February 2018

Dennis goes digital Apply now for the 2018 Shiers Trust Award The Trust can make a grant of up to £4,000 towards publishing work on any aspect of the history of television

Objectives The promotion of public education through the study and research of the history of ­television in all its aspects and without regard to country of origin, including the development­ and encouragement of publications and associated projects such as WGW Mitchell (left), ­bibliographies and monographs on particular honorary secretary aspects, provided that the results of such study and of the Television research shall be published and that the contribution Society 1929-44, made by the Trust shall be suitably acknowledged in with John Logie any publication. Baird, preparing for Criteria a demonstration Grants will be given to assist in the ­completion of new or unfinished projects, work or literature specific to the objectives of the Trust. ‘Literature’ is defined as including audio-visual media such as DVDs and websites. The Trustees must be satisfied that the work they are supporting either could not be finished or ­published without the grant and that, with it, the Do you need work will be completed,­ or, the grant will provide the ­initial phase of a project that will be ­continued and completed with other identified­ funding. Applications will be considered broadly in support of research, development, writing, editing or publica- £4,000 tion. Grants for research will require that the results of the work will be made known and accessible through appropriate means. In the case of literature, for a history of projects must have a real prospect of publication. Applicants must demonstrate that their work will have a clear expectation­ of making a significant­ contribution to the objectives of the Trust. ­television project? Applicants will be required to satisfy the Trustees of the soundness of their projects, and identify any grants from other sources. The Trustees will not Previous recipients make commitments to support recurring­ funding, 1 2017 : Birmingham City 8 2011 : David Rose presented an nor make grants to cover fees or maintenance of University recorded interviews illustrated retrospective of his students undertaking courses. with programme-makers to exceptional career as a expand its online oral history of groundbreaking television and BBC Pebble Mill, 1971 to 2004. film producer to a large George Shiers number of live audiences George Shiers, a distinguished US television histo- 2 2016: The Scottish Broadcasting rian, was a long-­standing member of the RTS. Before Heritage Group recorded 9 2008/2010: Steve Arnold interviews with people who digitised back issues of Radio his death in 1983, he and his wife, May, provided­ for a worked at and watched STV Times to make a searchable bequest in their wills. The Shiers Trust grant, now in from 1957 to 2017. online archive of articles and its 18th year, is normally worth £2,000. This year, to schedules mark the 90th anniversary of the RTS, it has been 3 2015: Oral history project by 10 2010: John Wyver conducted raised to £4,000. Grants will be consid­ered and former Granada staffers interviews on the presentation approved by the Trustees who may, at their Stephen Kelly and Judith Jones, of theatre plays on British ­discretion, consult appropriate experts to assist their with interviews published at: television www.granadaland.org decisions. In assessing priorities, the Trustees will take into account the sums of money available. 4 2014 : Shared between Dr 11 2009: Ronald Sandell, a key Sheldon Hall, whose Armchair planner of the analogue Cinema is a study of feature terrestrial transmitter network, Application procedure Applications are now invited and should be submit- films on British television, and conducted research for a book, Marc Scott, who has researched Seventy Years Before the Masts ted to the Trustees by Friday 30 March 2018 on an the unofficial development of officialapplication ­ form (available from the RTS, TV in Australia 12 2005: John Grist wrote a address below). Applications should set out the 5 2013 : Barry Fox has built a biography of Grace Wyndham nature of the project in not more than 500 words. website (www.tekkiepix.com) Goldie, the first Head of BBC Supporting documentation­ may also be included. Television News and Current to present his collection of Details of your experience or qualifications should Affairs historical consumer electronics be provided. Applicants should ensure that their imagery and documents. 13 2004 : Don McLean compiled project conforms to all the criteria. Applications 6 2012 : Paul Marshall researched an authentically accurate audio should be accompanied by a budget that clearly a biography of Alan Archibald two-CD presentation of the identifies the sum being requested for a grant and Campbell Swinton, the early beginnings of TV in Britain visionary of all-electronic the purposes­ for which it will be used. Application forms are available either from the RTS website: television 14 2001: Simon Vaughan, archivist www.rts.org.uk 7 2012 : Simon Vaughan digitised of the Alexandra Palace the 300-page ‘Black Book’, the Television Society, printed a or Clare Colvin, to whom they should be returned: first manual of the Marconi-EMI collection of 1,200 photos by Clare Colvin, Archivist, Royal Television Society, electronic television system, the father of television lighting, 3 Dorset Rise, London EC4Y 8EN. installed in 1936 Desmond Robert Campbell [email protected] Journal of The Royal Television Society February 2018 l Volume 55/2

From the CEO I can’t begin to express wonderful to have such a wide range TV production and broadcast journal- my gratitude to Their of exhibitors at the fair. They included ism degree courses. A further five RTS Royal Highnesses, The the BBC Academy, Channel 4, Creative Technology Bursaries, aimed at Prince of Wales and Access, Creative Skillset, Endemol encouraging some of the most tal- the Duchess of Corn- Shine UK, FremantleMedia UK, IMG ented students to consider a career wall and to all of our Studios, ITN, ITV, ITV Studios, Lime in television, are available to students Patrons who attended Pictures, the National Film and Televi- studying computing and engineering. last month’s celebration of the RTS’s sion School, RDF Television Group, Full details are on our website. 90th birthday. A huge thank you to Sky, Sony, Studio Lambert, Turner This month’s cover story examines ITV for hosting the event and also to International, UKTV, Viacom and War- how the Beano, Britain’s longest run- all the RTS bursary students who ner Bros Television Production UK. ning children’s comic, is being attended. Thanks also to Tom Mock- They were all mobbed by over 1,200 rebooted for the digital era. With luck, ridge and Peter Bazalgette for hosting eager youngsters. I hope we repeat the Dennis, Gnasher and Minnie will be this very special occasion. success of last year when a number of as much a source of delight to today’s Speaking at the event, Prince attendees secured internships that led swipe-fixated youngsters as they were Charles praised the high quality of to permanent positions in the industry. to previous generations. British television and the teamwork We have just announced our latest that makes this possible. undergraduate bursary scheme to I was reminded of this when I support students from low-income attended the RTS’s annual TV Careers families. The RTS is offering 22 bursa- Fair, held earlier this month. It was ries to students studying accredited Theresa Wise Contents Peter Bazalgette’s TV Diary The battle for prominence Peter Bazalgette mixes with royalty at the RTS’s Do traditional broadcasters risk losing prime billing 5 90th birthday party, and encounters a world beyond 18 on viewing menus as the tech giants muscle in? parody on Radio 4 Torin Douglas investigates The Beano goes global Royal Patron reception Dennis, Gnasher and Minnie are being digitally TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall 6 reinvented to future-proof the comic for tomorrow’s 20 were the guests of honour at an ITV reception to children. Pippa Shawley logs on celebrate the 90th anniversary of the RTS TV makes more space for older women Finecast targets a revolution in TV ads A stellar RTS panel poses some tough questions for the Jakob Nielsen, CEO of GroupM’s addressable advertising 8 men who still dominate TV. Steve Clarke takes notes 22 company, Finecast, explains to Steve Clarke how TV ads can now be sold at postcode level BBC Studios’ bid for scale Tim Davie and Mark Linsey explain their rationale for The buccaneer 12 merging BBC Studios and BBC Worldwide to Lisa Campbell 24 Intrepid and fearless, Jeremy Thompson epitomised the globe-trotting reporter, says Simon Bucks Our Friend in the North East Graeme Thompson sees how hit TV shows filmed in An intimate epic 14 Northumberland are driving a local non-media industry The Crown represents a new high-water mark 26 in UK drama production, hear peers and MPs. Why it pays to be on Jon Thoday’s side Matthew Bell reports Andrew Billen meets the boss of entertainment 15 powerhouse Avalon, the ‘No 1 true indie’ Cover: Beano Studios

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 2018. [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 February 2018 3 Your guide to upcoming events. Book online at RTS NEWS www.rts.org.uk

DEVON & CORNWALL MIDLANDS ■ John Mitchell National events ■ Jane Hudson ■ Jayne Greene 07792 776585 ■ mitch.mvbroadcast@ ■ RTSDevonandCornwall@rts. ■ [email protected] btinternet.com RTS EARLY EVENING EVENT org.uk Thursday 22 February NORTH EAST & THE BORDER REPUBLIC OF IRELAND Sale or scale EAST Saturday 24 February Tuesday 20 February Speakers include: Mike Darcey; Thursday 15 March Annual Awards Student Television Awards Tim Hincks, Co-CEO, Expectation Annual Awards 6:00pm onwards Venue: Studio 4, RTÉ Television Entertainment; Mathew Hors- Venue: Norwich University of the Venue: Hilton Newcastle Centre, Stillorgan Road, Dublin 4 man, Joint Managing Director, Arts, Francis House, 3-7 Redwell Gateshead Hotel, Bottle Bank, ■ Charles Byrne (353) 87251 3092 Mediatique; others TBC. Chair: Street, Norwich NR2 4SN Gateshead NE8 2AR ■ [email protected] Matthew Garrahan, global media ■ Nikki O’Donnell ■ Jill Graham editor, FT. Panel discussion on ■ nikki.odonnell@bbc.co.uk ■ [email protected] SCOTLAND the implications of the proposed Wednesday 21 February sale of 21st Century Fox to Disney. LONDON NORTH WEST TV fight club 6:30pm for 6:45pm Wednesday 21 February Thursday 8 March Practical masterclass with stunt Venue: The Hospital Club, 24 Endell Future past: Will archives Great Big Telly Quiz and fight director David Goodall. Street, London WC2H 9HQ survive digitisation? Entry fee: £10 per team of Chair: Screen Academy Scotland Joint RTS and Focal International four to six people. 6:30pm for director Alistair Scott. 6:00pm RTS AWARDS event. Panellists: Steve Daly, 7:00pm. for 6:30pm Wednesday 28 February head of technology, information Venue: The Compass Room, Venue: TV studio, City of RTS Television Journalism and archives, BBC; Dale Grayson, Lowry Theatre, Salford Quays Glasgow College, 190 Cathedral Awards 2018 director of content management, M50 3AZ Street, Glasgow G4 0RF Sponsored by GuestBooker ITV; Charles Fairall, head of con- Monday 12 March Wednesday 9 May Venue: London Hilton on Park servation, BFI National Archive; RTS NW Student Awards RTS Scotland Awards Lane, 22 Park Lane, London Tom Blake, commercial director, Media Conference 2018 Venue: TBC W1K 1BE Imagen. Chair: Sue Malden, Chair Seminars include: ■ Jane Muirhead of Focal International. 6:30pm ■ An inside look at the making ■ [email protected] RTS AWARDS for 7:00pm of Monkey Kingdom’s The Real Tuesday 20 March Venue: ITV London Studios, Housewives of Cheshire SOUTHERN RTS Programme Awards 2018 Upper Ground, London SE1 9LT ■ Terror attacks: newsgathering Friday 23 February In Partnership with Audio Network Wednesday 7 March in a crisis Student Television Awards Venue: Grosvenor House Hotel, Building a buzz: What makes ■ How to be a good researcher Venue: TBC 86-90 Park Lane, London W1K 7TN a good PR campaign? ■ Networking event with broad- ■ Stephanie Farmer Panellists: James Herring, manag- casters, production companies ■ [email protected] RTS AWARDS ing partner, Taylor Herring; Alice and post-production houses. Friday 22 June Bruce, head of television, Premier The conference is free but you THAMES VALLEY RTS Student Television Comms; Paul​ Gayfer, planning need to book in advance. Please ■ Tony Orme Awards 2018 partner, Good Stuff. Chair: Trevor note that you will need a sepa- ■ [email protected] Venue: BFI Southbank, Belvedere Morris, author and PR consultant. rate ticket for the Student Televi- Road, London SE1 8XT 6:30pm for 7:00pm sion Awards. Registration: 1:30pm; WALES Venue: ITV London Studios, sessions start at 2:00pm ■ Hywel Wiliam 07980 007841 RTS CONFERENCE Upper Ground, London SE1 9LT Venue: The Compass Room, ■ [email protected] Tuesday 18 September Wednesday 2 May Lowry Theatre, Salford Quays RTS London Conference 2018 Gaming and TV: What’s the M50 3AZ YORKSHIRE Sponsored by Viacom score? Monday 12 March Wednesday 28 February Venue: Kings Place, 90 York Way, Panellists: Steve McNeil, writer, Student Television Awards Student Television Awards London N1 9AG comedian and streamer; Sam Venue: The Compass Room, Venue: The Platinum Suite, Pamphilon, actor, writer and Lowry Theatre, Salford Quays Sheffield United FC, Bramall comedian; Julia Hardy, presenter, M50 3AZ Lane, Sheffield S2 4SU Local events journalist, YouTuber and broad- ■ Rachel Pinkney 07966 230639 Friday 6 July caster. Chair: Ellie Gibson, jour- ■ [email protected] Annual Awards BRISTOL nalist, presenter, comedian and Venue: TBC Sunday 11 March author. 6:30pm for 7:00pm NORTHERN IRELAND ■ Lisa Holdsworth 07790 145280 RTS West of England Awards Venue: ITV London Studios, Tuesday 20 March ■ lisa@allonewordproductions. Venue: TBC Upper Ground, London SE1 9LT Student Television Awards co.uk ■ Belinda Biggam ■ Daniel Cherowbrier Venue: The Black Box, 18-22 Hill ■ [email protected] ■ [email protected] Street, Belfast BT1 2LA

