MUMBAI: Richard Hammond?s Crash Course, an adventurous new series which sees Hammond test drive some of America?s most hazardous vehicles, will be airing on BBC Entertainment this August and September.

The show kicks off on 27 August at 10 pm on BBC Entertainment.

The series follows Hammond, presenter of the motoring show ?Top Gear?. He travels across the US and faces the ultimate challenge of learning how to operate America?s largest and most dangerous vehicles. Immersed in some of the country?s most extreme environments, he has only days to master these monstrous machines, a task that takes years for most people to achieve. Throughout his journey, Hammond works alongside local experts who operate these machines daily, while getting a true taste of American hospitality.

BBC Worldwide Channels senior VP programming, TV channels David Weiland commented, ?We are delighted to deliver yet another distinctive and original series to our global audiences this August. The launch of Richard Hammond?s Crash Course is a fantastic example of our ongoing commitment to bring our viewers around the world closer together, and to provide original, high quality programmes that capture the very best of British talent.?

Having experienced more than his fair share of international auto-escapades, and whizzed along countless race tracks, Hammond has driven just about every high-powered and luxurious vehicle ever made, courtesy BBC Top Gear. Now, in Richard Hammond?s Crash Course, he experiences the world?s biggest and toughest vehicles that are made not for show, but to get a job done.

Visiting six locations, with just three days in each, he must learn how to handle a variety of complex and dangerous machines. Not only is he in a foreign land, he is now the student, getting his hands dirty and learning all aspects of the job from the men and women who operate these essential machines. In the end, the experts decide if he has successfully completed each challenge.

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC?s channel BBC One controller Danny Cohen and BBC controller, entertainment commissioning Mark Linsey have commissioned Initial (an Endemol company), to produce ?Secret Service?, a new six-part comedy series for Saturday evenings on BBC One.

The ?Secret Service? are a team of highly trained operatives (actors and comedians) who are looking for people who need to be pranked, wound up, or tricked into believing something utterly ridiculous while being secretly filmed.

In this hidden camera show, Richard and his elite Secret Service team are here to help the people of Britain. If you have a mission for them, and it needs to be kept secret from someone (and then broadcast to the nation) they are the team for you.

Linsey said, ?Richard has proved to be an enormous treat for the Saturday night audience with his own unique brand of humour, and I think the viewers are going to enjoy his Secret Service as much as they have Total Wipeout."

Initial creative director Nick Samwell-Smith said, "Following on from the great fun we?ve had with ?Total Wipeout?, we?re delighted to be working with Richard Hammond again on this exciting new hidden camera show, which will make for great family viewing on Saturday nights.?

MUMBAI: BBC America has announced its first primetime original show. ?No Kitchen Required? is an adventure cooking competition series that kicks off on 3 April.

Hosted by British presenter Dr. Shini Somara, the show follows three chefs as they are dropped into the most exotic and remote places on earth. There they must work with the locals to hunt, fish and forage for ingredients to create locally-inspired meals that will be judged by the communities.

?No Kitchen Required? joins BBC America?s stable of all-new original programming, along with Richard Hammond?s Crash Course, Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan and scripted drama Copper, which all premiere later this year.

The three fearless chefs are Michelin-starred New York restaurateur Michael Psilakis, first ever Chopped Grand Champion chef Madison Cowan, who has roots in London, Detroit and Jamaica, and elite personal chef from New Zealand, Kayne Raymond. The trio leave the comforts of their kitchens as they are dropped into ten locations around the world including Dominica, New Zealand, Belize, Fiji, Chiang Dao - Thailand, Koh Lanta - Thailand, Hawaii, New Mexico, Louisiana and Florida.

Integrating themselves in the communities, the chefs are exposed to all of the flavours and traditions of the locals. Challenged with the task of putting their own spin on the traditional cuisine, they are eagerly guided by locals who demonstrate the best techniques for catching their protein, including diving for crayfish and crabs, hunting for iguana with a slingshot, using a bow and arrow to hunt turkey and spear fishing for trout. It?s up to the chefs to combine their skills with the techniques and flavours of the locals to create a delectable feast for their hosts in just three hours. While all three chefs must face the hardships of the environment, only one can win the vote of their toughest critics ? the locals.

The show?s executive producer, director Chachi Senior said, " ?No Kitchen Required? is definitely the first of its kind. We?re introducing the viewing audience to cultures they may not be familiar with and using food as the vehicle for them to learn about these cultures. Along the way they get to engage in a rocking adventure through the eyes of our chefs."

Meanwhile, viewers who tune into the premiere episode of No Kitchen Required will have the opportunity to enter into a sweepstakes to win a trip for two to Hawaii. A secret entry code will be revealed during the broadcast.

MUMBAI: English entertainment channel BBC Entertainment?s car show ?Top Gear? will air a special on 1 February at 11 pm.

