ITV has confirmed that its groundbreaking interview series The Assembly will return for a second series next year, with an extended seven-part run. The show, which features a panel of autistic, neurodivergent, and learning disabled people interviewing celebrities, proved a hit with viewers during its first series earlier this year.
The new series will include six new interviews plus a seventh episode, The Assembly: Unseen, featuring extra footage. Producers are reportedly in talks with a Hollywood star to join the lineup, alongside figures from TV, film, music, and sport. A show source told the Mirror: “Bosses are thrilled that, not only is there a second series, but that they can do more episodes this time around. The calibre of names being discussed is really impressive.”
The first series featured interviews with Danny Dyer, David Tennant, Jade Thirlwall, and Gary Lineker, with Dyer left sobbing during his chat and Lineker and Tennant also getting emotional. The format, adapted from the French series Les Rencontres du Papotin, allows no question to be off the table and no topic out of bounds.
ITV entertainment commissioner David Smyth said the response to the first run had been “thrilling”, adding: “There was no doubt in my mind that we needed to do more.” Producer Stu Richards of Rockerdale Studios commented: “The chance to make something that plays by almost none of the rules of normal telly is just such a ludicrous privilege.”
The series received critical acclaim, with LBC’s Nick Ferrari calling it “breathtaking”, the Mirror describing it as “a breath of fresh air”, and the Radio Times deeming it “extraordinary”. ITV entertainment boss Katie Rawcliffe said the show was “ITV entertainment at its best”.
