BBC Eyes Young Viewers With Slew Of Digital Shows

The BBC is aiming to appeal to 12-15 year old viewers with a raft of shows featuring the likes of Strictly Come Dancing star Stacey Dooley.

The British public broadcaster has unveiled a slew of digital shows aimed at young eyeballs and is exploring the challenges faced by this demo when it comes to issues such as mental health and sexuality.

The Nine to Five with Stacey Dooley follows five 16-18 year olds as they experience the rigours of the workplace for the first time. The show is produced by Warner Bros-owned Twenty Twenty.

Teen Taxi, made by Endemol Shine-owned Dragonfly TV, shines a light on the daily conversations teenagers and their parents have on life, love, friendships as the engaging teens open up during every day trips in the family cars.

I’m Not Driving That! With Ali-A sees vlogger and petrol head Ali-A transforming young drivers’ first cars in return for them improving their skills behind the wheel. The series, which will also feature a host of celebrity clients heading to the workshop, is produced by Endemol Shine North.

All3Media-owned Maverick is making Dr Chris and Dr Xand Investigate fronted by the Operation Ouch stars. It will uncover the science behind mental health issues as well as exploring the impact that alcohol can have.

These shows will air on BBC iPlayer from 10 February.

Coming up later in the year are Mimi On A Mission, mystery drama series Get Even and comedy drama Lauren and Craig.

Mimi on a Mission is presented by YouTube star Mimi Missfit and follows a group of 15 year olds as they travel to Holland to find out how the Dutch teach about sex. Lauren and Craig is a spin-off of kids series Millie Inbetween, while Get Even follows four teenage girls at private elite school who form their own secret society to expose bullies. Mimi on a Mission is produced by Peggy Pictures, Get Even is produced by BBC Children’s In-House Productions and Boat Rocker Studios and Lauren and Craig is produced by Zodiak.

Cheryl Taylor, Head of Content for BBC Children’s, said, “It is widely acknowledged that 12- to 15-year-olds can be a difficult audience to reach. We feel that there should be more public service content specifically for this age group. This new content bridges the small gap between the top end of CBBC and all the amazing content for 16-34s on BBC Three. We are offering a small but carefully chosen slate of programs on BBC iPlayer which reflect 12-15s specifically and which adds to the broad appeal content they already love elsewhere on the BBC like Strictly, Would I Lie to You and The Apprentice.”