Disney+ to Add Live Channel 4 and On-Demand Shows in UK and Ireland
Starting in early 2027, Disney+ subscribers in the UK and Ireland will get Channel 4’s live HD channel, hundreds of hours on demand and selected simultaneous releases at no extra cost.
The short answer: Starting in early 2027, Disney+ subscribers in the UK and Ireland will get Channel 4’s live HD channel, hundreds of hours on demand and selected simultaneous releases at no extra cost.
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Disney+ subscribers in the UK and Ireland will be able to switch between Channel 4’s live television schedule and its on-demand shows without leaving the app. Starting in early 2027, a new agreement will bring the broadcaster’s main HD channel, hundreds of hours of programming and selected new releases to Disney+ at no extra cost.
The service will sit inside a Channel 4-branded section, using the same navigation as the rest of Disney+. Multiple new Channel 4 shows each year will become available on demand on Disney+ on the same day they arrive through Channel 4. That simultaneous-release arrangement covers selected shows, not the broadcaster’s entire schedule.
The named simultaneous releases include Maya, Stepping Up and Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. The broader on-demand offering will include Big Mood, Tip Toe and 24 Hours in A&E, bringing scripted and unscripted programming into the same subscription.
The shows behind the deal
Maya pairs The Last of Us actor Bella Ramsey with Daisy Haggard, who created and wrote the six-part thriller and co-directs with Jamie Donoughue. Haggard plays Anna, a mother who enters witness protection with her teenage daughter Maya, played by Ramsey. They leave London for a small Scottish town and take on new identities, but two hitmen are intent on tracking them down.
Ramsey told The Guardian in August 2026 that they had expected Sunny Dancer to be their last teenage role. They reconsidered for Maya, explaining that they were still open to playing teenagers if the characters were interestingly written.
Stepping Up takes a different approach to family pressure. Written by and starring Josh Pugh, the six-part comedy follows an overeager stepdad whose determination to be helpful disrupts a family that was doing fine already. Denise Welch plays his mother, Sue, while Loki actor Sophia Di Martino plays his partner, Becky. Pugh drew on his own upbringing for the premise.
I live and grew up in a small town with stepparents on both sides, and I think it's a huge untapped well of comedy. Josh Pugh, writer and star of Stepping Up
Channel 4 commissioned Stepping Up as a series after its release through the broadcaster’s Comedy Blaps strand. That earlier version offers a look at the comedy’s origins before the commissioned sitcom.
A local partnership with a wider strategy
Local broadcaster partnerships are very important as we build our content libraries and serve fans around the world. Adam Smith, Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer, Disney Entertainment
Smith described the agreement as part of Disney+’s global strategy to combine locally relevant programming with a more personalized streaming experience. In the UK and Ireland, that approach will put a broadcaster’s live channel alongside its on-demand programs inside Disney+.
Channel 4 has its own streaming ambitions. Its Fast Forward strategy set a goal of becoming a digital-first public service streamer by 2030. The broadcaster reports that its UK viewers ages 16–34 streamed 53% of their total Channel 4 viewing in 2025, up from 36% in 2023. The Disney+ arrangement will offer both ways of watching—live television and on-demand programs—in one destination.
The exact launch date within early 2027 and further details of the available programming will be announced later.