In the special, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May set out to boost the British economy by embarking on a trade mission to India. Equipped with classic British cars - a Rolls Royce, Mini Cooper and a Jaguar - they set off on an epic road trip across India, devotedly promoting Britain with distinctly mixed results.

Their Indian adventure starts in Mumbai where they give the local dabbawallas a hand at delivering lunch boxes. Will Mumbai traffic get the best of them? The verdict lies in the hands of the dabbawallas.

Next stop is Jaipur, where the boys host a rally to test the mettle of Indian vehicles against their British wares. From a tuk-tuk or auto-rickshaw, to a Nano, an elephant and even the local policemen, the Jaipur dash has a array of racers all set to win the inaugural Top Gear India Hill Speed Climb Event. In Delhi, the boys host a gala with the who?s-who of town in attendance.

In typical ?Top Gear? fashion, nothing goes as per plan! With their trade mission going downhill, the boys head uphill to the mountains of Simla. Will the boys finally get lucky and accomplish what they?ve set out to do? A game of ?Straight Six Cricket?, a reinvention of cricket by Jeremy, might do the trick!

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC has announced a bumper feast of new programmes and seasonal specials for Christmas.

Leading the line up of drama is an adaptation of Charles Dickens?s ?Great Expectations?, featuring Ray Winstone, Gillian Anderson, David Suchet and Douglas Booth.

In another adaptation, Mary Norton?s classic children?s books will be brought into the 21st century in ?The Borrowers?, starring Stephen Fry, Victoria Wood and Christopher Eccleston.

The story of children?s book ?The Gruffalo?s Child? is told through a magical animation and voiced by Shirley Henderson, Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, Robbie Coltrane, James Corden, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson.

There will also be a Doctor Who Christmas Special where the Doctor, played by Matt Smith, will be joined by a stellar cast including Claire Skinner, Bill Bailey, Arabella Weir and Alexander Armstrong.

In comedy two new episodes of ?Absolutely Fabulous? will see Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley reprise their roles as the champagne-swigging Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone. They will be joined by the original cast of Julia Sawalha as Saffy, June Whitfield as mother and Jane Horrocks as Bubble.

Sir David Jason is back in a comedy role on BBC One for the first time in 20 years leading the cast of The Royal Bodyguard, and Sue Johnston stars in a new Christmas comedy, ?Lapland?.

Leading the laughs on BBC Two this yuletide will be a new four-part comedy adventure series ?The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff?. Kicking off the series there will be a one-hour Christmas special featuring an impressive cast of Robert Webb, Katherine Parkinson, Stephen Fry, David Mitchell, Celia Imrie, Pauline McLynn and Johnny Vegas.

There will be a Michael McIntyre Christmas Special to look forward to and Christmas editions of Mrs Brown?s Boys, Rev, Outnumbered, John Bishop?s Britain, Have I Got News For You and The Graham Norton Show.

The ?Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special? will bring some seasonal sparkle to the Christmas schedule with five new celebrities donning their sequins and dancing shoes to battle it out for the crown of Strictly Christmas champ.

Spreading a bit of Christmas cheer will be a one-off special edition of Jim?ll Fix It. Presented by Shane Richie the programme will see a whole new generation of children have their dreams fixed for them.

In this year?s ?Top Gear Special?, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May set out to boost the British economy by embarking on a trade mission to India. Equipped with three old British cars and a range of uniquely British products, they set off on an epic road trip across one of the world?s most fascinating and challenging countries.

Aled Jones introduces a very festive Songs of Praise, Big Sing from London?s Royal Albert Hall; meanwhile Carols from King?s tells the Christmas story, assisted by carols from the world-famous Chapel Choir of King?s College, Cambridge.

Heralding the 2012 bicentenary celebrations of Charles Dickens, Dickens on the BBC includes the documentary strand Arena on BBC Four, which opens the door on the vast Dickens onscreen archive that has been generated over a century across the globe. On BBC Two, Sue Perkins exposes the lesser-known reality of the Dickens family Christmas, looking at the marriage of Charles Dickens through the eyes of his wife, Catherine, in Mrs Dickens?s Family Christmas, and Armando Iannucci uses Dickens?s masterpiece David Copperfield to unpick the language and analyse the characters to explore the revolutionary development of Dickens as a storyteller.

BBC Vision director George Entwistle said, "At the heart of our 2011 Christmas offering, we have a number of programmes inspired by the work and life of one of Britain?s greatest writers, Charles Dickens. From a bold adaptation of Great Expectations to a brilliant new comedy The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff, and high-quality documentaries from Armando Iannucci and Sue Perkins, we have something to keep every member of the family entertained over the festive period.

"With the return to our screens of Absolutely Fabulous and Sir David Jason, with the Royal Bodyguard, it will be truly unmissable television here on the BBC this Christmas.??