Sci-Fi Sisters with Attitude Television September 2013 1 LOVE TV? SO DO WE!

April 2021

Sky’s Intergalactic: Sci-fi sisters with attitude Television www.rts.org.uk September 2013 1 LOVE TV? SO DO WE!

R o y a l T e l e v i s i o n S o c i e t y b u r s a r i e s o f f e r f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r t a n d m e n t o r i n g t o p e o p l e s t u d y i n g :

TTEELLEEVVIISSIIOONN PPRROODDUUCCTTIIOONN JJOOUURRNNAALLIISSMM EENNGGIINNEEEERRIINNGG CCOOMMPPUUTTEERR SSCCIIEENNCCEE PPHHYYSSIICCSS MMAATTHHSS

F i r s t y e a r a n d s o o n - t o - b e s t u d e n t s s t u d y i n g r e l e v a n t u n d e r g r a d u a t e a n d H N D c o u r s e s a t L e v e l 5 o r 6 a r e e n c o u r a g e d t o a p p l y .

F i n d o u t m o r e a t r t s . o r g . u k / b u r s a r i e s

# R T S B u r s a r i e s Journal of The Royal Television Society April 2021 l Volume 58/4

From the CEO It’s been all systems winners were “an incredibly diverse” Finally, I am delighted to announce go this past month selection. Russell himself received the that this year’s RTS bursary scheme is thanks to a crowded Outstanding Achievement Award. now open – applications can be made events calendar, cul- Thanks to Jonathan and to Kenton until 30 September. Thirty-five schol- minating in the RTS Allen, the juries chair. Congratulations arships will be awarded to individuals LOVE TV? Programme Awards to the winners and nominees, who are studying TV production or journalism, 2021. Hosting a cere- all featured in this issue. The nations and a further 10 bursaries will support mony in what was, in effect, an empty and regions have been busy with their those interested in working in a wide room was a big ask for anyone, but own line-up of events, including four range of technology roles. Jonathan Ross more than rose to the Student Television Awards ceremo- occasion, and brought a real sense of nies, which are reported in Television. SO DO WE! fun to an outstanding evening. Also inside, Caroline Frost investi- I am proud to agree with no less a gates how scripted TV is portraying figure than Russell T Davies that the people suffering mental health issues. Theresa Wise

R o y a l T e l e v i s i o n S o c i e t y b u r s a r i e s o f f e r f i n a n c i a l Cover: Intergalactic (Sky) s u p p o r t a n d m e n t o r i n g t o p e o p l e s t u d y i n g : Contents Georgia Keetch’s TV Diary The wolf of drama street RTS bursary scholar Georgia Keetch’s optimism grows as Even in a lockdown year, Jane Tranter’s Bad Wolf produced TTEELLEEVVIISSIIOONN PPRROODDUUCCTTIIOONN 5 she trades WhatsApp voice notes at 2am on a new film 20 a healthy litter of hits. Interview by Tim Dams Comfort Classic: Peep Show Drilling down into documentaries JJOOUURRNNAALLIISSMM Steve Clarke can’t get enough of this missing link The RTS gains an insight into the commissioning EENNGGIINNEEEERRIINNGG 6 between Men Behaving Badly and Fleabag 22 strategy for YouTube Originals Ear Candy: Obsessed with… Line of Duty Monkey business Caitlin Danaher’s go-to podcast for explanations of The RTS learns how the influential indie helped reinvent CCOOMMPPUUTTEERR SSCCIIEENNCCEE 7 baffling police acronyms and the latest fan theories 24 entertainment genres Working Lives: Head of development Arrested development PPHHYYSSIICCSS Nathalie Peter-Contesse describes the long and rocky An all-star RTS panel discusses the genesis of Channel 4’s MMAATTHHSS 8 road from idea to hit show to Matthew Bell 26 Frank of Ireland, a waster for our times It’s sci-fi but not as we know it The UK’s production revolution Shilpa Ganatra hails Sky’s mould-breaking space A line-up of senior TV industry figures analyses the 10 adventure Intergalactic 28 streamer-led boom for British talent and facilities F i r s t y e a r a n d s o o n - t o - b e s t u d e n t s s t u d y i n g A genius in his prime At the cutting edge Matthew Bell discovers how European TV companies Vice Studios President Kate Ward explains how her r e l e v a n t u n d e r g r a d u a t e a n d H N D c o u r s e s a t 12 struck new alliances for Amazon’s lavish drama Leonardo 30 group built a unique international production business L e v e l 5 o r 6 a r e e n c o u r a g e d t o a p p l y . Our Friend in the West A lockdown sensation Laura Aviles explains why Bristol’s TV and film community The RTS hears how the BBC’s Normal People energised 15 can play a vital role in the post-Covid economic recovery 32 the careers of its two stars The craft of telling a fairytale RTS Programme Awards 2021 F i n d o u t m o r e a t How the makers of The Crown painstakingly created Hosted by Jonathan Ross, the awards were presented 16 Diana Spencer’s emotional story for an outstanding episode 33 on 16 March in partnership with Audio Network r t s . o r g . u k / b u r s a r i e s How TV is tackling our mental health RTS news and events Across many genres, scripted television is taking mental Reports of the Society’s online sessions and awards 18 distress seriously. Caroline Frost investigates 42 ceremonies from around the UK # R T S B u r s a r i e s Editor Production, design, advertising Royal Television Society Subscription rates Printing Legal notice Steve Clarke Gordon Jamieson 3 Dorset Rise UK £115 ISSN 0308-454X © Royal Television Society 2021. [email protected] [email protected] London EC4Y 8EN Overseas (surface) £146.11 Printer: FE Burman The views expressed in Television News editor and writer Sub-editor T: 020 7822 2810 Overseas (airmail) £172.22 20 Crimscott Street are not necessarily those of the RTS. Matthew Bell Sarah Bancroft E: [email protected] Enquiries: [email protected] London SE1 5TP Registered Charity 313 728 [email protected] [email protected] W: www.rts.org.uk

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 3 Want to cross the finish line in style, and claim that podium place? Soundtrack the best sporting moments, from the build up to nail-biting finish with Audio Network.

SEND US YOUR BRIEF DISCOVER MORE [email protected] audionetwork.com/discover TV diary

RTS bursary scholar Georgia Keetch senses optimism in the months ahead – and trades WhatsApp voice notes at 2:00am on a new film

hen I a media and cultural studies MA at ■ Talking of these projects, a fellow drove to Sussex. So, to the professional world bursary scholar and close friend of Sussex of TV, I will see you very soon. mine gave me the opportunity to be University a researcher on her graduate docu­ to start ■ This year has been jam-packed mentary, I Bet You Look Good on the my BA with things happening that I still Dance Floor. journal- can’t believe came my way. In early We are halfway through shooting. ism course in September 2018, in my January, the Society kindly invited The film is a love letter to the indie Wmind’s eye I saw a heady montage of me to be a member of the RTS Tele­ music venues that we risk losing hypothetical events and experiences vision Journalism Awards jury for the because of the lack of government that would fill my three years in Brigh- Young Talent of the Year prize. With- funding to see them through the ton. My imagination did not stretch to out having the bursary scheme or the pandemic. wondering what it would be like to do Steve Hewlett Scholarship behind Working professionally with Charly half my degree during a pandemic. me, opportunities such as this would really brought it home that the great- But, following the government- simply not be there for me. est benefit of the RTS bursary scheme mandated daily walks and abundant Joining a morning Zoom call with is the friendship and camaraderie that failed attempts to make satisfactory some of the true powerhouses of TV comes with it. Nothing says more banana bread (oh, and about 100 Net- – and having them ask for my opin- about friendship in the TV industry flix shows), there is light at the end of ion – was truly incredible. I was than trading WhatsApp voice notes at the Covid tunnel. It is now conceiv- given ample advice by everyone 2:00am concerning contributors to a able that masks and hand sanitiser involved and it was a genuine honour programme. may one day be routine only for hos- to be on the jury. pital workers, not the rest of us. ■ Being asked to write a diary ■ The RTS bursary scheme con- doesn’t half make you a feel a bit ■ I must say that, for the second half stantly comes up on my Zoom cal- pensive. After a year full of Covid, of my degree, I have been one of the endar. These events not only keep it seems to us RTS scholars that the lucky ones. I’ve been at Sussex Uni- me in the loop and involved in the only way is up. versity’s newspaper, The Badger, for TV sector, but give me 10 times more I have made friends for life with three years and I’ve almost com- knowledge about the industry than I people who look set to be trailblazers pleted my tenure as online produc- had prior to logging on. and “ones to watch” in the near tion editor. I’m thrilled to say that A recent highlight for me and my future. I really do thank the constella- I’m applying for the role of editor- fellow bursary students was joining tion of lucky stars that helped me in-chief for the next academic year. an RTS Board of Trustees meeting. wind up on this page. Whenever the Wish me luck! There, we were given the time to talk next in-person RTS event happens, about what we were all up to. As you will see me there, 100%. ■ Alongside this aspect of my aca- always, we were welcomed with open demic world, I’m putting the finish- arms and showered with compliments Georgia Keetch is RTS bursary scholar ing touches to my application for about our projects. studying journalism at Sussex University.

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 5 COMFORT CLASSIC

Peep Show BBC

o create a successful sitcom Peep Show: it won the Rose d’Or at the is one of the most difficult Steve Clarke can’t Lucerne Television Festival 2004 in the tasks in the TV firmament. get enough of this Sitcom category; Best TV Comedy at To create a successful Brit- both the 2006 and 2007 British Com- ish sitcom that survives for missing link between edy Awards; and the 2008 Bafta for TV 12 years, nine series and Sitcom. In 2019, Radio Times voted it the 54 episodes is staggering. Men Behaving Badly 13th best sitcom of all time. TUnlike in the US, producers rarely At its heart, Peep Show is a buddy and Fleabag have writers rooms on this side of the show: Mark (played by David Mitchell) Atlantic, where teams of wordsmiths When Peep Show first stepped out, it and Jez (played by Robert Webb) have a endlessly hone scripts to keep a show would have been impossible to imagine love-hate relationship that skews more up and running. Remember, Fawlty another UK network taking such a risk towards hate. Towers closed its doors after just two on a programme that smashed so many These pairings are part of a TV com- six-part series. taboos and which was filmed in such a edy tradition that goes back at least to That remarkable longevity is one startlingly original way. the ever-bickering Steptoe and Son. of the achievements of Peep Show, Not that Channel 4 didn’t occasion- Mark and Jez are the proverbial chalk unquestionably a defining show for ally get cold feet and consider axing it. and cheese, but they are utterly Channel 4. The programme ran from Peep Show never struck ratings gold, and dependent on one another. 2003 to 2015, and has the broadcaster’s audiences hovered around the 1 million Mark is Captain Sensible, a man who original DNA running through it – an mark. But its status as a comedy classic wears brogues with his pyjamas, is edgy, sweary adult comedy that puts now makes it perfect for binge viewing. sexually gauche and socially repressed. sex and recreational drugs stage centre. From the start, awards juries loved His slightly dodgy obsession with the

6 Second World War and wage-slave values are about as far as you can get from his bong-smoking, laid-back flatmate. Jez is an uncompromising waster, self-deluded into thinking he’s a great Ear candy musician, sexually supercharged and overconfident – superficially, at least. Like so many of their comedy fore- bears, Mitchell and Webb first acted together at the Cambridge Footlights. Their double act performance is a joy to watch. The writing, too, by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, is usually pitch-perfect. The use of Mark and Jez’s interior monologues, inspired by a scene in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall, coupled with the close-up-and-personal camera­ work enable us to see the odd couple from their own perspectives; for series 1 and part of series 2 the actors wore head cameras. These insights are often painful. Make no mistake, this is black comedy at its most unhinged. Peep Show’s supporting cast are inspired. Olivia Colman, then virtually unknown, as Mark’s original love interest, and his prosaic and knowing work colleague, Sophie, sometimes Obsessed with… steals the scenes. Matt King as Jez’s bandmate, the hapless, hedonistic and unreliable Super Hans, is priceless. As the years Line of Duty take their toll, and his drug use esca-

lates, his eyes appear to sink further BBC back into their sockets. It is not until series 6 that we learn that Hans, a o much telly spoon They discuss their initial suspicions, air one-time crack addict, is father to feeds you, and it’s really wild theories and attempt to decrypt seven-year-old twins. nice when there’s not what on earth all the police jargon Does Peep Show ever go too far? Are even a spoon… you can’t actually means. the endless excruciating situations too even get in the packet of With a seven-episode bumper series, cringeworthy? Perhaps, but many of food,” comments come- Line of Duty couldn’t have returned at a them are laugh-out-loud if you can dian Sarah Millican. She better time. The drama is sure to keep stomach the embarrassment and is, of course, praising the thrillingly us all rapt as we attempt to crack the heightened reality. There’s the time impenetrableS Line of Duty. case. Superintendent Ted Hastings has Mark pees in a desk drawer at his Everything is cryptic; minor charac- managed to elude the slammer and is office to get his own back on a col- ters from three series ago suddenly back in AC-12 with DS (now DI) Steve league – or when Jez wets himself in pop up on screen; and half of the dia- Arnott, but the band isn’t quite back church at Mark’s wedding. Or when logue is in acronyms. Yet viewers still together. Having left AC-12, DI Kate Jez sleeps with Sophie’s mum. can’t get enough of Jed Mercurio’s Fleming is now working on the Hill There is, of course, pathos aplenty in perplexing police procedural. with a new murder investigation team, Peep Show. Ultimately, this no-holds- The series delights in plunging view- led by her inscrutable adversary, DCI barred gem is mined from similar ers into the darkness as they fumble Joanne Davidson, played by Kelly Mac- material to Men Behaving Badly. It took to their own (often wrong) conclusions. donald. They are looking into the mur- male relationship comedy to a blister- Luckily for us, BBC Sounds’ compan- der of investigative journalist Gail Vella ing new place. ion podcast Obsessed with… Line of Duty in Operation Lighthouse. Without Peep Show, it’s hard to imagine is on hand to offer illumination. It is AC-12’s highest-profile investi- Phoebe Waller-Bridge creating the far Hosted by actor Craig Parkinson, aka gation to date and, as expected, slicker Fleabag – perhaps as a contem- Line of Duty’s “baddie caddy” DI Matthew ­Mercurio won’t be hand-holding any porary riposte to Mark and Jez’s macho “Dot” Cottan, each episode interrogates viewers. Mercifully, the brainboxes excesses. n the latest instalment of the series. behind Obsessed with… Line of Duty will Parkinson is joined weekly by a new have us all sucking on diesel. n Peep Show is available on All 4 and Netflix. celebrity super-fan, such as Millican. Caitlin Danaher

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 7 WORKING LIVES

Head of development Britannia Sky

Nathalie Peter-Contesse you have to let go of projects along the an amazing first experience. In film, started her career in development way, but Vertigo has a very good devel- and especially in LA, the odds on any- with a bang in LA, working on the opment-to-production ratio. thing getting to screen are against you. successful action movie 300. Now I was working on many other projects based in London, at Vertigo Films, Can you bring good ideas back? at the same time as 300, but that was she continues to develop high-octane Sometimes. A show needs so many the first one that went into production. drama for TV and film. stars to align. Timing is crucial for com- missioners – there’s not much you can What got it green-lit? What does your job involve? do if every broadcaster has something The brilliance of Frank Miller’s graphic Development starts with finding an in that same space, even if the show is novel and Zack Snyder’s vision and idea and generally finishes when the great. You then have to wait or move on. determination. drama goes into production – that’s a bittersweet moment, because that’s How did you get into drama Who do you work with daily when when I have to say goodbye to a show. development? developing dramas? I oversee a slate of projects in devel- I always liked stories, books and films, The writers, first. Without a writer, opment at Vertigo, supporting the pro- but I initially qualified as a lawyer in there’s no show. And then the fantastic cess of taking them towards their goal of Switzerland; my mother is Italian, my team at Vertigo: the producers – Allan being commissioned. This means find- father is Swiss. I moved to Los Angeles Niblo and James Richardson – and the ing ideas or IP, such as books, working and I was lucky enough to get a job as two development executives. You can’t with writers and talent, and talking to an assistant at Gianni Nunnari’s Holly- read and manage everything, so having commissioners. You need to have pro- wood Gang Productions, which had a team you trust and whose tastes and jects in the pipeline to make sure you made the vampire movie From Dusk Till opinions you respect, especially when have things ready to go when a show Dawn and Se7en, among many other different to yours, is very important. gets commissioned or falls through. things. I grew in that company and became head of development. What makes a good development How many ideas make it to the screen? producer? You have a lot of runners at the begin- What was the first film you developed? First, you have to be able to recognise ning of the race, but few reach the The first movie I worked on in my the material that has the potential to finishing line. It’s part of the job that development role was 300, which was become a show, no matter what form it

8 comes in. You can fix a script, but a great the UK landscape at the moment. All your role is primarily to support the idea is invaluable. Then, you have to of Vertigo’s dramas have a certain spirit writer and the process. Usually, it’s the know how to read a script or adapt that – they are entertaining, innovative and writer who has the vision for the show material and make it better. You also also have a rebellious spirit that is and it needs to shine through – you need to know where your project sits unafraid to challenge the status quo. A are not the writer. If something is not in the market – what’s getting com- Costa del Sol-set gangster series, titled working in the script, ask questions. missioned and what the audience A Town Called Malice and developed by Let the writer have the opportunity to trends are. If you want to be original and Bulletproof co-creator Nick Love, is come up with a way to address the distinctive, you need to know what else currently in development for Sky. concern rather than rush to provide is out there and who your audience is. Another project in development is suggestions.

Bulletproof Sky

How do you find stories and writers? based on the 2011 documentary You’ve What advice would you give to some- We read a lot: books, unpublished Been Trumped. It is the story of the soon-­ one wanting work in development? manuscripts,­ scripts and articles; and to-be President’s attempt to build a Watch TV shows and films – and read watch TV shows and films and listen golf course in Scotland and the tight all the scripts and books you can. to podcasts. Agents send us samples Scottish community who opposed him. When you’ve read thousands of scripts, of their writers; there are writing pro- it becomes second nature to under- grammes and competitions; at Vertigo, What do you bring to work with you? stand why a story or characters are we are also very keen to champion new Since I started at Vertigo a year ago, or aren’t working. talent, to give a platform to emerging I’ve had just two days in the office, voices from all backgrounds, so we are thanks to Covid. In development, the Has the job changed over time? always looking for under-­represented most important thing you need to bring When I started, there was a big divide voices; and people we’ve worked with in with you is an open mind, because you between developing a project for TV or the past always send us scripts or ideas. never know what you’re looking for film. Now, there’s not much difference until you see it and you never know – with all the streaming platforms, the How do you pitch to a broadcaster? where ideas will come from. boundaries between TV and film have If you can’t say what your show is and blurred. why it’s special in a sentence or two, What are the best and worst parts of It is a time when we can choose then you shouldn’t pitch it. That means the job? what is the best format and way to tell that the core concept is not clear The best is when a script or voice a story and then find a home for it, enough and there’s still work to do. really excites and you feel its huge rather than the other way around. Commissioners hear pitches all day potential – those moments are few Television has also taken a lot of the long and are able to spot immediately and far between, and they can give you space that independent cinema used to something that could be of interest to goosebumps. The worst is the sheer have, in terms of complex storytelling them. If they like the concept, they will amount of material you have to go and also of less-represented voices. Like ask for more details and read the script. through to find those magical projects. film, TV has become very exciting. n

What is the secret of Britannia and Are there any tricks of the trade you Nathalie Peter-Contesse, head of develop- Bulletproof’s success? can share with us? ment at Vertigo Films, was interviewed by There are no other shows like them in Leave your ego at the door, because Matthew Bell.

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 9 Sharon Duncan-Brewster (right) in Intergalactic Sky It’s sci-fi but not as we know it Shilpa Ganatra hails Sky’s mould-breaking space adventure Intergalactic

oing boldly where adrenaline-driven, about emotion and leader Tula. “I love that it doesn’t try to no woman has gone character, and with a thrilling ride, is be anything else but British, and you before, Sky’s new drama something we could see working for find that in the humour, pace and Intergalactic follows the Sky One.” dialogue,” she says. “It shows we can do exploits of a group of Intergalactic’s genesis came from pro­ space, too. We can do futuristic, too.” female prisoners who ducer Matthew Read. Sky approached Duncan-Brewster made her mark in commandeer their penal transport to Cuffs and Prisoners’ Wives writer Julie revered British productions such as escapeG to the free world of Arcadia. Gearey to flesh it out into a compelling Years and Years, Top Boy and Sex Education But their journey is made trickier series. “They knew my big passion is but is no stranger to big-budget sci-fi, as one of the convicts is Ash Harper writing female gang shows,” says Gearey. having appeared in Rogue One and been (played by Savannah Steyn), the “And I’d already been talking about cast in the latest adaptation of Frank daughter of a high-ranking member wanting to work in a science-­fiction Herbert’s Dune, alongside Jason Momoa of the Commonworld’s establishment. genre. I was a child at exactly the right and Zendaya, due out later this year. With Ash imprisoned for a crime she age for Star Wars. I was the kid who used “I try to take on varied projects and, didn’t commit, her own quest is the to put the dressing gown on and the ear nowadays, I don’t take on roles that search for the truth. Imagine Orange Is muffs and pretend to be Princess Leia.” aren’t appealing to me,” she says. “And, the New Black, but set in space. Of its many novel aspects, it is par- while this is a piece that is set in the “That sums it up perfectly when you ticularly refreshing that Intergalactic has future and we are in space a lot, at its see it. For me, it’s a relationship drama “an American scale of ambition while heart, it is about people and relation- in sci-fi clothes,” says Paul Gilbert, retaining a British identity at its heart”, ships. You meet these characters and executive producer for Sky Studios. Gilbert notes. Indeed, the unhackneyed can make so many assumptions about “It felt like we hadn’t seen a bold, accents, subtle humour and the down- them. Then, slowly, as the episodes British sci-fi for a long time,” adds to-earthness (pardon the pun) mark the progress, we get further under the skin Serena Thompson, also an executive show as born in contemporary Britain. of each individual, and you see that producer for Sky Studios. “The idea That was what drew Sharon Duncan- ­ they are complex human beings.” of doing something female-driven, Brewster to play the role of rebel gang For Gearey, the show’s invitation for

10 empathy was a key factor when creating with the fact that they have to address episodes into post-production after the dynamics of the prison gang and all it,” she says. “It makes me happy that March 2020, which, happily, allowed whom they encounter. at least people are asking questions. for a natural ending. “The underlying premise was taking “People are actively seeking affirma- “It’s the biggest show I’ve worked on, characters with opposing viewpoints tion and I think that’s the promising and it’s been the show where the most and putting them in a tense situation start. Before, people were just making work was done in post-production,” where they were forced to work assumptions or not even realising.” says Gearey. “It will be quite odd to go together,” she says. “That is so resonant When it came to bringing the show back to doing something with people now, when everyone is in their ideo- to life, Sky understood that there was in a kitchen.” logical silos. no doing sci-fi in half measures. “It Now that the space series in nearly “But we don’t learn anything unless was a top-level budget, as there’s an ready to launch, who do the makers we come together. That’s how we grow expectation from audiences who are feel their audience will be? “The show and change and listen to each other. used to seeing sci-fi films,” says places the female experience at the Sky

That issue has become more prevalent Thompson. “It does require a certain heart of the storytelling, but we hope since we first started working on it level of budget – otherwise you end to bring everyone along on the jour- four years ago.” up with ‘wobbly set’ syndrome.” ney,” says Gearey. “Good, emotional In order to tease out the interplay The scale of the production meant storytelling doesn’t have to be defined between the characters, a breadth of that the operation had to be carefully by gender.” acting talent was called for, and that thought through. Filming began in Nor is it just for sci-fi fans or prison came down to casting director September 2019, partly in Valencia, drama fans, adds Brewster-Duncan: Kharmel­ Cochrane. Spain, but the main set was in the aptly “I’m interested to see what audiences In addition to big-draw actors such named Space Studios in Manchester, make of it, but I suspect that we’re as Duncan-Brewster and Thomas Tur- where the spaceship was constructed. going to gather a following that is not goose (of This is England fame), new- “We had Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock [just] the stereotypical sci-fi audience.” comers have been added to the fold. as our space advisor,” says Gearey. That is certainly the hope at Sky, All in all, there is a range of shapes, “I’ve got an arts background and I got which has purposefully entered new sizes and colours. “I can’t remember thrown out of my physics class, so I territory and accepted the risk that the last time I was on set with more don’t understand any of it. She helped goes with it. “We haven’t seen anything than one other black female on a TV us understand, so the physics of the like it before on TV, but that’s our remit,” show,” says Duncan-Brewster. “Our spaceship is based on real physics.” says Gilbert. “We want to challenge characters are so different, age-wise, With lead director Kieron Hawkes at orthodoxy wherever possible, and the background-wise.­ the helm, Duncan-Brewster recalls that results speak for themselves.” “It’s refreshing and it’s promising, the set was “a barrel of laughs. There Overseas sales and a possible second and it’s about time.” were no egos, just everyone getting on. series (that may or may not include the Is it a sign that television has moved My phone is pinging now and it’s them lost two episodes) are still under dis- away from tokenism? “I would say it on the WhatsApp group”. cussion. However it fares, it’s already does occur still in certain genres, in The curse of Covid struck before successful in reinventing British sci-fi, certain production companies in par- filming completed, but they had enough bringing the genre up to date, and ticular, but people are coming to terms in the can to put eight of the 10 planned putting women at its centre. n

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 11 A genius in his prime Amazon Prime Video

t’s a brave film-maker who takes Globe-winning 1971 biopic La Vita di on the story of the Renaissance Matthew Bell discovers Leonardo Da Vinci; and the BBC’s 2003 master Leonardo da Vinci. Can how European semi-dramatised documentary, Leon- their treatment hope to measure ardo, starring Mark Rylance. up to the real figure who – for producers and The new eight-part series – made starters – painted the world’s on a hefty ¤30m budget – is a triumph most famous canvas, designed flying broadcasters struck of European co-operation, involving machinesI and was a ground-breaking­ Spotnitz’s company, Big Light Produc- new alliances for anatomist and scientist. tions, Italian producers Lux Vide and “He was such a towering genius, so Amazon’s lavish new RAI Fiction, France Télévisions, Spain’s good at so many things, it’s actually RTVE, Germany’s ZDF and Sony Pic- hard to believe he was real,” says Frank drama Leonardo tures Television. Spotnitz, the driving force behind the Despite its pan-European origins, Amazon Prime drama Leonardo, which Leonardo is anything but a stodgy, launches in the UK and Ireland this uninspiring “euro pudding”. The series month. “You have to make him credi- looks beautiful, with cinematographer ble, but also not trivialise him or make Steve Lawes using the light available to his genius mundane or silly.” Leonardo – daylight and moonlight Leonardo has featured in many fic- from outside, candlelight and firelight tional works, including novels, TV inside – to shoot the series. The per- shows, video games and movies. Yet, formances are convincing and Poldark only two major TV series have been hunk Aidan Turner impresses as the made in half a century: RAI’s Golden obsessive, troubled painter.

12 Amazon Prime Video

Spotnitz, who wrote more than doing the second season of Devils ‘Will he or will he not complete his 40 episodes of The X-Files, left Los Ange- [shown by Sky Atlantic] with producer painting?’ How do you make a com- les to make the BBC drama Hunted in Lux Vide in Rome. pelling drama out of that?” 2010, relocating permanently to Europe “It takes humility, because you have It took the involvement of Steve when he set up Big Light, with offices to go in and listen, and accept there are Thompson, a writer Spotnitz admired in London and Paris, a few years later. things you may not understand about from his scripts for Sherlock and Vienna Leonardo was the first show to be another culture, broadcaster and audi- Blood, to change his mind. The duo green-lit by the Alliance, a grouping ence. But, also, you don’t agree to constructed an “elaborate puzzle” with of three European public broadcasters everything just because your partner one of Leonardo’s models, Caterina da (France Télévisions, RAI and ZDF) aim- says that’s the way it is.” Cremona, at the centre, through which ing to take on Netflix. “The Alliance Spotnitz has become something of a they tell the story of the artist’s life. came into being to make larger-scale renaissance man himself, having shot “One drawing of her survives and shows that can compete,” says Spotnitz. three series of Medici for RAI and Net­ she sat for his most famous missing “The streamers present a challenge to flix. Initially, he turned down Leonardo. painting, Leda and the Swan, which traditional broadcasters because they “I’d done a lot of 15th-century Italian some consider his greatest,” says Spot- have very deep pockets. The traditional history,” he recalls, “and I thought that nitz. “She is an act of imagination, but broadcaster can respond in two ways: making a show about an artist would she is based on a real character. one is to go even more local, into shows be incredibly difficult. The stakes are: “History does not record women as that serve their own culture; the other is faithfully as it does men and so, if you to partner for bigger projects.” want to show women and the roles Spotnitz points to his greying hair as they obviously played in history, you he chats on Zoom from Formello, a ‘YOU SOMETIMES sometimes have to rescue them with short drive north of Rome: “I didn’t HAVE TO RESCUE your imagination.” have any of these before I started Leonardo’s muse, Cremona, is played doing co-productions. I’ve had, [WOMEN’S by Italian actor Matilda De Angelis (The honestly, nightmarish experiences. Undoing), with Freddie Highmore (The “As these experiences go, this has HISTORICAL Good Doctor) playing Stefano Giraldi, been extraordinarily successful. We’ve ROLES] WITH YOUR who investigates the murder at the done three seasons of [historical heart of the story. drama] Medici, Leonardo and now we’re IMAGINATION’ Leonardo was shot in English, �

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 13 ‘IF THE SKETCHES AND PAINTINGS HAD NOT LOOKED LIKE LEONARDO’S, THE SHOW WOULD HAVE FAILED’ Amazon Prime Video

� although the cast is mostly Italian, discuss Leonardo: “Shooting under devotion to detail,” says Spotnitz. “Art and the series dubbed into other Covid was challenging at first because is a character in the show and it was European languages. “It’s designed to we were still working out the rules. so important that we got it just right. be a big, international show and so Leonardo was one of the first film If the sketches, drawings and paint- you want big actors who are recogni­ projects to be back up and running ings hadn’t looked like Leonardo’s, sable to an international audience. In after the first lockdown, and it was the show would have failed.” Italy, there aren’t that many actors pretty experimental. Percival adds: “I think that being an who are known worldwide, so that’s “But the basics – mask, social dis- artist myself helped most in terms of why shows such as this end up being tance, no physical contact – were getting inside the mind of Leonardo. cast with English actors and done in there from the beginning. I can hardly As I studied his technique, I started the English language,” Spotnitz imagine shooting now without a mask to understand more and more about explains. on my face. It has become as much a how his mind must have worked. His Filming was a stop-start affair, part of my work equipment as attention to detail is astonishing. His recalls executive producer and Big headphones.” striving for perfection is palpable. Light creative director Emily Feller: Filming wrapped in early August “There is more than a touch of OCD “We started shooting in December but the shoot had taken longer than in his work, but also perhaps autism. 2019, broke for Christmas, came back anticipated and cost more with “all Someone who can focus so hard for and then Covid hit. I was in Italy in the testing, having a medic on set and so long with such razor-sharp preci- the third week of February 2020 and temperatures being taken many times sion and yet be able to switch from we were aware of what was happen- a day”, recalls Feller. “We also had to concept to concept with such ease, ing. Northern Italy was already prob- do some rewriting to account for the would have to have had a very noisy lematic by that point. It was only fact that we couldn’t use locations or mind indeed.” another few weeks and we shut down.” huge numbers of extras,” adds Spotnitz. Leonardo is “a love story and a mur- Production resumed in mid-June, The film-makers were determined der mystery”, says Spotnitz, but he’s but now entirely on an expanded faithfully to recreate 15th-century adamant that viewers will “learn backlot at Formello, rather than on Italy and the work of Leonardo. They something about art, and in a very location. “Everyone had a real sense employed­ restoration specialists to painless way. When you watch this of determination to do whatever was produce his sketches and paintings show, you start to understand why needed – it was fantastic to see such using Renaissance techniques and Leonardo da Vinci was a radical, tow- wonderful collaboration,” says Feller. materials. ering figure, not just in art but in “I was just so excited to be getting It helped that the director was also civilisation. rushes again.” an artist. “Dan approached all the “We wanted to entertain, move and Lead director Daniel Percival took scenes, art, props, and every bit of inspire, and also teach you something a break from filming in the US to engineering, with such maniacal about why he was such a genius.” n

14 OUR FRIEND IN THE WEST

Laura Aviles explains

s Bristol City why Bristol’s TV and Bristol is the gateway to the West of Council’s new film community is England – Cornwall, Devon and Dorset senior film man- offer a wonderfully varied selection ager, I have finally poised to play a of landscapes, historic houses and reached a position coastlines. where I can sup- vital role in the Like everyone else, we had to adapt port and promote post-Covid quickly to create a safe production my two main passions – Bristol and environment during the pandemic. filmingA in the West Country. economic recovery We have a dedicated Covid-19 safety My role is to oversee the work of supervisor in place and we published the Bottle Yard Studios and Bristol our Covid-19 site operating procedures Film Office, and make sure that Bris- in June to support productions and tol can build on its past successes and TV/film-related businesses based here. deliver a single, complete and consis­ Our recovery in Bristol has been tent offer encompassing studio and relatively fast. The city was the loca- location filming. And, despite the tion of choice for some of the first UK pandemic, there has never been a high-end TV titles to restart filming better time. after the first lockdown. Film and TV production is one of These included the BBC and Ama- Bristol’s fastest growing businesses, zon’s Nancy Mitford adaptation, The and the studios, which are owned by Pursuit of Love, starring Lily James and Bristol City Council, play an integral Andrew Scott, and series 2 of Fox TV role in that growth. and StudioCanal’s War of the Worlds.

