I trust you’ve enjoyed the sunny weekend. Don’t get used to it, obviously. The UK has gone back-to-the-old-school for its weather. To be precise, this means the school of fish that’ll be swimming down your local high-street in the near future. (And here was me thinking that April Showers was just an internet address that’s blocked in the office.)

Even worse though, Homeland is over. NIGHTMARE! I have to say, I never expected Brad Pitt to rock up in the last episode. And what about that cameo from Beyonce as the president? I thought the whole spaceship thing was a bit far-fetched though. (Fret not, if you haven’t seen it yet, none of this actually happened. But Carrie did get eaten by rabid guinea pigs – and you can still see the final ep on 4oD).

Fortunately though, as we all recover from our first Sunday night without it, here’s some good news: we’ve got Series 2 of Homeland. Woo hoo! And we’re so excited, we’re going to screen it all tomorrow… ah, hang on… apparently not, on account of it not having been made yet. Shake a leg Damo, there’s a good chap…

We’ve also just commissioned a second series of brilliant, moving, funny and fascinating The Undateables. If you never managed to test your own loveability last time around, have a go on our relationship quiz.

Plus, we’ve got Series 2 of Homeland. Woo hoo! Worth mentioning twice, at the very least.

Now, is it possible that you’ve got a hidden talent… one so hidden that you’ve never even thought to try and have a look for it? If you’re not convinced, the show Hidden Talent has been finding members of the public with just that. Tune in this Tuesday (15 May), where the experts keep an ear out for an opera singer:

Now you know it’s possible, why not take our specially designed tests to find out whether you’ve been doing yourself down all these years.

Talking of things hidden, the brilliant Unreported World is back in full swing for 2012, tackling the far-away stories that no one else does. You can watch it, of course, on 4oD – and the stream is available all over the world.

Each week there’s a plenty of behind-the-scenes extras. Here’s Seyi Rhodes from his recent report on wrestling in the Congo, in a situation suggesting that terms such as ‘free press’ and ‘Leveson Inquiry’ might be lost on Congolese politicians:

You can also catch the chart-topping UW podcast on iTunes.

For those of you who showed insufficient application and dedication to properly monitor the workings of Channel 4 over the last seven days or so (do please share with the rest of us what else was so important…), here’s a quick round-up of what’s on the radar.

Whoops! We only went and crashed a plane. Only on ruddy purpose! But it’s okay, it’s all in the name of science. It’s not like we’re on Top Gear! Speaking of destructive, feral animals, we put up some startling images of urban foxes – it seems they are becoming truly adapted to city life:

There’s plenty of close-up (and a touch more lifelike) video on the Foxes Live: Wild in the City website.

Meanwhile, we won a pencil. That might not sound too exciting, but it was a Yellow Pencil. Still not that fussed? It’s a very prestigious award, from Design and Art Direction (D&AD), and 4Creative have won (yet) another one, for their typically top-notch work on last year’s Street Summer season.

On the subject of awards, we were nominated for something like 1.2 billion Baftas, whoopdedoo, check us out! (It may have been closer to 24, but who’s counting?). Without going into too much detail (takes a deep breath), here are the shows in with a shot: This Is England, Random, Alan Carr: Chatty Man, Friday Night Dinner, Top Boy, Misfits, Shameless, Educating Essex, Mummifying Alan: Egypt’s Last Secret, We Need to Talk About Dad, Made in Chelsea, Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, Channel 4 News, The Bank Job, Derren Brown: The Experiments, Fresh Meat and Comic Strip: The Hunt for Tony Blair.

We also launched a spiffing new Facebook app, in support of the brilliant new show Very Important People.

And if this wasn’t enough, there are three Film4 films that will have their world premieres at Cannes this year (I’ll be sure to stop by if there’s a marina big enough for my yacht, Hollyoaks). And we also did something a bit different an ad break, connected to the trailer for Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s summer smash (out on 1 June, to be precise).

It’s worth keepying an eye out for a new brilliant comedy duo Cardinal Burns, whose (genuinely hilarious) series begins on E4, Tuesday 8 May at 10.30pm. Here’s a quick trailer:

In the meantime, be careful out there.