4 TV diary

Peter Bazalgette mixes with royalty at the RTS’s 90th birthday party, and encounters a world beyond parody on Radio 4

p early to listen to gender pay gap is just under 10%, contemporary topic). Indeed, the radio news in the while the national average is 18%. So, landscape is changing so rapidly that shower before I contrary to what you might read, or some of our market definitions are turn on for my hear at emotionally charged select feeling a bit threadbare. ITV is still gov- daily dose of Good committees, Auntie is probably mak- erned by its share of television adver- Morning Britain. Pay ing progress. tising – around 47%. But the only debates rumble meaningful statistic is our share of on in the media kasbah. ■ I’m invited to contribute to a forth- video advertising, which is much lower. UThe day after Carrie Gracie resigned coming WPP book, revealing one of In order for ITV, Channels 4 and 5, as the BBC’s China editor, here she is my favourite brands and why. For Sky and UKTV to compete effectively presenting Radio 4’s Today, but barred me, this all comes down to my rela- with our internet friends, we need to from curating the news story about tionship with TV advertising, still by offer much more data-rich, targeted herself. A magnificent confusion wor- far the best way to build and main- advertising (something that the era thy of Evelyn Waugh or David Lodge tain a brand (see Ebiquity’s recent of connected TVs is going to allow us at their best. research showing that TV delivers to do). But we also need a level play- The item itself is less than helpful, almost twice the value of online, ing field. since the programme’s guest doesn’t radio or print). seem to know the difference between I can still sing 20 or so jingles from ■ The RTS’s 90th birthday brings equal pay and the gender pay gap. the 1960s, as a startled Michael Grade HRH Prince Charles and the Duch- once discovered when interviewing ess of Cornwall to a celebration ■ Equal pay refers to the legal obliga- me for a radio programme. hosted at ITV. In a very genial tion since the early 1970s to pay men What was my final choice? You’ll encounter, they tour our daytime and women the same for doing the have to wait for the book, but here’s studios, currently delivering some same job. The gender pay gap, which a clue: it was a Christmas 2016 cam- very robust ratings. we’re all legally obliged to publish paign featuring a vicar and an imam. In their wake, I get that drowning- from this year, is when you compare man feeling of my past flashing before all the pay that women get in your ■ A meeting with a senior politician my eyes. There’s Lorraine Kelly, with organisation and all that men receive, to discuss my review of the crea- whom I first worked at GMTV in 1993. with a series of complex calculations. tive industries for the Government’s And Phil Vickery in the This Morning You can have a gender pay gap industrial strategy (we’re growing at kitchen, to whom we gave his first TV favouring men while observing equal 3.9% a year and will create 1 million break on Ready, Steady, Cook in 1994. pay. Because what it reveals, of course, new jobs by 2030). And, in case I’m in any doubt about is that there are fewer senior women As an aside, I ask how much time my “veteran” status, the very next in your organisation than men. they’ve spent on the 21st Century Fox day a letter arrives at home telling bid for Sky and how much looking at me how to apply for my old-age ■ We could all do better at ensuring the duopoly power of Google and pension. women rise higher in our hierar- Facebook (the first is essentially a last- chies. But here’s a thing: the BBC’s century issue, the second a pressing Sir Peter Bazalgette is Chairman of ITV.

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 5 Children’s TV Dennis, Gnasher and Minnie are being The Beano digitally reinvented to future-proof the comic for tomorrow’s children. goes global Pippa Shawley logs on

lime is officially dead,” declares Emma Scott, CEO of Beano Studios. As the custodian of one of Britain’s most beloved ‘brands,S she is responsible for bringing the Beano brand into the 21st century. The Beano comic is still profitable, she points out, although the 35,000 copies it sells each week are a far cry from the Dennis from Dennis and 2 million copies it sold during its hey- Gnasher Unleashed day in the 1950s. While the comic remains the flagship of the brand, Beano Studios is diversi- fying, last year launching Beano.com as an entertainment platform for children. The decision to create the platform was twofold, she explains. First, it addressed a lack of places to share Beano content, which includes anima- tion, sketch shows, quizzes and short- form articles. Second, it allows the company to harness data for commer- cial and editorial purposes. While the platform is “powered by that we thought he’s a the essence of rebellion”, the content bit of a loser,’ says Scott, aggregator offers peace of mind to but the event highlighted the parents, as Scott and her team are need for a child-friendly internet. careful to abide by regulations for kids. “It’s a difficult world for children to While data is collected to help inform navigate, let alone their parents,” she editorial and to take to advertisers, it is says. Beano will soon be announcing randomised in accordance with the US a new area to help parents understand Children’s Online Privacy Protection their children’s internet experiences. Act (Coppa) and the EU General Data to 11-year-olds use YouTube, mostly to She also believes that Beano has a role Protection Regulation, which comes watch prank videos and music videos. to play in helping children consume into force in the UK in May. One YouTube prankster popular with media: “Both as a parent myself and Beano’s target audience of six- to the Beano crowd was Logan Paul, a as a responsible person in the media, I 12-year-olds may be digital natives, 22-year-old vlogger based in LA. The think it’s absolutely beholden on us that but that doesn’t mean the internet has Beano website had featured Paul in its we help children prepare for some of managed to keep children away from zeitgeisty content, alongside other the more difficult issues that emerge content designed for adults and teen- popular figures, including singers Ed when they hit their teens, how they agers. In the latest report on children’s Sheeran and Dua Lipa. But when the manage media and how they use and use of media, Ofcom found that almost YouTuber recently uploaded a video of don’t use media.” a quarter of eight- to 11-year-olds have the body of a man who had committed If all this sounds as if Beano is in a social-media profile, despite the fact suicide in a Japanese forest, Beano’s danger of becoming a fun sponge, that users must be 13 or older to join social-media team quickly flagged it don’t despair. While Beano’s online most of the sites. with the wider team. platform acts as a safe space for chil- The report also found that 81% of eight- “We rapidly put up a post afterwards dren, it’s also packed full of the

6 content they love. Since launching in Last year, the Department for Digital, comes and we move into those mar- 2016, over 1 million users have visited Culture, Media and Sport found that kets, that we’ll have enough English-­ the site. spending on children’s television by language content that will entertain The analytics read like a diary, with PSBs had fallen by £55m in the past children there, as well. We’ll find out, visits at their height at 3:45pm, after decade. To address this, the Govern- we’ll have to find our own trendspot- school has finished. Many users are ment announced plans to launch a ters in those cities.” still online at 9:00pm, but they’re also £60m fund to stimulate greater variety As Beano prepares to celebrate its up at 6:30am on Saturdays. “I think in a market dominated by the BBC. 80th birthday in the summer, plans are we’re doing a lot of favours to British The CEO welcomes the plans. “What under way to mark the occasion, inc­ society for lie-ins,” laughs the CEO. we need is more diversity of the dura- luding new charity partnerships and an Beano’s online content is strongly tions, of genre, of ideas, that really exhibition with a national institution. influenced by its readers and viewers. reflect what children do and don’t like.” Beano will also inspire this year’s Beano Studios’ head of insight Helenor However, she questions how effec- Summer Reading Challenge, with chil- Gilmour oversees the Beano Trendspot- tive the scheme, which will last three dren being encouraged to read books ters, a group of 20 nine- to 12-year-olds, years, will be: “What happens at the around the theme of “Mischief-makers”. who keep the grown-ups up to date end of that, unless the commissioners For Emma Scott, seeing all the pro- with what’s going on in the playground. have money to spend?” jects develop has proved rewarding: The children, who live all around the Although the finer details of the plan “It’s quite a privilege to be able to take country, speak to Gilmour via Skype or have yet to be announced, Scott is an iconic British brand and reimagine it Facetime each Wednesday, telling her hoping that Beano Studios will benefit: in its own right, but also to bring a very what they’ve been watching, playing or “As a content creator, I fully expect us different kind of media proposition to hearing about that week. to be going forward and pitching ideas children and prove that it is working.” n “It’s really important that our con- to that fund. And us tent creators understand their audi- as a platform, well, ence, so we bring a lot of people into if we’re allowed to, the building,” says Scott. we’d absolutely It is fascinating to hear about the love to have our chatter of the playground. Slime and ideas and other fidget spinners are out, while Grand people’s.” Theft Auto is in, despite its 18+ certifi- Beano Studios cate. “You get interesting insights into is already creating different parenting styles,” she smiles. much-loved con- Rubi from Dennis and One subject that has popped up tent for CBBC. Its Gnasher Unleashed and several times is Michael Wolff’s Trump animation Dennis Beano regular Minnie the exposé, Fire and Fury. “I found it & Gnasher Minx (left), who is soon extraordinary that they knew [Wolff’s] Unleashed is the to gain a digital avatar name,” she says, “although we had most-watched three different spellings”. show on the The audience research has also cov- children’s chan- ered growing anxiety among children. nel. A new series Already, the children in their final year launches this of primary school are discussing their month. For the SATs. “I find that quite concerning that, first time, Dennis five months before an exam, 10- and & Gnasher 11-year-olds are worrying about it, and Unleashed is I know teachers worry about that as going global, well,” she says. with the series being sold The solution, argues the Beano boss, across Europe, the Middle East, is light relief: “We have a role to play in Africa and Australasia. making people laugh and popping Meanwhile, Beano.com has pomposity, because that’s what the already launched in Australia. comic’s always done and I think that’s Scott hopes that the British what our place in British life is.” brand will spread to other The website, like the comic, addresses English-speaking terri- children’s fears by poking fun at them. tories, as well as coun- From voting for Donald Trump to the tries where kids are scariest fancy dress costume, to surmis- keen to learn English, ing that Minnie the Minx leaked 2016’s such as India. SATs answers, the Trendspotters help “Clearly, if you haven’t shape Beano content. watched The Great British Bake “These children have got years Off, you might not know who ahead of having serious lives,” says Noel Fielding is if you live in Scott. “I think it’s important that they India,” she admits, “but I would

know it’s OK to be silly sometimes.” hope that, when the time Studios Beano pictures: All

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 7 TV makes more Diversity space A stellar RTS panel poses some tough questions for older for the men who still dominate TV. Steve Clarke women takes notes ITV Girlfriends

8 he debate over women Wainwright joined the soap’s writing beyond the ranks of Mellor, Wainwright, working in television has team, “she was afraid of opening her Heidi Thomas, Debbie Horsfield and come a long way since mouth and pitching a story because Paula Milne. 1986 when Coronation Street she was frightened that someone Actor Lesley Sharp, who has sus- was an all-male cabal. In would shout her down.” tained a top-end TV career for around those days, all the female She added: “I remember pitching a 25 years, revealed that achieving this characters were written by men. Yet, as story about Shirley, a great woman of had often been difficult. She said that recentlyT as 2015, when Red Produc- colour, who was Curly Watts’s other female actors were at the bottom of tions unveiled the latest run of ITV’s half. They went: ‘We’re not interested the TV food chain. They didn’t get to trail-blazing cop show Scott and Bailey, in Shirley, we’re interested in Curly.’” see scripts until these had been com- the response of male journalists could More than 30 years later, Wainwright missioned and revised. be relentlessly sexist, revealed actor and Mellor are both big players in Brit- “In essence, part and parcel of the Lesley Sharp. ish TV drama. Mellor’s latest series, job that I do is to sign up for a life of She recalled: “It was really irritating ITV’s Girlfriends, commissioned by a disempowerment,” said Sharp, whose when we started to promote the show female head of drama, Polly Hill, is the TV hits include the previously men- and journalists would ask you, ‘Two story of three women approaching 60. tioned Scott & Bailey, which ran for five female cops?’ Then, you’d get that awful “I expected ITV to say, ‘Can they be series from 2011 to 2016. chestnut, ‘How does it feel to play a She added: “It’s really hard, you have strong woman?’ Then, they’d ask about to be clever about what you do. There having female directors. IT’S ABOUT are certain things that you know tick “Gasp! If it were male actors would boxes commercially and TV companies you be asking about a male director? OUR MEDIUM want to do because they will get a lot You’ve got to start moving through that. CATCHING UP of viewers in. The bigger point is that it’s not just our “But you also want to do things that industry, unfortunately, it’s enmeshed WITH WHAT’S are maybe niche and have managed in our society. Fingers crossed, we’re HAPPENING IN to slide their way through in spite of digging away at that.… It’s crazy, it’s 2015 people not wanting to commission and we’re still being asked those ques- SOCIETY them.” It was these more edgy shows, tions. That’s nuts.” the actor maintained, that often reso- Sharp was one of the panellists at nated the most with the British public. a timely RTS debate, ostensibly about fortysomething?’ but it didn’t happen.… Sharp said that she and writer Rus- opportunities for older women work- At one point, I thought they could be sell T Davies “have this joke that TV is ing in television – as writers, actors pushing 70. Nobody put up a barrier.” regarded as the bastard medium. Film and programme-makers – but which So it would seem that TV is finally or theatre are where it’s at. Telly is in inevitably strayed into the still trou- embracing – possibly even whole- the middle and it’s this kind of broad bling question of how TV treats women heartedly – the wisdom of older church. You can fling any old bone on generally. BBC gender pay gap, anyone? women, once often described as to it and they’ll gobble it up. But the Yes, progress has been made – espe- women of a certain age. truth is that TV is an extraordinary cially in roles for older women – but, Mellor said that, with people such as medium. as this engaging discussion showed, Charlotte Moore at the BBC (where she “We only scratch the surface of what much more needs to be done. Judged is director of content) and Hill at ITV it’s capable of with the kind of stories by what was said, one area that needs (head of drama) occupying powerful that we tell, regardless of the fact that urgent attention is how female directors jobs, British TV had become more we’re not serving the 50% of the popu- can sustain a career in TV (see sidebar female-friendly. lation that are women. on page 10). However, the days of TV While more stories based on the “We are not creating enough inter- drama as an exclusively male preserve experiences of women over 40 are esting stories about women of a certain have thankfully disappeared, along being told in TV drama, Manda Levin, age in an intelligent, vital, energised with white nylon shirts, cassette tapes an executive producer at UK drama way. A lot of the 50-year-old charac- and Enoch Powell. specialist Kudos, wondered if these ters I see on TV I don’t recognise as Kay Mellor, whose TV hits include stories were being commissioned for being part of my age group. They are Band of Gold, Fat Friends and Playing the the right reasons. “I think we have not like women I know. As an industry, Field, recalled that, in 1986, when she quite reactive and reactionary ways of we have to start catching up with first worked on Coronation Street, Brit- choosing the stories we tell,” she said. what’s happening in society.” ain’s most famous TV soap was firmly “There’s been an awareness for a long Caroline Hollick, creative director at in the grip of men, invariably wearing time that there’s an older female audi- Red, suggested that the success of BBC dark suits. ence for British drama.” One’s Last Tango In Halifax (produced by “Many of the Street’s most iconic The problem was that this became Red) had encouraged commissioners characters were women but they were a self-fulfilling prophecy in the way and broadcasters to be more open- all written by men. I went into that that Hollywood made more films minded about parts for older women. environment and I remember going, aimed at young men because it saw Persuading the BBC to take the prog­ ‘Wow, all these older men, these great more young men in cinema audiences. ramme had, nevertheless, proved prob- female characters are their alter egos However, the Kudos executive added, lematic: “When we first pitched that [audience laughter].’” British TV had clearly changed thanks to show we were told that the story was Mellor said that, when Sally its employment of more female writers too small and the characters too old.”�

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 9 Scott & Bailey ITV How to get more women directing

‘It’s a massive problem that we haven’t said to me: “When I meet potential solved,’ said Kudos’s Manda Levin. directors, a man comes into the room She added: ‘We’ve always had a lot and tells me why I should hire him, of female producers and script editors whereas a woman is very honest about because they’re roles where you can her strengths and weaknesses.”’ She facilitate creativity and that’s quite said she had seen this again and again. an easy role for women to see them- Mellor recalled the first time she was � She added: “Things have shifted. selves in. Writing is harder.… directing and told the DoP that she I think broadcasters have started to ‘Directing is different again – it’s wanted ‘the actress to reach down in realise that people have an appetite for standing up in front of a massive group one shot, get the gun, bring it out of her seeing themselves reflected on screen. of people, many of whom are men with skirt and point it. He told me: “You can’t “A lot of the people that are watching technical skills. You’ve got to say: “I’m do that, it’ll have to be a series of cuts.” television are older. My kids watch in charge, help me to realise my vision.” ‘I thought, right, he definitely knows Netflix but I think they will watch TV That’s really difficult for a woman.’ his stuff. But the script advisor said: “He’s when they get older. TV is getting bet- Kay Mellor said that one answer to male, you’re female, do it your way.”’ ter at listening to its audience.” this problem was to hire a female DoP Hollick pointed out that there was ‘a As for the willingness of TV’s edito- and to nurture her. very established track for young men rial decision-makers to greenlight One show that deliberately hired coming out of film school. They’ve made more stories featuring older women, female directors was Red’s Scott a couple of short movies that people Sharp insisted that a further change in & Bailey, in which seven out of the have liked. They then get a couple of attitude was required. 10 directors were women. episodes of a series. They’ve often “It’s about our medium catching up ‘People have to put their money worked as first ADs, so they are very with what’s happening in society. where their mouth is and hire more comfortable in that set environment. Arguably, women have only had any women,’ said Red’s Caroline Hollick. ‘Before you know it, they’re helming proper kind of voice since the 1970s.” The skills required to be a successful an original show. There are lots of really The actor added: “We have to start director probably play to the strengths talented male directors who’ve gone to think about women in the same way of a certain kind of very confident down this route. that we think about men. We’re people young man more than they do a ‘This is not happening for female direc- leading difficult, tricky, complicated woman, she added. ‘Female directors tors or for directors of colour because lives. The stories that get told about [are labelled] a bit mad, a bit chippy. it’s not the norm, they are seen as other. women should reflect that. Whatever you do as a woman, you To deal with this, we need to take some “Every script doesn’t have to have an can’t win – you’re too quiet, you’re too very special action – instead of shad- older woman at the centre of it. It’s strong or you’re too pushy. owing schemes, broadcasters have to about intelligent writing. If you’ve got a ‘The only way it will change is if we free up enough money to allow produc- story in which the central character is hire great female directors that we love tion companies to schedule in a block a man, make the female characters working with.’ where a director can direct one episode. that are orbiting around him interest- Levin said: ‘We have to encourage ‘Try somebody out. Broadcasters ing and clever, not people who are them and tell them they can do it. An need to put money in. We would make there to be a facilitator, a mother, a experienced female screenwriter once it work.’ social worker, a teacher.” When Kay Mellor sets out to write,

10 From left: Manda Levin, Caroline Hollick, Jackie Long, Kay Mellor OBE and Lesley Sharp Paul Hampartsoumian Paul is she consciously trying to rebalance women) and the work opportunities things? Or does she think, “I’ve got a that now exist in TV. story and I want to tell it”, asked the Caroline Hollick said: “TV is a great night’s chair, Jackie Long, social affairs place to be a woman. I’ve never felt Class is key editor at Channel 4 News. held back by my gender. But TV does “I was born into a household of need to reflect not just middle-class Manda Levin: ‘We’re not even nearly women, who were always more inter- women.” there on class. You can wrap up esting to me than men. I didn’t have a Levin stressed TV’s uniquely power- nearly every issue to do with diver- father figure in my household,” replied ful asset: “We have in our hands the sity if you deal with class. Film and TV the dramatist. “I write about things most potent tool of all – storytelling are still home to privilege and enti- that I care about. I don’t sit down and – which has the power to change tlement. If we tackle class, we could think: ‘I am going to write about three hearts and minds. Television is the change the atmosphere on set.’ strong women.’” most egalitarian platform for storytell- She had always put women stage ing. Everybody watches television. It’s Lesley Sharp: ‘We are banjaxed by centre in her plays and dramas: “The not self-selecting like other art forms. our class system. It’s everywhere, character of Rose in Band of Gold was It’s for us to write stories to inspire and I also think we’re banjaxed by an older sex worker. I’ve been doing people to make it better.” the north-south divide. There is a that for 20 years. We need to find and Sharp struck a more downbeat note: huge amount of misunderstanding nurture more female writers.” “The notion of older women being and suspicion and snobbery about Manda Levin said that, from her crucibles of power has disappeared the way people sound and the perspective, the number of female from our society. We need to find ways doors that this opens for them. writers working in TV today was “off- of re-engaging with that. ‘It’s everywhere, not just in our the-scale better”. “One of the great things about Scott industry, it seeps into all the big However, female stereotypes still & Bailey was that it was a depiction of institutions. It’s in politics, in law, persist in TV drama. Mellor highlighted two women of different ages – and education.… People are laughed one lazy one that irritated her – the that not mattering. at because of the way they speak.’ woman who trips and falls while escap- “They weren’t competing with one ing: “How many times are you watching another in terms of the work structure ‘Is older the new younger? A something and thinking, ‘She’s going to or sexually. You often find that is a big debate on women and age diver- fall. There she goes now.’” dynamic in drama. sity in television’ was held at The Yet, overall, when the panellists were “We start empowering young girls by Hospital Club in central London asked to sum up, there was optimism showing them what it’s like to be a on 22 January. The producer was about how far TV had travelled in its really fabulous woman. Then, people Vicky Fairclough. depiction of women (including older will want to tell those stories.” n

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 11 t is one year on from one of the biggest and most controversial Blue Planet II shake-ups in BBC history – the £400m formation of BBC Stu- dios. Now, the BBC is ruffling feathers again as it merges this recently created commercial produc- tionI division with BBC Worldwide to create a single company with revenues of £1.4bn. This classic US-style studio model, with producer and distributor under one roof, is, of course, nothing new in the UK. ITV Studios, All3Media, Fre- mantleMedia and Endemol Shine all produce content, have wholly owned indies, distribute shows globally and take stakes in other companies. Indeed, as Director-General Tony BBC Studios’ Hall has pointed out, the deal merely brings the BBC “in line with the indus- try” and creates a unified business with a single business plan – a means to maximise IP for the benefit of bid for scale licence-fee payers, and a way to boost exports of British content and thus support the UK creative economy. So why not do this at the outset, when BBC Studios was first consti- tuted? The answer, according to Mark Linsey, chief creative officer of BBC Studios, was the “huge cultural change” involved in plunging a 50-year-old PSB production division into a competitive global market. “We had to establish ourselves in that marketplace before we could entertain any sort of merger,” he says. “Anything before that would have been far too much, organisationally and culturally. “Our people come first and it’s important to make sure that they are creatively in a good place, are more mindful of audiences across the board, and can feel that sense of opportunity as part of a broader BBC group.” Linsey is sitting alongside Studios CEO Tim Davie in BBC Television Centre. The building is the former home of BBC News but now the HQ of more than 1,000 Studios staff, part of a combined BBC Studios/BBC World- wide workforce of 3,000. The pair are palpably excited about the increase in scale and opportunity BBC afforded by the merger. Linsey stresses that the timing is right. Business plans are on track, some 90 awards have Tim Davie and Mark Linsey explain been won in the past year and BBC Studios recently announced its first their rationale for merging BBC Studios third-party commissions, The Red List, and BBC Worldwide to Lisa Campbell made by the Natural History Unit for Discovery Channel, and Fatburg Autopsy, for Channel 4 .

