MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide Channels Asia has launched BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Entertainment and CBeebies on Thailand cable and satellite television operator, TrueVisions.

The four channels join BBC World News on TrueVisions.

The four channels are part of BBC Worldwide?s portfolio of channels that showcase a mix of British TV across factual, entertainment, children?s and lifestyle programming.

BBC Worldwide Channels Asia senior VP, GM Mark Whitehead said, ?We are extremely pleased to have our entire suite of channels available in Thailand. This deal reflects our ongoing commitment to the region - delivering to our audiences a wide range of high-quality, award-winning programming - from factual, lifestyle, pre-school entertainment to comedy and drama. Viewers in Thailand recognise and appreciate quality content; we are confident that our channels will appeal to the viewers there and are very pleased to be working with TrueVisions to deliver this proposition?.

TrueVisions MD Thiti Nuntapatsiri said, ?To affirm our commitment to delivering the best content, we have added four premium channels from the BBC. In addition to the existing BBC World News channel, there are now five BBC channels on TrueVisions. The new channels - BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Entertainment and CBeebies, are ready to entertain you this year, and they will be great choices for your viewing pleasure.?

BBC Knowledge showcases factual entertainment from the world?s foremost producers of non-fiction and documentary programming.

In February, premiering just two weeks after the UK telecast, viewers will be privy to ?Top Gear? (series 18). The latest series sees the presenters, Jeremy Clarkson. Richard Hammond and James May, visit Sweden to partake in a series of ice racing challenges.

The ?three wise men? then travel to China to explore the local Chinese motoring industry through even quirkier and crazier stunts. The presenters also drive across Italy in yet to be released supercars including the new 2013 Porsche 911.

?Human Planet? premieres on 4 February. A record of man?s survival in the most extreme environments, each episode focuses on one environment and how the peoples and tribes who live there adapt to their surroundings- oceans, deserts, arctic, jungles, mountains, grasslands, rivers and cities. It weaves together 80 stories, many never told before on television, set to a soundtrack by composer Nitin Sawhney.

BBC Lifestyle offers inspiration for home, family and life. The channel offers programmes on home and design, food, fashion and style, to entertain, engage and inspire viewers. This month sees the premiere of ?Extreme Makeover Home Edition? (series seven). In this series, well-deserving families are packed off to holidays while the Extreme Makeover Home Edition team, led by model-presenter, Ty Pennington fights against time to rebuild a dream home for these families. This series premieres on 26 February 2012.

BBC Lifestyle is also home to Gordon Ramsay?s latest series. This month viewers can catch ?The F Word? - where each episode revolves around Ramsay preparing a three-course meal for 50 guests at The F Word restaurant. Diners in the restaurant include celebrities who participate in conversations, challenges, and cook-offs with Ramsay. Other segments include food-related topics, such as alternative foods and healthy eating.

BBC Entertainment showcases comedy, drama and light entertainment from the BBC and other UK production houses. Silent Witness (series 14) kicks off on 21 February. It follows the team of Professor Leo Dalton, Dr Harry Cunningham and Dr Nikki Alexander as they solve emotional and harrowing crimes with the clinical, objective help of forensic science.

?The Graham Norton Show? (series 10) will also air. On BBC Entertainment just two weeks after the UK telecast chat show host and comedian, Graham Norton entertains with his trademark comedy monologues, interesting celebrity chats, eccentric stories and characters. Guests from previous series include Kate Winslet, James McAvoy, Johnny Depp, Snow Patrol and Ricky Gervais.

MUMBAI: English entertainment channel BBC Entertainment?s car show ?Top Gear? will air a special on 1 February at 11 pm.

In the special, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May set out to boost the British economy by embarking on a trade mission to India. Equipped with classic British cars - a Rolls Royce, Mini Cooper and a Jaguar - they set off on an epic road trip across India, devotedly promoting Britain with distinctly mixed results.

Their Indian adventure starts in Mumbai where they give the local dabbawallas a hand at delivering lunch boxes. Will Mumbai traffic get the best of them? The verdict lies in the hands of the dabbawallas.

Next stop is Jaipur, where the boys host a rally to test the mettle of Indian vehicles against their British wares. From a tuk-tuk or auto-rickshaw, to a Nano, an elephant and even the local policemen, the Jaipur dash has a array of racers all set to win the inaugural Top Gear India Hill Speed Climb Event. In Delhi, the boys host a gala with the who?s-who of town in attendance.

In typical ?Top Gear? fashion, nothing goes as per plan! With their trade mission going downhill, the boys head uphill to the mountains of Simla. Will the boys finally get lucky and accomplish what they?ve set out to do? A game of ?Straight Six Cricket?, a reinvention of cricket by Jeremy, might do the trick!

MUMBAI: BBC Entertainment is gearing up to launch a new show ?Sherlock? on 10 December. The show will air every Saturday at 8 pm.

Sherlock Holmes was always a modern man - it?s the world that got old. Now he?s back as he should be: edgy, contemporary, difficult and dangerous, as award-winning actor Benedict Cumberbatch shows him in a new, contemporary light.

?Sherlock? can tell a software designer by his tie, an airline pilot by his thumb. He has a unique analytical brain unlike anyone else in the world. When a by chance encounter brings soldier John Watson into Sherlock?s life, its apparent the two men couldn?t be more different, but Sherlock?s intellect coupled with John?s pragmatism soon forges an unbreakable alliance. Across three thrilling, scary, action-packed and highly entertaining television movies, Sherlock and John navigate a maze of cryptic clues and lethal killers to get at the truth. With sparkling scripts and unforgettable performances from the two leads, this is Sherlock for the new generation.

