Bowled Over is an award-winning true independent production company, made up of a diverse team of creative talent. We combine years of experience with new young talent, bringing together a thorough knowledge of the industry, with fantastic new ideas.
The directors at Bowled Over began their telly careers over 30 years ago. After a lengthy period at ITV, they worked on programmes for every terrestrial channel, streamers, and for many, many indies before accidentally starting an indie themselves, which they have co-run since Summer 2021.
Since Bowled Over began, we’ve had a first-look deal with Sony Pictures Television, been recipients of a BFI Young Audience Content Fund award and our documentary for Channel 4, Good Grief with the Rev Richard Coles, won the Radio Times Readers award at the Sandford St Martins Awards 2023. We were also one of the Future 30 indies to watch, chosen by Pact, to celebrate their 30 years.
We have just delivered a new 20 part daytime series to Channel 4, Narrow Escapes, which is due to air in Spring 2024.
As a company, we are committed to working sustainably and efficiently. We work side by side, in shared offices, with the hugely talented Ponder, Create, with whom we collaborate on all projects, from start to finish. This means that together we can offer a full package: development, production, filming with our own kit, edit, animation and gfx all from our cosy regional base in Brighton.
We’d love you to visit anytime!
We are so excited to announce that our new 4-part series Blenheim Palace: Behind the Grandeur, will be airing every Saturday from 12th October 2024, 8:20pm on Channel 5! The show will follow the fascinating characters who work there as they prepare to open for another busy season.
The Palace, a private residence of the 12th Duke of Marlborough, is the only non-royal Palace in England and opened its doors to the public in 1950, in order to raise funds to conserve and maintain the Palace and its estate - and it’s always busy for the staff who welcome nearly a million visitors a year. The series goes behind the grandeur, to follow the staff who are the beating heart of Britain’s Greatest Palace.
Catch it every Saturday at 8:20pm on Channel 5!
We are thrilled to share that series 1 of Narrow Escapes has been longlisted for a TV Choice Award 2025! We are so honoured to be in a category with so many beloved shows. Thank you to our incredible cast and crew, who made this show so brilliant.
Cast your vote before 14th October to show your support for Narrow Escapes! By voting you and a friend could be in with the chance of going along to this glitzy star-studded bash and mingling with the stars at the prestigious London Hilton on Park Lane on 10 February 2025.
We are delighted to announce the Bowled Over have been recommissioned with GroupM Motion Entertainment to make a second series of Narrow Escapes for Channel 4. This season will have an increased 25 episodes and once again will follow a boat load of new (and some we know and love!) people who have swapped their homes of bricks and mortar for new lives on the water and now call the UK’s canal network home.
Heidi, Creative Director, Bowled Over Media, said: “The whole team are so thrilled to be returning to the British waterways with more teatime fun featuring a fantastic cast of all ages, gorgeous scenery and canal and river-based stories. We are very grateful to Channel 4 for the opportunity and for their championing of our small diverse indie, and we can’t wait to get started!”
We are so thrilled to announce that the first episode of our new show, ‘Narrow Escapes’ will air on Channel 4 on Monday 29th April! The show will go out on weekdays at 4pm, and for those who can’t wait for more - the first full week will be streaming immediately on the Channel 4 website!
This new 20-part series follows those who call the UK's canals home. Whether it be retirees looking for freedom, young people searching for an affordable alternative to the cost-of-living crisis, newlyweds, families or divorcees, we’ll be introduced to a new and vibrant community made up of people from all walks of life, ages and backgrounds.
From continuous cruisers to business owners operating from their boats and the workers and volunteers on land who maintain the waterways, Narrow Escapes is a snapshot of modern life on the canals.
We are so excited for you to see our new daytime series for Channel 4, set on the waterways of Britain – Narrow Escapes. Following the lives of people from all walks of life and from all over the canal and river network, this 20 part series is a snapshot of life on the waterways, where the reality of boating meets the idyllic image of rural serenity.
Our wonderful contributors are moving all around the network and as we follow their stories, we will engage with the beauty of the natural world and the reality of maintaining and operating a narrow home that floats. From watching businesses, families, couples and solo boaters, we hope you’ll enjoy tuning in every day for a narrow escape!
Many thanks to the Canal and River Trust and our fantastic little family at Bowled Over and Ponder Create. Thanks too to Gill Brown and the team at Channel 4 and to Motion Content Group for their huge support through the Diverse Indie Fund.
We are honoured and excited to announce that we have been chosen as one of a small group of indies who will be ‘boosted’ by Channel 4 through a mentorship, training and financial support scheme.
With new projects in various stages of development and a new series out next year with the Channel, we are really grateful for the encouragement and backing that Channel 4 are giving our small team.
Good Grief with the Rev Richard Coles wins the Radio Times Reader award at the Sandford St Martin Awards and we were thrilled to receive it at Whitworth Hall in Manchester, on behalf of the Rev and all our wonderful contributors who shared their experiences with us and we are so thrilled the programme resonated with the voting audience.
We are excited to announce that Good Grief? with the Rev Richard Coles is to be aired on C4 at 10pm on Monday August 8th.
Thank you to Rev Coles for opening his heart to us and for all those who spoke to us along the way, helping us all to understand how to support our grieving friends better and finding out what helps others, for when our time comes to grieve.
Please contact us for any further support or help.
If you would like to contact any of the organisations featured in the documentary, their contacts /websites are listed below: