THE BBC IS LOOKING FOR CHILDREN – AGED 5-8 – WHO ARE FINDING IT HARD TO MAKE FRIENDS.
Does your child shine at home, but struggle socially around other kids? The team behind The Dog House is making a brand new BBC series about childhood friendship and are looking for kids aged 5 to 8 who are finding it hard to make friends.
If this sounds like your child – or someone you know – filming is in July/August 2026, and we would love to hear from you.
🔗Apply at: https://bemyfriend.tv/
***
From the award-winning producers of Channel 4’s The Dog House, and one of the BAFTA-winning producers of First Dates, comes a brand new six-part series about friendship for BBC One and iPlayer from Five Mile Films.
We all know what it feels like to try and make a friend. Whether it’s an awkward hello, turning up to a party alone, or telling a joke that doesn’t quite land, the pursuit of friendship isn’t always easy.
Now imagine navigating all of that as a little kid.
Will You Be My Friend? explores the world of friendship through children – aged 5 to 8 – who are struggling socially. Some are shy, some feel like they don’t fit in, others simply haven’t found “their tribe” yet. They want to make a friend – but don’t know where to start.
Enter The Friendship Centre. Here, a team of psychologists help children build the confidence and social skills to form real, lasting connections with other kids. Each child is then sensitively matched on a play date with a potential new friend from their local area.
Six weeks later, we return home to see how their new-found courage has helped at school, in the playground and beyond.
The series is a timely reminder that just one friend can completely change your life.
And it all starts with one very simple question… “Will you be my friend?”
Emma Loach, Interim Head of Commissioning, Documentaries said: “The longing to connect, to be seen, and to belong is universal. Whether you’re five or fifty-five, I defy anyone to watch these children without seeing a little bit of themselves reflected.
“In a world that can feel increasingly disconnected, this series shows that the simplest gestures – a smile, a shared joke, a tentative ‘will you be my friend?’ – still have the power to change everything. Five Mile Films has brought us something very special, and we couldn’t be prouder to give it a home on the BBC.”
Nick Mirsky, CEO of Five Mile Films said: “I don’t think there’s a commission I could be more thrilled to bring to Five Mile. Will You Be My Friend? will be joyful, warm and funny, but it also does something genuinely new – inviting us to look closely at the challenge and art of making friends.”
Will You Be My Friend?, a 6×60’ for BBC One and iPlayer, is a Five Mile Films production.
The Executive Producers are Nick Mirsky, Adam Chapman and Jordan Maloy. It was commissioned by Clare Sillery, former Head of Commissioning, Documentaries and the Commissioning Editor is Beejal-Maya Patel. All3Media International acts as international partner.