Can you imagine you’ve been imprisoned for eight years? Locked up in a far-off country, with no way of knowing what was going on in the world? Awful. Just imagine all the fantastic Channel 4 programmes you’ve missed…

But if that should happen to you, don’t worry. There’s a huge library of them on our 4oD service – take a look at the whole list right here.

No such luck for US soldier Sgt Nicholas Brody, played by Brit star Damian Lewis, who returns home after years as a prisoner of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s the opening scenario in Homeland, the Golden Globe-winning US drama coming soon to Channel 4.

But right from the off, something is a bit, well, off. Could this war hero be, in fact, a villain? CIA officer Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) has her suspicions. She also has more than her share of problems – not least of them her boss, played by another classy Brit, David Harewood.

Take a look at this clip from Episode 1 for a tense taster.

Homeland starts at 9.30pm on Sunday 19 February, and continues at 9pm in the following weeks. It’s a gripping show from some of the writing and production talent behind the legendary 24, and a great advert for British acting.

Not all adverts are ‘great’, I think we can all agree. But there has been no shortage of corkers (it’s an industry term – trust me). On Friday 17 February at 10pm, a new comedy panel-show takes a closer look at advertising. Think 8 Out of 10 Cats meets Mad Men.

While you’re imagining this, which I admit could be quite tricky, here’s the actual pitch:

Two team captains – comedians Mark Watson and Micky Flanagan – will each be joined by a fellow comedian and an insider from the world of advertising every week. As well as answering questions about ads (good and bad) from over the decades, the teams will be making a few promos of their own…

The Mad Bad Ad Show will be hosted by grizzled Channel 4 veteran Mark Dolan (but doesn’t he hide his grizzle well?). For a look back at Mark’s previous campaigning, try Balls of Steel, The Richard Taylor Interviews and The World’s… and Me.

Watch a short promotional film, advertising the aforementioned programme:

And last, but far from least, another Channel 4 favourite is back on our screens. The second series of Big Fat Gypsy Weddings is here. The brief for Series 2? Simple. More is more!

It arrives, aptly enough, at 9pm on Valentine’s Day. What better way to spend 14 February than in front of the TV? It’s about weddings, so it counts as romantic. (If you didn’t already know, it’s also about very, very large dresses.)

Here’s a look at the first episode, and remember that you can always relive the big days from Series 1 on 4oD here.

Brand new drama comes to 4 this week, with two very different takes on inner city lawlessness. First suspect in our police line-up is Top Boy, a raw four-part drama about inner-city drug and gang culture set in the East End of London.

Visit the site for video profiles of the cast and a filmed interview with writer Ronan Bennet. You can also download a mixtape of music from the show right here, right now.

In a scheduling move that reflects the drama’s gripping potency, Top Boy is being shown across four nights on Channel 4 this week, starting on Monday at 10pm.

Also this week there’s a less grim but no less brilliant take on ill-behaviour as the magnificent Misfits returns to your screens. Series 3 of the ‘superheroes with asbos’ drama kicks off on E4 – Channel 4′s juvenile deliquent sibling – at 10pm on Sunday.

Fans of the show will already know that main man Nathan has finally, and literally, gone West. If you haven’t already, you can see how Nathan, armed with a new superpower but the same old motormouth, checks out in style… Watch our exclusive online film Misfists: Vegas Baby on 4oD.

So how on earth to replace Nathan? Well, this clip might give you a clue.

You might recognise Misfits new arrival Rudy as actor Joe Gilgun who played skinhead Woody in the multi award-winning film This Is England. Acclaimed director Shane Meadows revisits his characters from this film in the Channel 4 drama This Is England ’86, which you can still catch on 4oD. And look out for Woody and the gang this Christmas in a one-off special, This Is England ’88.

Back to the welcome return of Misfits. To mark the occasion, we’ve released a new Misfits game for mobile from custody. Read all about it – or just download it and get on with playing it – here. It’s free, you don’t even have to nick it…

Finally, something else that’s free and well worth a gander.

