“Richard & Judy” producer Amanda Ross has stressed that the duo’s book club strands will continue on Channel 4 beyond the end of their TV series next summer, and revealed plans of possible new book-related formats with different broadcasters.
Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan announced last week that they would not continue with the twice-yearly run of their daily chat show. But Ross—m.d. of production company Cactus TV—told The Bookseller that Channel 4 would continue with elements of on-air and in-store promotions of the Best Read and Summer Read strands “in some form” into 2009, as well as with the TV screening of the British Book Awards.
She added that Cactus will also pursue new book-related commissions from the wider broadcast industry: ”We’re very excited about the relationships we have built within the publishing industry in the last five years and are keen to progress TV projects that could help encourage more of the population to read.”
Meanwhile, the husband-and-wife team want to spend time on various writing ventures. Madeley is currently writing the non-fiction Fathers and Sons (Simon & Schuster), while Finnigan is “keen to develop fiction”, according to their literary agent Luigi Bonomi. She is currently working on “a woman’s novel with a dark plot to it”, which might materialise as early as next spring.
Wow Judy is writing a book! Maybe she can feature it on her book club and it will become an instant bestseller! Does she have designs on the being the next JK Rowling instead of just a tv presenter?