After 10 years of operations, the Aviles Laura Both were up and running again by studios are now recognised globally late July/early August. as a thriving centre for production. benefits to being based here: it is less As streaming platforms and broad- Titles currently shooting include than two hours from London but, as casters ramp up their content, the Stephen Merchant’s new BBC/Ama- a smaller city, Bristol is far quicker to need for additional stage space and zon Prime series The Offenders, star- navigate when shooting on location. skills is growing steadily. New studios ring Oscar-winner Christopher Producers save precious time when are being built throughout the UK, Walken, Netflix sci-fi series The Last units are in transit. Costs are lower, and Bristol is not missing out. Plans Bus and Starz’s Becoming Elizabeth. yet you will still find all the world- for a £12m development have recently The city’s Film Office has consist- class production, post-production been approved, with the Bottle Yard ently provided support for produc- and facilities companies you could growing from eight to 11 stages. If tions over the past 15 years. This has possibly need. everything goes to plan, the new stu- earnt Bristol the reputation of being Bristol Film Office goes above and dios should launch late next spring. one of the most film-friendly places beyond to assist with recces, permits Bristol is developing a skills agenda to shoot in the UK. And it contributed and logistics, plus there’s a vast bank to grow a sustainable talent base to to us winning Unesco City of Film of experienced local crew who are meet increased demand, and the city status in 2017, and persuading Chan- only too keen to work closer to home. is set to be a key contributor to local nel 4 to open its creative hub here in Within the city, you’ll find a mixture and national economic recovery. n early 2020. of architecture, including Regency and Producers return time and time Georgian terraces, large green spaces Laura Aviles is Bristol City Council’s again, for good reason. There are many and gritty urban settings. senior film manager.

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 15 The craft of telling a fairytale

How the makers of The Crown painstakingly created Diana Spencer’s emotional story for an outstanding episode of the Netflix series Netflix

e think we all one of the most famous women in the slightly cold, bruising, hurtful, lonely, know Diana’s world, a person about whom everyone locked-up pain. I love focusing on that story, but I has an opinion”, noted Caron at last uncomfortable stuff, that piece of gravel always ask the month’s RTS event “Deconstructing in the shoe. question: what the Fairytale”. “[But,] across the season, we see that must it have The episode is, arguably, a master- remarkable strength of character which ‘beenW like for any person going through class in storytelling, especially when Diana possesses grow, and that power that experience – what she was thrown the story is world-famous. The script and resilience she has to rise above it all.” into at such a young age?” said Benja- was one of The Crown’s shortest, at just Joining Caron on the panel were min Caron, the director of the Fairytale over 30 pages, which allowed a greater production designer Martin Childs and episode of The Crown. emphasis on the telltale details of this hair and make-up designer Cate Hall, Therein lies the challenge of the third key moment in royal history. both integral to the episode. Emma episode of the fourth series of Netflix’s Laden with visual metaphors, it Corrin, who played Diana in the show, royal drama. A dramatisation loosely lever­ages every aspect available to a had to pull out of the panel due to a based on the royal family (and all the director to depict the emotional journey last-minute scheduling conflict, but more contentious for it), the episode’s behind Diana’s dramatic switch from her casting was the first and biggest central figure is Diana Spencer, who her old life to the new – and to fore- step in the process. accepts Prince Charles’s proposal and shadow the already-familiar events of “Casting Diana felt like no easy task moves from her Earl’s Court flatshare her life as a royal. until we met Emma. Very Diana-like, to Buckingham Palace in preparation “As a guiding principle, I like to focus she walked into the room and instantly for her new life as a princess. on the anthropological weirdness of captured everyone’s attention,” said The Crown’s blurring of fact and fic- these people and this institution,” said Caron. “She had this strength, this tion becomes trickier with, “arguably, Caron. “It always comes back to the incredible vulnerability, which is a hard

16 thing to play without being clichéd.” “We put a bald piece underneath the provided by the royals. “I have a theory Corrin’s depiction, and the freedom wig so, when she moves, you can see that they only dusted the apartment that the lean script afforded, combine in skin underneath, and the hair flicking the week before she got there and, in a revealing scene in which Diana prac- out,” said Cate Hall. “Emma was so the past, they kept it there for brides- tises ballet alone. Inspired by a similar confident [in the wig] that there was to-be. That was my brief to myself and scene in Billy Elliot (directed by Stephen never any reticence to do any of the the set decorator.” Daldry, also an executive producer for moves. She didn’t have to think about Diana’s appearance acts as a visual The Crown) and soundtracked by a the wig, ever.” device, too. Said Hall: “We had to plot haunting use of Song for Guy by Elton Although costume designer Amy the journey strategically over 10 indi- John, Diana begins in a rigid, taught Roberts ensured that the looks always vidual films, and Fairytale is a spring- fashion. matched the setting, the softness of her board into that journey. She’s full of But, as the emotions get the better of ballet outfit is noticeably at odds with hope, but we know it can’t end well. her, “it breaks out into her expression the imposing room. “It’s the only time We almost had to tell the whole story of her character, her personality, of where the costume and the environ- in one episode.” her trying to push out against the walls ment didn’t go together, and deliberately To begin with, “we went as minimal as possible. We kept everything soft, creamy, really round, to give her that adolescent vibe. Then, we used beauty make-up to age her though the series. So we used those nice 1980s trends with cool, glittery tones. We used angu- lar blusher, blue eyeliner – all that stuff. That helped to underpin the emotional narrative, and also to give us some- where to go to tell that whole story.” But blue eyeliners presented a par- ticular challenge. Because their colours change with different lenses and cam- eras, the crew needed to camera-test them all. “We turned up with a make-up shop’s worth of make-up and looked at every different blue on camera, because we had to save our punchiest blues for the end of her story,” said Hall. Diana’s hairstyle has its own jour- ney: three wigs were used over this series. “They’re all essentially the same haircut – it’s that unique Diana cut. But, as she moves through the series,

Netflix the hair gets more processed and styled, with more highlights. By the of the palace,” said Caron. “It’s raw, didn’t go together, so she could carry end, it’s a real do.” it’s emotional, it comes at a really on being a fish out of water,” explained Diana’s fateful storyline will con- ­difficult time for her, but it speaks Childs. tinue in the fifth series. As has become volumes about her incredible ability The metaphors in the set have customary after two series, it is all to overcome.” underpinned The Crown, especially change for the cast. Imelda Staunton The scene was shot on a closed set, with the cold formality of Buckingham takes over from Olivia Colman as with loose direction. “I always talk Palace. Childs revealed that, ahead of Queen Elizabeth; Lesley Manville plays about giving actors permission to fail, the first series, he went undercover as Princess Margaret, instead of Helena about allowing them to go further than a tourist to tour the palace. He then Bonham Carter, and Elizabeth Debicki they might do without the constraints recreated “the house” using a combi- (The Great Gatsby and Widows) will take of being judged,” said Caron. “It was nation of 11 stately homes and four sets the baton from Corrin to play Diana. just me and the camera, and we played in Elstree Studios. Both Hall and Childs are working on Cher’s Believe. It didn’t matter because Look carefully and staircases tell the upcoming series but, unsurpris- we were going to replace the music their own story. When Diana leaves ingly, are tight-lipped about what’s to later on, but it was something Emma her flat for the palace, she leaves her come. “I have this pile of scripts with felt she could throw herself around the friends behind and descends a stair- my name watermarked on them, so I room to.” case with blood-red walls. “Then, Ben can’t divulge a thing. They’re juicy, This scene also highlights the role had the brilliant idea of providing a aren’t they, Cate?” teased Childs. that production plays. For Corrin to be counterpoint [by] doing a much grander We wouldn’t expect anything less. n able throw herself around the room version of it once she gets to the pal- without restraint, her wig had to play ace,” said Childs. Report by Shilpa Ganatra. ‘Deconstructing its part by staying on and adding to the There, the apartment in which Diana the Fairytale’ was an RTS event held on spectacle of her torment. is kept speaks of the “cold hospitality” 24 March, chaired by presenter Anita Rani.

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 17 Hollyoaks character Diane Hutchinson

From soaps to high-end drama and even comedy, scripted television is taking mental distress seriously. Caroline Frost investigates Channel 4 How TV is tackling our mental health

f that storyline wasn’t there, I of a depression storyline featuring two highlighting mental health issues. A would not be here. That’s the characters Adam and Darren. forthcoming storyline concentrates on reality of it. You have saved “Adam took his own life, but Darren character Diane Hutchinson’s struggle my life.” That’s what Hollyoaks didn’t, and you see the fallout of that,” with obsessive compulsive disorder fan John told one of the soap’s explains Taylor Dawson, who has played (OCD). But it is by no means the only stars, Ashley Taylor Dawson, Darren for more than two decades. “It TV show to both reflect and help drive ‘whenI the pair were brought together was very testing as an actor, but the the UK’s increasing concern with peo- by BBC Radio 5 Live earlier this year. feedback was humbling and over- ple’s mental welfare. John, who uses gender neutral pro- whelming, and then I spoke to John. Clive Crump, a mental health worker nouns, had previously phoned the They told me, ‘I saw the reaction of the at Emotional Wellbeing and Mental ­station to share how they had been family, and I saw my own mum in my Health Service, credits modern writers struggling during the lockdown of 2020, head, and I realised I couldn’t do it.’ with striking a delicate balance between to the point where they had planned to “Television reaches so many people, compassion and narrative thrills. “On end their life. Then they happened to sit and if it helps just one person like the one hand, they demonstrate that down and watch an episode of Hollyoaks, John, it’s invaluable.” mental illness is just part of the tapestry coincidentally the traumatic conclusion Hollyoaks has been tireless in of normal human life and, on the other,

18 need for diligence is Hans Rosenfeldt, the creator of The Bridge, with its supreme but socially awkward female detective, Saga Norén, and, more recently, ITV’s Marcella, with its equally talented but troubled crime-fighting protagonist. “We created Saga almost 15 years ago, and she was just a character with no social skills,” he remembers. “We developed her over four years, until one director said, for the first time, ‘This woman must be on the autistic spectrum somewhere’. “Back then, you could get away with a more vague portrayal, whereas ‘FLOWERS now you have to be very careful with IS BOTH research into what she does and doesn’t do. We never even thought about it. It BRUTALLY was only when the comments came in, DARK AND it kind of became the truth. In our uni- verse, she was just Saga.” ACHINGLY Rosenfeldt agrees that Marcella is a FUNNY’ far more up-to-date, diagnosable crea- tion. Although he jokes that her PTSD, capacity for blackouts and even even- Flowers

Channel 4 tual disappearance into another iden- tity are all “simply plot-devices”, it they serve ever-more sophisticated to look away. But comedy can be a really becomes clear that the writer has done demands for drama and entertainment,” helpful tool to process stuff like that.” plenty of his own research into these he says. TV shows have come a long way conditions. This new readiness to explore previ- from using mental illness simply as In contrast with Samata, however, ously hidden aspects of all our psyches a colourful plot device, often to make Rosenfeldt’s equal duty of care comes is apparent in almost all of the best of fun of a particular character. A crucial out, it seems, in knowing his limita- today’s TV scripted shows – from aspect of this evolution on screen is tions: “For neither of these characters soaps to hard-hitting drama and the collective sense of responsibility of did we say this is a true description of through to comedy. broadcasters, writers, and actors to a diagnosis or syndrome. If anything, I Crump cites Paul Mescal’s delicate present far more authentic depictions felt responsibility not to give them depiction of depression and anxiety in of the challenges and feelings of those diagnoses. The moment you claim this Normal People, as well as Alison Stead- suffering. is the truth, you become limited in the man’s “remarkable performance” Angela Samata, a suicide prevention stories you can tell, because you have in Mike Bartlett’s Life. She plays a campaigner for nearly two decades to do it right for that community.’ ­70-year-old woman suddenly ques- after losing her husband, has served as Despite such different approaches, tioning her identity, having been a script advisor to Hollyoaks on story­ it is evident that contemporary writers mocked into a hollow existence by lines. She credits this increasing atten- delight in the rich texture provided by her long-time bully of a husband. tion to detail for the impact of storylines characters who are both challenged One writer clearly willing to on vulnerable viewers such as John. and challenging – what Peter Bowker, embrace both light and shade is Will “Writers have always reflected the creator of The A Word, about a family Sharpe, the creator, director and star of mood. What’s different is the diligence living with their child’s autism, Channel 4’s Flowers, the show he has behind the storylines now,” she explains. describes as “somebody at the centre described as a “comedy with a mental “We took the actor, Ashley Taylor Daw- of something that doesn’t quite fit. illness”. Sure enough, it is brutally dark son, and the writers to a house of ther- From a purely selfish dramatist’s point and achingly funny, as the Flowers apy in Liverpool, where a man who of view, there’s no doubt about it, it’s family contends with all types of men- had been feeling actively suicidal incredibly rich territory.” tal challenges, including father Maurice agreed to speak. Ashley was listening Rosenfeldt adds that these characters (Julian Barratt)’s depression and failed intently to him explaining his feelings in all their complexity are also key to attempt to end his life in the very first and, later, on screen, I heard those keeping modern viewers fulfilled. scene of the show. same words reflected in the script. “Audiences are so much bigger, and Comedy became Sharpe’s tool to “Since then, we’ve had people one crime story is much like another, break down the walls between his reaching out for support who wouldn’t so you need characters who viewers characters and their audience. He have done it without that storyline. It will want to return to. That means revealed: “I felt frustrated by the lack of was beautifully acted, but the words more layers – and one that works well understanding surrounding mental ill­- came from the truth of the situation, and is a kind of flaw, something broken, so ness. I guess some things can feel so that’s why it was able to touch them.” we can root for it to heal, or at least [for heavy or painful that it seems safer just One writer able to chart this growing a character to] learn to deal with it.” n

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 19 Even in a lockdown year, Jane Tranter’s Bad Wolf produced a healthy litter of hits, including Industry and I Hate Suzie. Interview by Tim Dams

ad Wolf co-founder Jane Tranter shoots back with a rapid reply when asked what her Cardiff-based produc- tion company is up to: “DealingB with high-level anxiety all the time, probably emanating from myself.” If so, Tranter – speaking over Zoom – hides it well. Any stress would be understandable. Against the backdrop of the pandemic, Bad Wolf has brought the second seasons of fantasy epics His Dark Materials and A Discovery of Witches to the screen, and launched two acclaimed contemporary dramas, Industry and I Hate Suzie. This slate of high-end TV propelled Bad Wolf to seventh place in Broadcast’s recently published Indie Survey, on a turnover of £65m. Not bad for a com- pany that only launched in 2015, with backing from the Welsh government and, later on, minority investments from Sky, HBO and Access Industries. Meanwhile, sister company Bad Wolf America, run by Julie Gardner, has just received a series order from Apple TV+ for Lady in the Lake, a thriller starring Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong’o. Home life sounds like it has been Jane Tranter

busy for Tranter, too. Her twins fin- Wolf Bad ished school last summer and had to navigate applying to university in a year when A levels were cancelled and the first term of university was disrupted by Covid. As for many others, her dog – a Gol- The wolf of dendoodle she got while working in Los Angeles as BBC Worldwide’s EVP of programming and production – has been a lockdown solace. So, too, has watching television. She says she’s drama street “hoovered” her way through shows such as Schitt’s Creek, The Good Place, Call My Agent!, The Bureau and My Brilliant Friend. being able to go to restaurants again, deeper. For Tranter, seeing Bad Wolf’s We speak on the day that the long and is keen to reapply for tickets to the position in Broadcast’s Indie Survey, winter lockdown restrictions have delayed Tracey Emin exhibition at the where it was also ranked as the second-­ finally started to ease. The weather is Royal Academy. “But, for me, the main biggest true indie, wasn’t an entirely sunny, and there is a palpable feeling excitement is 12 April, at which point I pleasurable experience. “The first thing of relief and anticipation about what can go to the hairdresser – that’s my I thought was, ‘Fuck me, how are we lies ahead. only real concern.” ever going to do that again?’ Tranter says she’s looking forward to Joking aside, her concerns do run “It’s a constant feeling in our industry,

20 Riz Ahmed in The Night of

no matter how good or experienced live now, and often has a slightly dark you are. It is a naturally very precari- cloud to it. While she watches and ous business, and that’s without Covid admires this work, Tranter says she’s thrown in.” now interested in exploring life in a Tranter says that Bad Wolf was lucky slightly brighter way. “We have not in 2020 in that only one of its four pro- done that so much in British television.” ductions, His Dark Materials, had to stop By romance, Tranter explains that filming when the March lockdown hit. she’s taking a broad approach. It could Rather than postpone production, Bad also be romance in terms of our rela-

