ITV1 is to launch a landmark campaign to help fight obesity, which will see celebrities and members of the public pledging to lose weight.
The Feelgood Factor, which will tie in with the government's Change4Life campaign, is one of the highlights of ITV1's winter and spring 2009 schedule, unveiled today.
ITV's anti-obesity campaign will launch with a major entertainment show in January and culminate with a follow-up programme at the end of March.
The programmes, which will air in prime time weekend slots, will feature music, dance and comedy as well as weight loss advice and challenges from experts and celebrities.
The eight-week initiative, which will raise money for charity by getting people to be sponsored to lose weight, will also involve the ITV regions and daytime output.
ITV controller of music and events, Guy Freeman, said this would be one of the first major campaigns undertaken since Carlton and Granada merged to create ITV plc.
"Historically, ITV has been very good at doing campaigns in its regions but we have never tied them up with things on air," Freeman added.
"This is a chance to show that we can campaign in that area. ITV is now one company and it is a good opportunity to show we can do things together."
ITV director of television Peter Fincham denied that the campaign was an attempt to move into the sort of public service broadcasting area the BBC usually occupies with Children in Need and Comic Relief.
"ITV does stuff in this area too. It is right that a big broadcaster with our sort of size of audience has a big profile. It is absolutely right we do these things." Fincham said.
In related programming, former Brookside star Claire Sweeney will be seen piling on the pounds to see what happens to people's health when they get too fat.
Claire Sweeney: My Big Fat Diet, which is being made by independent producer Spun Gold, will see the actor eat whatever she wants and suffer the consequences.
ITV controller of popular factual, Jo Clinton-Davies, said the experiment, which has already been filmed, saw Sweeney add seven inches to her waist and put on two stone as well as ending up with a high cholesterol level.
Fincham also said the new ITV1 Philip Glenister drama about vampires, to be called Demons, would air on Saturday evenings.
Primeval will also return as ITV1 tries to challenge BBC1's early Saturday evening family drama line-up of shows such as Doctor Who, Merlin and Robin Hood.
The first clips of the UK version of the American drama franchise Law and Order were also screened to journalists, with former Coronation Street actor Bradley Walsh taking a lead role.
Other new ITV1 shows for early 2009 include new a Chris Tarrant quiz, The Colour of Money, factual series Martin Clunes: Islands of Britain, and comedy Al Murray's Multiple Personality Disorder.
Fincham conceded that ITV was going through a tough time economically, but said "people are still watching TV".
He added that even though several dramas had been put back, the genre would still be at the heart of the ITV1 schedule next year.
"We will have lots of drama on screen, but it is no secret that, if we are balancing a budget, factual programmes are less expensive. The commitment at the channel to drama is one of the most important we make," Fincham said.
Today's ITV1 season launch was Fincham's first since resigning as BBC1 controller following a similar event in July last year where journalists were shown a promo clip for a documentary featuring misleadingly edited clips of the Queen.
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