Media, Quay Street Productions and Studio Lambert.
The award winners will be announced during a ceremony taking place on February 5, 2025 at London’s JW Marriott Grosvenor House on Park Lane.
11 Nov 2024
Nominees for the prestigious 63rd annual Rose d’Or Awards have been announced.
These finalists were voted for by a jury of over 100 broadcast executives, distributors and producers, from across the international television industry.
Love is Blind: UK has been nominated for the Factual Entertainment Award and Rob & Romesh Vs F1 Monaco has been nominated for the Comedy Entertainment Award.
01 Oct 2024
Married At First Sight UK – produced by CPL Productions – has returned to British screens and the reality series has already won the hearts of viewers across the country.
The season premiere totalled 75 million minutes streamed to become the most streamed ever episode of Married at First Sight UK, up 12% YoY. Married at First Sight UK is also the No 1 title across all Commercial BVOD since launch with 557m minutes viewed.
This week Married at First Sight UK is also introducing a brand-new ‘In Laws’ week. The couples already in the experiment will be visited by friends and family where they’ll have honest and frank conversations as to where their relationships are.
Married at First Sight UK continues Monday – Thursday at 9pm on E4 with the series so far available to stream on Channel 4.
19 Sept 2024
The Belgian adaptation of The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes (local title: Restaurant Misverstand) has earned an International Emmy Award nomination in the non-scripted entertainment category.
A hit in Belgium across three seasons on VRT, the social experiment is a local adaptation of the Grierson Award-winning format The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes, originally produced by CPL Productions for Channel 4 in the UK.
The format – which has already been adapted in the Netherlands – sees a group of people all living with dementia, spanning different ages and at various stages of the disease, tasked with helping run a restaurant led by a successful chef. Over a five week period, and with a dementia expert on hand to advise, the group takes on all the roles of a busy restaurant, including cooking, taking orders, serving and making drinks.
The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes Belgium is produced by Roses Are Blue for VRT; the format is distributed globally by Seven.One Studios International.
10 Sept 2024
The BBC in the UK has commissioned a brand new version of Seven.One Studios International’s hit adventure dating format Stranded on Honeymoon Island.
The new adaptation of the innovative format is set to be produced by CPL Productions, a Seven.One Studios company and will air in a primetime slot on flagship channel BBC One. This brings the total number of international Stranded on Honeymoon Island commissions to seven, 18 months after the show first launched.
The format, which sees couples matched by experts marooned on a deserted island and left to fend for themselves for three weeks, was initially commissioned by VTM in Belgium, where two seasons have already aired. It has also aired in Portugal (SIC) RTL Netherlands, Czech Republic (FTV Prima) and Germany (SAT.1). A forthcoming adaptation is set to air on Seven Network in Australia.
Stranded on Honeymoon Island was created by Snowman Productions, the creators of dating phenomenon Married at First Sight. The Copenhagen-based production company – part of Seven.One Studios and a sister company to Seven.One Studios International – manages a production hub in Southeast Asia which facilitates the year-round filming of new local versions of Stranded on Honeymoon Island.
Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment at the BBC said: “We are thrilled to be bringing this dating reality format to the BBC. This unique new dating series will see couples who have previously been unlucky in love being paired up and sent straight on their honeymoon with no phone, no apps and no contact with the outside world – let’s see if they can make it work on their desert island and find love.”
Murray Boland, CPL Creative Director said: “We are incredibly excited to be bringing this show to the BBC. It’s a bold and innovative format but it also has heart and soul. CPL takes great pride in the relationship reality formats it produces and Stranded on Honeymoon Island feels like a very special commission.”
Tim Gerhartz, Managing Director of Seven.One Studios International, said: “We are delighted that Stranded on Honeymoon Island has found the perfect home in the UK with the BBC. These major new commissioning milestones underscore our commitment to delivering unique, engaging content that resonates with global audiences to become the new mainstream. Together, we are setting new standards in the formats industry, and we look forward to more international audiences getting Stranded on Honeymoon Island.”
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