Expats TV show to continue in Bahrain

A third season has been announced for the Bahrain TV show that focuses on expats living in the region, set to hot screens in 2010. The show, entitled Memories, is the creation of Shaikh Isa bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, a Bahraini poet, and will air on Channel 55 of Bahrain Television.

However, the new season will have a new twist. In the first two seasons Memories centred on the lives of expats in their day-to-day life in Bahrain, while the new season will see directors trace a group of British expats who resided in Bahrain in the 1940’s to 1950’s and have since returned home to the UK.

Shaikh Isa claimed that the show and its producers have been in close contact with numerous expatriates over a number of years with and extensive catalogue of interviews compiled. The idea was to try something different for the third season and therefore travel to the UK itself to find those who had lived in Bahrain in the past. Shaikh Isa said the reason was that many had worked for various ministerial departments and all left with fond memories of their time in the country, as evidenced by the creation of the 7,000-strong Bahrain Friends Society. The Society, with the assistance of the London Bahrain Embassy meets twice a year to discuss issues in their once-home and to get in touch with fellow ex-expats.

The shows production team travelled far and wide across the UK and visited some of the most well-known locations such as Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, London Eye and the Tower of London. In addition, lesser travelled areas such as Chester, Norfolk, Rutland, Lymington, Gloucestershire and Exeter will all feature in the new series. The new style is expected to boost tourism indirectly in both countries.