WITH Bargain Hunt captivating viewers for 24 years, there’s no wonder the Beeb is keen to and build on its success.
And I can reveal bosses are working on a new, posh version of the format called The Art Game.
But instead of scouring fairs and boot sales for budget antiques, contestants will try to buy and sell pieces of art.
A source said: “Bargain Hunt averages around two million viewers a day so it’s little surprise that twists on the format are always being considered by commissioners.
“The latest is The Art Game, with a six-part series being made by BBC Arts.
“Each hour-long episode will follow ordinary people as they try to buy art they think will turn a profit.
“From Monet to Banksy, and everything in between, it has a more cultured edge to it than Bargain Hunt’s trawl for antiques but is just as exciting, if not more, as larger stakes are involved.
“The show should air next year.”
On BBC One’s Bargain Hunt, teams are given £300 and one hour to buy collectibles.
The items are then sold at a real auction a week later to see which teams makes the biggest profit.
The Art Game has been made by Stellify Media, who are behind Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.
But I doubt the Beeb would get away with handing out a similar budget to its art connoisseurs.
RAY’S ALL PRAISE FOR THEO
HE’S worked alongside film greats such as Martin Scorsesse and Steven Spielberg but that doesn’t stop Ray Winstone being impressed by newer faces.
Netflix confirmed this week that the Guy Ritchie-directed series The Gentlemen, which stars Ray, Theo James, Kaya Scodelario and Daniel Ings. will get a second series.
And Ray is hoping to be back on set after his co-stars left him pleasantly surprised.
He told the Let Me Be Frank podcast: “Young ones like Theo, they’re pros. They’re great to work alongside.
“Their work ethic is probably one hundred times more than mine was when I started because we didn’t have the competition.
“They’ve got to be good [or] someone else is going to take their place.”
He added: “I haven’t been approached to do number two – I hope so, as I really enjoyed doing it.”
THE 40th anniversary of an IRA attempt to assassinate members of the British Govern-ment, including then PM Margaret Thatcher, will be marked with a BBC documentary.
The Brighton Bomb details the events around the hotel explosion in October 1984 during The Troubles.
DANIELLE: IT’S FISHY BUSINESS
EASTENDERS fans often see Kat, Alfie and Billy popping into Beale’s Plaice for supper – but you won’t see them eating the food.
Danielle Harold, whose character Lola Pearce-Brown used to work in the chippie, has let slip a little behind-the-scenes secret, saying: “It’s all plastic fish in there.”
It meant poor Danielle had no advantage over her rivals, including TV presenters Craig Doyle and Edith Bowman on the new series of Celebrity MasterChef.
Not that she wanted to cook fish, anyway.
She told judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace she wanted to avoid it, but her plea fell on deaf ears.
The shocked actress said: “I hate fish. I said I don’t want a fish because I can’t fillet it.
“I did work in the fish and chip shop on EastEnders with Ian Beale but he didn’t teach me how to do any of this.”
JASON: YOU’LL BE SHOUTING
TELLY addicts beware – Jason Manford’s new show could be your next fixation.
The comedian will host game show The Answer Run, which sees contestants faced with quick-fire 50-50 questions to bank a cash prize.
Categories might be Dolly Parton or Barbie, Venus or Saturn, or EastEnders or Coronation Street.
And Jason’s hoping the simplicity of the format will be the secret to its success.
He tells The Sun’s TV Mag, free with the paper tomorrow: “I feel like this is going to be one of those addictive TV quiz shows where you’re sat at home shouting at the telly because you reckon you could’ve done better.
“But I promise, we’ll have a laugh too,” he added.
The BBC One show begins on Monday at 4.30pm.
LINER UP FOR SHIP SECRETS
CHANNEL 4 has gone behind the scenes of the world’s largest cruise ship to reveal the secrets of the floating feat of engineering that is Icon of the Seas.
But what might shock audiences most about the 365m-long Royal Caribbean ship is that it started life on the back of a napkin.
The company’s chairman, Richard Fain, first penned his vision for the ship’s glass roof on a tissue.
CEO Michael Bayley said: “When you enter into it, you feel like you have just entered heaven.
“Richard was trying to explain how he saw it, and drew it out on the napkin, and then we suddenly started to shift the perspective.”
The World’s Biggest Cruise Ship, Sunday, 8pm, Channel 4.
KIND OF MAGIC, CHLOE
LOVE Island besties Millie Court and Chloe Burrows let their hair down for a girls’ night watching Magic Mike Live in the West End.
It was a welcome break for Chloe, who next week steps into the Celebrity MasterChef kitchen.
But it seems the 2021 villa star is happiest when things are hot and steamy.
At Magic Mike, she was dragged on stage for a saucy lap dance by a topless hunk.
Afterwards, a laughing Chloe said: “I think I fell in love for three minutes.”
The raunchy stage show, a spin-off from the 2012 film starring Channing Tatum, inspired other Islanders to pucker up, with Tiffany Leighton spotted growing close to Blade Siddiqi at a boozy after-party following the show.