Wolf was able, with backing from its Sky tionship with the environment, our funders, the BBC and HBO, to squeeze community or families. the narrative into seven, rather than ‘PEOPLE Could this focus on romance also be eight, episodes, helped by visual effects. a reaction to what many think is TV’s The other three shows – Industry, A DON’T WATCH over-reliance on crime drama? Tranter Discovery of Witches and I Hate Suzie TELEVISION doesn’t think so: “People want to watch – had all completed production. So it – and it would be ludicrous to disre- Bad Wolf spent much of 2020 in post, ANY MORE. gard that. All the way back through the before firing up production on the THEY WATCH 20th century and beyond, British people third season of A Discovery of Witches have loved a good crime story.” in September. PROGRAMMES’ Beyond this, she thinks there is an This continued shooting during the appetite for what she calls “tourist height of the Covid second wave, com- porn”, suggesting it was a key part of pleting in February with only a few to view, and what we want to view,” the appeal of Emily in Paris, The Serpent stops due to positive Covid tests. says Tranter, whose executive producer and Call My Agent! “We loved watching “It was a very anxious time,” admits credits include acclaimed series such those worlds in lockdown, and I think Tranter, who doubts that Bad Wolf as The Night of and Succession. that will continue.” would have attempted this kind of With so much work on during 2020, Not that travel is easy for produc- challenge in the early days. Even with Bad Wolf didn’t spend lockdown madly tions. The third series of A Discovery of the Government-backed production developing, as many indies did, but Witches was due to shoot in Italy, the insurance scheme, the additional cost development is a focus this year. south of France, the east coast of the and financial risk of proceeding was Tranter ushered in hit shows such as US and New Orleans. In the end, the considerable. Spooks and State of Play and resurrected whole series was shot in Wales, where Covid has made the production Doctor Who during her time as BBC Bad Wolf runs its own studio opera- landscape much harder for newer head of fiction back in the 2000s. tion, Wolf Studios, in partnership with indies, she reckons, threatening truly She says she “absolutely loves” the Welsh government. independent suppliers. “Even for a developing, but admits that, during the Bad Wolf is now hiring local crews company the size of Bad Wolf, it really past year, it has been a struggle to “get in each country to film environment makes you think, ‘Do I want to be here my head around what the themes of shots, and will stitch them into the on my own, or do I want to join with a our viewing lives are going to be” as the series with visual effects. stronger partner?’” world has grappled with the pandemic. Tranter is hoping that, as the vacci- This year, Bad Wolf is making the She seems to have a clearer sense nation programme picks up around third series of His Dark Materials, second now. In the wake of 2020, she says, the the world, His Dark Materials might be series of Industry and I Hate Suzie, and is traditional way of drama transmitting able to film abroad later this year. “We editing A Discovery of Witches. “So 2021 once a week has gone for ever. “We are just going to have to be flexible,” is really a transitional year of nailing have got to look now for shows that she says, admitting that Covid safety those shows that we set up in 2020,” work in a box-set environment. People protocols such as mask-wearing and says Tranter. don’t watch television any more. They testing are going to be with the indus- Bad Wolf will also be looking to this watch programmes.” try for quite some time. year to get its next wave of dramas off In terms of content, Tranter says she This year, she thinks, will be a year the ground, to set the template for the is drawn to areas she has not looked when the industry just has to evolve as company’s next five years. “It’s almost at before – notably contemporary the coronavirus situation allows. “I’m like starting again, because so much romance. British TV, she explains, has hoping that next year, 2022, will feel has changed in terms of how we want always held a mirror up to the way we more stable.” n

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 21 Drilling down into documentaries

Terms and Conditions: A UK Drill Story YouTube The RTS gains an insight into the commissioning strategy for YouTube Originals

e are in the Hyams told the RTS that his focus to be explored… I wanted to discover middle of a was on “partnering British producers why music was again being blamed for revolution of and YouTube creators to create exciting causing society’s ills. creativity,” premium programming experiences. We “I thought it would be hard to pene- according to take inspiration from the personalities, trate that world and get people to talk Luke Hyams, the trends, the formats that are blowing to me, but it wasn’t. That was largely ‘whoW commissions documentaries for up on YouTube. Every show we do due to Andre. He’s got an in and made YouTube Originals. His aim is to nurture allows us to delve into a different pocket the introductions.” mould-breaking films that appeal to the of YouTube taste [and] look at different Andre’s Mr Montgomery channel is platform’s young demographic and targeted audiences, which makes it the voice of drill on YouTube, noted which don’t get lost in the deluge of different to any other platform or broad- Hyams, who added: “To take Andre’s video content available to his audience. caster’s commissioning strategy.” voice and mesh it with Brian’s was a He explained his approach at a The two 2020 documentaries illus- great opportunity.” recent RTS event, “YouTube Originals: trated his point. Drill videos have been The film was also something of a How an ecosystem of content creators massively popular on YouTube, while risk for YouTube, which has been criti- and audience trends inspire the com- Behzinga was an established You­Tube cised for providing a platform for what missioning strategy”. Hyams was star before the non-scripted three- many people believe is a style of rap joined by the directors of two of his parter was made. responsible for fostering gang violence. recent projects, Terms and Conditions: A UK Unusually, however, Terms and In May 2019, protesters gathered out- Drill Story and How to Be Behzinga, Brian ­Conditions… was directed by a veteran side YouTube’s London HQ to urge the Hill and Kevin Batchelor, respectively. award-­winner (Hill’s credits include the video-sharing platform to take a Also present were London-based Bafta-winning Feltham Sings, set in the tougher stance against content that journalist Andre Montgomery-Johnson London young offenders’ prison) who they believed promoted knife and – aka Mr Montgomery – who narrates knew nothing about drill and little gun crime. Terms and Conditions: A UK Drill Story, and about working with YouTube before Terms and Conditions… was an attempt Ethan Payne, aka Behzinga, YouTube he took on the commission. to make a balanced film that explored star and the subject of How to Be Behzinga, Hill said: “I was reluctant to do it at the music’s connections to knife crime, which recounts Payne’s emotional and first but then I thought this is on my gangs and drugs. Drill musicians and physical transition from overweight doorstep in London and it’s an inter- performers were featured alongside gamer to endurance athlete. esting social phenomenon that needs interviews with bereaved mothers

22 whose sons were killed on London’s connected with Behzinga’s YouTube “When producers come to us, we want streets. following. them to think about what the best Hyams said the film contained “an “When we spoke to Luke originally, form is,” explained Hyams. “We take anti-violence message wrapped up in we had an idea of what we wanted to data into consideration but there are the music [the participants] loved” make. The film was going to sit on his no restrictions or limits. That’s one of – and acknowledged that it gave him channel and speak to his audience,” the great things about commissioning a few sleepless nights, particularly as he recalled. at YouTube.” YouTube was criticised in the film. “It As for subject matter, would was a nail-biting­ experi- he consider wildlife films? ence,” he admitted. “Yes, if there is a way that “I have to credit the they can be connected to guys I work with at You- something relevant to You- Tube and Google Policy, Tube,” said Hyams. “If there’s especially Ben McOwen a creator out there who’s Wilson [regional director, already doing some great YouTube EMEA]. They stuff in wildlife or who has a stood behind me and passion for wildlife that you pushed for us to make an could partner with.… If honest appraisal.” there is a wildlife channel For Montgomery-­ that is doing well, poten- Johnson, being involved tially doing something in Terms and Conditions… together could be good. was “life-changing”. He “But, for the most part, wanted to show drill “in all we’re very personality-­ its facets” and “open doors led.… Wildlife, yes, but it for everybody within every would definitely have to demographic”. have a human element.” He added: “Growing up in And animation? “We’re Brixton, I felt like a statistic open to it. We’re com- – one more child that will go missioning for YouTube through the system, maybe Kids, so if there is stuff get a job, maybe go to uni, that is skewed towards a maybe go to jail. I didn’t want younger audience, we’d that. I felt that sharing my love to take a look at story… I want to be who I want any pitches. to be regardless of what any- “We try and stay one body has to say. If that means degree away from doing it through a documen- what’s already on You- tary… why not?” Tube. We’re not doing He praised Hill’s empathy and adult, narrative scripted rapport for the rappers who YouTube animation.” agreed to be filmed: “He put two Regardless of genre, and two together quickly… A lot originality is crucial. “We don’t like of drill artists are unreliable and things that feel as if they’ve already quite dangerous. “I have never worked with anyone been pitched to Netflix or BBC Three “Some of them have mental health on camera who was as willing to put or someone else. Stuff that could fit issues and behave in certain ways themselves out there as Ethan [Payne] anywhere isn’t really for us. which they don’t see are wrong. Or was. There was nowhere we couldn’t “It needs a USP that connects it to they haven’t ever been corrected about go. For a film-maker, that is brilliant YouTube and makes it feel it could certain behaviours. Brian was able to but also terrifying – when do you know only ever exist on YouTube. One of the pick that stuff up quick.” when to pull back and when do you things that gets us off to a good start is Unusually, the interviews were know to go deeper?” saying, ‘This is the YouTube channel filmed in black and white. Hill said that Payne, nevertheless, enjoyed the I’d like to partner with.’ “in lots of places” that would have been experience, despite the length of the “For us, it makes sense to partner impossible: “They’d think that black shoot doubling from four to eight with and celebrate people who’ve and white will freak out our audience. months due to disruptions caused by already put in loads of time with YouTube was completely on board with lockdown. “Working with Kevin and YouTube.”­ n all of that.” his crew felt like a family environ- How to Be Behzinga is another You- ment, it was so relaxed. I could laugh Report by Steve Clarke. ‘YouTube Originals: Tube Originals project that touches on and joke but get the job done,” he said. How an ecosystem of content creators and sensitive topics, including cancer, These two documentaries are very audience trends inspire the commissioning mental health, fitness, masculinity and different in terms of their running strategy’ was an RTS event held on 11 March. friendship. Batchelor told the RTS that times – one is a feature-length film The session was hosted by Rhianna Dhillon, he had set out to make a series that while the other is a three-part series. BBC 6 Music film and TV critic.

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 23 Made in Chelsea Channel 4 Monkey business

ver the past couple He and Granger had enjoyed their of decades, produc- The RTS learns how autonomy at Ginger and wanted to tion company Mon- the influential indie keep it. The duo told the RTS that, key has made some although they had been successful at of TV’s most innova- helped reinvent getting ideas such as Don’t Forget Your tive entertainment entertainment genres Toothbrush on TV, they were less sure shows.O Love or loathe it, no one can about how to set up an indie. doubt the pioneering success of, say, “I’d love to say there was a master Made in Chelsea. It’s a show that, along plan but, like all good things, it was by with Lime Pictures’ The Only Way Is default,” admitted Macdonald. Monkey Essex, rewrote the script for reality “started off with me and [Granger] on a television. park bench, and we bumbled our way Monkey, aka Monkey Kingdom, cele- through setting up the company”. brates its 21st birthday this year. The ‘POSH PEOPLE Monkey’s first success – the hidden-­ indie’s founders, Will Macdonald and camera show Make My Day, for Chan- David Granger, had previously run Chris WERE ALWAYS nel 4 – gave unsuspecting people the Evans’s production company, Ginger LAMBASTED ON greatest day of their lives, whether it Television. In the mid-1990s, Macdonald was fulfilling a long-held dream or even found fleeting on-screen fame as TV… BUT THE meeting a celebrity hero. Evans’s sidekick on Channel 4’s bound- PEOPLE WE “The show is a really good reflection… ary-pushing TFI Friday. of the sort of television we like to make,” However, Ginger, which was sold to WERE SEEING said Granger. “It’s a mischievous format, the Scottish Media Group (later STV) in WERE COOL AND it plays in real life and it does a lot with 2000, was “coming apart”, recalled talent. We were told it was impossible Macdonald. INTERESTING’ [to make].”

24 Another early series, Channel 5 prank show Swag, tempted the public to commit a crime and then gave them their comeuppance; the action was again filmed on hidden cameras. The idea came from work associate – and movie director – Guy Ritchie, who had witnessed thieves making off with a bike belonging to his then wife, Madonna. Made in Chelsea, which made its debut on E4 in 2011, gave Monkey its first big hit. “We had this idea for a show called ‘Daddy’s Little Princess’,” recalled Macdonald, based on a young woman who did her supermarket shop in a speedboat. “Posh people were always lambasted on television – no one liked them, they were always portrayed as idiots, but the people we were seeing were cool and interesting,” said Granger. “We made the decision to [film their] love lives, relationships and friendships – and not have them just waving [their] money… in the face of the viewer…. People did warm to them massively and, 10 years later, it’s still going, and stronger than ever.” Since their time at Ginger, Macdon- Dating No Filter ald and Granger had sold formats and Sky made shows in the US. But, a decade into Monkey’s life, frustration with aired on E! in the US. The result is who joined the indie as Managing interference from US partners was something like the love child of Goggle- Director in 2017. “The three of us are growing. “Every time we sold a show box and First Dates, and features pairs of not very good at not working and out there, we had to co-produce it with comics commentating on blind dates. making shows. For our own sanity, another company. That’s not always The comedians include Josh Widdi- we had to keep going.” ideal,” said Macdonald. combe, Tom Allen, Joel Dommett and As Monkey enters its third decade, The experience on one show in Judi Love, with the latter two appearing Macdonald is hoping to make “big particular, Man vs Cartoon (in which at the RTS event. “You’re sat down with series on big networks” for a media scientists tried to recreate Wile E Coy- your friend, taking the mick. I literally world that, he says, is consolidating ote’s ridiculous contraptions from do that when I watch First Dates anyway. into “fewer, bigger, better” outfits. Looney Tunes), was particularly irritating. That’s what’s beautiful about the format The large US streamers, he added, “We handed it over to this American – it’s simple,” said Dommett. are creating global markets for shows: producer and it didn’t really work. We “The dynamic of the pairings is “Some shows we’re making in the UK started to realise that we needed to really important.… We wanted people for the UK and some shows in the US be as creative and involved as we are who had established relationships and, for the US, but we’re also thinking how here.” In 2010, Monkey was acquired frankly, could take the piss out of each we can [bring them together]. by NBCUniversal International Studios, other as well. The self-deprecation and “There are also some shows that which, Macdonald says, gave the indie honesty around disastrous dates is we’re still determined to make that sit creative control over its shows in the US. really important because we’ve all had on scraps of paper from 20 years ago Over the past decade, Monkey has them,” added Granger. because, in the end, a good idea needs continued to thrive, producing the RTS Dating No Filter and Monkey’s other to find the right time.” n award-winning The Real Housewives of shows have continued to be made Cheshire and Don’t Hate the Playaz. during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Report by Matthew Bell. The RTS event Its newest series is Sky One’s Dating “We’ve learned that we’re incredibly ‘Monkey: 21 in 2021’ was held on 18 March No Filter, based on a show that first resilient,” said Samantha Lawrence, and chaired by journalist Caroline Frost.