Cracking (crackling?) new comedy drama Fresh Meat takes a wary step off the pavement to make room for Top Boy this week, but if you’re one of a growing number of lovestruck carnivores, despair ye not. You can watch brand new Episode 7 of Fresh Meat right here on 4oD even before it airs on telly. Now THAT’S fresh.

Here’s a sneak preview of Vod (what is her name short for? Video on demand, I imagine, but is that just me?) pulling Salman Rushdie’s literary pants down and giving him a spanking. Not literally, of course…

He’s back! Just as you thought it was safe to go about your daily business, along comes Derren Brown with more stunts, magic, illusion and general jaw-dropping ‘what the hell was that?’ type activity. Derren Brown: The Experiments starts this Friday at 9pm. Here’s a taste of things to come:

In the first show of this four-part series, Derren Brown investigates hypnosis and asks if a member of the general public could be hypnotised into killing a celebrity. Is this really possible? And which celeb will it be?

Personally, of course, I think Derren’s set the bar a bit low here. As a fully paid-up member of the general public, I could easily imagine doing away with any number of ‘celebrities’. Just hand me a blunt instrument and some sort of paper-thin alibi and I’d be right on it…

Anyway, I’ve veered off course somewhat. The Assassin airs this Friday at 9pm – but if you can’t wait until then, rest easy. We’ve got literally hours of Derren’s dark past collected here on the website, brought to you by the spooky magic of 4oD…

In this clip from Trick or Treat, Derren offers 19-year-old Lauren a choice: save a fluffy kitten’s life and win £500 – or lose the money and all nine of kitty’s lives.

So what does Lauren choose? That really would be letting the cat out of the bag – but I think it’s safe to say the answer’s fairly shocking. See for yourself now on 4oD…

Rock School, Cookery School, Jamie’s Dream School, School of Comedy… We’re all about the learning process here at Channel 4. This week, two very different shows about education turn up for their first day in class.

If you’ve not been to Uni - or your memory is still a little blurred – get a taste of what it’s like to arrive for the first time in Fresh Meat. It’s new for Wednesday nights, with the first episode airing on Channel 4 at 10pm on 21 September.

Taking a break from serving up premium comedy Peep Show, writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong have a rustled up a first class comedy-drama about a houseful of freshers.

Take a peep at the first show:

The keenest students among you will have noticed that this clip features comedian Jack Whitehall, and Joe Thomas of Inbetweeners fame.

Although his student character JP is unlikely to be exerting himself any time soon, the real JW has been working hard. You can see his stand-up take on 2005 in My Funniest Year on Friday 23 September, and on 4oD thereafter. Also, his prime-time entertainment show Hit the Road Jack will be rolling into town in the not too distant.

Joe receives top marks as an actor and writer in an excellent Comedy Showcase - Chickens. And, in case you hadn’t realised,  The Inbetweeners Movie has been doing rather well at a cinema near you…

But high-school students don’t really behave like the Inbetweeners… do they? You can find out for yourself in Educating Essex, an all-access doc that  uses more than 60 fixed cameras  to record life in a Harlow high school .

Join passionate head teacher Vic Goddard, his unique right-hand man and deputy Mr Drew and their teenage charges for seven episodes, starting at 9pm, Channel 4,  on Thursday 22 September.

Watch a quick trailer here. And no talking at the back…

I wanted to share how excited we are about the new 4oD service launched today on Channel4.com. I wanted to use this post to selfishly reflect on what is means from my perspective as the product manager for Channel4.com. And introduce you briefly to a few of the new features.

If you want to understand where this new product launch sits within the bigger picture for Channel 4 then look out for a separate post with links to some of the press coverage generated so far, which includes comments from our Head of VOD, Sarah Milton.

For me, with this launch we are not only creating a new home for 4oD on Channel4.com but taking the first few steps in the product’s evolution from an online player to a destination service.

With My 4oD we’ve created a reason for you to sign in each time you visit 4oD and the foundation for
an increasingly personalised 4oD experience.  By signing in to use My 4oD you can:

-   easily keep track of episodes you’ve recently watched or started watching (My 4oD History)

-  create a Playlist of episodes and schedule an evening’s viewing, or simply create a list of shows you don’t want to forget to watch (My 4oD Playlist)-   save your favourite shows in a single place and get in-page reminders whenever a new 4oD episodes is available  for you to watch (My 4oD Favourite Shows)

Simply browsing the site and clicking on the add to Favourite Shows and Playlist buttons allows you to quickly create and manage your My 4oD experience, helping ensure you never miss a thing.

