Big Brother creator brings soap opera to mobiles

Endemol UK has teamed up with premium messaging provider Opera Telecom to release the first soap opera to be played out over mobile phones, using MMS picture messaging.

Due to launch later this month, FanTESStic charts the highs and lows of Tess, a Dutch DJ who has lost her memory and belongings while working in Ibiza.

Those who sign up - it will cost 50p per episode or £1.50 for five - will find out about her against-all-the-odds plight, told in cartoon-strip style. Characters include Nick, guitarist and singer in band No Deal (soon to be "the next Busted") and baddie baldie Deverell, pointed out by the promotional website as the actor who played Lurch in the Addams Family films.

Endemol UK is an arm of the Telefonica-owned production house that came up TV formats such as Fame Academy, The Salon, Ready Steady Cook and, of course, Big Brother (UK version).

Opera Telecom turns over more than £90m annually by providing premium SMS services, international switching, unified messaging, web development and other services.

Endemol said it is looking beyond FanTESStic at other MMS and mobile video projects to launch in the UK market.