Channel 4 greenlights 'God TV' doc

Channel 4 has commissioned a documentary about evangelical Christian channel God TV.

The programme, to be fronted by Keith Allen, will take a critical look at the British-owned Christian broadcaster and its fundraising activities.

Produced by Associated Rediffusion, the production company run by writer Victor Lewis-Smith, the 60-minute documentary is set for transmission later this year. The show was commissioned by Channel 4 head of entertainment Andrew Newman.

The company also made Tourettes de France, which saw Allen document his travels round France with a group of Tourette's Syndrome sufferers.

God TV currently broadcasts on Sky channel 760, on Ntl:Telewest and online. It was set up in 1995, and on its website claims to have a worldwide audience of 275 million. In September last year, Ntl announced it was working with God TV to built a hi-tech broadcast centre in Plympton, near Plymouth.