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 25 he come from? The short answer is that he came from the minds of the distin- guished trio of creatives – Michael Arrested Moloney and Brian and Domhnall Glee- son – with some input from Horgan, an executive producer on the show. Frankly, an early inspiration for Frank himself seems a tad mysterious but goes back at least five years. The development two Gleeson brothers had worked on a short together, which partly led to An all-star RTS panel discusses the genesis of the character. But then, so did another creation Channel 4’s Frank of Ireland, a waster for our times worked up by Domhnall Gleeson and Moloney, writing songs together, cen- tred on a struggling country singer. What we do know about Frank is that he is a walking disaster area – newly single, jobless, living at home with his mother (who doesn’t want him in the house) and an accomplished musician who hasn’t written a song or played a gig in years. Horgan’s involvement began when Domhnall (he featured as a guest star in an episode of Catastrophe) ran into her in New York and showed her the script. “We didn’t know what we had – was it a film thing or was it just a load of funny stuff?” he recalled. The idea began to take shape when Merman came on board. Domhnall added: “It was not a million miles away from what we ended up filming, but Sharon was amazing about helping us to turn it into something that could be on the telly.” “I remember Domhnall being on the Catastrophe set and he was telling me how to talk to actors properly,” she said, smiling at the memory. “I’d seen his Irish sketch show, Your Bad Self, and thought it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen on Irish or UK TV. I keep posting the sketches on Twitter.” She continued: “I remember, when I read the scripts for Frank of Ireland, that I couldn’t stop laughing. Obviously, we Frank of Ireland

Channel 4/Amazon Prime Channel 4/Amazon went through a million rewrites and Channel 4 allowed us to do a mini-­pilot, rom Father Ted to Derry The broadcaster hopes that Frank which gave us confidence. Girls, Channel 4’s reputa- Marron, a 32-year-old man locked in “When I got the first cut, I couldn’t tion for Irish comedy is an adolescent’s mind, will join that breathe I was laughing so much. It second to none. Now exclusive group of TV comic monsters, made me so happy because that never comes Frank of Ireland, who, despite their self-centred ways happens. a new, six-part series and empathy deficit, somehow engage “When you’ve been a comedy per- made by Sharon Horgan’s production our sympathies. son for a while, you get a bit jaded, but company,F Merman, producer of BBC Think, to name but three, of Basil this cracked me up.” Two’s Motherland. The show stars Brian Fawlty, Alan Partridge, or Larry David As for Frank of Ireland’s antecedents, Gleeson, who plays the eponymous in Curb Your Enthusiasm – all hilarious Domhnall Gleeson references Fleabag, Frank, and his brother Domhnall. The but people you’d really want to keep at Alan Partridge and the physical comedy Gleeson family are, of course, Irish arm’s length, were you to run into them. of Dumb and Dumber – the show con- acting royalty. So, just who is Frank and where did tains a lot of slapstick. “You care about

26 Frank because you find out about his sense for Frank?’ Sharon and Clelia film, be it Home Alone or Taxi Driver. vulnerabilities,” noted Horgan. [Clelia Mountford, another executive “We thought we’d just do that in one “Frank takes delight and joy in things producer] also helped us to find the episode but, as things went along, it even if they’re ridiculous,” added Brian funny in certain characters. It was developed. A lot of our shared refer- Gleeson. “We drew from our childhood, amazing to see the scripts get better ences are movies, we grew up with all the immediacy of being young and but, at times, it was tense. No, tense is these great movies, it grew out of that,” having no responsibility. We took that the wrong word. It was difficult.” explained Domhnall. notion to the extreme.” Horgan agreed on this point. “When “We didn’t want to push it too much “Frank can’t move forward in his Rob [Delaney] and I did Catastrophe, into pastiche or parody, but where we life for a lot of different reasons,” said that bit at the end, when you make it ended up was that the world never Moloney. “His best friend, Doofus funnier, is always the best – but then conspires to be like the movie but, (played by Domhnall), admires Frank it gets hard.” rather, it’s Frank interpreting the world and feeds into his misguided self-­ Domhnall added: “We never forgot as if it were a movie,” added Moloney. belief.… There is a playfulness about that, despite any differences of opin- Horgan said: “We didn’t want it to be him. You get the sense that there is a nugget of goodness inside him that he just can’t get in contact with.” As for the female characters, who include Frank’s mother, Mary (Pom Boyd), and Aine (Sarah Greene), his ex, they are all as badly behaved as the men. This developed organically. Said Brian Gleeson: “The minute you’re conscious about it, you start giving people funny things to do. “It made us laugh that his mother is, in a sense, his mate. That was more interesting to us than the classic Irish mammy trope.” Domhnall Gleeson added: “We wanted everyone in the show to make us laugh, so you don’t want well-­ behaved people in there. Then, some- one will end up being the butt of the joke in a bad way. “As the series progresses, you realise that all the characters are as bad as each other and are awful to each other.” Horgan stressed how important it was to have a show in which all the women were as funny as the men, and to have an ensemble cast. “We spent a lot of time talking about the female characters. For me, the women are some of the funniest char- acters in the show,” she said. “Mary is a feminist icon. I can’t stop watching her, I love her so much.… They [the Frank of Ireland

Gleeson brothers and Moloney] knew Prime Channel 4/Amazon instinctively what was going to be funny because they’ve known each ion, we wanted to come out of it as a gimmick, but embedded in the show other so long.” brothers and friends. It was lovely to and to be something that added to its This familiarity could, in theory, be see how solid that bond was, even richness, so audiences wouldn’t feel a disadvantage. Domhnall Gleeson under a lot of pressure.” manipulated by it.” n acknowledged that creating and making In episode 2, another brother, Fergus Frank was an “intense” experience: “My Gleeson, pops up, singing a song writ- Report by Steve Clarke. Journalist Emma favourite time was just before we started ten by Moloney, while their father, Cox hosted an RTS Q&A with Brian and shooting and the three of us got together Brendan Gleeson (who starred in The Domhnall Gleeson, Sharon Horgan and in an office in Dublin and thrashed Guard and In Bruges), appears in epi- Michael Moloney on 25 March. Frank of through the scripts, line by line. sode 6 as Mary’s boyfriend. Ireland is a co-production with Ama- “We asked ourselves, ‘Is that the The Gleeson clan are steeped in zon Prime and debuts on Channel 4 on funniest that line could be, is that line movie culture and each episode of 16 April, when all episodes will be avail- pulling its weight, does this make Frank references a well-known feature able to stream on All 4.

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 27 Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Donald Glover will star in the remake of Mr and Mrs Smith Getty Images A revolution for UK production

ike football scouts spot- indies’ funding models; and the pros- ting a magical left foot, A line-up of senior pects for Britain’s physical studios. the deep-pocketed US TV industry figures James Bennett, MD of Televisual, streaming platforms moderated the panel comprising Jane have made no bones analyses the streamer- Millichip (chief creative officer, Sky about scooping up the led boom for British Studios), Wayne Garvie (President of bestL of British on-screen talent. Charlie international production, Sony Pictures Brooker has signed to Netflix, Phoebe talent and facilities International), Seetha Kumar (CEO, Waller-Bridge is in bed with Amazon ScreenSkills) and Roger Morris (MD, Prime, and relative latecomer Apple Elstree Studios). TV+ is able to boast the likes of Ewan Meanwhile, spending by public ser- The UK’s strength in TV came from McGregor and David Attenborough on vice broadcasters (PSBs) is diminish- the fact that it had never really had a its books. ing, having fallen by nearly 30% over film industry, according to Garvie, who Meanwhile, from Dagenham to Man- the past 15 years. How will these new added: “We’ve been good at embracing chester, physical studios are on the dynamics disrupt the UK’s unique high and low culture.” rise, with more than 100 sites across production ecology, and how might He ascribed the UK’s popularity the UK in planning and development. broadcasters and indies best adapt? with US investors to four main factors: It is another manifestation of the bur- The RTS invited four senior industry a very strong history in TV; the English geoning inward investment on high- figures to explore: the impact of US language; creative entrepreneurs end TV production in the UK, which high-end television investment on the used to going out and selling their topped £1.6bn in 2019, a figure expected UK production sector; the future shape wares for the past 40 years or longer: to at least double by 2025. of our output; the implications for UK and “unbelievable quality in acting

28 talent”. To illustrate his last point, he streamers to indies good or bad? Again, So were studios more than just a cited The Crown: “No one can come said Millichip, it was not binary. At one real-estate investment? Sound stages close.” Garvie then added: “The tax end, indies had long retained control of were now popping up in response to credit has really helped.” their rights and distributed them inter- a famine-hit period during which the Morris went further: “Tax incentives nationally; at the opposite end, stream- value of their land had made redevel- have kept our industry going. Other ers offered all-rights deals up to 130% opment of lots such as Teddington countries are catching up. We have to of the budget. She described a “sweet attractive. The challenge would be to stay on our toes if we wish to continue spot in the middle”: working with make these big new investments pay, the business.” streamers to secure margin upfront said Morris. “The studio business isn’t Kumar added three more reasons – helpful for working capital – while one that makes a fortune.” why US companies look to the UK to retaining rights when working with As well as coping with political pres- realise their projects: the studios and linear platforms in the conventional sure to push production to the regions, their infrastructure; the locations we way, and hopefully seeing an upside. Morris stressed the need for joined-up can offer; and, most precious of all, our thinking by the DCMS and every one workforce. “For decades, the creativity else involved, to answer the needs of in front and behind the camera is ‘IT’S ABOUT clients, and for training to keep the something that has been lauded glob- workforce fresh and diverse. ally,” she said. FINDING THE Building on the training college at It was not “either PSB or streamer”, it LOCAL AND Elstree, with its curriculum for 14- to was “as well as”, argued Millichip, add- 19-year-olds, Morris wanted to transfer ing that, over the past year, Sky Studios MAKING IT that model to other areas of the UK had worked on 29 projects for US buy- UNIVERSAL’ and to develop more training alliances ers with either co-production or pre- with the BBC and other studios and sales deals, for 15 different networks bodies. “We will talk and work together and platforms. “The US sees the UK as to find solutions for the skills shortage an exciting market but, equally, we still Garvie described how securing an we anticipate. Together, we can create a need the US for a lot of our funding. So upfront premium might be most bene- workforce appropriate for this century.” we have an increasingly complex and ficial for a small indie. He predicted that, “Our currency is experience,” agreed nuanced world. It’s not binary.” in the increasingly crowded market, it Kumar. “If we look at our role in story- Garvie pointed out that Netflix’s would be the medium-sized production telling, that involves a range of skills. second-biggest market was Brazil, companies that might lose out. Perhaps we should look ahead, ask emphasising the model of spending For any producer hoping to break what we want to do and work back- less, while getting more. “It’s about into the market, Millichip urged them to wards from that to identify the skills finding the local and making it univer- take advantage of the myriad of differ- we need.” sal,” he reflected. ent deals offered by Sky and others: Finally, each of the panellists was Millichip agreed, and namechecked “Owning your own company isn’t the asked for one piece of advice. “For Sky Italia’s Gomorrah – “Italian mafia, only way. Quite a lot of producers are indies, don’t think binary in terms of very rooted in its world, but with a terrible at running businesses, but bril- rights or your relationships. Under- huge global audience. Audiences­ are liant at making shows. Getting an stand your customer and who they’re becoming more sophisticated”. in-house deal that allows third-party trying to attract. Work with the broad- What steps did the industry need to shows could liberate you to spend all est spectrum of writing talent, think take to remain competitive and attrac- your day developing and writing.” nations and regions, think forwards,” tive to inward investors? The panel Where does PSB sit in all of this? said Millichip agreed that building on the UK’s repu- Millichip credited the PSB tradition for “Think global by being local. It tation for creativity was key. “Do we nurturing the best talent, creating a doesn’t matter who you are, you can have the writing schemes, the produc- healthy marketplace and influencing construct a story that will be watched tion schemes, and are we able to fund others to offer value, diversity and around the world. This is a unique them?” asked Millichip. inclusion. “Those decades of PSB have moment in communications history, She also credited British soaps for suffused our cultural sector,” she said. and that’s the goal to win. Win by creating organic but excellent training PSBs continued to serve as a middle understanding your environment,” grounds. “You see superb writers com- ground for the workforce between suggested Garvie. “Embrace creativity, ing out of those factories. They are training and working on high-end embrace technology, understand busi- great for our skills base.” productions. Morris also noted the ness,” said Kumar. Morris, whose Elstree Studios is con- importance of PSBs in providing “We all have to talk together, move nected to a training college, stressed the opportunities for young people, such together, provide for each other and ongoing need for technical know-how, as writers on radio. “What we try to also have to try to understand what including the growing visual effects do is be ahead of the game, which each other needs,” concluded Morris. n business. “We have to make sure our changes rapidly, by trying to encom- workforce remains skilled, and trained, pass the workforce of young people Report by Caroline Frost. ‘The streamers and that we’re bringing young people and learn from their ideas. They’ll and the UK production ecology’ was an into the industry,” he said. colour what the industry looks like RTS event held on 31 March. The producers Were the deals being offered by in 10 years’ time.” were Heather Jones and James Bennett.

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 29 Shine True Vice At the cutting edge

he idea that I got to was a huge amount of common watch things and got Vice Studios President ground. Vice had a slate of really excel- paid for it was mind-­ Kate Ward explains lent documentaries – and there was a blowing.” For Kate Ward, huge amount of mutual respect for the television has been a big to the RTS how her journalism,” said Ward of Vice’s acqui- part of her life. As she group built a unique sition of Refinery29. “To return to the ‘confessed,T she is an “unashamed TV TV business at a time when there was addict – I loved it, and I still love it”. international production an explosion of content… was an As the London-based President of attractive proposition.” Vice Studios, the international TV and business The move was another sign that feature-film production arm of Vice Nancy Dubuc, the veteran US TV exec- Media Group, she commissions content me with a passion for the international utive who took over as CEO of Vice for Vice’s worldwide outlets and for third business and the format business”. Media in 2018, was determined to parties, such as Netflix, Disney and She went on to be president of inter- reinvent Vice. The former digital Amazon, and oversees sales from a cata- national for the US young women’s upstart had lost its way amid allega- logue comprising 900 hours of shows. online lifestyle brand Refinery29. The tions of sexual harassment and a Ward detailed her career to the RTS role attracted her because of the com- “boys’ club culture”. at an event chaired by Manori Ravind­ pany’s focus on digital. Ravindran also noted other difficulties ran, international editor of Variety. She In late 2019, Vice acquired Refin- Vice had experienced, with “the channel revealed that she once wanted to make ery29, and Ward took charge of the [Viceland] and content not getting suffi- and/or present history programmes, assimilated entity. The deal was cient notice because of low viewership”. but her professional life in TV began in designed to unite two digital-centric Ward responded: “We’ve diversified distribution: she was employed by media businesses and then diversify now, both by genre and by geography. specialist factual distributor TVF Inter- beyond Vice’s male-skewing core It is driven by thinking about how we national, before she joined Shine and audience. work with US premium cable and rose to be director of distribution at “The two businesses maybe had streamers, and internationally with EndemolShine. The experience “left slightly different audiences, but there linear channels. We really wanted to

30 be part of that explosion of demand Vice Studios recently announced Motherboard, which covers technology. for content.” that it was making a true-crime series, “We work closely with digital,” said What, then, of the company’s culture? Indian Predator, for Netflix in India, “a Ward. “We are always thinking about Ravindran quoted Dubuc’s desire to super-premium” documentary with how we can translate those amazing “stamp out bro culture”, employ more the potential to become a global suc- pieces of IP into traditional TV.” women and boost inclusion. What did cess, it believes, that attempts to get A recent example is Shine True, a Vice stand for now? into the minds of serial killers. factual series exploring the experience Ward said that the company had “It’s a documentary series full of of trans and gender non-binary young evolved for the better under Dubuc’s suspense and full of intrigue,” said people at pivotal moments in their leadership and, thanks to “the incredi- Ward. “It is content that hasn’t been lives. The inspiration was the digital ble work we have done to support that short-form series Clothes Minded. change”, had developed an inclusive But it is the big shows that attract culture. “We’re at this incredibly inter- most attention. With a lot of compa- esting moment… Vice exists to give nies competing for commissions from voice to emerging voices and talent the major streamers, Ravindran asked rooted in youth culture. what Vice’s strategy was for pitching to “What excites me about Vice Studios Netflix and even Disney+. “There are is that we tell stories that others don’t more buyers,” replied Ward, “but it has tell, and with access that others don’t always been competitive.… It doesn’t have. Whether it’s our journalism, our make it easier, you have to be as sharp entertainment or reflecting the fore- as you ever were.… Audiences for chal- front of culture, we try to be there first… lenging feature documentaries that, “Vice is more than 25 years old, so before, might have been niche, are I think that speaks to this desire to now attracting mainstream audiences.” regenerate – and it can continue to She revealed that Vice Studios was deliver for the audience.” working with Disney but declined to Vice Studios, which launched in provide details. 2017, has produced such fare as Diego The event chair turned to the distri- Osorno’s 1994 for Netflix, The Satanic bution side of the business: what were Verses: 30 Years On for the BBC and Brit- the key markets for Vice content? Kate Ward ain’s Cocaine Epidemic for Channel 5. Refinery29 Ward highlighted the group’s partner- Ward’s commissions embrace feature ship with SBS in Australia, including films, scripted series, formats and [seen] before in the unscripted space the SBS Viceland channel. Documen- “premium, 90-minute documentaries”. and is delivered with an authentic local taries were driving Vice’s catalogue She explained: “The common thread perspective.” She believed that “super-­ and she highlighted Dark Side of the has been, ‘Is it reflecting culture and is premium factual shows” represented a Ring, about professional wrestling. it giving voice to under-represented big opportunity for Vice Studios. Sports, pop culture and entertainment voices? Is it challenging and speaking Beyond London, the company has were also doing well. truth to power?’” offices in New York, Los Angeles, “The distribution business launched How has Vice Studios’ production Toronto, Mumbai and Mexico City, at the right time – last summer, at the pipeline been affected by the pandemic? where Ward said it had led the way in height of the pandemic,” she noted, “It was obviously a year like no other Spanish-language documentaries, such adding that “being an independent – the resilience, the innovation, the as The Three Deaths of Marisela Escobedo, allows us to sell to everyone”. tenacity of the industry was extraordi- which chronicles a bereaved mother’s Did the Vice sales arm ever run into nary,” said Ward. Its global business quest for justice. The film reflected the censorship problems, given the edgy had mitigated the worst effects of the themes Vice Studios was interested in nature of some of its fare? “Bong Appétit crisis because it was able to “move – justice, crime, identity, and speaking and Weediquette are amazing shows but things around”. truth to power. they’re unlikely to be broadcast by a Accelerated demand for unscripted On the digital front, globally, Vice UK linear broadcaster,” Ward conceded. content had helped, too, she said: “The publishes “1,500 pieces of content a “But that doesn’t mean we can’t pro- scripted business, like everyone else’s, day”, ranging from feature-length con- duce other powerful content for the will fire back to full superpower this tent to news briefs at Vice News. UK market. You always have to be year and beyond. But I think that explo- With 350 million people a month culturally sensitive and put an audi- sion of demand for unscripted content accessing Vice’s channels worldwide, ence first.” n has allowed us to accelerate things. Vice Studios is in a unique place to “Covid has posed some big questions understand young audiences and their Report by Omar Mehtab. Kate Ward, about what people want to watch. We’re digital tastes and to predict trends. Vice President of Vice Studios, was in conversa- still solving those big creative questions Studios can tap into other parts of the tion with Manori Ravindran, international but there is a sense of optimism.” group, including Refinery29 and editor of Variety, for the RTS on 4 March.

