BBC Worldwide’s Brit orders motoring series

The BBC’s new international channel brand Brit has commissioned its first series Mud, Sweat & Gears.

The new show will be coproduced by BBC Worldwide channels Brit and BBC America as part of a wider push into original content.

The show will be fronted by British car journalists Tom ‘Wookie’ Ford and Jonny Smith and follow the pair as they head up two team s competing over 24 hours to reconstruct and modify cars and other vehicles.

The series will be shot in California and was ordered by Perry Simon, general manager, BBC America and Tracy Forsyth, vice president, commissioning, Original Content BBC Worldwide.

Simon said: “Mud, Sweat & Gears is a perfect fit for BBC America’s Top Gear-driven Monday night line-up, where we’ve built an audience that loves joining clever hosts engaging in humorous challenges and activities. BBC Worldwide Productions has created a series to showcase the talents of hosts Wookie and Jonny, and will be delivered to a global audience through our partnership with BBC Worldwide Channels.”

The male-skewing BBC Brit channel will start rolling out this year. It is one of three new brands from BBC Worldwide alongside factual channel BBC Earth and the upcoming premium drama and entertainment network BBC First.

BBC Worldwide is on an original programming drive for its own channels and recent commissions include: Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook: Cosmopolitan Cities, Factomania and Million Dollar Intern.