Over the weeks ahead across its family of channels ITV will offer the latest insight and guidance as we move through this unprecedented crisis, reflect the ways we are rapidly adapting our lifestyles and bring bags of drama and entertainment to lift viewers’ spirits.

ITV’s Spring schedule is bursting with new programming and returning favourites that will bring together audiences, keep people informed and engaged with developments and offer them some escape from the impacts of the crisis. ITV’s schedule is built around several strong pillars:

Daytime Live - offering six and a half hours of live news and discussion programmes from GMB through to This Morning. All shows have seen an increase in viewing volumes and share of viewing as they report on the crisis and help people manage through it. Both Dr Hilary and Martin Lewis have established themselves as the leading TV experts providing advice and guidance during these uncertain times.

Afternoon - ITV’s popular quiz and game shows entertaining millions every day and culminating in the ever popular Chase.

National and regional news - our trusted news teams are showing great innovation and professionalism to bring viewers the latest and best reporting with newly commissioned current affairs programmes on life during the crisis.

Saturday night entertainment - ITV’s trademark uplifting shiny floor shows with brand new episodes each week throughout the Spring from the record breaking Saturday Night Takeaway [ITV Studios and Mitre Television production] to the returning Britain’s Got Talent [Fremantle].

Drama - an impressive slate from Julian Fellowes’ Belgravia [Carnival Films] to the eagerly anticipated Quiz [Left Bank Pictures] starring Michael Sheen as Chris Tarrant with Matthew Macfadyen as the so-called ‘coughing Major’ and Sian Clifford as his wife Diana in the scandal which rocked Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Soaps - the two biggest Soaps on TV, Coronation Street and Emmerdale [ITV Studios], will continue to run through the Spring and into the early Summer.

Factual Entertainment- offering adventure, humour and emotion with new Harry’s Heroes: Euro Having a Laugh [Talkback] and Gordon Gino & Fred: Road Trip [Studio Ramsay].

CITV - with brand new shows for children including Lego Hiddenside and Mighty Mike during the week and Scrambled! on weekend mornings.

Sport - we’ve even found a way to bring you some live sport with the Virtual Grand National [Carm Productions] using CGI and sophisticated algorithms to stage the race.

Britain Get Talking - ITV’s landmark mental wellness campaign, Britain Get Talking, returned last Saturday and continues to be supported on air with messages of support and love from viewers and famous faces including Ant and Dec, Davina McCall, Susanna Reid, Lorraine Kelly and Gordon Ramsay.

Kevin Lygo, ITV Director of Television, said:

“ITV’s aims are to serve up as much information, guidance and entertainment as possible to help people to get through this extraordinary time.

“That’s why we’ve put exciting new shows into the schedule while doing everything possible to keep our live daytime programmes on air to speak directly to you each day, along with our rock solid news bulletins.

“We hope Saturday night entertainment like Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain’s Got Talent and In For a Penny continue to entertain millions of people on a Saturday night, and factual offerings from Harry’s Heroes to Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip will offer some comfort and escapism in the weeks ahead. New dramas such as Julian Fellows’ Belgravia, The Good Karma Hospital and the upcoming Quiz all aim to enthrall viewers through the coming weeks. We’ve even staged our own Virtual Grand National to help you ride this out. We hope you tune in and enjoy what we have to offer.”

SATURDAY NIGHT ENTERTAINMENT:

Weekends will be brightened with much-needed glamour and excitement from new Saturday evening shows each week. Demonstrated by last week’s Saturday Night Takeaway, [ITV Studios Entertainment/Mitre Productions], big, event shows can create unifying national moments, providing a welcome focal point for collective experience at this time. Highlights coming soon include the return of Britain’s Got Talent [Thames TV/Syco Entertainment], a brand new primetime take on daytime hit The Chase Beat The Chasers [produced by ITV Studios label Potato], and later in the spring, riotous new offering, Alan Carr’s Epic Gameshow [Talkback, part of Fremantle].

DRAMA:

Alongside new hits Kate & Koji [Hat Trick Productions] and Belgravia, in Drama we have Michael Sheen playing Chris Tarrant alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Sian Clifford as Major Charles Ingram and his wife Diana in Quiz, which tells the extraordinary and sensational true story of how the couple attempted an ‘audacious heist’ on the ITV quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? New series Van der Valk (Company Pictures) stars Marc Warren as streetwise Dutch detective Van der Valk in a new detective drama filmed entirely on location in Amsterdam. And throughout Spring the two biggest Soaps on TV, Coronation Street and Emmerdale [ITV Studios] continue to run.

DAYTIME:

Days indoors will be enlivened by our uniquely vibrant live morning menu, which has drawn record audiences in recent days as viewers engage with Good Morning Britain and This Morning during the crisis. Already these shows have been adapting to the unprecedented changes happening around us to bring viewers new features with the most relevant guidance as well as its unrivalled brand of debate on the issues that matter most to people at home. Across the extended Good Morning Britain [ITV Studios] with Piers Morgan, Susanna Reid [even in isolation], Ranvir Singh, Ben Shephard and Charlotte Hawkins, followed by This Morning [ITV Studios] with Phillip & Holly or Ruth & Eamonn, viewers know ITV Daytime’s personality-packed morning lineup is bold, unafraid to tackle any subject and full of surprise.

