ENTERTAINMENT ON IMPARJA IN 2018 EMBARGO: 6PM OCTOCBER 11, 2017 IMPARJA is ENTERTAINMENT, with The Block currently on air celebrating its 13th series and showing no signs of slowing down, with audiences up 20 per cent on 2016. The year started with a stripped series of Married at First Sight which proved to be a smash hit with TV viewers and one of the most highly streamed programs since OzTAM introduced its video player measurement (VPM) system. Imparja has continued to roll out top-rating programs including The Voice, as well as a slew of brand new formats that have all performed exceptionally well, such as Travel Guides, True Story with Hamish & Andy and This Time Next Year. But the breakout hit of 2017 was Australian Ninja Warrior, which broke ratings records and holds the title of the No. 1 non-sports program of the year. And still to come this year is Family Food Fight, Imparja’s brand new cooking show, showcasing the very best in home cooking. Six food-loving Aussie families will go head-to-head in the kitchen in a battle to prove whose food is best, but only one can walk away with the title of Australia’s Number One Food Family. Our contestants will cook a range of family staples and all-time favourite feasts. They will all cook the food we love to eat at home. They’ll also be catering for special occasions, feeding an array of guests, and recreating tried and true recipes from some of Australia’s best chefs. Acclaimed chef and restaurateur Matt Moran is Family Food Fight’s lead judge, assisted by high-energy, mohawked uber-pastry chef Anna Polyviou and popular foodie and cookbook author Hayden Quinn. They will watch on from behind the scenes and comment on the families’ cooking styles and prowess before diving in to taste and judge each delicious dish. Internationally renowned food writer and critic Tom Parker Bowles, a member of the world’s most famous family, also joins the team as a judge, adding considerable clout with his finely tuned palate. With a mix of fast-paced cooking fun, heaped helpings of good humour and healthy rivalries (plus a few fireworks) the competition will capture each family’s dynamic: mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, kids, husbands and wives, all cooking their hearts out as they strive to claim the coveted top spot and take home the $100,000 prize. Take a look at our ENTERTAINMENT programming lineup for 2018: NEW SERIES TALKIN’ ’BOUT YOUR GENERATION The blockbuster comedy for every generation that will have all Australian’s laughing out loud, Talkin’ ’Bout Your Generation, led by host Shaun Micallef, is an hour-long riotous battle between three generations – Gen X lead by Robyn Butler, Gen Y lead by Andy Lee and Gen Z lead by Laurence Boxhall. Each week our three regular captains team up with three celebrity guests to answer questions and play fun and irreverent games that span the generations. The show brings back to life everyone’s favourite memories and moments from the worlds of film and TV, music, news and current affairs, fads, advertising, sport and more. It’s a celebration of the generations and what defines them in a bid to find out which one really does rule (for a week at least). Talkin’ ’Bout Your Generation is produced by ITV Studios for Nine. UNDERBELLY FILES: CHOPPER Destined to be one of the most compelling dramas in Australian television history, Underbelly Files: Chopper is coming to Imparja in 2018. Created by Screentime, producers of the trailblazing Underbelly franchise, this two-part mini-series explores the untold, uncut story of notorious gangster Mark ‘Chopper’ Read as he struggles to reconcile his two competing identities – Chopper, the colourful underworld figure, and Mark Brandon Read, the man who craved a quiet life far from the public arena. Starring award-winning actor Aaron Jeffery (Wentworth, McLeod’s Daughters, Water Rats) as Chopper, an outstanding cast will feature alongside him, including two-time Logie Award winner Michael Caton (The Castle, Packed to the Rafters) as Chopper’s father Keith, Todd Lasance (The Vampire Diaries) as Chopper’s nemesis, gangster Syd Collins, and Ella Scott Lynch (Love Child) who will portray his second wife, Margaret with whom he shared a love that defied obstacles and lasted decades. The stellar cast will also include Zoe Ventoura as Chopper’s first wife, Mary Ann, Jane Allsop, Reef Ireland, Alex Tsitsopoulos and Anna Bamford, with original Underbelly alumni Vince Colosimo and Kevin Harrington returning as Alphonse Gangitano and Lewis Moran, and Debra Byrne reprising her portrayal of Judy Moran. Underbelly Files: Chopper is produced by Screentime for Nine BITE CLUB Imparja’s new crime thriller, Bite Club, boasts a killer star cast: Todd Lasance (Spartacus: War of the Damned, The Vampire Diaries, Underbelly Files: Chopper), Ash Ricardo (Offspring, Party Tricks), Damian Walshe-Howling (Underbelly, Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms, Janet King), Deborah Mailman (Redfern Now, Offspring), Robert Mammone (Underbelly, Fat Tony & Co, Janet King), Pia Miller (Home and Away, Marny Kennedy (Janet King), Darcie Irwin-Simpson (Love Child) and Dominic Monaghan (Lost, The Lord of The Rings, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Wild Things). After surviving a shark attack two detectives join forces to hunt the ultimate predator, the serial killer who is also hunting them. Bite Club is currently in production in Sydney, produced by Playmaker for Nine with major production investment from Screen Australia, in association with Create NSW. BUYING BLIND In 2018, Imparja unveils the most ground-breaking property show on Australian television. Couples searching for their dream home will hand over their life savings to three experts, trusting them to take over the biggest decision of their lives. Amazing transformations and edge-of-your-seat drama make Buying Blind the new high-stakes property thriller. Buying Blind is produced by Endemol Shine for Nine. DATE NIGHT The brand-new future of dating has arrived. Date Night is a spontaneous, fun-filled dating show. Singles looking for love will use their family and friends to find their perfect match. Together, from their couches, they’ll play this online dating game, swiping through prospective suitors until they find The One. They’ll laugh, cringe and squirm until they meet the person of their dreams – or not. Anyone lucky enough to swipe a match gets to go on a date for real. Date Night is produced by Screentime for Nine. DRIVING TEST Driving Test is a heartfelt factual show that goes behind the scenes of people learning how to drive. From their very first lesson to the test itself, we’ll witness the highs and lows and the hits and misses as the drivers and their larger-than-life instructors score them a Pass or Fail. Set in Darwin, the only place in Australia where the driving test must be recorded, we meet people from all walks of life as they’re unleashed on the streets. They set off on the ride of their lives hoping to secure the ticket of their dreams – a driver’s licence. Driving Test is produced by Screentime for Nine. EAT WELL FOR LESS Spending too much at the checkout? Want to break bad shopping habits? Want to save money for the things that really matter? Eat Well For Less is an inspiring new 2-part series, that offers entertaining and practical ways to east better and save money while you do it. It will change the shopping, cooking and eating habits of a nation. Our hosts take families who are cash strapped and time poor, seize their shopping trolley, and then meal by meal, transform the way that family eats. They will secretly film the families when they do their supermarket shopping to expose their problems and attempt to mend their ways. From tips and tricks to grand public experiments, it’s a show full of fascinating insights into exactly what we put into our fridges, cupboards and our bellies. Eat Well For Less will show the average Australian family what to buy, how it’s made and where to buy it, so they can shop, cook and eat for less without scrimping on quality. Eat Well for Less is produced by Screentime for Nine. RETURNING SERIES AUSTRALIAN NINJA WARRIOR The Australian Ninja Warrior phenomenon that captivated the nation with record ratings in 2017 will return in 2018 – even bigger and better. Hosts Ben Fordham and Rebecca Maddern will be joined again by Freddie Flintoff for the ultimate event television format of the year. Ninjas will come from far and wide, with over 8000 hopefuls being narrowed down to 300 of the most physically and mentally tough contestants who will have the chance to tame the toughest obstacle course in the world. Get ready for every tantalising jump, swing, hang and run on “Ninja Island” when Ninjas zero in on the famed Mount Midoriyama. Will Australia’s first ultimate Ninja Warrior be crowned in 2018? Australian Ninja Warrior is produced by Endemol Shine Australia for Nine. MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT Married at First Sight, Australia’s most controversial and ground-breaking social experiment, returns for its fifth and most explosive series yet in 2018. Our three expert matchmakers – relationship psychologist John Aiken, neuropsychotherapist Trisha Stratford and dating expert and psychologist Mel Schilling – face the mammoth task of again pairing 20 brave singles, using a mix of neuroscience and psychology to try to create 10 perfect matches. You’re invited to 10 breathtaking weddings as Married at First Sight promises more drama than ever. The experts put relationships to the ultimate pressure test to determine if science really can predict true love for the 10 couples who will be getting married at first sight in the new series produced by Endemol Shine Australia for Nine.