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 31 small parts” in shows such as Cold Feet. Today, five years on, “at least now, when I’m sending [off] a self- A lockdown tape, there’s less of a feeling that this is just going into the ether, which it often felt like [before].” Pre-Normal People, Mescal had made an impression on the Dublin stage in sensation The Great Gatsby and The Red Shoes, but now “film-makers and companies want to sit down and talk”, he says. The two actors recalled auditioning for the roles of Marianne and Connell. County Kildare-born Mescal said: “I really wanted to play the part… I felt an attachment to [Connell], I understood who he was and what motivated him.” With Mescal confirmed as Connell, Londoner Edgar-Jones flew to Ireland for a “chemistry read”. Mescal recalled: “When I was working the scene, I found it just way easier to act with her and for Connell to come to the surface a little bit more. Auditions are just such awful experiences, full stop, I find. So, to be in an audition and feel comfortable is not a feeling I’m familiar with. I felt calm when I was working with Daisy… I really felt the script come off the page.” To play Marianne, Edgar-Jones, helped by her Northern Ireland-born mother, nailed a widely praised rural Ireland accent, and read the novel over and over. But, she said, “there’s only so much prep that you can do because so much is found on the day. You have an idea from your reading of

BBC a scene, but it’s then so changed by the other actors you’re performing with.” The RTS hears how the BBC’s Normal People Marianne and Connell’s relation- ship changes as they move from energised the careers of its two stars school in Sligo to university in Dublin, and beyond, over 12 roughly half-hour year ago, Normal Peo- the right way, not just creatively, but… parts. “By the end, we see that they ple became the huge with great spirit. Good shows that are are content with who they are,” said TV hit of the first emotionally heavy don’t have to be Edgar-Jones. “I think they’ll always be lockdown, changing traumatic experiences to film. A lot of in each other’s lives but I don’t know the lives of its young joy went into making it.” in what sense.” Clearly, if Rooney ever stars, Daisy Edgar- Since appearing in Normal People, felt the urge, there is more to be writ- JonesA and Paul Mescal, overnight. the careers of the two actors have ten about the characters. The adaptation of Sally Rooney’s taken off. Edgar-Jones has landed Mescal is adamant that he does not novel was the BBC’s most-streamed starring roles in two films, Fresh and want any more Connell-like characters: series of last year, clocking up almost Where the Crawdads Sing, while Mescal “I love him deeply, but I want to play 63 million views on iPlayer in the eight is the male lead in Carmen, a modern-­ characters that scare me a little bit.” months following its April launch. day reimagining of the opera, filmed But would he return to the original “I felt incredibly surprised, not at the in Australia. if his and Marianne’s story continued? show being received so well, but at the “Before Normal People, the idea of “Happily,” said Mescal. “One hundred volume of people who were watching choosing what you do next was never per cent,” added Edgar-Jones. n it so quickly,” recalled Mescal, who something – it was just about hoping was talking at an RTS event last month. to goodness something would come Report by Matthew Bell. ‘In conversation “It felt quite overwhelming. And then [at all],” said Edgar-Jones. with Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal’ I felt a great sense of pride because it She had been working “on-off” was held on 29 March, hosted by journalist feels to me like a show that was made since the age of 17, picking up “very Caroline Frost and produced by the RTS.

32 Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You, Actor (Female); Writer – Drama and Mini-Series

RTS Programme Awards 2021 Hosted by Jonathan Ross, the awards were presented on 16 March at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, in partnership with Audio Network BBC

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 33 Actor (Female) Michaela Coel - I May Destroy You Various Artists/Falkna for BBC One and HBO ‘Nothing short of electrifying… Some- how, she brought the audience into her head, heart and skin.’ Nominees: ◗ Daisy Edgar-Jones – Normal People, Element Pictures for BBC Three ◗ Glenda Jackson – Elizabeth Is Missing, STV Studios for BBC One Actor (Male) Shaun Parkes – Small Axe Turbine Studios and Lammas Park for BBC One Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You, Actor (Female); Writer – ‘Pitch perfect – so measured, so care- Drama and Mini-Series

fully crafted, so absolutely right.’ Richard Kendal Nominees: ◗ Lennie James – Save Me Too, World Productions for Sky Atlantic ◗ Paul Mescal – Normal People, Element Pictures for BBC Three Arts Grayson’s Art Club Swan Films for Channel 4 ‘Refreshing, accessible and original – a truly joyous piece of work.’ Nominees: ◗ African Renaissance: When Art Meets Shaun Parkes – Small Axe, Power, ClearStory for BBC Four Grayson’s Art Club, Arts Actor (Male)

◗ Keith Haring: Street Art Boy, BBC Channel 4 BBC Studios for BBC Two Breakthrough Award Mae Martin – Feel Good Objective Fiction and Objective Media Group Scotland for Channel 4 and Netflix ‘Clearly a star in the making, bringing a fresh perspective and real originality to the screen.’ Nominees: ◗ Robert Softley Gale – CripTales: Hamish, BBC Studios for BBC Four IRL with Team Charlene, ◗ , Big Zuu – Big Zuu’s Big Eats Children’s Programme

Boomerang for Dave ITV Children’s Programme IRL with Team Charlene ITN Productions for ITV & CITV ‘As a children’s show, it feels fresh, inclusive and hugely engaging.’ Nominees: ◗ JoJo and Gran Gran/It’s Time to Go to the Hairdresser’s, BBC Children’s In- House Productions in collaboration with A Productions for CBeebies ◗ FYI Investigates – Brazil: Children Caught in the Crossfire, Fresh Start Mae Martin – Feel Good, Media for Sky News and Sky Kids Breakthrough Award Channel 4

34 Outstanding Achievement Russell T Davies OBE ‘This is presented to a screenwriter whose work over the past 20 years has taken television drama to places it’s never been before, explored themes never explored before, and – more than anything – told stories never allowed before. ‘Russell T Davies is one of the greatest dramatists of his genera- tion, a writer who – as he puts it himself – writes about “the big stuff… the stuff that makes you laugh, the stuff that makes you cry”. ‘He grew up in Swansea in a house full of books, but it was what came out of the television in the corner of the living room that intrigued him most. The BBC turned him down three times for its graduate trainee- ship but, by chance, he landed a job It's a Sin

Channel 4 on the children’s show Why Don’t You?, produced by BBC Wales. ‘He directed, wrote and produced all kinds of children’s television at the BBC. In the early 1990s, Russell moved to Granada Television as a writer on Children’s Ward. ‘Living in Manchester led Russell to his breakthrough work, Queer as Folk, in 1999. He was writing main- stream shows for Granada by day – and, by night, immersing himself in the city’s exploding gay culture. Why was no one putting these characters on television or telling their stories, he wondered? If any- Queer as Folk one was to do so, it should be him.

Channel 4 ‘For five years, from 2005, the colossal machine that Doctor Who became more or less took over his life… As showrunner and chief writer, he reimagined it for a new century and a sophisticated new audience, building epic stories around big, technicolour characters. More than anything, he brought warmth and heart to Doctor Who, refashioning the show as a drama for the whole family. ‘The potential consequences of the rising tide of populism in Brit- ain were examined in Years and Years in 2019. And, this year, came It’s a Sin, in some ways, the ultimate Russell T Davies drama – a story of Russell T Davies OBE, Outstanding Achievement Award characters looking for their truth,

Richard Kendal and dealing with the consequences.’

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 35 Comedy Entertainment The Ranganation Zeppotron for BBC Two ‘A genuinely funny, laugh-out-loud event – the perfect showcase for the huge talent of its star.’ Nominees: ◗ The Big Narstie Show, Expectation/ Dice Productions for Channel 4 ◗ Charlie Brooker’s Antiviral Wipe, Broke and Bones/Endemol Shine Group Loose Women, for BBC Two Daytime Programme Richard Kendal Comedy Performance (Female) Gbemisola Ikumelo – Famalam BBC Studios for BBC Three ‘The winner is supremely entertain- ing… she just has funny bones. When she’s on screen you simply can’t take your eyes off her.’ Nominees: ◗ Ruth Jones – Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special, Fulwell 73, Baby Cow and Tidy Productions for BBC One ◗ Sophie Willan – Alma’s Not Normal, Expectation for BBC Two The Ranganation, Comedy Performance (Male) Comedy Entertainment

Youssef Kerkour – Home BBC Jantaculum and Channel X for Channel 4 ‘Youssef Kerkour has an amazing pres- ence. His was a truly impactful performance.’ Nominees: ◗ Paul Chahidi – This Country, BBC Studios for BBC Three ◗ O-T Fagbenle – Maxxx, Luti Media for Channel 4 Daytime Programme Loose Women ITV Studios – Daytime for ITV ‘The show makes a real connection with its audience – making them Youssef Kerkour – Home, laugh, making them think.’ Comedy Performance (Male)

Nominees: Channel 4 ◗ The Bidding Room, Ricochet for BBC One ◗ Junior Bake Off, Love Productions for Channel 4 Documentary Series Once Upon a Time in Iraq Keo Films for BBC Two ‘A gripping piece of television, telling a story we thought we knew, but actu- ally didn’t, full of characters who con- founded stereotypes.’ Nominees: ◗ Hospital: Fighting Covid-19, Label1 for BBC Two ◗ The School That Tried to End Racism, Once Upon a Time in Iraq, Gbemisola Ikumelo – Famalam, Proper Content for Channel 4 Documentary Series Comedy Performance (Female) Richard Kendal BBC

36 Judges’ Award Anne Mensah ‘The recipient began her commis- sioning career at the BBC, where she developed and commissioned an impressive array of drama hits – shows such as Wallander, Single Father and Waterloo Road. ‘She became head of drama at Sky in 2011, and soon turned Sky into a powerhouse of high-quality, British-­ produced drama, with critically Save Me

Sky acclaimed shows such as Fortitude, Patrick Melrose, Save Me and Chernobyl. ‘Now, as vice-president for UK original series at Netflix, her slate includes The Crown, Sex Education and After Life. But, in a short time, she’s built a UK-based drama com- missioning team with the aim of capturing authentic British voices in high-production-value, British-­ produced shows. ‘Alongside Anne’s uncanny ability to sniff out a hit is her unwavering commitment to reflecting society’s diversity on the screen and champi- Anne Mensah, Judges’ Award

Richard Kendal oning of diverse production talent.’

Special Award Pact ‘This year has been a profoundly challenging one for our industry. But right from the earliest signs of the pandemic, one organisation swung into action. Pact is the body that represents Britain’s indepen- dent production sector – and, in those first days of lockdown, it took on a new mission: to somehow find a way for television to be produced safely again, when everything seemed to make that feel impos- sible. The very survival of the inde- pendent production sector hung in ) Colour? of People Killing Covid Is Why the balance. Pact, Special Award

‘Quickly, Pact helped on two BBC ( fronts. To producers, it offered regular briefings designed to share and lobbied the Government to ‘Taken together, these measures safety information between com- ­create the Film and Television Pro- ensured production was able to panies. Straight away, the focus was duction Restart Scheme. In July, the resume in the summer. A full-scale on finding a way back to safe Government announced £500m of catastrophe for our industry had programme-making. immediate funding – which meant been avoided. In recognition of this, ‘On the second front, Pact was on that the industry could turn the lights the RTS is presenting a Special Award political manoeuvres. A senior back on. It was a real win for Britain’s to mark the exceptional work this team led the industry’s working TV industry – due in large part to the year of John McVay, Sara Geater, Max group on production insurance, successful lobbying by Pact. Rumney and Hakan Kousetta.’

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 37 Drama Series Jonathan Ross, Host In My Skin Expectation for BBC Three and BBC One Wales ‘A fresh and exciting viewing experi- ence, a piece of work executed with genuine creative vision.’ Nominees: ◗ Save Me Too, World Productions for Sky Atlantic ◗ I Hate Suzie, Bad Wolf for Sky Atlantic Entertainment The Masked Singer Bandicoot Scotland for ITV ‘A smartly produced, joyful, silly, escapist family watch… and just what we all need right now.’ Nominees: ◗ Beat the Chasers, Potato for ITV ◗ Big Zuu’s Big Eats, Boomerang for Dave Entertainment Performance

Big Narstie and Mo Gilligan – The Big Richard Kendal Narstie Show Expectation/Dice Productions for BBC One, Channel 4 RTS Channel ‘An infectious sense of fun is created. of the Year It’s like a party that you want to be at.’ Nominees: ◗ Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan – Rob & Romesh Vs, CPL Productions for Sky One ◗ Yung Filly – Hot Property, BBC Three In-house Productions for BBC Three Formatted Popular Factual Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back Rumpus Media for Channel 4 ‘Distinctive in style, yet broad in appeal, all wrapped in a highly original format.’ Nominees: ◗ Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace,

Wall to Wall Media for ITV BBC ◗ The Rap Game UK, Naked (a Fremantle label) for BBC Three Damilola: The Boy Next Door, History History Damilola: The Boy Next Door Acme Films for Channel 4 ‘This delivered real emotional reso- nance, a proper piece of history film- making but with a compelling personal approach.’ Nominees: ◗ Lost Home Movies of Nazi Germany, Bright Button Productions for BBC Four ◗ The World’s Biggest Murder Trial: Nuremberg, Middlechild Productions for Channel 5 Channel 4

38 Behind the scenes at the awards Live Event The Third Day: Autumn Sky Studios, Plan B Entertainment and Punchdrunk Entertainment for Sky Arts ‘An astonishing feat, soaring in both its ambition and its first-class execution.’ Nominees: ◗ ENO’s Drive & Live: La Bohème, Somethin’ Else for Sky Arts ◗ Election 2019 Live: The Results, ITV News for ITV Mini-Series I May Destroy You Various Artists/Falkna for BBC One and HBO ‘An incredible achievement, showing us something we rarely talk about but should. Its impact was huge.’ Nominees: ◗ Adult Material, Fifty Fathoms for Channel 4 ◗ Small Axe, Turbine Studios and Lammas Park for BBC One Richard Kendal Presenter Big Narstie and Joe Lycett – The Great British Sewing Bee Mo Gilligan – The Love Productions for BBC One Big Narstie Show, ‘This presenter showed all the qualities Entertainment the audience loves to see right now: he Performance was warm, approachable and kind, with tremendous enthusiasm for the subject matter.’ Nominees: ◗ Yinka Bokinni – Damilola: The Boy Next Door, Acme Films for Channel 4 ◗ Grayson Perry – Grayson’s Art Club, Swan Films for Channel 4 RTS Channel of the Year BBC One ‘In 2020, the winning channel did what it does at its best. It became a place that the nation huddled around in a

Richard Kendal time of crisis… offering up an extraor- dinary range of quality programming, from bold new drama to innovative comedy and entertainment, plus out- standing news coverage.’ Nominees: ◗ ITV ◗ Sky Arts

The Surgeon’s Cut, Science and Natural History BBC

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 39 Science and Natural History The Surgeon’s Cut BBC Studios Production for Netflix ‘Beautifully made – sensitive and ­poignant, and offering an astonishing insight into a fascinating subject.’ Nominees: ◗ Surviving the Virus: My Brother & Me, Little Gem for BBC One ◗ Brain Surgeons: Between Life and Death, Blast! Films for Channel 4 Scripted Comedy The Young Offenders Vico Films for BBC Three ‘Authentic, absurd and hilarious.’ Nominees: The Young Offenders, ◗ , Calamity Films for Sky One Brassic Scripted Comedy

◗ Sex Education, Eleven Film for Netflix BBC Single Documentary Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism and Me Wonder and New Era Global Productions for BBC One ‘This programme was powerful and affecting, a revelatory piece that con- fronted the issue in a new way.’ Nominees: ◗ Surviving Covid, Sandpaper Films for Channel 4 ◗ The Family Secret, Candour Productions for Channel 4 Single Drama Elizabeth is Missing STV Studios for BBC One ‘The winning piece was a beautiful Anton Ferdinand: film, full of layers, all built around an Football, Racism and Me, Single Elizabeth is Missing, intensely emotional and compassion- Documentary Single Drama

ate central performance.’ BBC BBC Nominees: ◗ Anthony, LA Productions for BBC One ◗ Sitting in Limbo, Left Bank Pictures for BBC One Soap and Continuing Drama Casualty BBC Studios for BBC One ‘Still innovating, still pioneering in using new technology, and still push- ing forward what this type of show can do and say.’ Nominees: ◗ Coronation Street, ITV Studios for ITV ◗ Holby City, BBC Studios for BBC One

