Lion Television Scotland land new Channel 4 commission with sunshine escapist documentary, Welcome to Barbados

Lion Television Scotland announce their brand-new commission for Channel 4, Welcome to Barbados.  The 1 x 60 minute documentary will follow adventurous British families and individuals as they take an almighty plunge and relocate in the middle of a global pandemic, to work remotely from Barbados.

On 30 June 2020, the Barbados Government announced the introduction of the Barbados Welcome Stamp. This new remote working programme establishes a visa to allow people to work remotely in Barbados for a maximum of 12 months.  Welcome to Barbados will document the journeys of three families as they prepare to leave Britain, arrive on the breathtakingly beautiful island of Barbados, and settle into their new sun-soaked lives. 

The documentary will follow millennial Ashley, who only needs his laptop to work as a 3D digital animator, young family Kris and Brigitta and their three children who have been enrolled into a local school and Steve and Amanda. Amanda has recently retired and plans to get to know the island and its locals while Steve works remotely for a pharmaceutical company.    

Jo Street, Channel 4’s Head of Daytime and Head of Hub, Glasgow says: “Welcome to Barbados will bring audiences some much needed sunshine and give them the chance to escape the harsh realities of 2020 whilst dreaming about life in a hammock, on a beach…Now where do I get my visa.”

Lisa Hazlehurst, Executive Producer, Lion TV Scotland, says: “Welcome to Barbados has been a tremendously enjoyable show to make, following intrepid people escaping not only the UK winter but another lockdown, and starting a new adventure in the Caribbean sunshine. It’s been a real treat watching our families explore their new surroundings and make the very most of sparkling white sands and crystal clear blue water.”

Welcome to Barbados is a 1 x 60 minute documentary commissioned for Channel 4 by Jo Street, Head of Daytime and Head of Hub, Glasgow. The series is executive produced by Lisa Hazlehurst, Head of Lion TV Scotland which also produces BBC Daytime flagship show Homes under the Hammer.

About Lion TV

Founded in 1997, Lion Television is one of the UK’s leading producers of factual and entertainment programmes. With bases in London, Glasgow and New York, Lion is currently producing content for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky, CBBC and UKTV in the UK and Netflix, Discovery, National Geographic and Bravo in the USA, and a number of European and Asian broadcasters.

Recent programmes include; “Inside the Tower of London” (C5), “The Shock of the Nude with Mary Beard” (BBC2), “Battle of Britain” (C5), “We Are British Jews” (BBC2), “Her Majesty’s Cavalry” (ITV1), “Egypt’s Lost Pyramid” (C4 and Smithsonian), “Horrible Histories” (CBBC). Lion has made many notable archaeology films, including “Viking Apocalypse” (National Geographic) and “Chinese Chariots” (C4) and has twice won the British Archaeological Award for television – most recently for “Secrets of the Terracotta Army” (C4, PBS)

Lion TV operates as an independent company under Lime Pictures and is an All3 Media Company.