12 Crucially, they believe the strategy of means the finished article. I wouldn’t latest, further integration is structurally focusing on hot, “best of British”, pre- expect to get the team completely complex and it means that we’re mium content will both reap interna- finished until two years after Studios’ pressing for a full report by the end tional revenues and serve licence-fee formation.” of year two from the National Audit payers with culturally relevant content While Davie refuses to rule out fur- Office,” says McVay. “We have also in an increasingly global TV landscape. ther structural change or redundancies stressed the importance of immediate Davie offers Blue Planet II as an illus- – around 300 roles have been lost to oversight to the BBC Board. Should tration of how “increasingly sophisti- date – he confirms that the plan is to there be a lack of transparency or hid- cated global customers are becoming”. “look for efficiencies but it is not the den subsidies, the remedy might be a More than three-quarters of the main thrust of the merger. The key fine on the BBC, but that’s no good if series’s funding came from on top of metric is delivering a content pipeline small indies have already been squeezed the licence fee. The co-production that is second to none in terms of the out of the market.” partners included China’s Tencent, very best of British creativity.” Davie is adamant that there are very alongside the likes of BBC Amer- clear processes and that the ica and France Télévisions. merger can be managed fairly and The first episode won more than THE KEY… IS DELIVERING successfully: “The dividing line 40 million viewers in China. between PSB and commercial Streaming­ services, by using the A CONTENT PIPELINE… entities has always been subject to content in ways that went beyond rigorous fair-trading oversight,” he traditional sales and distribution, OF THE VERY BEST OF says. “Nothing will change that.” took the total number of pro- BRITISH CREATIVITY The more fundamental argu- gramme views to some 230 million. ment put forward by the BBC “To maximise that opportunity and – that major global players such as to secure IP for the BBC, it is no sur- Meanwhile, Davie’s strategy of invest- Netflix and Amazon are investing vast prise that a vertically integrated com- ing in indies remains unchanged. sums in content but not, primarily, in pany, with a thriving partnership with Although the company’s 30% stake British content reflecting British lives the indie sector, is a real asset,” he says. in Greenbird is being sold to Keshet – is also questioned. In the UK, the first episode of Blue – apparently unlinked to the merger – British broadcasters continue to Planet II attracted 14.1 million viewers, its stake in Clerkenwell Films has just invest predominantly in UK talent and putting it in the top three shows of the been upped from 25% to 48%. World- stories. Indeed, in a recent speech, new past five years (and episodes of the wide recently took a stake in Sid Gentle, Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon said her series accounted for the four most- producer of The Durrells. Further deals priority was to invest in programming watched programmes in 2017). It has are in the offing. that reflected a “gritty, urban” Britain been sold to 233 territories. The US However, some doubters point to a in a post-Brexit world. premiere in late January attracted lack of transparency and one questions However, while they may not be almost 3 million viewers, ranking it in whether these indies really do enjoy a going as granular as the Salford sec- the top five programmes in the 9:00pm “unique relationship with the BBC”. ondary school featured in Channel 4’s time slot across all TV channels. Critics highlight a recent meeting Educating… strand, the streaming giants Creating a raft of new, global hits on organised by Worldwide, attended by are, increasingly, looking for more the scale of Blue Planet, Doctor Who or Hall and BBC content chief Charlotte localised content outside of the US Strictly… means that having the right Moore, to which only invested indies – more and more deals are being people is paramount. were invited. struck across Europe. However, it is not uncommon for Davie insists that BBC commission- Pact’s McVay adds: “The BBC’s rivals to question whether Studios’ ers are focused solely on securing the emphasis on British content sounds chances of success will be hampered best ideas, wherever they come from. anti-Netflix because it is investing in by its perceived lack of a strong com- “If they [aren’t], it all falls down, par- great British talent, too, and creating a mercial culture. “People are not used ticularly for the audience, who are healthy mixed global economy. It’s quite to the cut and thrust, they’ve been sacrosanct in all of this,” adds Linsey. jingoistic to focus on ‘pure Britishness’.” cosseted by the system,” says one dis- Another issue, raised by Pact CEO Davie counters: “I can live with tribution head. John McVay, is that, with programme-­ accusations of jingoism if it’s about And the boss of an independent makers and sellers under the same building success overseas. It’s not producer wonders: “Does BBC Studios umbrella, the indies that Worldwide about one company beating another, have enough A-list talent? The big has invested in or which use World- it’s about supporting the UK industry. brands will carry it for a while but the wide as their distributor may be con- “‘Best of British’ has never been in challenge is creating new ones. Will it be cerned that their ideas could be copied more demand and we’re allowed to be hiring sharp development teams from by Studios. proud of that.” the indie sector? Will it start collaborat- A much bigger cause of consterna- There is also a lot riding on the ing more with the indies it already has tion, not least with Pact, is that the deal merger for Davie personally. If the stakes in to get commissions?” may represent a further blurring of the merged entity works, Davie, hailed by These are questions with which BBC’s public service and commercial his supporters as “a great operator”, Linsey is familiar. “The structure is still activities. Are licence-fee payers could well be a future DG. However, changing,” he says. “We’ve just hired essentially subsidising the BBC’s global the current climate suggests that there Suzy Lamb in entertainment and Han- commercial ambitions – aims that are will be some strong female candidates

BBC nah Wyatt in factual and we’re by no not part of its primary purpose? “This in the mix, too. n

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 13 OUR FRIEND IN THE NORTH EAST

e are in Graeme Thompson heavily dependent on the big produc- the wintry sees how hit TV ers and broadcasters. We haven’t yet Northum- grown a local production company berland shows filmed in capable of rattling the networks and country- producing to scale. So, we have to be side to Northumberland more inventive than most when it celebrate are driving a local comes to developing talent and ideas. Burns Night with friends on the lake- Take, for instance, local cinema, Wside at Kielder Water – a vast man- non-media industry which is not only screening films, but made reservoir surrounded by dense making them. The Tyneside Cinema forest. Surprisingly, the chatter is not is a delightful art deco independent about the imminent delights of hag- filmhouse tucked away behind New- gis, bagpipes and single malt, or the castle’s busiest shopping street. excitement of gathering beneath the As well as showing mainstream and darkest skies in Northern Europe – art-house movies, it also runs a thriv- so prized by stargazers. ing film-making facility that brings No, all the talk is of another star, young talent to work alongside expe- Brenda Blethyn. Or, more precisely, rienced producers and crew. her character in ITV’s long-running Most recently, through its work as police drama Vera. The locals are the lead organisation for Random thrilled that Brenda came to Kielder Acts, co-financed by Arts Council to shoot the last episode in the cur- England, the team at Tyneside Cinema rent series. The programme is due for has enabled a new generation of broadcast the following night. young artists to develop and produce Stories abound of where the actors original work for Channel 4.

and crew filmed, ate and drank – and Hampartsoumian Paul The results have been outstanding who met who and what they were – not just in terms of the quality of like. Brenda is universally described UK but are broadcast across the world the films, but also in showcasing the as lovely. And they point across to the – and attract hordes of tourists to the fresh ideas and narratives of the dam where the body was found in North East from as far afield as New diverse young talent that made them. Vera’s Kielder murder mystery. Zealand, the US and Asia. In the past 12 months, Tyneside Northumberland has a healthy visi- Sadly, Inspector Gently no longer Cinema has led on the commission- tor economy and TV shows such as feels the collars of 1960s villains amid ing, development and production of Vera, which attracts a consolidated the North East’s heritage landscape. 24 short films. They all feature on audience of more than 8 million view- Shaw and writer Peter Flannery Channel 4’s Random Acts website. ers, are important drivers of tourism. ensured a rather permanent exit for the Five of them were also broadcast As every tour guide here will tell character at the end of 25 episodes and on the channel. It’s a priceless calling you, visitors love to hang out in film eight seasons on BBC One. Location card and foot in the door for the and TV locations. In Northumberland, tour operators are still in mourning. aspiring creatives. you can see Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Disappointment also for Gently’s And, who knows? In a few years, (Alnwick Castle) and coastal vistas North East-based crew. But at least the good people of Kielder could be beloved of movie-makers (Elizabeth, they know the Vera unit will be back singing the praises of a new genera- Transformers), plus 1960s-set TV who- filming later this year for season 9. tion of performers and storytellers dunnits such as Inspector George Gently. And CBBC’s Tyneside-set The Dump- stopping by to capture their glorious Between them, the titular stars of ing Ground continues to provide work location. n Vera and George Gently (Martin Shaw) for local crew and actors as the UK’s deserve the freedom of every holiday most popular children’s drama. Graeme Thompson is Pro Vice Chancel- park and B&B in the county. These long-established shows illus- lor at the University of Sunderland and These shows are not just a hit in the trate how the North East remains Chair of the RTS Education Committee.

14 The Billen profile Andrew Billen meets the boss of entertainment powerhouse Avalon, the ‘No 1 true indie’

Why it pays to be on Jon Thoday’s side Paul Hampartsoumian Paul

he lobby of Avalon’s office Jon Thoday, when he enters, is has not always been popular, either. in west London is domi- dressed casually in a lumberjack shirt He now rarely informs a broadcaster nated by two monsters. and speaks, I am glad to report, nei- that an artist is being pursued by One is a huge cast of ther like a croak-voiced alien nor a another channel, “because they get Lenin in full declamation, demagogue. He can be blunt, but also so upset about it”. the other is a Dalek. A garrulous. His voice is soft and slightly He reflects on 1999, when his client visitor’s first thought is that you would Antipodean, an accent the Cambridge Frank Skinner defected to ITV after notT want to get on the wrong side of lad hazards was contracted from his the BBC’s Alan Yentob refused to this entertainment giant – one-third New Zealand-born wife, Leanne. match a reported £20m rival offer. talent agency, one-third live show Yet, he has a reputation for raising Yentob was furious. “Unreasonably promoter, one-third TV production his voice, doesn’t he? “I very rarely so,” says Thoday. company – or its famously effective shout. I think that if you say no to Skinner, the comedian with the Managing Director and co-founder, people, which, if you work with good crush on Dr Johnson, might be Jon Thoday. You would want Avalon shows or good talent, you often do, thought a typical Avalon client: a and its boss fighting for you. they hear what they want to hear, clever-clogs graduate able to hold his The impression is muddled slightly right? If you’re lied to by people, it can (mainly it’s a “his”) own against an in the conference room, whose long be annoying and it can lead me to be agent who boasts a Cambridge science wall is stencilled with a cigar-touting angry, just like anyone else would be.” degree. This is not quite accurate. His Groucho Marx ensnared, James Bond An example? “That there’s no gen- talent list includes the actors Toby titles-sequence-style, inside a gun der pay gap.” Jones, James Nesbitt, Daniel Radcliffe barrel. Who is targeting whom? Is In contrast, his preference has and Imelda Staunton, and, among the somebody about to get hurt? always been to tell the truth, and that comedians, the university dropout �

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 15 � Dave Gorman and the former Pontins Taskmaster on air. All the broadcasters blue coat Lee Mack. This still leaves turned it down. But we just kept going plenty of highbrow stand-ups on the and it was taken up by Dave.” list, led by the early clients Skinner and At one stage, Thoday campaigned David Baddiel, who became million- with Hat Trick Productions to buy BBC aires out of the partnership. Three and prevent its disappearance So, does Thoday stand accused of from TV. For Avalon, this could have inflating the cost of talent? replicated in miniature the Grade fam- “If you look at the total annual cost of ily’s hold over ITV in the 1950s: agent, content at the BBC, right, it has reduced production company and broadcaster. by £500m over the past 10 years. That’s Predictably, the BBC cried “no sale” the most important thing: reducing the but, he insists, the bid was for real. “It spend on content, for me, is very anti-­ wasn’t motivated by any desire to run public broadcasting. I believe that there a channel. I don’t want to do that. It should be more money spent on con- was motivated by the fact that BBC tent, less on technology.” Three was one of the places that could On the gender pay row, he says that bring on new talent.” it is impossible for him to negotiate The channel’s reduction in budget equal salaries for his female clients and move online has not helped the because, unless they are on BBC staff chances of biting satire returning to contracts, he does not know what their the BBC, but the chances were low male colleagues are being paid. anyway. Thoday says that the corpora- That does not mean, however, that tion is more hidebound than ever by he wants all salaries to be made public. its obligations to impartiality – and by “It’s a complicated area but, in the end, a caution beyond that. if you’re a broadcaster or an employer, “We produced Jerry Springer: The Opera, you decide. You don’t necessarily have which was broadcast on BBC Two with to wait to be called to account.” more swearwords than any show ever. It is, you see, not about the money, You couldn’t possibly do that now. The not for him. “We’re still here, when lots difficulties lie in satirists taking a [polit- of other [agents] have sold their busi- ical] point of view and also in whether nesses, because we like it. We like doing you can push the boundaries. Broad- good TV shows and we really believe in casters always say, ‘We want to be dan- never be good enough to become a British talent.” gerous’, but they don’t really, because research scientist. He contemplated a This, he says, is the reason why Avalon they’re too nervous.” career in science management with frequently makes the programmes its Of what? “For the BBC, it’s the dismay and jumped head first into artists star in: broadcasters can no longer attacks by successive governments. show business instead. be relied upon to nurture talent. He cites Whatever it says, it is fearful of that.” He was not even dissuaded when, John Oliver, whom Avalon represented It is not only satirical and edgy com- just before he began managing come- as soon as he had left university. He edy that is in decline. “There’s a mas- dians, he put on a London musical, Nite had a British radio show and podcast, sive hunger in the audience for comedy. Club Confidential, that lost £402,000.50, but only began to make his mark in the When you get one that works, people happily not of his own money. Next US on The Daily Show. He is now an HBO really like it, but there isn’t enough on came the signings of Rob Newman and star on the Avalon-­produced Last Week TV and that, in my view, is a failure of David Baddiel. The novice agent had a Tonight with John Oliver. commissioning.” strange hunch: that the stars of The Mary “With TV, you often have the fight to The thought takes us both back to Whitehouse Experience could fill a stadium keep things on air. So, TV Burp was the golden age of television comedy as well as any band. Comedy became cancelled twice by ITV,” he says. “A lot that shone over both our 1970s child- the new rock ’n’ roll and Avalon, having of things we’ve done that succeeded in hoods – his in Cambridge, where his seen the future, signed much of it up. the end were cancelled. Not Going Out father, John, was a professor of genet- Yet, things do not always work out. was cancelled after the second season. ics. At 11, Jon began helping to put on Jerry Springer: The Opera has just returned It’s the longest-running sitcom in the school plays. He hated performing as to New York but Thoday no longer UK now. And that’s why we started much as he loved encouraging per- represents its co-creator, Stewart Lee. producing, because we were able to be formers and so, despite taking a degree “Definitely not,” he says, and will not in a position to fight those battles. in natural sciences, was soon dreaming discuss the matter. “Sometimes, the battle’s just getting as much of LE as of DNA. Presenter Christine Bleakley found it on. So, with [his client Rob Delaney’s] At university (in his home town), he herself a new agent after her move to Catastrophe, the BBC commissioned the began producing musicals, with gown- ITV, guided by him, ended in disaster. script and then passed on it. We thought ies and townies in their casts. When he “Sometimes, people say that changing that it wasn’t going to go anywhere. left with a 2:2 (too many plays, not agents is a bit like changing deckchairs Then Phil Clarke picked it up at Chan- enough study), he took a further degree on the Titanic,” he says pointedly. And nel 4. We took five years to get in genetics but realised that he would Avalon’s relationship with Harry Hill

