Show returns – but shorter

10 O’Clock Live is to return to Channel 4, but with a shorter format than last series.

Charlie Brooker, Jimmy Carr, Lauren Laverne and David Mitchell are all set to return to the show when it comes back early in the new year.

The focus of the ten-part series will again be on topical comedy and studio guests, but the format will be trimmed from an hour to 45 minutes.

The first, 15-part series had mixed fortunes earlier this year, launching with a strong 1.7million viewers after a high-profile advertising campaign, but audiences dipped to below 700,000.

Darren Smith, the channel's commissioning editor for entertainment, told MediaGuardian: ‘After learning from the first series, we're keen to cover the same kinds of stories, with a similarly acerbic angle but will be making efforts to make the running order a little more flexible.

‘That means we will have regular items but you perhaps won't see them every single week. It's a slightly more bespoke approach to the news agenda that gives the show room to breathe, and hopefully room to be even funnier.’

Published: 2 Nov 2011