A large proportion of 4oD users on Channel4.com prefer to ‘go large’ and watch 4oD in full-screen mode, so we decided to create what I believe is a market leading, immersive and elegant full-screen experience.

As you watch, our full screen cross-navigation panel allows you to explore previous series and  episodes, discover similar shows that users have been watching as well as the most popular  shows in that category being watched right now. Plus you can access and manage My 4oD and   even switch the show you’re watching… all without ever having to leave your full-screen view. 

We wanted this product redesign to highlight the fact that 4od on Channel4.com is more than just catch-up. So the new 4oD service not only makes it easier for you to plan and watch more of your favourite 4oD shows but also works harder to inspire your discovery of new shows, both current and classic.

We’ve brought over 5000 hours of 4oD programming to your fingertips with a fast and efficient predictive  search that gets you straight to play, a redesigned 4oD Homepage showcasing the best of what’s on offer on any given day, and a redesigned 4oD Player page optimised for in-page viewing and the discovery of related episodes and series.

We’ve created a Catch-up homepage dedicated to presenting what’s new to view, by day and by channel, and  a Browse All homepage that makes it easier than ever to explore the entire archive.

We also wanted to create a product that features more visible recommendations, refleting not only our take on the must-watch catch-up and archive shows, but also the shows which as 4oD viewers you are mostly watching or have discovered yourselves.

 On the new 4oD Homepage, we’ve plugged the Most Popular feature into our analytics  engine so you can see the most watched shows over the last 48 hours.

 On our redesigned 4oD Player page there are two further viewer-driven recommendations features.

 People Also Watched highlights shows watched by 4oD viewers who’ve also watched the show you’re on. I wanted to call the feature “Bruce recommends” after the clever chap who developed the algorithm that powers it, but right now we’ve opted for something more informative [but maybe less fun]. We think this recommendation feature is neat because, by contrast to the Most Popular feature, People Also Watched recognises the % overlap between views of one show and another, as distinct from the sheer volume of views for each. This makes the resulting recommendation a nice companion to those based strictly on popularity.

Alongside People Also Watched, you can quickly flip over and see another analytics powered feature offering you a view of the most popular shows by related category. So fans of a comedy show, by example, can instantly see the most popular comedy shows on 4oD at that particular moment.

 And finally of course, you can recommend, with Facebook and Twitter sharing functionality enabling to tell your friends and followers about the shows you love.

Despite the vastness of our unique on demand archive offer, 4oD on Channel4.com still feels to me more like a boutique experience rather than a warehouse, infused with the personality you’ve come to expect from the channel. We offer not just quick routes into the shows you’ve come to watch, but the option of a curated visit. The carousel on our new 4oD Homepage continues to epitomise this, but these days you’ll find the guiding hand of our editorial team in evidence across the whole of 4oD.

So if you don’t know what you’re looking for, allow yourself to be charmed – or challenged - and try something we think is a must-see.

Welcome to 4oD on Channel4.com: all new and now all yours.

Was it really only May 2008 when we first met Will, Jay, Simon and Neil on E4? Now, with three award-winning series of delightfully juvenile Sixth Form repartee under their frequently undone belts, The Inbetweeners are all grown up and ready to face the world.

Of course they’re not. Still a bunch of idiots, clearly. But at least they’re getting a holiday from the small screen – in a feature-length movie. With the huge success of the series to date – all available now on 4oD - you can’t deny that they’ve earned it.

Now showing, The Inbetweeners Movie has been ejaculated to premature success at the box office, with record-breaking early ticket sales. 

Get a taste of what to expect below, and relive some of the boys’ shameful antics with these Top 20 Inbetweeners clips.

And if after this you can’t bear to give up on the holiday atmosphere, Monday 29 August sees the return of a man who is no stranger to a vacation. Expert tour-guide Brendan is on the road again with a new series of Coach Trip.