16 Thoday’s yesterdays

Jon Thoday, co-founder and MD of Avalon Promotions, Avalon Motion Pictures and Avalon Television, subsidiaries of Tiverton 2 Ltd

Born 7 May 1961; one sister Father John Thoday, professor of genetics (died 2008) Mother Doris Rich Married To Leanne Newman, whom he met at a Royal Court benefit in 1992; a teenage son and daughter. Education King’s College School, Cambridge; The Leys School, Cambridge; Corpus Christie, Cam- bridge (degree in natural sciences); MSc in biotechnology and genetic engineering

1986 Stages Robin Glendinning’s Mumbo Jumbo at Lyric Hammer- smith, directed by Nicholas Hytner 1988 Produces Nite Club Confiden- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

HBO tial with Ruth Madoc. It flops 1989 Forms Avalon Promotions ended in a High Court fight, after which drama. Yet, there is a big family audi- 1993 Clients Rob Newman and the comedian said he felt “liberated, like ence to be seized: “If a BBC controller David Baddiel play the 12,000-seat a huge weight has been lifted”. was to say, ‘I’m cancelling an episode Wembley Arena Thoday is not sympathetic: in show of EastEnders, and I’m only going to do 1999 Negotiates the transfer of The business, “some people react well to new shows there until I get one that Frank Skinner Show from BBC One success and others don’t”. succeeds’, that will be the one that gets to ITV for around £20m Hill, I counter, just found the long 10 million viewers – because it’s on at 2010 Negotiates reported £4m deal series of TV Burp a huge strain. Thoday the time when you can get 10 million for Adrian Chiles to leave the BBC’s says he beat ITV down on the length of viewers. The One Show for ITV’s Daybreak the runs, but adds: “TV Burp was a really “I don’t know what the show is but, and to be its chief football presenter. successful show and really successful in the end, I just know that if you invest 2017 Avalon named ‘No 1 true indie’ for him. If he found it hard to do, he all your money in international co-­ by Broadcast and Televisual should talk to people who work in productions at 9:00pm, you’re not factories, because I think that being going to be getting the next show that Clients Chris Addison, David Bad- successful in show business is a bene- 10 million people are going to watch at diel, Greg Davies, Russell Howard, fit, right? We all should be that lucky. 8:00pm. And no one in the industry is Al Murray, et al “It’s not supposed to be easy. It isn’t even thinking about shows for that time.” easy to succeed. We agree it would be nice to have Hits Not Going Out, TV Burp, “And if a broadcaster requires a cer- something to watch with our children, Russell Howard’s Good News, tain thing, wait until you don’t matter apart from soap opera murders and Catastrophe to them any more.” long summers of soggy cake bottoms. Misses The transfer of Adrian The sad thing to me is that Harry Hill, Perhaps that is what Avalon’s front- Chiles and Christine Bleakley to ITV now mostly seen on Sky, is a performer of-house memorabilia represent. The Coming next Gameshow The Button ideally suited to a genre Thoday wishes Dalek harks back to the great days of Watching The Crown, Narcos, Rick to see return to PSB, the pre-watershed, family entertainment. Lenin is Thoday and Morty weekday entertainment show. advocating for the people’s thwarted Reading ‘Not much’ The broadcasters, he says, play safe desires. And poor old Groucho looking Holidays Christmas and summer. with ever-longer runs of ageing soaps, down the barrel of a gun? That’s just ‘If you’re in show business it’s one turning a blind eye to their declining Avalon targeting the talent it will next long holiday’ ratings, and concentrate on post-9:00pm take to fame and fortune. n

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 17 Regulation Do traditional broadcasters risk losing prime billing on viewing menus as the tech giants muscle in? Torin Douglas investigates

ate last year, the UK’s two biggest commercial broad- casters, Sky and ITV, lam- basted the global internet giants, contrasting their lack of regulation with the tightly controlled world of television. LIn a speech to European broadcasters in Tallin, Sky Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch deplored the unevenness of the playing field: “At a time when there are serious questions over the veracity, safety and legality of much of the con- tent to be found on the internet, televi- sion remains the gold-standard reference point for responsibility. The battle for Yet, we are in strange times.” He went on: “We increasingly see our carefully regulated content and our socially responsible services appearing on the same devices and screens side prominence by side with a completely unregulated free-for-all. “That is not good for our customers or our industry, and it is not good for our society. The TV screen used to be the safe space. No longer.” Two days later, at the Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference in London, ITV Chairman Sir Peter Bazal- gette said the internet giants posed a “clear and present threat to civil soci- said. “It didn’t take long for Netflix and “We’ll consider whether the traditional ety” in the UK. He called for Facebook Amazon to dominate a market that we channels are easy to find – on tablets, and Google, which owns YouTube, to simply weren’t allowed to enter in a TVs and smartphones – for people face stricter regulation and rejected serious way.” who value their programmes. their claim to be platforms rather than But ITV and Sky don’t always see “How will viewers find them in a publishers as “frankly unsustainable”. eye to eye on regulation. Broadcasters world that’s becoming increasingly Sir Peter warned of “an increasingly now find themselves in a complex on-demand and personalised? We visible collision between an interna- world of “frenemies” and alliances, must consider this to ensure the PSBs tional market for TV – driven by tech- sometimes collaborating and some- are not drowned out.” nology and global economics – and times competing. ITV and Sky oppose The review will reopen arguments the UK TV market, where PSB chan- each other over the requirement to played out last year during the House of nels are still watched by more than give prominence on electronic pro- Lords debate on the Digital Economy 80% of the population every week”. gramme guides (EPGs) to the PSBs. Bill, which were cut short by the snap And he highlighted the dangers for Later this year, Ofcom will start a general election. An amendment UK television if regulators got things review of the EPG prominence rules would have forced Sky, Virgin Media wrong. “Just remember the terrible, and whether they should be updated. and other pay-TV providers to ensure ignorant mistake by the Competition The scope of the review has yet to be that BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Chan- Commission in 2009, banning Kangaroo decided, but Ofcom’s content group nel 5 programmes got top billing on – the proposed PSB VoD service,” he director, Kevin Bakhurst, explains: the new generation of set-top boxes.

18 IF WE WANT TO CHERISH PSB THEN VIEWERS NEED TO BE ABLE TO FIND ITS CHANNELS AND ITS VOD SERVICES

to update the EPG rules, particularly And, if you look at the catch-up page against Sky. James Purnell, the BBC’s on our boxes, the BBC iPlayer is the director of radio and education, said last first tile you see, followed by ITV Hub, year: “On the UK’s leading pay-TV plat- All 4 and Channel 5.” form, Sky, the BBC’s children’s channels She goes on: “We’re having proper – where parents can rely on their chil- discussions with the BBC about this and dren watching safe, trusted, British I hope we can resolve this without the programmes without adverts – are need for regulation, but the BBC has listed below 12 US cartoon networks.” been very rigid in what it is asking for.” The BBC says the latest Sky box, Kieran Clifton, the BBC’s director of SkyQ, has made the free-to-air chan- distribution, says Ofcom is the right nels even harder to find. Sky sees things body to resolve the prominence issue. very differently and is calling for what it But he agrees with Sky that it’s not a claims is a level playing field in regula- level playing field and the growth of tion. “We have a real problem with the unregulated US platforms will make this,” says Mai Fyfield, Sky’s chief strat- British programmes harder to find. egy and commercial officer. “The only He points out that the BBC can’t “buy platforms that would get caught by an prominence” as Netflix does through updating of the EPG rules are Sky, Virgin its deals with global TV manufacturers. and BT – not the US tech companies.” “How much did Netflix pay to get its She says that would put the UK plat- own button on TV remote controls?” forms at a real disadvantage. “It would he asks. “And it is not alone. Amazon also be a real own goal for the PSBs. promotes its programmes alongside We are linear-centred platforms that the items it sells online. And Facebook, help the PSBs – they get more view­- Google and YouTube also want to con- ing via us than they do on other on-­ trol the relationship with the viewer.” demand platforms.” It is an issue that Damian Collins MP, Fyfield says the BBC children’s Chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and channels are listed below the US car- Sport Committee, is keeping a close toon networks because the EPG num- eye on – and an open mind. “If one or bers were allocated in the order the two companies do this (that is, get their “If we want to cherish PSB then channels came on the air. And she own button), it might not distort the viewers need to be able to find its adds that, in any case, children are market, but if there were a free-for-all channels and its VoD services,” Sir quick to find their favourite channels. and a listings auction, the traditional Peter told the Voice of the Listener and “We’d like to promote BBC pro- broadcasters could get lost in the mix, Viewer conference. “Prominence on grammes on Sky Q with a tile on the and pushed down the list.” the home pages of Sky and Virgin is home page,” she says. “That would lead Collins is keen to see what Ofcom has very important for us. viewers to its children’s channels, but, to say about the EPG. Further ahead, he “Since around 50% of viewing on at the moment, it won’t allow us to do would like his own committee to take a those two platforms is still of PSB chan- this, just as it doesn’t let Sky show BBC wider look at all these issues. nels, you’d think it was a no-brainer. content on the Sky Go and Sky Q “Convergence and the new digital But PSB prominence has been steadily mobile apps. entrants are changing things very fast,” eroded and now needs to be reinforced.” “If the BBC wants due prominence he says. “We’ll soon have generations of Sir Peter’s public intervention is for its on-demand services, surely it people whose main experience of tele- significant – recent ITV leaders have must offer them to us?” vision is not linear viewing but on-­ kept a low profile. With Dame Carolyn She admits that, when the Sky Q box demand and uncurated. What is the McCall arriving as ITV’s Chief Execu- was launched, viewers complained role of regulation and the public broad- tive, the company seems ready to take that the live channels were hard to caster in that environment?” a PSB leadership role. find: “We listened and changed it – it’s The battle over EPG prominence is Until now, the BBC has led the fight designed to be an evolving platform. just the start. n

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 19 Royal Patron reception TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall were the guests of honour at a reception on 31 January, hosted by ITV, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the RTS

20 All pictures: Hampartsoumian Paul

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 21 Finecast targets a revolution in TV ads

ondon’s Red Lion Square announced in November that it had is a place often associ- Advertising agreed a deal with Sorenson Media. ated with political revo- This will enable it to sell targeted lution. But a few steps advertising – or what it described as away from Conway Hall, Jakob Nielsen, CEO of “dynamically personalised” ads – on home of meetings for GroupM’s addressable smart TVs beginning in the second radicalsL and disruptors since the 1920s, advertising company, quarter of this year. is the gleaming modernist UK HQ of In 2017, for the first time, marketers global advertising giant GroupM. There, Finecast, explains to spent more money online than on TV. a very different kind of revolution is Yet, it terms of content, TV has never being conceived. Steve Clarke how TV looked more attractive to advertisers, In September, GroupM officially both in terms of the high quality of launched Finecast, an addressable TV ads can now be sold at programming and the safe environ- service that offers British broadcasters postcode level ment that TV provides brands with. and other UK-based content platforms Moreover, there are huge doubts the ability to provide targeted advertis- nesses from Google and Facebook, about the efficiency of digital advertis- ing via a single access point and using advertising aimed at individual house- ing, as media buying and selling is a common data currency. holds, rather than broad demographics, increasingly dictated by software As TV companies continue to assess is looking increasingly attractive. designed – but not always certain – the threat to their advertising busi- This point was illustrated when ITV to make every pound count.