The first episode is called ?A Study in Pink?. A woman in pink lies dead in a derelict house. She is the fourth in a series of seemingly impossible suicides. DI Lestrade is the best Scotland Yard has got, but even he knows that there?s only one man who can help. Elsewhere in London, a war hero, invalided home from Afghanistan, meets a strange but charismatic genius who is looking for a flat-mate; Dr John Watson and Sherlock Holmes are meeting for the first time.

The channel will also kick off the third season of Gok?s Fashion Fix on 15 December. It will air every Thursday at 8 pm. Gok Wan is a stylist, who transforms ordinary mortals into fashionistas in the show. The show that promises to fix fashion woes and provide the best style tips. Each week, Gok visits the high fashion streets to reiterate that one can look like a million bucks without spending a whopping amount! He even offers handy tips that can give your existing wardrobe a complete makeover, giving you chic styles to flaunt at work, rest and play!

Viewers can watch Gok Wan with his sharp styling skills and even sharper wit as he breaks down trends and styles, giving you an easy and pocket friendly way of reinventing your wardrobe.

MUMBAI: BBC Entertainment has launched a new comedy show ?Come Fly with me? which airs every Friday at 9 pm.

From flight crew to check-in, paparazzi to passengers, comic duo, Matt Lucas and David Williams (stars and writers of ?Little Britain?) play almost 50 characters in this mock-documentary set in an airport terminal.

Among their creations are Omar, the owner of Flylo (Britain?s eighth favourite low cost airline) and Flylo?s check in girls, Melody and Keeley. Other characters of the show are Mickey and Buster, the airport?s resident photographers, and Precious Little, the world?s laziest coffee kiosk lady.

Also featured, are the snobby staff of the country?s most prestigious airline, Great British Air. Supported by costume and make-up teams and shot on location at Britain?s airports, the two stars draw on every aspect of airport life to create an array of comic characters.

In order to promote the show in an innovative way, the BBC Entertainment has tied up with The Comedy Store in Mumbai. As a part of this tie-up BBC Entertainment is organising Saturday comedy nights at 8.30 pm with the show title of The Comedy Store in association with BBC Entertainment present ?The Best In Stand-Up Comedy?. 

MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide regional director ad sales, South Asia Seema Mohapatra has put in her papers.

Mohapatra will leave mid-December, after spending 12 and a half years in the organisation. She was handling ad sales for BBC World News, BBC Entertainment and bbc.com. 

Mohapatra said she has not decided on her next move. "I will take a break. After that, I will see what to do."

 
MUMBAI: Viewers of BBC Entertainment in India will begin a new journey of discovery on 29 November 2011 with the launch of Lonely Planet branded programming blocks on the channel.

The news follows Worldwide Networks and Global BBC iPlayer president Jana Bennett?s announcement in June of plans to integrate the travel brand into BBC Worldwide?s international channel portfolio.

The block will feature on BBC Entertainment, as part of the multi-genre schedule that airs on the channel. Elsewhere the block will air on BBC Knowledge.

In India, Lonely Planet will debut with ?Free Rein? and ?Amazon With Bruce Parry?.

The Lonely Planet block will provide a dedicated home to the channel?s most compelling and immersive travel programming, including ?Free Rein?, specially commissioned by BBC Worldwide Channels from Lonely Planet?s production arm and Freehand.

The programme follows screen legends Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward (The Thorn Birds) as they set out on the ultimate adventure across The Kimberley, the Outback?s last frontier.

Also destined for the new programme block in 2012 is the action-packed series ?Year of Adventures?, starring Ben Fogle and based on the Lonely Planet book of the same name. Currently filming in Wales, Europe, the USA and Australia, the series is a Lonely Planet TV and BBC Bristol production for BBC Worldwide Channels.

Bennett said, "This dedicated home on BBC Knowledge marks a major step in our development of Lonely Planet as a television brand. BBC Worldwide will continue to support its growth through these programming blocks and through specially commissioned Lonely Planet productions. We hope that in time, the brand can evolve into a standalone television channel."

The new block will roll out across all of BBC Worldwide?s localised BBC Knowledge feeds around the world - Poland, Africa, Italy, the Nordic Region (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden), Australia, New Zealand and Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea).

The block will debut in Asia on 1 November, with ?Arctic With Bruce Parry? as the launch title and ?Free Rein? to follow in December.

Australia and New Zealand follow on 2 November, with ?Free Rein? premiering in Australia that day, and on 12 November in New Zealand. On 5 November, the block launches in Europe, Middle East and Africa with ?Tribe?, ?Long Way Round? and Lonely Planet TV production ?Roads Less Travelled? among the programme line up.

Further programmes set to roll out on Lonely Planet include ?Paul Merton in India?, ?Tropic of Cancer with Simon Reeve? and ?Russia: A Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby?.

BBC Worldwide senior VP Programming and TV Channels David Weiland said, "The Lonely Planet schedule is designed to take our viewers on a journey of exploration and discovery, and we?ve selected these titles to feed their passion for experiencing the world through travel. Along with our own growing roster of original commissions - like ?Free Rein? and ?Year of Adventures? - these programmes will find a natural home in the Lonely Planet block, with a host of engaging personalities and experts to transport viewers right to the heart of a place."

Lonely Planet was founded in 1973. In February 2011, BBC Worldwide took full ownership of the brand, having held a 75 per cent stake in the company since 2007.