Casualty, Soap and Continuing Drama BBC

40 Sports Presenter, Commentator or Pundit Michael Holding – England vs West Indies Sky Sports for Sky Sports Cricket ‘The winner captured the mood of the event perfectly, bringing a personal perspective to bear on a moment of huge significance.’ Nominees: ◗ Bryan Habana – 2019 Rugby World Cup Final, ITV Sport for ITV ◗ Gabby Logan – London Marathon 2020, BBC Sport for BBC One and England vs West Indies BBC Two First Test – Black Lives Matter, Sports Programme

Sky/Getty Sports Programme England vs West Indies First Test – Black Lives Matter Sky Sports for Sky Sports Cricket ‘This was a remarkable piece of tele­ vision – editorially superb and techni- cally exceptional.’ Nominees: ◗ London Marathon 2020, BBC Sport for BBC One and BBC Two ◗ The Open for the Ages, IMG for The R&A and Sky Sports Writer – Comedy Mae Martin and Joe Hampson – Feel Good Objective Fiction and Objective Media Mae Martin and Joe Group Scotland for Channel 4 and Hampson – Feel Good, Netflix Writer – Comedy

Channel 4 ‘This writing was engaging, warm and truthful, but also landed the humour Joe Lycett – The Great with real skill.’ British Sewing Bee, Presenter; Nominees: Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back ◗ Peter Foott – The Young Offenders, Formatted Popular Factual Vico Films for BBC Three ◗ Writing Team – Ghosts, Monumental Television for BBC One Writer – Drama Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You Various Artists/Falkna for BBC One and HBO ‘This will be discussed for years to come… it is brave, poignant and highly original.’ Nominees: ◗ Steve McQueen and Alastair Siddons – Small Axe, Turbine Studios and Lammas Park for BBC One ◗ Lucy Prebble – I Hate Suzie, Bad Wolf for Sky Atlantic

Watch the full video of the RTS Programme Awards 2021 at: bit.ly/RTS-pr21 BBC

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 41 RTS NEWS example. “[It is] in Yiddish, a language­ almost no one speaks, [yet] people really connected to it around the world. The same is true with Deutschland. “It’s fantastic that you can make a niche product… and you can find the other crazy people in the world who are just as interested in it. The scaling of niche content that is possible through global streaming is an amazing thing. “It doesn’t change the national experience, because you’re still talking to your friends, family and colleagues about something you watched on TV, but it provides this opportunity to have a big conversation with a wider Deutschland 89

Channel 4 audience, and that’s exciting.” A series set in the recent past, explained the executive producers, is just as expensive From behind the wall to make as a “frocks and bonnets” costume drama. “As soon as someone goes Matthew Bell discovers how the Deutschland trilogy outside, you have to change all the cars in the street – it RTS London became a worldwide television phenomenon doesn’t matter if it’s 1800 or 1985,” said Anna. “[If] it’s eutschland 89, the “The [ratings] surprised us us, the most interesting ques- Berlin or Leipzig, you have to final series of the beyond our wildest dreams. tion was, ‘How do people change everything because Emmy award-­ The programme bagged over reinvent themselves when these cities have changed in winning Cold War 1.5 million viewers live and, their country and everything a way that no other cities in Ddrama, has recently come to with consolidation a week around them is falling apart? the western world, at least, All 4. But fans of the show later, 4 million, which made How do people deal with a have changed over the past have discovered that some of it the highest-rating foreign crisis of that magnitude?’ 30 years,” added Jörg. the show’s characters could drama ever in the UK. It put “It was far from clear that The Cologne-born Jörg yet draw new breath. Deutschland 83 in a completely we were going into an era of recalled thinking, when the “The trilogy is over,” con- different league to even the unification.… People were Berlin Wall fell, that the “bat- firmed the show’s co-creator, most successful Scandi noirs dreaming of a new socialism, tle between ideologies is over, Jörg Winger, at an RTS Lon- we all knew and loved,” said a better socialism. Many, every country will become a don event, “but we are think- Iuzzolino, who was introduc- many people were against liberal democracy. I could ing about a spin-off that is ing the London event. reunification.” never imagine in 1989 that we not Deutschland, but maybe The thriller became a The Deutschland trilogy has would see countries putting follows some of our charac- worldwide hit after Amazon found fans around the world. up walls… [like] the wall ters into new territory.” bought the second series, “The more specific the story, between the US and Mexico. Walter Iuzzolino chose Deutschland 86, and then the more universally it can Brexit is a kind of a wall, too, Deutschland 83 to launch Deutschland 89. “[It is] a show travel, which is counter-­ [because] it limits free move- Channel 4’s foreign-drama that truly changed the TV intuitive,” argued Anna ment.” n strand, Walter Presents, in landscape,” said Iuzzolino. Winger, the drama’s British- January 2016. Starring Jonas Deutschland 89 begins with American co-creator and ‘Deutschland 89: Behind the Nay as reluctant spy Martin the fall of the Berlin Wall. “In Jörg’s wife. wall’ was held on 9 March, Rauch, it aired in the most Germany, you have seen the She offered the Netflix­ chaired by the journalist Stephen competitive drama slot, lead up to the fall of the wall show Unorthodox, which she Armstrong and produced by 9:00pm on Sunday. many times,” said Jörg. “For co-created, as another Damien Ashton-Wellman.

42 Sarah Parish revealed that her character in the BBC satire W1A,

RTS Southern scary Anna Rampton, is based on three media executives – but she refused to reveal their names. “I’d never work again. It’s three different people – they’re all in the business and they’re all very powerful, so I’m never going to say – but I love them all dearly.” Parish and her husband and fellow actor, James Murray, were discussing their careers with ITV News Meridian pre- James Murray and Sarah Parish

senter Sangeeta Bhabra at an UK Hartley/News Philip RTS Southern event in March. The two actors said their favourite roles were charac- terised by great writing; for All actors are ‘insecure’ Parish, these included playing Beatrice in David Nicholls’ adaptation of Much Ado About what we live with as actors.” Game of Thrones. “[Rejection] to kill other people,” she said, Nothing, Anna in the John Murray added: “Being on is really tough but it is an laughing. “I really enjoy play- Morton-scripted WIA and set and doing what you love acute pain – it’s like ripping ing baddies – they always parts in two Peter Bowker doing probably represents off a Band-Aid – so it’s really have the best lines.” series, Blackpool and Monroe. about 5% of what the job painful for a really short The couple worked Murray namechecked entails; the lion’s share is period of time. Then you together shortly before Russell T Davies’s Cucumber: waiting around, either for the take a deep breath and you Christmas on ITV cop show “When the writing sings and phone to ring or managing go, ‘Next’.” McDonald & Dodds, in which you connect with it, every- your anxiety or expectations One of Parish’s recent roles Murray plays a police chief thing else is just so easy.” – that’s the tough part of was in ITV drama Bancroft, in superintendent, for the first Despite their success, both being an actor and why you which she played a corrupt time since the BBC One actors admitted to insecurity. have to commit to it.” cop who is also a cold- drama Cutting It, 16 years ago. Parish said many actors Rejection, he said, was part blooded killer. “We are all “It was really lovely. We had suffer from “imposter syn- of the job, although “the older typecast as actors by the way a few scenes together. We drome”, explaining: “You you get, the better you deal we look. I just happen to have were a bit nervous,” said turn up on set and you think, with rejection, because you quite an angular look about Murray. “I wouldn’t want to ‘I don’t feel that I deserve to have so much experience of me that doesn’t scream ‘fluffy do it every day, because you be here’.… We’re all as inse- it”. He revealed that he had bunny’, so I do tend to get want to keep your work life cure as each other; we are all come “really close to [land- cast as either people of quite and home life separate.” filled with self-doubt. It’s ing] a life-changing role” in high status or people who like Matthew Bell

engineer or technologist in working within the technical Krystel Young tech the early stages of their career. side of broadcasting or its “After what has been such Richards related industries. Last year, a challenging time, it is more WarnerMedia CNN Engi- award open important than ever to con- neering associate broadcast- tinue celebrating innovation IT engineer Krystel Richards for business in technology and the people won the award. The runner- behind it, by shining a spot- up receives the Coffey Award The Society is inviting light on future talent who are for Excellence in Technology. entries for its Young excelling in their fields,” said Entry closes at 5:00pm on Technologist of the Year Terry Marsh, Chair of the 24 May; please go to:

RTS Awards Award 2021, a prize that award jury. rts.org.uk/award/rts-young-

recognises an outstanding The prize is open to those CNN technologist-year-2021.

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 43 RTS NEWS

Isle of Man sports using cameramen at the specialist Greenlight circuit, on-board cameras and Television switched to a drone, with OB production

RTS IsleRTS of Man remote production in in Tampa. Beynon flew to the 2020, allowing the company US to oversee operations. to continue working despite The pandemic confined the pandemic. Greenlight to the Isle of Man Director Rob Hurdman, but the outfit continued to who was talking to RTS Isle cover the Trans-Am Series live of Man’s Paul Moulton at an from its Tromode base – a event in early March, said distance of some 6,800km. 2020 had been “a proper “It massively saves money,” rollercoaster year. We went said Hurdman, noting the [to] probably the depths of costs of flying crew to a race despair… [with] the first lock- and then paying for their down, thinking that every- food and accommodation. thing we’d worked for in the “Will we ever go back to the past 25 years was going to traditional way of doing fall through the floor.” OBs? I really can’t see it.” He continued: “Coming He added: “When 5G out of a very difficult year… comes on stream, that will we are starting to feel a bit revolutionise it again.” more optimistic.” Covering sport internation- Greenlight is best known ally had meant near-constant Trans-Am racing

for its coverage of the Isle Am Racing Company Trans travel before the pandemic of Man TT for ITV4, but the and advances in remote motorcycle road race has production came along, said been cancelled this year as Hurdman: “I’ve just had my well as last, due to the pan- Filming in the US first year, in 30-odd years, demic. “There were very here on the Isle of Man. I strong pubic health reasons can’t see myself ever getting for not doing it, but it’s obvi- from Tromode my BA gold card back. ously disappointing for us, “With remote production, the fans and the riders,” said we can go anywhere that Greenlight director David production office in Tampa, production shortly before needs a live production. Beynon. “Hopefully, 2022 Florida, and had already tri- lockdown”, recalled Hurd- What gives us our USP is that will be all guns blazing.” alled a remote outside broad- man. “We didn’t have a full we can be very, very com- The Isle of Man company cast (OB) of a Trans-Am race budget to do things in a tra- petitive price-wise. That will covers events worldwide, before the first coronavirus ditional sort of way.” be even more important after including the Trans-Am lockdown in March 2020. The race was held at the pandemic [when] money sports car racing series in It was “a huge stroke of Sebring, two hours from is going to be tight.” the US. Greenlight has a luck” doing a first remote Tampa, and was covered Matthew Bell

have clear labelling of syn- thetic media. Legislation has AI is the future: for good or ill a role to play here to safe- guard us from any potential misuses of technologies.” Artificial intelligence Group’s Yvonne Thomas. be used, like any technology, Video coding and AI expert (AI) is having a huge “We see a big advantage to for good or for bad.” Yiannis Andreopoulos said impact on the TV using AI and machine learn- “The risk is very obvious knowledge could fall into too

Thames Valley industry – for good or ing technologies in… search with synthetic [AI-generated] few hands: “There is a risk of bad – according to experts at and discovery. Increasing the media… you can influence monopolies, [with] AI exper- an RTS event last month. reach of content and making the results of elections; you tise being concentrated in a “It can be [anything] from it discoverable is absolutely can have conspiracy theories few companies around the a very simple and specific key [for the] monetisation going wild,” said audio-visual world.… It may increase task being replicated in a of content.” specialist Yota Georgakopou­ ­ inequality and it may force simple algorithm to an intel- Rich Welsh, SVP for inno- lou. “There is a need for very people in the industry to ligence system that can take vation at digital technology good deep-fake detection work with [only] a limited complicated decisions,” outfit Deluxe, who chaired technologies, but I think it supply of partners.” explained the Digital TV the RTS event, said: “[AI] can also should be obligatory to Matthew Bell

44 Live from your living room…

Live-streamed concerts and plays are thriving during lockdown,

RTS London hears Steve Clarke

s the performing option to donate), the arts went into hiber- National Theatre still had to nation during the pay fees to the artists and past year, streaming creators involved in the Aperformances have arguably productions. started to come into their The RTS also heard from own. In 2020, Dua Lipa’s Mark Mulligan, who runs Studio 2054 live stream netted MIDiA Research. He noted 5 million viewers in more that the pandemic had stim- than 170 countries, while ulated live music streaming, National Theatre at Home gener- despite the complexity of ated around 15 million views. clearing rights. This is also The hope in certain parts of a difficulty for the National the creative industries is that Theatre, as most licensing the pandemic has shown the frameworks do not cover Dua Lipa’s Studio 2054

beginnings of new streaming performances of this kind. LiveNow business models akin to, say, One factor holding back pay-per-view live boxing, live streaming pre-pandemic said the aim was to comple- Future Nostalgia jumped where people are happy to was the live music sector but, ment the live experience. 15 places in the album chart. pay £20 to watch a big fight. when venues closed in March TV viewers had shown that In other words, live stream- Three leading practitioners 2020, it was a case of needs they would pay to watch a ing could be an effective way discussed the future of must. boxing match at any time of to help launch an album or streaming at an RTS London Live music streaming the day or night. The chal- a single. event, “Full stream ahead”, remains a niche activity but lenge, he said, was: “How do The big question was, once last month. They presented a growing one, according we do that for music and live gigs returned, what was an upbeat vision, albeit one to Mulligan. “The audience entertainment?” LiveNow’s the role for streaming? Sut- tinged with caution, of the is still fairly small,” he said. first standalone music event cliffe claimed that streaming future where live streaming “Fewer than 10% of consum- was Ellie Goulding at the offered experiences to fans could complement concert- ers are doing this semi-­ V&A last August, which was that they could not get at a and theatre-going. regularly, compared with live-streamed on a pay- ­ live event. One initiative, “There is an important around 19% of people who per-view basis worldwide. Meet and Greet, enabled new audience out there. I would normally go to a con- “Content that fans love small groups of fans to meet look forward to the industry cert.” Young men were more drives our business,” said artists online prior to or after adapting,” said Lisa Burger, likely to watch a live music Sutcliffe. Various business a performance. Also, mer- executive director at the stream. models were available, such chandising could be bought National Theatre. People watching together as pay-per-view, subscription, while fans watched the The success of the not- ­ online was becoming more sponsorship, e-commerce music virtually. for-profit UK arts power- common, and this trend had and merchandising. Other Moreover, streaming was house’s response to coronavi- been observed across differ- LiveNow live streams have a lot more environmentally rus speaks for itself: National ent countries. So, insisted included a show with Goril- friendly than live perfor- Theatre at Home launched on Mulligan, “there is the poten- laz, Pete Tong at the O2 and mance, particularly if it 1 December and has screened tial for music live streaming a performance by Maroon 5. involved global tours. n 17 productions. Forty per to become mainstream”. “Record labels are starting cent of the audience were James Sutcliffe, chief mar- to look at these streams as ‘Full stream ahead’ was held on under 35, said Burger, who keting and content officer at marketing vehicles,” argued 24 March. It was chaired by revealed that, despite the LiveNow, whose business Sutcliffe. Following the Dua journalist Nadine Dereza, who streams being free (with an embraces music and sport, Lipa live stream, her album co-produced it with Phil Barnes.