22 he insists. Technologically speaking, profitable big time, one day. Otherwise, it’s likely that what Finecast can offer the stock price will go down to nothing. advertisers today will be overtaken by “Its subscriber growth will stop at further innovations from the company a certain point, arguably, because the in a couple of years’ time. competition from Amazon, Hulu, Dis- “Today, I define Finecast as a com- ney, etc, will be so big.… It is hard to pany that buys addressable TV audi- increase prices when there is so much ences. But, in two years’ time, I will competition. Netflix will have to find probably define that differently new revenue streams. because we are on the cutting edge “It makes sense that, one day, it will of innovation,” says Nielsen. take advertising and I don’t say that Finecast has been in development just because I am in the industry. Hav- for two or three years and began its ing said that, it is not our focus now.” operational roll-out in 2016. To date, At the moment, Finecast’s focus is it has run more than 200 campaigns firmly on persuading broadcasters and with 84 advertisers, including Marks brands of the virtues of addressable & Spencer, Ford, eBay, Sony, Vodafone, advertising. Comparethemarket.com and the Sun- However, not only is it more expen- day Times. It also has data partnerships sive than conventional TV advertising, with Experian, Mastercard, mPLAT- there is – as yet – no third-party FORM and Kantar. measurement system. “Clients are coming back, over and Taking the latter point first, he says: over again. Some of our biggest clients “It is not a product that is measured by are doing this,” says Nielsen. “To my Barb because, unfortunately, Barb is knowledge, there are no clients who not in this space yet. haven’t booked their second campaign. “Barb’s big step is Dovetail, which This is a good measurement of them is measuring online but not set-top believing that this is a great thing.” boxes and OTT services, which this He believes that broadcasters have world is in. no choice but to embrace targeted “We don’t have a Barb to measure advertising despite the levels of invest- 100% of what we are doing. If we ment required. did, things would move much, much, “If TV invests in technology and data much quicker.” as Sky has done and like Channel 4 is As for the cost of buying targeted doing and ITV is starting to, it is start- ads, Nielsen agrees that “it is more ing to compete – because Google has expensive but you get a completely no quality content,” says Nielsen. different audience. If you are a BMW “Facebook has no quality content. It dealership in Manchester, the only has a lot of data and technology and targeted TV advertising you can do is very digitally savvy, but it doesn’t – you have six TV regions, that region understand the TV world in the way is still big, so if, as a dealership, you do that broadcasters do. It doesn’t under- TV advertising you waste a lot.

Shutterstock stand TV clients in the way that broad- “Therefore, dealerships don’t do TV casters do. advertising. Thanks to addressable “The audiences we are buying for “Obviously, Amazon and Netflix are advertising, for the first time, they can our clients are moving into a world that quite different. They invest billions in do TV advertising and serve advertis- is going to be so much more complex content and they have data and tech- ing into defined households around and difficult,” explains Jakob Nielsen, nology. But it will take time for them Manchester. CEO of Finecast, as he describes the to get there.” “They could find people who are approaching tsunami of on-demand Intriguingly, he believes that Netflix interested in buying a BMW X5 – an viewing. “This is an opportunity because may one day be forced to carry adver- expensive car. All of a sudden, you that world is powered by technology tising. This might be wishful thinking, open a new market for advertising, and data. It’s a world where advertisers but he is not alone in questioning the which is small budgets, more targeted can reach households at a post-code long-term viability of the streaming in the areas they need.” level. You couldn’t do that before.” giant’s subscription model. Ultimately, in the emerging world The Finecast boss is a Dane who ran “Maybe there will be ads on Netflix of addressable advertising, it all comes Microsoft’s European ad business until in the future,” he suggests. “Netflix down to who owns the data and that’s joining GroupM in 2009. Like many ad spent about $6bn on content last year. where Finecast is attempting to steal people, he is relentlessly upbeat as he It has high costs – technology, people a march. outlines what Finecast can do for the – and its subscription income is not The good news for Jakob Nielsen and UK television community. “I can’t covering that by a long shot. his colleagues is that, in the long term, pretend that this isn’t complicated and “If you said to Netflix that it had to the likelihood is that all UK broadcast- there aren’t a lot of moving parts, but be profitable, then the model would be ers will have no choice but to do deals this is a massive, massive opportunity,” different. And it will have to be with firms such as Finecast. n

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 23 The buccaneer

f television news had a golden filled the role suavely and effortlessly. age, it was surely the three Book review Thompson is a consummate story-­ decades from around 1980. teller, and this autobiography is a cata- Driven by videotape news- logue of good stories (and some gathering, growth in satellite Intrepid and fearless, braggadocio) of the sort reporters tend capacity and buoyant budgets, Jeremy Thompson to swap over a few beers. There were newsI bulletins often drew audiences of certainly plenty of beers and some low- 15 million. They were the main way epitomised the key hell-raising; CNN’s Robert Wiener that most people got their news. This noted: “I have never seen anyone party was Jeremy Thompson’s time, and globe-trotting reporter, harder than Jeremy Thompson.” mine, too. says Simon Bucks TV journalism is dominated by logis- Thompson came up the old-fashioned tics, and much of Thompson’s narrative way: straight from school into local describes the challenges of reaching newspapers and radio before BBC TV, the story, getting it on air and escaping ITN and Sky News. His father, an insur- unscathed. Perhaps most terrifying, ance man, was horrified at his son’s Breaking News: An and bizarre, was a cloak-and-dagger career choice, warning that only jazz Autobiography, by flight from Malawi to Mozambique to musicians were a worse actuarial risk. Jeremy Thompson, interview Afonso Dhlakama, leader of We joined ITN around the same time. is published by the Renamo resistance movement. I was in the poor bloody infantry of Biteback, priced Their ancient, single-engine plane newsroom producers, he was a sports £20.00. ISBN was piloted by a Rhodesian veteran on correspondent en route to a freewheel- 978-1785902253 a Christian mission. His wife explained ing career roaming the world’s hotspots. that they had rescued the old kite from He reported and presented on more a scrapyard and God had “helped to than 20 wars, coups, terrorist outrages, JT epitomised the go-anywhere, buc- make it work and taught us to fly”. natural disasters and a genocide. caneering television reporter. It used to Thompson has no doubts on the war Along the way, he achieved the be said that it wasn’t a proper war until reporter’s classic dilemma: should you iconic status of becoming known sim- Kate Adie turned up; JT inherited that embed with a friendly military unit that ply by his initials. With his honey-and- mantle. In regulation foreign corre- will protect you but also dictate your gravel, high-decibel drawl – Leslie spondent fatigues, an Arab shemagh journalism? Embedding is favoured by Phillips crossed with a foghorn – knotted stylishly round the neck, he the armed forces because it allows them,

24 Captain Valentine Strasser. He was a fateful meeting when it was decided that man of few words – so few that his the escalating costs were unsustainable. answers were mainly mumbled Either way, when the People’s Libera- monosyllables. tion Army rolled into Tiananmen JT – a sympathetic reporter – helped Square, massacring protesters, JT and write a script and coached his delivery. team were relaxing in the Hong Kong Needing more pictures, he persuaded Foreign Correspondents Club. It was, Strasser and his fellow officers to sweep he says, a “genuine snafu”, one of few the streets in a symbolic act to show regrets in his 50-year career. how they would clean up corruption. Mine, too. I was the duty programme “You couldn’t make it up,” observes editor, scrambling to rescue something Thompson, appar- from CNN’s crumbs. ently without irony. It was a rare humili- Small wonder that I HAVE NEVER ation for us, but Strasser invited him worse, as Thomp- to be his information SEEN ANYONE son observes, the chief, an offer that PARTY HARDER might of the entire Thompson swiftly international media declined. THAN JEREMY had been powerless In truth, the title THOMPSON to prevent the spark Breaking News is a of democracy being partial misnomer. snuffed out. Only the arrival of From his rugby-­ CNN, and then Sky, enabled TV to playing days, through international report in real time. Before that, news sports reporting, JT clearly felt most rarely broke, but emerged as film, and comfortable with “good blokes”, later tape, which arrived hours, some- among them interviewees who times days, after it was shot, often via became mates, such as Ian “Beefy” circuitous routes. Botham and the South African rugby Reporting a coup in Fiji, Thompson star Francois Pienaar. evaded the authorities by ingeniously He, rightly, devotes an entire chapter unspooling his videotape from its cas- in tribute to another very good bloke, sette, hid it in cigarette cartons and the cameraman Mick Deane, his long- in one general’s militarese, to dominate bribing departing passengers at the time partner on scores of stories. Mick, “the information environment”. airport to hand-carry it to Sydney for a gentle giant, was tragically shot dead For Thompson, embedding is anath- onward transmission. in Egypt – one of several colleagues ema: he argues persuasively that the The real turning point was Kosovo, and friends felled in the line of duty. journalist’s natural state is to be “inde- in 1999, when the Sky News boss Nick The senseless murder hit us all, but it pendent and unilateral”. Nevertheless, Pollard bet the ranch by sending four affected JT particularly badly. He con- when our ITN friend Terry Lloyd – satellite trucks by road to the Balkans. fesses to shedding rare tears when told also operating independently – was It allowed Thompson and colleagues the news. killed in the Iraq War, a shocked to report, as it happened, the British Superficially, on camera and in per- Thompson bunked up alongside the contingent of the Nato peacekeeping son, Thompson exudes a faintly British Desert Rats, feeling “safer within sight force rolling across the countryside. colonial air yet, surprisingly, the man of British squaddies… not embedded For Sky, and JT, it was a major win, who most impressed him was Nelson but in touch”. In a shooting war, dis- netting a well-deserved RTS award. Mandela. They first met when Thomp- cretion is the better part of valour. Things did not always go so well. At son was resident correspondent in It is a truism that things rarely happen ITN, I had a walk-on part in a bad day, Johannesburg and went on to become conveniently for TV news cameras; they which still clearly rankles deeply with genuine friends. invariably need “arranging”. Set-up JT. The student demonstrations in Thompson admits he was rarely shots are in the grammar of the busi- China in 1989, demanding greater free- emotional about stories – it was “just ness, but two episodes raise a moot dom and democracy, grew into a mass business” – but Mandela’s death was point – how much arranging is OK? movement until the army was sent in an exception. It felt, he says, like the In Alabama, the governor decided to to suppress it. end of an era, the “closing of a major revive chain gangs to demonstrate his When the protests subsided, chapter in my career”. toughness on crime, and staged a photo-­ Thompson and crew were pulled out JT’s string of awards (helpfully listed call – an obvious, but “irresistible”, and replacements failed to arrive. His at the back of the book) is testament to publicity stunt. JT added a delicious version is that, after six weeks in Bei- his success. Breaking News is a hymn to embellishment, encouraging the hapless jing, it was decided the team needed the pre-­internet era before “fake news”; inmates to sing spirituals as they broke some “rest and recuperation”. a rollicking, roller-coaster account of rocks. It was, he says, “pure TV magic”. Doubtless that was the message the glamorous glory days of TV report- This, perhaps, was justification enough. from the foreign desk. The truth, in ing, in which JT had a starring role. Likewise, in Sierra Leone, Thompson my memory, was less benevolent. As Forgive the cliché, but I doubt we’ll attempted to interview a coup leader, a programme editor, I had attended a see his like again. n

