A round up of BBC announcements, press releases and blogs, plus some highlights from our TV, radio and online output last week.
Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games on the BBC
BBC Sport is heading down under this April to bring fans the greatest moments of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, live from Australia.
Sport Relief 2018
Sport Relief is back for 2018 bringing a bumper night of entertainment, music and comedy to BBC One and for the first time the show will come live from Salford.
BBC to coach disadvantaged school students for apprenticeship success
New BBC schemes are to improve opportunities for young people from diverse backgrounds, to help them get sought after apprenticeships in the BBC and creative sector.
Announcements and blogs
BBC Three
Controller BBC Three Damian Kavanagh announced on Wednesday that BBC Three is expanding its commissioning remit, with an additional £10million investment to launch a new editorial pillar, two years after going online.
In addition, the network launched Perfect Day, a new short film that opens minds to the many individual perfect days that BBC Three celebrates.
Drama
BBC Two confirmed this week that Parks and Recreation’s Nick Offerman is latest name to join the cast of Good Omens.
Meanwhile, it was announced that Killing Eve, a new high-stakes thriller from multi-award winning writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) has been acquired and will premiere on BBC One and BBC Three later this year.
Entertainment
The media pack for BBC One's brand new comedy entertainment show Are you Ready or Not? was published.
Factual
This week BBC Two released the media pack for Pilgrimage: The Road To Santiago featuring Neil Morrissey, Debbie McGee, Heather Small, Ed Byrne, Kate Bottley, Raphael Rowe and JJ Chalmers who embark on a spiritual journey of a lifetime.
The network also confirmed that the New Vanessa Engle documentary film The Funeral Murders is coming to BBC Two.
Learning
James Purnell, Director, BBC Radio and Education announced on Thursday his intention to focus the BBC’s education mission around improving social mobility across the UK.
Music
Details of the Biggest Weekend - coming to Belfast, Coventry, Perth and Swansea this summer with coverage on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four plus radio, online and mobile - were revealed.
Radio
Radio 4 confirmed that Sir Ian McKellen, Frances Barber and Simon Russell Beale are to star in new adaptation of Paradise Lost on the network.
Elsewhere, BBC Radio Wales announced a brand new partnership with Machynlleth Comedy Festival with more programming than ever coming from the annual event.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed that this year’s BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, held at Belfast Waterfront on 4 April, will see singer-songwriter Nick Drake inducted into the Folk Awards Hall of Fame.
National
On Wednesday, BBC Cymru Wales unveiled a major new apprenticeship and training scheme to ‘turbo-charge’ BBC Wales’s commitment to recruiting talent from under-represented communities.
International
On Monday, BBC Russian premiered its TV programme, BBC Debates (Дебаты Би-би-си) on bbc.com/russian, and on TV Rain. While on Tuesday 6 March BBC World Questions went to Belgrade to host a debate on the country’s political and economic future, and to find out what Serbians themselves think about world events.
Also on Tuesday, BBC Hausa news headlines and radio programmes became available globally via the free BBC Hausa App. Launched by BBC World Service and AudioNow the app can be accessed on mobile phones and tablets. It is available through the Google Play and Apple App stores.
Blogs
Sinead Rocks, Director of BBC Education considers how, in an age when education is widely recognised to be the most significant element in determining life chances; the BBC can ensure that everything we do in this space is as impactful as possible in BBC Education: How we can encourage social mobility in the UK.
On Thursday to mark International Women's Day four inspiring women from across the BBC took part in 60-second quickfire video interviews - discussing their own inspirations and tips for the next generation wanting to follow in their footsteps.
In addition, BBC Arabic is 80 this year, and to mark the occasion BBC Arabic Online Editor Mustafa Kadhum charted the development of the network from radio to the digital era.
There was also the weekly BBC iPlayer Highlights 10-16 March.
Broadcast Highlights
Ellie Undercover: The Botox Bust
- Ellie Undercover: The Botox Bust, Wednesday 7 March, BBC THREE
- Not Going Out, Thursday 8 March, BBC ONE
- Still Game, Thursday 8 March, BBC ONE
- Women's Football: USA v England, Thursday 8 March, BBC TWO
- Putin - The New Tsar, Friday 9 March, BBC TWO
- The Swedish Ambassador’s Guide To Britain, Saturday 3 March, BBC WORLD SERVICE
- 5 live At The Oscars, Sunday 4 March, BBC RADIO 5 LIVE