Good Morning Britain continues to innovate as it navigates the crisis with new features #AskDrH and #AskMartin establishing themselves as fixtures offering expert advice and guidance during these uncertain times. Both attract huge responses, with #AskDrH trending at Number 1 on Twitter as viewers are drawn to Dr Hilary Jones’s clear, expert guidance.

Cabinet ministers and MPs join the show daily to answer tough questions and explain the ever-changing government policy, plus a raft of correspondents and top experts offer guidance and analysis.

On This Morning, resident doctors, politicians, plus health and lifestyle experts bring up to the minute updates, advice and tips linked to the current crisis and regular phone-ins answer viewers’ latest concerns.

Through the daily ‘The Morning View’ feature, viewers are also informed of the debate around the important issues in the current climate. In addition to the latest tips on all things affecting their current circumstances from finance to cooking and activities to do with the children whilst at home, the show continues to bring injections of fun with game show feature Spin to Win and This Morning’s ‘Best Bits’ to lift the mood during otherwise serious times.

The bright start to each day will continue at the weekends, as Breakfast at Garraways [Cactus] sees host Kate with her trademark warmth bring cooped up viewers top tips from what to cook and eat, what to watch, read and exercise.

NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Viewers are turning in increasingly high numbers to ITV’s comprehensive news output which continues to offer trusted reporting on the very latest developments both at national and regional level. New Current Affairs Programmes are being introduced to the schedule to provide in-depth focus on a range of ways coronavirus is impacting on our lives. Capturing personal experiences using an innovative mobile rig which does not require a film crew, Coronavirus, Isolation & Me [Shine TV] will provide a uniquely powerful insight into the newly universal experience of being separated from people and society, while new weekly show Coronavirus Q&A [ITV News], presented by Nina Hossain, offers the lowdown on life under lockdown, answering the key questions on the crisis. Our crisis coverage also includes a run of Tonight episodes on coronavirus, plus specials of the Martin Lewis Money Show and weekly politics discussion show, Peston, [MultiStory Media, part of ITV Studios].

FACTUAL:

We might be housebound, but vicarious adventure is on offer in abundance with brand new Factual Entertainment shows including Gordon Gino & Fred's Road Trip and Absolutely India: Mancs to Mumbai [MultiStory Media]. The challenges, laughs, emotion and tension continue with the welcome return of Harry’s Heroes: Euro Having a Laugh, with our hero getting the boys, Barnes, Merson, Ruddock, Seaman et al, back together on a jaunt around Europe in preparation for a final showdown with the Germans. And while won’t be getting behind the wheel much, new series The Secrets of the Driving Test [Curve Media] gives us an up close perspective on that most nerve-racking rite of passage.

ITV will also mark two important 75th anniversaries with landmark documentary films: The Queen At War [BBC Studios] for the 75th anniversary of VE day and Return to Belsen with Jonathan Dimbleby [MultiStory Media] for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp.

GAMESHOWS AND QUIZZES:

No one does quizzes or game shows like ITV and we’ll make sure viewers’ grey matter keeps whirring under lockdown. Our afternoon of well-loved quiz shows, Tenable, Tipping Point and The Chase, presented by Bradley Walsh, will keep the laughs coming while providing a mental workout. On top of that, we’ll see how the famous quiz, on brand new early evening series Britain's Brightest Celebrity Family from Gameface Productions, part of ITV Studios. Plus, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire returns in Spring.

SPORT:

The suspension of sport has left a major gap in our lives, but we’ve found a way to beat the freeze on games. The Virtual Grand National will use CGI and sophisticated algorithms to stage the race. But will Tiger Roll win a record-equalling third National?

Robbie Lyle: Football Fans Under Their Skin [Appeal] focuses on lifelong Arsenal fan and global YouTube star Robbie Lyle as he explores the issue of racism in football - not just for players on the pitch, but for the thousands of supporters like him who sit in the stands. This brand new film is joined in the schedule by a raft of acclaimed sports documentaries including Out of Their Skin, Football's Foreign Legion and Keane and Viera: Best Of Enemies.

KIDS:

Children are being treated to a glut of new shows on CITV, including Lego Hiddenside and Mighty Mike during the week and Scrambled! on weekend mornings, featuring Buck & Buddy, Ben 10 and Robozuna as well as Pokemon. CITV is also crammed with favourites such as Dave Spud, Mr Magoo, Scooby Doo, Lego: Jurassic World, Lego: Ninjago, Hotel Transylvania, Teen Titans Go and Drop Dead Weird

DIGITAL CHANNELS:

ITV2 is serving up brand new Family Guy, new Celebrity Juice episodes, stand up special, Joel Dommett: Finding Emo and introducing family films to the afternoons starting on Good Friday with Nanny McFee and Hop.

The Bachelorette, Celebrity Dinner Date, Real Housewives of Atlanta, Ferne McCann: First Time Mum and Dinner Date all return.

Quality story-telling from the ITV archive is all over ITV3 with much-loved shows including Ant & Dec's DNA Journey, a look at classic comedy legends with Rising Damp Forever, Morecambe & Wise Forever and Les Dawson Forever, plus a new chance to watch popular dramas, Grantchester, Hatton Garden, Flesh & Blood, Bancroft, Midsomer Murders and Deep Water.

New shows coming to ITV4 include Giant Lobster Hunters and The Motorbike Show as well as classic movies such as Rambo and Under Seige.

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