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 25 An intimate epic RTS APPG The Crown represents a new high-water mark in UK drama production, hear peers and MPs. Matthew Bell reports

art royal soap, part Brit- other marriage that’s lasted 70 years.” and without distance, there’s no room ish political lesson, The In total, the writer plans a six-season, for metaphor,” he said. Crown is all first-rate 60-part series covering the reign of “As soon as you write about [Anthony] drama. To mark the Elizabeth II. “Some issues are inflamed Eden [and the Suez crisis], for example, release of its second and sensitive,” admitted the writer, you see Iraq,” explained the writer. In season on Netflix, a “but not to tackle them head on would another episode of season 2, he added, packedP RTS pre-Christmas event at the be irresponsible. I’m wrestling with “women are being groped in a restau- House of Commons heard creator and this [problem] the whole time.” rant and it has enormous resonance writer Peter Morgan, executive pro- One such story is the disastrous mar- with where we are today”. ducer Suzanne Mackie and director riage of Charles and Diana, played out The audience at the RTS event was Philippa Lowthorpe discuss how they in the press, and her tragic death. “The treated to a screening of episode 5 made the award-winning series. period when Diana enters the story… I from season 2, “Marionettes”, directed Season 2 of The Crown, produced by think of it as almost, narratively and by Lowthorpe. UK indie Left Bank Pictures, begins dramatically, like haemophilia – you In this episode, the Queen learns to with the Suez crisis in 1956 and ends just touch it and it bruises. You have to adapt in order to thrive in a less defer- with the Profumo affair in 1963. be really careful how you handle it.” ential age. The Queen Mother, of It also wrestles with Prince Philip’s The writer admitted that, although course, is appalled that the “divine rumoured infidelities, but Morgan said: he doesn’t yet know where the story right of kings” is no longer recognised. “I don’t think anything we’re saying is will end, he is unlikely to bring it fully “When you approach a decade, you controversial. The marriage is clearly a up to date. “You do not want the become conditioned to think in terms triumph – they’ve been married for 70 drama to feel journalistic. I’ve always of the greatest hits,” said Morgan. And, years. If there were complexities along felt that you need at least a decade, he conceded, there were major events the way that makes it just like any because, without a separation of time that had to be covered, such as Profumo

26 added: “We knew that, somehow, [the story] represented a shift in the pre- vailing attitudes towards the Queen and the monarchy. It was a brilliant way Freedom to to say, ‘The times they are a-changin’.’” Nitpickers have obsessively fact- be creative checked The Crown, but historical errors seem to be few and far between. “Hap- pily, [with] the people who we’re mak- ing these programmes about, where they go and what they do is a matter of public record. I’ve got this big bunch of researchers who are all fabulous,” said Morgan. The research team gives him as full a record of the royals’ lives as possible. When he fills in the gaps, he describes the process as “less an act of fantasy and more an act of imagination”. He admitted that, on a strict histori- cal basis, “of course, I get it wrong” sometimes. “But my view is that the audience is so sensitive and has such Peter Morgan

fine instincts that, if they reject [some- Hampartsoumian Paul thing], then it’s probably wrong. Even if you don’t know the facts, you can Peter Morgan defended the deci- smell when something is bogus. sion to take The Crown to Netflix, “We do our very, very best to get it rather than a UK broadcaster. right, but sometimes I have to conflate ‘We went to the BBC and ITV, and [incidents],” he continued. “You some- we desperately tried to create a times have to forsake accuracy, but partnership between the BBC and you must never forsake truth.” Netflix. But it just didn’t work out,’ Peter Morgan is currently “immersed, said the drama’s creator and writer. planning and plotting” series 3 and 4, ‘My conscience is completely clear.’ which will feature a totally new cast. Netflix commissioned The Crown, “It was all or nothing,” said Suzanne initially as a 20-hour series, on the Mackie. But, so far, the only cast spot. ‘At the end of the meeting, announcement sees Olivia Colman they looked at each other and said, replacing Claire Foy as the Queen. The “We’ll have that, please”, and pretty writer argued that trying to age Foy and much got the chequebook out,’ The Crown

Netflix Matt Smith’s Prince Philip “would be said executive producer Suzanne ridiculous – they’d start looking silly Mackie. ‘That conviction gives you a and the death of JFK. But the writer with chalk in their hair and prosthetics. lot of confidence going forward.’ was also determined to cover less “It so happens that Olivia Colman Morgan added that the US well-known stories. In “Marionettes”, looks a little bit like Claire, but we streaming giant had shown ‘extraor- the now largely forgotten liberal Tory would have been quite happy if… the dinary confidence and trust – they and journalist Lord Altrincham sug- right person didn’t particularly look like really do not interfere whatsoever’ gests royal reforms and innovations, Claire. There will be times when the in the making of The Crown. ‘It’s a including the Queen’s first televised person who takes over from the previ- completely different medium – and Christmas Day message, that help to ous person will not look like them. the fact that I felt we were on the modernise the monarchy. “But our attitude is that we’re going cutting edge of something made “Whether I’ve heard of it, I take as a to cast the best people available, as if we me feel less that I was doing her- barometer of whether people will know were doing it from scratch, rather than itage telly. It felt more cutting edge a story or not, such as Altrincham. I’ve thinking we need someone to look like because of who they were. So, actu- trawled this stuff long enough now to the previous incarnation. We’re going to ally, I’m thrilled it’s Netflix because it probably be something of a specialist recast and start all over again.” n galvanised and energised me.’ and I had no [knowledge of] it,” said Philippa Lowthorpe, who has the show’s creator. ‘The Crown’ was an RTS event held at directed two episodes of season 2, “The lovely thing about this episode the House of Commons on 20 December. added: ‘The creativity in shows such is that Peter had taken this microcos- It was hosted by Damian Collins MP, Chair as The Crown can only add to the mic story and grown this beautiful of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport general level of creativity in this script from it,” said Philippa Lowthorpe. Committee, and Baroness Bonham-Carter, country. People come [here] to make “It is a tiny corner of history but it says Lib Dem media spokesperson in the Lords imaginative drama. It’s an amazingly so much.” and a former TV producer. It was produced exciting time for our industry.’ Executive producer Suzanne Mackie by Sue Robertson and Martin Stott.

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 27 RTS NEWS Yorkshire: regional TV at its best

Lawrence (who became one flourishes and was recently of the Network Centre’s first named Nations and Regions commissioning editors); John News Programme of the Willis (subsequently a bril­ year. Emmerdale remains a liant programme director at linchpin of the ITV schedule. Channel 4); and Clive Jones Yorkshire’s Countdown, (later a force in the TV firma­ hosted by Richard Whiteley ment as MD of Carlton TV). and Carol Vorderman, was the There were also great first show to air on Channel 4. directors, such as Peter Kos­ The programme became cult minsky (who made the bril­ viewing for a generation. Sid liant Shoot to Kill for YTV long Waddell, the voice of darts, before he was celebrated for was another YTV hero. Wolf Hall), Grant McKee, Rob­ The book’s co-editors, John Pic goes herer xxxx ert Charles (later head of Fairley and Graham Ironside, sport at Channel 5), Keith were key players at Yorkshire. Richardson and David Green Graham oversaw and inspired (now a Hollywood director). much excellent regional pro­ The book contains chapters gramming; John fought pro­ from those in front of the gramming battles at network camera. Included are Miriam level with great success. Stoppard, Kathryn Apanowicz Richard Whiteley said of Heartbeat

ITV and the late Marylyn Webb John’s newsreading in the (tellingly, they are the only early days that he gave the David Lowen revels in a chapters from women). impression of knowing more The box set of YTV drama about a story than he was book celebrating the glory delights ranged from The prepared to tell viewers. days of the ITV channel Darling Buds of May to Heartbeat, When John was awarded from At Home with the Braith- an RTS Fellowship he was waites to The Beiderbecke Affair, congratulated by Greg Dyke, Heartbeat and Beyond: Memoirs of 50 Years Rising Damp to A Touch of Frost. who said the award was well of Yorkshire Television, edited by John Fairley Writers included Joe Orton, deserved but “to achieve it all and Graham Ironside, is published by Pen and Peter Nichols, Stan Barstow, from a box at York racecourse Sword History, priced £25. ISBN: 978-1473896697 John Osborne, David Nobbs, was quite remarkable”. This Roy Clarke, Alan Bleasdale, cheeky comment spoke vol­ he blurb on the back – stories often told in the bar Sally Wain­ umes of the cover, identifying following the shoot or broad­ wright, Kay swashbuck­ Yorkshire Television cast of a show. Here is a Mellor, Alan YTV PUNCHED ling and (YTV) as “one of the sense of creative energy, Plater; true innovative Tgreatest television channels determination and fun. In voices of WAY ABOVE nature of of all times”, might be a touch those days, ITV network slots the North. ITS WEIGHT YTV’s over the top. But Yorkshire were often agreed on the nod In factual approach folk don’t applaud modesty. and on trust. genres, there to program­ There is no doubt that YTV You will not find the min­ were numerous ITV schedule ming. Dull it never was. punched way above its utes of boardroom battles. mainstays, from Whicker’s I declare a personal inter­ weight, generating quality Indeed, the men in suits World to the First Tuesday est. I produced and commis­ and quantity on screen, (though not long-time Man­ investigative documentary sioned hundreds (possibly nationally and regionally, aging Director Sir Paul Fox) series, from Don’t Ask Me (a thousands) of programmes from its launch in 1968 to the are lined up alongside union popular science show with for YTV. Like all who con­ Granada takeover in 1997. restrictions as barriers David Bellamy, Magnus Pyke tribute to these memories, I These are the personal between creators and viewers. and Miriam Stoppard) to also believe it was ITV at its memories and private photo­ There are chapters from Jimmy’s, a hospital reality best. As David Green puts it, graphs of those who made many who made YTV’s cre­ show that inspired ER. YTV was “the brightest star many of the programmes ative reputation: Vernon News show Calendar still in ITV’s tangled firmament”.

28 Matthew Bell hears how the BBC is speaking new languages around the globe

he BBC World Ser­ vice’s ambitious plans to increase the corporation’s global Taudience to 500 million by 2020 came under the micro­ scope at an RTS London event in late January. More than 100 Indian TV channels offer news

On the back of a £290m India Today funding boost, the World Service is in the middle of its biggest expansion since the 1940s. Its growth – in “areas A truly world service of common interest” for the BBC and the Foreign Office, which is footing the bill – will Service audience”, and argued that is trustworthy”. More and expanded news bulletins, see new TV, radio and digital that “high-quality, original than 100 Indian channels often in partnership with services in current languages journalism” would increase offer news, which she char­ other broadcasters. “This is a and 12 new ones, including its weekly reach by 80 million acterised as “shrill and loud” way of getting BBC content Gujarati, Korean, Pidgin, Ser­ people by 2020. in style. A debate is often into [new] places,” he said. It is bian and Yoruba. The World Service will “two people sitting, side by also investing in new facilities The BBC’s priority areas, continue to tell the stories that side, shouting at each other. in major cities such as Delhi such as the Horn of Africa governments don’t want told. It’s more show business than and Lagos. and North Korea, are those “We won’t make the compro­ actual news.” Nicky Goldberg heads the where “there isn’t access to mises that some are willing to She added: “Our role at the World Service’s Television free information”, said Adrian make,” said Van Klaveren. If BBC is to provide news that is Unit, which works in 15 lan­ Van Klaveren, head of the the BBC did so, “what we high-impact and engaging, guages and enables “the best World 2020 investment pro­ stand for, what we’re trusted but also serious, quality of the BBC’s journalism, in gramme. The BBC is also for counts for nothing. We journalism.” whichever language it origi­ looking to increase TV and won’t compromise our jour­ While radio remains nates, to travel much further”. online reach where it already nalistic principles.” important and digital audi­ The unit reversions bulle­ has a strong radio presence, However, he argued that tins, although occasion­ such as in Nigeria. the type of content offered ally it is stumped. “Our In other areas, he said, by the World Service will OUR BIGGEST Uzbek team wanted a “there is clearly a geo-political have to move further bulletin in Cyrillic, Arabic interest from the Foreign beyond hard news, if it is GROWTH IS STILL and Latin script, simulta­ Office in trying to strengthen to win larger audiences. neously, in a 10-minute free information, and that is “A diet [of news] that is THROUGH TV piece of television, true of investment in Russia pure geopolitics and big which we just couldn’t and in Arabic [countries]”. international crises is not ences are increasing rapidly do,” he said. Van Klaveren was part of a going to do the trick – you’ve (albeit from a low base), TV is Meanwhile, David James, four-strong panel at the ITV got to do things that draw the the focus of the investment. technology manager at London Studios event, which world together and connect to “People talk a lot about digital World Service Distribution, was chaired and produced by people’s lives,” he suggested. and mobile – and those are revealed the technical prob­ Aradhna Tayal. A new, broader definition of important and will become lems he faces – Soviet-era He explained that the BBC news includes health and ever more important – but equipment, bureaucratic red was looking to attract more technology programming. our biggest growth is still tape and wildlife: “We lost a young and female viewers In India, said Juliana Iootty, through television,” said satellite feed in West Africa and listeners to address the head of the World Service in Adrian Van Klaveren. after a monkey [attacked] “male skew within the World Asia, “there is a need for news The BBC is investing in new one of our satellite dishes.”