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 45 RTS CENTRE AWARDS

RTS Republic of Ireland Clean sweep for film school Student Television Awards winners Animation•Husky•Darragh Scott, The National Film the Non-Scripted prize. The both in quality and quantity, National Film School, IADT

School at IADT took judges said: “The story of the despite the adverse circum- Non-scripted•Fatherly•Karin Pritzel and Daniel Bolanos Meade, National home all the prizes on heartbreak of this young stances,” said RTS Republic Film School, IADT Republic of Ireland offer at the 15th RTS father is sympathetically told.” of Ireland Chair Agnes Cogan. Scripted•Cease•Aisling O’Regan Republic of Ireland Student Husky, Darragh Scott’s story “The sheer invention and Sargent, Philip Emo, Dylan Keenan, Cormac Campbell and Keen Murphy, Television Awards. of heroism in the old West, ingenuity with which our National Film School, IADT The Scripted award went told with “chalk on a black- entrants tackled the daunt- Craft Skills: Cinematography• to Cease, a film about the board” style line drawings and ing prospect of production in To All My Darlings•Ciara Rigney, friendship between two girls. “with the fading and flickering a time of lockdown was so National Film School, IADT Craft Skills: Script•SOS•Daragh Goan, “The violent sexual assault appearance of an old movie”, impressive. We are filled National Film School, IADT and its aftermath, which is won the Animation award. with admiration for them.” at the heart of the drama, is Craft Skills awards were Leading television figures sensitively and skilfully dealt made to Ciara Rigney, for To presented the awards at the Irish language channel TG4; with,” said the judges. All My Darlings (Cinematogra- online ceremony in early and Bill Malone, director of Fatherly, which tells the phy), and Daragh Goan, for March: Dee Forbes, Director- content at Virgin Media story of a man who loses SOS (Script). General of RTÉ; Alan Essle- Television. contact with his child, took “We had an amazing entry, mont, Director-General of Matthew Bell

Students from Sheffield RTS Yorkshire Student Hallam University and Television Awards winners the University of Leeds

RTS Yorkshire triumphed in the two Non-scripted•Canada’s Keepers• University of Leeds principal categories at the Scripted•Future for Our Children• RTS Yorkshire Student Televi- Sheffield Hallam University sion Awards in mid-March. Craft Skills: Camerawork• ITV Yorkshire presenters Submerged in Nature•Omar Skalli, Christine Talbot and Duncan Sheffield Hallam University Wood hosted the online cere­ Craft Skills: Editing•YSTV Does Hunted•Thomas Schubert, University mony from the ITV News Cal- of York l Jude•Amos Menin and endar studio. Megan Decaluwe, Northern Film Scripted winner Future for School at Leeds Beckett University l At Work with Winston•Danny Hay- Our Children, made by a team wood, Sheffield Hallam University. of Sheffield Hallam Univer- Craft Skills: Lighting•Night Shift• sity students, is set in a refu- Northern School of Art gee camp for Syrian children. Craft Skills: Production Design• The judges praised the film Louise and Becca•Teva Fux, University of York for its “extraordinary natu- Craft Skills: Sound•Canada’s Keepers• ralism”, which was backed Karyan Au-Yeung, University of Leeds l up by “technical excellence Jude•Amos Menin and Megan Deca­ and incredible performances”. luwe, Northern Film School at Leeds Beckett University Amelia Canada’s Keepers, a Univer- l Sweet 16• Canada’s Keepers Lund, Northern Film School at LBU

sity of Leeds documentary of Leeds University about the destruction of the identity of indigenous Cana- in five craft categories, with dian women, took the Non- two (for Editing and Sound) Scripted category. The judges Films move going to Jude, made by Amos said it was an “ambitious film, Menin and Megan Decaluwe telling an untold story using at the Northern Film School. powerful testimony and Candour Productions and excellent film-making tech- judges to tears Universal Production Music niques”. Karyan Au-Yeung sponsored the awards. also won a Craft Skills: Sound past year, the quality of sub- were so moving that they left Five Zoom sessions, cover- award for Canada’s Keepers. missions was extremely high, judges in tears. The students ing factual film-making, “Despite the conditions with a number of broadcast- demonstrated excellent cre- scriptwriting and short films, under which students and quality productions,” said ativity, resilience and inno- were put on for students university and college staff RTS Yorkshire Chair Fiona vation in their storytelling.” following the ceremony. have had to work over the Thompson. “Some films Nine prizes were awarded Matthew Bell

46 Middlesex Uni makes its mark

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’s South Bank University team The Vivienne added of Ben Watson, Jem Horstead, glitz and glamour as Aeneas Macdonald and Sam

RTS London the host of RTS Lon- Cousins for Introspection. Wat- don’s Student Television son also won the Craft Skills: Awards last month. “This year Editing award. has proved how important “It was great to see so this industry is – if I hadn’t many entries, and so many had my TV in my house dur- colleges taking part, despite ing lockdown, I would have these testing times. We hope been climbing the walls,” said our online extravaganza was the winner of Drag Race’s first the next best thing to being UK series. “Knowing that the able to award the winners in future of TV is in your hands person,” said RTS London really puts me at ease.” Chair Phil Barnes. Yard Kings

Middlesex University took Observational documen- Middlesex University two of the main awards. Yard tary film-maker Vanessa Kings by Billy King and Vasco Stockley offered advice to RTS London Student Craft Skills: Camerawork•Above Everything•Niall Langlands, LCC, Alexandre won the Scripted the nominees at the cere­ Television Awards winners University of the Arts award, while Timea Moshaver mony: “Always stay open- Craft Skills: Editing•Introspection•Ben Animation•It’s Okay•Aisha Boudjillouli, Watson, London South Bank University and Anand Tiwari’s One Day minded – the stories you University of Westminster You Will Hear My Voice scooped film never quite work out as Craft Skills: Production Design• Non-scripted•One Day You Will Hear Know Your Sh..•Olga Rokosz, the Non-scripted prize. expected and are often far My Voice•Timea Moshaver and Anand Kingston University Tiwari, Middlesex University University of Westminster more interesting than you Craft Skills: Sound•Down There the Short Form•Introspection•Ben Watson, Seafolk Live•Stan Greengrass, Gold- student Aisha Boudjillouli’s could ever have anticipated.” Jem Horstead, Aeneas Macdonald and smiths, University of London Sam Cousins, South Bank University filmIt’s Okay took the Anima- She added: “Stay curious Craft Skills: Writing•D48 Cuckoo tion prize. The Short Form – you’ll always be learning.” Scripted•Yard Kings•Billy King and Lane•James Sinton, University of Vasco Alexandre, Middlesex University Westminster award went to the London Matthew Bell

of Ulster University took the Ulster students reap spoils Directing award for Fear. Writer/director Oisín Kear- ney, who co-wrote BBC Ulster University won and Reece Williams, was “pro- Film and Television School Three series My Left Nut, gave two main prizes at the fessionally finished, with great at SERC, Bangor) took the the Joe McKinney Memorial Northern Ireland Stu- use of contributors and beau- Scripted prize with She Cries at Lecture during the ceremony.

Northern Ireland dent Awards last month tifully shot”. Isolation: Overcom- Night. “A polished piece cre- He said: “If you know what at a ceremony hosted by UTV ing Adversity as a Community by ated on a budget,” said the you want to do, go for it. If journalist Katie Andrews. Aodhán Roberts (North West judges. Queen’s University you don’t know yet, don’t The Forlorn Piscator by Mat- Regional College) was highly Belfast students Benedict worry. Explore by meeting thew McGuigan triumphed in commended. Goddard, Sam Bell, Ross Cul- people, taking courses, read- the Animation category. The Stephen Parker, Jane len, Morgyn Lutton and Ethan ing books. Do your research. judges described it as “remi- McLoughlin, John Lennox and Rea were highly commended “TV and film is a world niscent of the early work of Josh Bell (Northern Ireland for High & Dry. George O’Hagan where it can take a long time Nick Park”. Antisocial Behaviour, to create things, so stick at it by Lyndsay Clarke and Phillip RTS Northern Ireland Adetunji•Joe Warden, Nathan Emery and be ready for failure – it’s and Reece Williams, Ulster University Steele from the Northern Student Television part of the process. Above all Scripted•She Cries at Night•Stephen Regional College, Coleraine, Awards winners Parker, Jane McLoughlin, John Lennox else, enjoy the ride.” was highly commended. and Josh Bell, The Northern Ireland Film Northern Ireland Screen Animation•The Forlorn Piscator• and Television School at SERC, Bangor The Non-Scripted winner, Matthew McGuigan, Ulster University and the Department for Com- Craft Skills: Directing•Fear•George The Rising of Jordan Adetunji by Non-Scripted•The Rising of Jordan O’Hagan, Ulster University, Belfast munities backed the awards. Joe Warden, Nathan Emery Matthew Bell

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 47 RTS OBITUARY

egulators are sup- decade, she was working in posed to be dry, Downing Street as part of bureaucratic figures Harold Wilson’s press team. who hover in the When Labour lost the 1970 Rbackground. Not so, Barbara election, she was asked to Nancy Hosking, who has stay on, subsequently forging died at the age of 94. a close working relationship As controller of informa- with the new Prime Minster, tion services at the Indepen- Edward Heath. dent Broadcasting Authority, At their first meeting, she political consultant at York- recalled, he told her to speak shire Television and deputy up: “‘I’ve been bullied by big- chair of Westcountry Televi- ger men than him,’ I thought: sion, Barbara was a high- ‘Nye Bevan, for a start.’” profile and influential figure She recalled how she was in British broadcasting. treated as an equal at Down- She was elected a Fellow ing Street: “I was surrounded of the Royal Television Soci- by educated men who all got ety in 1988 and was often firsts, and I hadn’t been to referred to as “formidable”, university, but they treated but this was only part of me as if I was as educated the story. and as intelligent as they Barbara certainly possessed were, and I responded enor- charisma and, into her nine- mously to that opportunity ties, remained a commanding and trust.” figure who could entertain a Barbara left the civil ser- lunch table with gossip, anec- vice in 1977 for the Indepen- dotes and trenchantly held dent Broadcasting Authority, views. She was fond of a powerful body that exer- Barbara Hosking

lunching with journalists, Antonio Olmos/The Observer cised great influence over sometimes at their homes. ITV’s programming. On one such occasion, three Despite her background years ago, she arrived fash- working for Wilson and ionably late, completely Barbara Hosking Heath, she was not expected unflustered and clutching to get the job at the IBA, but two bottles of Champagne as her personality and way of a gift for her hostess. 1926–2021 working introduced what Barbara, like the politician many of her colleagues she was closest to during her regarded as a breath of fresh career as a civil servant, looks back over the life of air to an institution that Edward Heath, was a com- Steve Clarke could seem somewhat aloof. mitted European and made an influential figure in UK broadcasting At the IBA, she was no secret of her opposition involved in the emergence to Brexit. Reform Club, the remark, magazine and took an adult of breakfast television and Her sharp eye and keen which closed her speech, led education course at Hillcroft its birth pains. In 1986, she sense of humour – and to fits of laughter. College in Surbiton. moved to Yorkshire Televi- sense of fun much in evi- Throughout her adult life, A Cornish friend helped to sion, one of the big five ITV dence at after-hours TV Barbara was a campaigner secure her a job at a copper companies, as a political gatherings – were evident in for women’s rights. She first mine in what was then consultant, working closely the title of her memoir, came to London after the Tan­ ganyika,­ now Tanzania. with Managing Director Exceeding My Brief: Memoirs of a Second World War, following “I was a woman in a totally Paul Fox. Disobedient Civil Servant, which an unhappy childhood in her male environment,” she She was later invited to was published in 2017. native Cornwall due to recalled. “But I made friends join a team bidding for the Her words when she health problems and her with the toughest of them, West of England ITV fran- finally decided to tell the parents’ miserable marriage. without compromising my chise. When the company world she was gay are redo- At the time, it was difficult own beliefs.” secured the licence, she lent of her humorous side. for women to succeed in the Barbara joined the civil became a board member at “I’ve come out at the age of male-dominated world of service as a press officer at Westcountry Television. 91,” she declared, “and if I work, but Barbara was deter- the Ministry of Technology, On Barbara’s insistence, don’t like it, I’m going back mined that being female having previously freelanced Westcountry’s application in again.” At a reception to would not stand in her way. for the BBC and the satirical had contained a promise of launch the book at London’s She worked for a cinema weekly Punch. Within a equal pay for women. n

48 The Syndicate, Kay Mel- health. It was work, work, lor’s drama about lot- work, work, work. They tery winners, has were wonderful: they never

RTS Yorkshire returned to BBC One moaned, they just got on – six years after the third with it.” series – with a new cast of The young cast are joined characters, this time working by the experienced Neil at a Yorkshire kennels. Morrissey and Gaynor Faye. “I wanted to do something “[The shoot] was really tough completely different, so this and there was a lot of anxiety, is a cat and mouse story… but also a lot of fun and although it’s actually about coming together,” said Faye. dogs,” explained Mellor, who How was filming done was interviewed by TV differently, asked Ackerley. presenter Michelle Ackerley “We were all wrapped in at a BBC event, co-streamed cling film,” joked Morrissey. by RTS Yorkshire and “Testing, testing, testing,” The Syndicate: Gaynor Faye and Neil Morrissey

Screen Yorkshire. BBC added Mellor. “I didn’t want “Each other Syndicate has to create a Covid world or been about a group of people shoot with everybody two who have won the lottery metres apart – it would not and what happens to them. From Yorkshire have worked. The Syndicate is This is completely different. I about a group of people and was able to look at all aspects I had intimate scenes in it of contemporary life in the as well.” north of England.” to the Riviera A fifth series is a possibil- In the latest series, a syndi- ity. “There’s something cate of young kennel workers The award-winning cre- restrictions: “They didn’t go cooking,” said Mellor. “It took think they’ve won the lottery ator of Band of Gold and Fat home half the time; they six years for this to come to but all is not as it seems and Friends praised the actors for didn’t socialise… that’s a big screen. There’s one in there they soon find themselves their dedication during a thing to ask young people to but it’s not cooked up yet.” out of their depth in Monaco. tricky shoot under Covid do for their own mental Matthew Bell

had helped to raise the pro- clearly don’t know what performers as Larry Grayson file of sexual assault. you’re doing but somehow and Frankie Howerd. The “I am so grateful to know it’s fun”. He ended with a tribute to I have been seen and heard,” Drew Griffiths, the gay play- UPSIDE concluded the brilliant writer wright, actor and activist and performer. An award for telling murdered in 1984, aged 37. stories once banned And the award for best net provider… … may have to go Staying with the awards, the More cracks in back in its envelope prolific screenwriter “the the glass ceiling It was an eventful evening at wondrous” Russell T Davies the RTS Programme Awards, There was another glitch was deservedly presented And finally, congratulations as the sure-footed Jonathan when Ross attempted to with the Outstanding to two leading TV women Ross dealt effortlessly with present the prize for the Achievement Award for a who have made headlines connectivity glitches. Entertainment Performance career dedicated to “telling recently. Deborah Turness, Triple-award-winner category to Big Narstie and stories never allowed before” once the first female editor Michaela Coel’s internet his co-host, Mo Gilligan, for on television. of ITV News, takes over as CEO crashed as the star tried in The Big Narstie Show. Davies generously switched of ITN this month. It is hard vain to give her acceptance At the last moment, Narstie the spotlight away from his to imagine a better qualified speeches. “Michaela, I may disappeared. Minutes later, own pioneering programmes head of the news provider. destroy your internet pro- he managed to reconnect but to name some prominent Over at Sky Studios, Jane vider,” quipped the MC. not before some impressive gay TV stars and writers who Millichip’s remit as chief At the third time of trying, ad-libbing from Gilligan. preceded him. content officer has been the connection held, allow- No wonder Ross once “It’s a great, grand tradition expanded. She is now ing her to give some heartfelt described The Big Narstie Show that I am enormously proud responsible for delivering thoughts on the success of as his “favourite show on TV” to be part of,” he said, singling shows to Sky UK, Sky Italia I May Destroy You and how it – with the caveat, “You out such famous camp and Sky Deutschland.

Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 49 RTS PATRONS RTS Principal BBC Channel 4 ITV Sky Patrons

RTS A+E Networks International Netflix International Discovery Networks The Walt Disney Company Patrons Facebook Viacom International Media Networks Kinetic Content WarnerMedia Liberty Global YouTube NBCUniversal International

RTS Accenture Deloitte KPMG The Journalists’ Major All3Media Enders Analysis netgem.tv Charity Patrons Amazon Video Entertainment One NTT Data The Trade Desk Audio Network Finecast OC&C UKTV Avid Freeview Pinewood TV Vice Banijay UK Fremantle Studios Virgin Media Boston Consulting Gravity Media S4C YouView Group IBM Sargent-Disc BT IMG Studios Spencer Stuart Channel 5 ITN STV Group

RTS Autocue Grass Valley Lumina Search PricewaterhouseCoopers Patrons Digital Television Group Isle of Media Mission Bay Raidió Teilifís Éireann

Who’s who Patron Chair of RTS Trustees CENTRES COUNCIL Education at the RTS HRH The Prince of Wales Jane Turton Lynn Barlow Graeme Thompson Phil Barnes Vice-Presidents Honorary Secretary Fiona Campbell RTS Futures David Abraham David Lowen Tony Campbell Alex Wootten Dawn Airey Agnes Cogan Sir David Attenborough OM Honorary Treasurer Stephanie Farmer RTS Technology Bursaries CH CVO CBE FRS Mike Green Rick Horne Simon Pitts Baroness Floella Kully Khaila Benjamin OBE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Tim Marshall AWARDS COMMITTEE Mike Darcey Lynn Barlow Will Nicholson CHAIRS Gary Davey Julian Bellamy Stephen O’Donnell Awards & Fellowship Greg Dyke Mike Green Jon Quayle Policy Lord Hall of Birkenhead Yasmina Hadded Edward Russell David Lowen Lorraine Heggessey David Lowen Fiona Thompson Armando Iannucci OBE Jane Millichip Craft & Design Awards Ian Jones Simon Pitts SPECIALIST GROUP Anne Mensah Baroness Lawrence of Sarah Rose CHAIRS Clarendon OBE Jane Turton Archives Programme Awards David Lynn Rob Woodward Dale Grayson Kenton Allen Sir Trevor McDonald OBE Ken MacQuarrie EXECUTIVE Diversity Student Television Gavin Patterson Chief Executive Angela Ferreira Awards Trevor Phillips OBE Theresa Wise Siobhan Greene Stewart Purvis CBE Early Evening Events Sir Howard Stringer Bursaries Manager Heather Jones Television Journalism Anne Dawson Awards Simon Bucks

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