Making Come Dine with Me look like gritty documentary isn’t easy, but Coach Trip has a very special blend of daytime television magic. If you’re uninitiated, follow some past routes with  Coach Trip on 4oD.

As ever, the show will be accompanied online by daily video blogs from Brendan.

And jumping to something completely unrelated, Random is the screen debut of playwright Debbie Tucker Green. The moving drama unfolds over the course of a single day, and was adapted from her own critically acclaimed play. A single random event, and a family is torn apart.

You can read the entry of the Random writing competition winner, and watch the trailer here:

If these rivers of rain are gnawing at your patience, perhaps this new home-grown E4 comedy can carry you away from it all?

Three English lads up sticks to lodge across the pond, working a season at Beaver Falls summer camp in the USA. Flynn, A-Rab and Barry have straightforward intentions: goof off, get booze, chase girls. How hard can it be?

Unfortunately – if their formidable employer has anything to do with it – a lot harder than they’ve anticipated. And then there’re the damn kids they’re supposed to look after…

Peep at a snatch here:

And there’s more from the noble British holidaymaker, whose good grace and effortless sophistication are legend the whole world over.

Holiday Hijack plucks unsuspecting lovers of luxury from their fancy hotels, and introduces them to real life among the local people of their resort destination. Here they’ll learn the consequences for the local environment of their five-star pampering.

Expect serious hissy fits from tourists whose usual experience of local culture is what they see out of a taxi while travelling between airport and hotel.

But there’s always a chance that they’ll learn something, see their lives in a whole new light even… ? A very, very small chance.

If you’re going away this summer, here are some tips for an eco-friendly trip. In the meantime, meet some of the hijacked holidaymakers:

Now to finish… You may already be hacked off with hearing about a certain mogul, but if your appetite for insight into a gripping scandal remains, read on.

Dispatches looks at Rupert Murdoch’s influence and political power in the UK  (his previous influence and political power, presumably?) in How Murdoch Ran Britain.

Also hot off the press,  the story of Murdoch: The Mogul Who Screwed the News is told by journalist Jacques Peretti.

Proof enough that we’re willing to scrape for the facts, no matter what it takes.

No, er… delete that… I don’t even know who wrote it. I’m sorry.

This is the most humble day of my life.

For a relatively law-abiding corner of the globe, Scandanavia is home to some tasty crime drama. Examples include Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy and the atmospheric Wallander – the Swedish TV series, of course, not the shoddy version peddled by local rivals (just kidding, lawyers).

The latest addition to this hoard of Scandy carnage is The Killing. The original Danish TV series spawned audience appreciation figures of 96% and a huge upsurge in online sales of Faroese jumpers, as sported by the female detective lead.

The drama centres around the murder of a young girl and the subsequent police investigation. Now the makers of Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead have remade The Killing for a US audience, and in doing so have managed to dial up the tension to 11…

What distinguishes The Killing from other ‘procedurals’ is its emphasis on the repercussions of murder on those left behind: the rage, the despair, and the relentless grief that echoes on, tearing the surviving family apart. (That and those Faroese jumpers, who resume their starring role on Channel 4 on July 7.)

From the metaphorically gripping drama of The Killing to the literally gripping drama of Sirens.

Why ‘literally’? Because the first episode of this new comedy drama features some rather graphic open-heart massage, performed at the scene of a car crash. Not for the faint-hearted. (Unless your pulse is really faint, of course…)

Sirens follows the mixed fortunes of a team of world-weary paramedics. The only jumpers this lot encounter are would-be suicides hanging off motorway bridges. This clip should give you a flavour of our occasionally gallant life-savers.

Visit the website for more clips and exclusive behind-the-scenes video, and don’t forget to watch the opening episode on Channel 4 on Monday 27 June at 10pm.

Of course, sick humour has always been something of a feature here at Channel 4. Quite apart from the brilliant Brass Eye, the gory Dead Set and the controversial Tramadol Nights – the surreal Green Wing, the fiesty No Angels and the spooky Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace were actually set in hospitals.

The good news? All the above are still available at any time on 4oD. Take one daily, or as required…