Don't Tell the Bride (British TV series)

Don't Tell the Bride is a British reality television series. The premise of the series surrounds couples being awarded money to fund their wedding ceremony; however, every aspect of the ceremony must be organised by the groom, with no contact with the bride.

Don't Tell the Bride
Narrated by
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series14
No. of episodes164
Production
Production locationVarious
Running time60 minutes
Production companyRenegade Pictures – part of Warner Bros. Television Productions UK[1]
Release
Original network
Picture format16:9 576i (SDTV)
Original release8 November 2007 (2007-11-08) 
present
External links
Website
Production website

Broadcast history

The series first premiered on BBC Three on 8 November 2007. In February 2012, it was announced that the show had been nominated for a Rose d'Or award for best 'Factual Entertainment' show.[2] Due to the impending shutdown of BBC Three as a linear television service, the 9th series of the programme was moved to BBC One.[3][4] With the confirmed shutdown of BBC Three, as well as falling viewership in response to changes in the programme's format that occurred upon the move, the BBC dropped Don't Tell the Bride. The series was then picked up for its 2016 series by Sky 1.[5][6][7] In 2017, it moved to E4 where it would broadcast a new 18-episode series later that year.[8]

Reruns of the show, including the BBC and Sky One series are currently broadcast on 4Music.

Format

The show's format consists of a couple who are given £12,000 (£14,000 in the BBC One and E4 versions) to spend on their wedding. However, they must spend three weeks apart with no contact, and the groom must organise every aspect of the event and attire, including the wedding dress, wedding cake, as well as the hen and stag parties, surprising the bride.[9]

Although the series mostly features heterosexual couples, one episode broadcast in October 2010 featured a gay couple and another in November 2011 featured a lesbian couple, both preparing for their civil partnership.[10]

Reception

Transmissions

BBC Three
SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
18 November 200720 December 20076
226 August 200830 September 20086
31 September 200910 November 200911
417 August 20102 November 201012
56 September 201129 November 201112
614 August 201230 October 201212
720 August 20135 November 201312
85 August 201421 October 201412
95 August 201521 October 201512
1028 October 201515 December 20158
BBC One
SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
1124 June 201529 July 20156
Sky 1
SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
1221 July 20166 October 201612
E4
SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
1326 July 2017[11]31 January 201818[12]
1415 August 201816 March 202030

Specials

TitleAir dateHost
Most Memorable Moments12 January 2016Stacey Dooley
Bridezillas & Bromances5 January 2016
Mad, Bad & Dangerous29 December 2015
Christmas Special Clip Show22 December 2015
Let it Snow22 December 2014N/A
Christmas on the Slopes19 December 2013Rebekah Staton
Christmas on Ice18 December 2012N/A
Christmas Revenge 201211 December 2012
Goes Global6 November 2012Ellie Taylor
Best Ever14 August 2012Scott Mills
Greatest Moments Countdown15 April–13 June 2012Cherry Healey
Mother's Day13 March 2012N/A
Valentine's13 February 2012
Don't Tell the Bride-to-be: The Proposals13 February 2012
Christmas in Wonderland20 December 2011
Christmas Revenge13 December 2011
Live: Royal Wedding Special29 April 2011Cherry Healey
Greatest Moments 201128 April 2011
Greatest Moments 201023 November 2010Patsy Palmer
The Brides' Revenge21 April 2010N/A

International versions

Internationally, the series has attracted a strong following, with broadcast deals spanning 120 territories.

As of 2012, twelve locally produced versions have aired around the world. They are: Australia (Network 10, 2012), Denmark (TV 2, 2009–), Finland (Liv), Greece & Cyprus (ANT1, 2011), Germany (RTL II, 2011–), Ireland (RTÉ, 2010–), Italy (Lei), Norway (TLC Norway), Poland (TLC Poland, 2011), Sweden (TV4), Turkey and United States. Various clips from some versions were shown in the 'Goes Global' special in 2012.

The UK version has also been picked up by Russian broadcaster TLC, Vivolta in France, NHK in Japan and RTL Nederland in the Netherlands, who has secured an option to produce a local version of the format.[13]

An Irish version of the show airs on RTÉ Two since 2010.[14] A two episode Irish special, in which the couple's budget was 10,000, was first broadcast in May 2011 on RTÉ.[15] A full series was aired in 2012.[16] The Irish version also airs on Living in New Zealand and on Really in the UK.[17]

In October 2011, the first series of the US version of Don't Tell The Bride was shown on OWN. In this version, the groom is given USD $25,000 to spend.[18] In 2013, the series is being produced by Shed Media US for the USA Network. Shed Media conducted casting for the series between 14 June 2013 through 19 July 2013.[19]

On 21 August 2012, an Australian version of Don't Tell the Bride began airing on Network Ten. Kate Ritchie was the narrator.[20] In this version, the groom is given A$25,000 to organise the entire wedding. It was cancelled after one season.

In November 2016, a similarly formatted Welsh-language reality television show titled Priodas Pum Mil premiered on S4C.

On 31 August 2020 the most watched channel in Portugal, SIC, released their version of the show called "O Noivo é que Sabe" hosted by the actress Cláudia Vieira.

References

  1. "About the WarnerMedia Group". wbtvpuk.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  2. "Life's Too Short up for Rose d'Or award". BBC News. 28 February 2012.
  3. Jonathan Holmes. "Don't Tell the Bride to move to BBC One". RadioTimes.
  4. "10 things we learned during episode one of the new series of Don't Tell The Bride on BBC One". The Argus. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  5. "Don't Tell the Bride: You won't be able to see the new series if you don't have Sky 1". Newsbeat. 1 December 2015.
  6. "After dumping Don't Tell the Bride can we really trust the BBC's long-term commitment to youth audiences?". Radio Times. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  7. "Don't Tell the Bride is moving to Sky 1". Radio Times. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  8. "Ents/Fact Ents/Features/Formats/Daytime/Music summer 2017 highligts (sic) - Channel 4 - Info - Press". www.channel4.com.
  9. Frost, Vicky (24 September 2010). "Weddings and TV: a happy union?". The Guardian. London.
  10. "Episode guide". BBC Three. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  11. "Don't Tell the Bride - S13 - Episode 1". Radio Times.
  12. "E4 commissions new series of hit format Don't Tell The Bride - Channel 4 - Info - Press". www.channel4.com.
  13. Michael Rosser (24 February 2011). "Don't Tell the Bride to be remade for German TV". Broadcast. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  14. "Don't Tell the Bride". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012.
  15. McBride, Caitlin (21 September 2010). "€10k gift for a dream wedding? Well, there's a hitch". Evening Herald.
  16. "Don't Tell the Bride back tonight". RTÉ Ten. 26 January 2012.
  17. "Local brides visit Europe". C21Media. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  18. "Don't Tell the Bride - OWN TV". Oprah.com. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  19. "Shed Media US Casting - Don't Tell the Bride". Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  20. Kate Ritchie narrates Don’t Tell The Bride for TEN tvtonight.au, 19 July 2012
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.