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 29 RTS NEWS

Ericsson’s Steve Plun­ kett and EE’s Matt RTS events Stagg outlined the

Thames Valley current state and IN BRIEF potential of 5G, which is due to launch officially in 2020, to the Thames Valley Centre North West runs late last year. The two experts covered huge new quiz both the consumer and pro­ RTS North West hosted its first fessional applications of ‘Great big Xmas telly quiz’ late 5th-generation mobile net­ last year. works at the Reading event. Some 180 people from the Plunkett, chief technology region’s television industry officer at Ericsson, discussed competed at the Lowry Theatre, the expected improvements, Salford. Dock 10 sponsored the which include significantly quiz, which was won by the higher data rates, the capa­ ‘More of less’ team. bility to manage larger vol­ umes and better battery life. He said that changing data Channel 4 gives usage and viewing habits Midlands tutorial have been driven, in part, by mobile usage and an increase Channel 4 Nations and Regions in viewing hours. Indeed, 5G manager Deborah Dunnett gave could replace fixed-line 50 students from higher and delivery of the internet in EE's wi-fi service at Glastonbury further education colleges a some cases, he argued. Nathan Gallagher masterclass in developing He also explained the con­ factual formats at the end cept of network slicing, which of November. allows for networks within She joined Channel 4 in 2016 networks, and specialist Thames Valley from Scottish indie Raise the applications such as mobile Roof, where her credits included production and virtual net­ BBC One’s Holiday of My Life- works (which seamlessly link time with Len Goodman. local and remote servers). sees 5G future The RTS Midlands event was EE head of mobile video held at the National Motorcycle and content Matt Stagg said several organisations are 5G has great potential, but Museum in Solihull on the same his company’s experience at working together to bring 5G that a spirit of collaboration day as the centre’s Programme the Glastonbury music festi­ to market and that the Uni­ is needed to avoid fragmen­ Awards. val demonstrated the poten­ versity of Surrey, with which tation and incompatibility tial of network slicing. he is involved, is a leading between competing services. Plunkett explained that research force. He added that John Ive Newcastle hosts annual RTS quiz ‘You’re joking. Oh, no, not another one.… I can’t stand it!’ Helicopters offer drone lesson This wasn’t the reaction to the annual North East and the Bor- der quiz, which was held before n Drones are taking the TV – he jumped straight into surrounding helicopters. Christmas in Newcastle, but the industry by storm and RTS basic aerodynamic theory. Although a deep knowledge reaction of ‘Brenda from Bristol’ Thames Valley’s Christmas He went on to describe of helicopter aerodynamics is on BBC News to the calling of lecture offered a perfect some of the critical helicop­ not necessary to fly a drone, last year’s general election. The introduction to the science ter components that keep understanding the basics will clip became a YouTube sensa- behind how they fly. the aircraft in the sky and help camera operators tion and featured in the centre’s Addressing a packed audi­ allow it to be manoeuvred achieve better, safer shots annual quiz. ence, aviation industry guru wherever the pilot wants. with their drone rigs. This Carole and Tony Edwards and John Watkinson demystified Speaking for two hours- could be important with the Graeme Aldous set the questions. helicopter flight. Using his plus, Watkinson spoke of his Civil Aviation Authority taking The winners were the ‘Snow signature approach – no- own experiences as a pilot a keen interest in their use. problem’ team. nonsense, plain speaking and put to rest some myths Tony Orme

30 Storyville looks to East ONLINE at the RTS A packed hall wel­ comed Mandy Chang – the new commission­ n This month, the digital team

East Centre ing editor of the BBC’s swapped web for print to write premier international docu­ the new TV jobs guide, How to mentary strand, Storyville – to Get into Television, for Febru- Cambridge in December. ary’s RTS Futures Careers Fair. It was the first event the The magazine offers everything relaunched RTS East Centre from tips on how to work as a has held in Cambridge and runner and survive as a free- was aimed at the many film- lancer, to interviews with leading makers, professional and experts from the fields of jour- student, based in the city. nalism, screenwriting, camera­ Chang, who left the Austra­ work and sound. Last year’s lian Broadcasting Corporation magazine was so well received, to join the BBC last year, both at the Careers Fair and at explained what she believed RTS events around the coun- made a good Storyville feature-­ try, that we had to double the Storyville: Last Men in Aleppo length documentary. She BBC original print run. If you can’t illustrated this with clips from lay your hands on a copy, it can Last Men in Aleppo, My Mother’s interest to the audience, research institute based at be viewed online in its entirety Lost Children and Weiner – Sexts, many of whom were student the university that experi­ (www.rts.org.uk/JobsGuide2018), Scandals and Politics. film-makers or freelancers. ments with different or visit the links below for some She pointed out that, unlike Mandy Chang won an approaches to storytelling. of the highlights. most other documentary Emmy and Grierson for The event was chaired by strands in the UK, Storyville Channel 4’s 2008 documen­ Dr Catherine Elliott, a distin­ n Louis Theroux has made his was open to pitches from tary, The Mona Lisa Curse. guished film-maker as well name making documentaries first-time film-makers, pro­ The School of Art at Anglia as course leader of the MA about some of the world’s vided they had a unique Ruskin University (ARU) Film and TV Production strangest individuals. We caught story, access and approach. hosted the event, with the course at ARU. up with him on the phone from This was of particular support of StoryLab, a Fiona Chesterton Los Angeles, from where he explained that anyone want- ing to follow in his footsteps should focus on making good TV, rather than setting out to be Potemkin: an Irish connection a presenter (www.rts.org.uk/ LouisTheroux).

Former RTÉ producer that are in existence to this n Adrian Lester, currently Peter McEvoy revealed day, managed by his grand­ starring in ITV drama Trauma, an Irish connection to sons. He died in 1989, aged shared his experiences of work-

Republic of Ireland Sergei Eisenstein’s between 104 and 106 years. ing as an actor and director. classic film Battleship Potemkin Among the excerpts from Switching between the two at the latest RTS Republic of Battleship Potemkin screened roles, as he has done on Hustle Ireland event. by McEvoy, who is a member and Riviera, is a ‘very compli- The silent Russian film of the RTS Republic of Ire­ cated dance’, he says. See his tells the story of the revolu­ land Committee and has an top tips for thriving on set at tionary mutineers who took MA in film studies, was the www.rts.org.uk/AdrianLester. Battleship Potemkin control of their ship, the BFI famous “Odessa Steps” Potemkin, in 1905. sequence (pictured). n For those interested in writing McEvoy explained that one the Irish trade union leader, McEvoy revealed another drama, scriptwriters – including of the mutineers, Ivan Jim Larkin, who advised him Irish connection to Eisen­ Daisy Goodwin, Phoebe Waller- Beshov, escaped to London, to go to Dublin. stein – the director met Bridge and Marnie Dickens – where he met Lenin. It is Beshov arrived in the city James Joyce in Paris in 1925 reveal how they got their ideas believed that the future in 1913, and the revolutionary- to discuss adapting Ulysses, from page to screen (www.rts. leader of the Russian Revo­ turned-capitalist set up a but the film was never made. org.uk/ScreenwritingTips18). lution introduced Beshov to chain of fish ’n’ chip shops Charles Byrne Pippa Shawley

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 31 RTS NEWS Leeds plaque marks 90th year

In early January, the members were from Leeds Fiona Thompson, RTS Hon­ Yorkshire Centre joined and Yorkshire. orary Treasurer (and former forces with Leeds Uni­ A plaque was unveiled at Yorkshire Centre Chair)

Yorkshire Yorkshire Centre versity and the York­ the university, on the wall of David Lowen, Yorkshire shire Society to commemorate the School of Media and Society Chair Keith Madeley the RTS’s inaugural meeting Communication in the and Leeds Beckett University more than 90 years ago. Clothworkers’ North Vice-Chancellor Professor On 7 September 1927, John Building. Peter Slee. Logie Baird demonstrated It was donated by the David Lowen said: “It’s an his “noctovision” to a room Yorkshire Society, which honour to have the chance to full of enthusiasts at Leeds celebrates Yorkshire men unveil the plaque to com­ University. Baird referred to and women who have given Following the unveiling, memorate the creation of the the technology as “seeing exceptional service or con­ attendees were treated to a Television Society – since by electricity”. tributed significantly to the tour of the university’s 1966, the Royal Television At the close of the meeting, county during their lifetime. media production facilities. Society. As one who worked the formation of the society RTS Yorkshire has a long- There were warm words Samantha Gill for 30 years in television in was proposed. Then known standing relationship with from Leeds University Vice- Leeds, I am proud that it all as the British Association, both the Yorkshire Society Chancellor Sir Alan Lang­ started here.” many of the founder and Leeds University. lands, RTS Yorkshire Chair Lisa Holdsworth Rees outlines S4C plans for Wales

Speaking at an RTS and mixed English- and Wales event in Cardiff Welsh-language dialogue to last December, S4C offer a more realistic reflec­

Wales Wales Centre creative content direc­ tion of the local area. tor Amanda Rees described Other content that has how the broadcaster “aims extended the channel’s reach to create the conversation, includes Hansh, the youth- touch the heart and fire the orientated online content imagination”. portal, and sports, including S4C’s output is prolific: it live international football. screens 6,300 hours of Welsh- Replying to a question language programming a year from RTS Wales Chair Judith across genres that include Winnan on the challenges drama, factual, news and faced by S4C, Rees said: current affairs, children’s, “Budgets are tight and we the arts and sport. But Rees have to be inventive, but it’s acknowledged that the chan­ hard to grow without addi­ nel’s core audience was tional resources. changing and emphasised “Our drama tariff is nor­ Bang that her ambition for 2018 S4C mally less than £250,000 per was to reach new viewers. hour, but we can add value She argued that “we need not currently be familiar company, TiFiNi, was nomi­ through co-productions.” to press the reset button and with the channel. nated for a clutch of awards This could prove a chal­ adapt the schedule”. She Before joining S4C, Rees for the Channel 4 documen­ lenging year for S4C. The announced that S4C’s two was already an experienced tary Finding Mum and Dad. Department for Digital, Cul­ popular soaps, Pobol y Cwm director and producer. She The creative content direc­ ture, Media and Sport, which and Rownd a Rownd, would be has filmed in more than tor has aimed to extend S4C’s conducted a review of the moved to create a new one- 35 countries for Channel 4, demographic with new pro­ service last autumn, is hour 8:00pm weekday family the BBC, ITV, National Geo­ grammes such as the recent expected to publish its find­ viewing slot in the new year, graphic, UKTV and Foxtel. crime drama series, Bang, ings this spring. aimed at audiences that might Her own production which was set in Port Talbot Hywel Wiliam

32 Jardine is a dubbing mixer, who also lectures in sound Plimsoll production at Forth Valley College. Her company, That’s sneak a Sound, supports women in the audio industry across Scotland. She argued that quiz win technical subjects should be adapted and expanded in The Big Fat Bumper schools to encourage young Quizmas on all things women to make a career in telly returned for its

industries such as sound. Bristol Centre fourth, triumphant year Henderson described in Bristol in early December. hearing as “a muscle” that can TV presenters Ben Garrod be trained and used as a tool. and Christy Harrison were He talked about how he on hand to oversee proceed­ worked closely with the ings and adjudicate. director on the set of The Secret Agent to recreate the sounds of 19th-century Lon­ don. The Savalas boss also worked on Channel 4 docu­ mentary strand Dispatches and BBC One drama Shetland. Jardine revealed that she is protective of her sound- effects library because of the John Craven

amount of research and BBC travel that can go into achieving a single sound. It is Rounds included old a hugely personal subject for favourites such as “TV theme Creating the Kelpies

BBC her and her library represents tunes”, alongside “John Cra­ her own journey behind each ven’s fake news” and “iconic sound, from dogs barking to Bristol”, during which teams the juddering trains of had to build a well-known Sound advice Mongolia. Bristol landmark. She has worked on a broad Twelve teams competed, range of programmes, including Tigress Productions, Kahl Henderson and RTS Scotland Sound Award including BBC Two’s Creating Offspring Films, Wall to Wall Diane Jardine offered a 2017 for his work on BBC One the Kelpies, about the con­ and a couple of BBC Bristol masterclass in sound drama The Secret Agent – struction of Falkirk’s famous teams, but it was Plimsoll

Scotland Centre to a sold-out RTS Scot­ co-founded Savalas in 1998. giant horse-head sculptures. Productions that emerged land event at Glasgow’s Film It has grown to become Scot­ Journalist Stephen Ferguson victorious at the end of a City in mid-December. land’s largest audio post- chaired the event. keenly contested quiz. Henderson – who won the production centre. Alice Aries Suzy Lambert Students learn from the professionals

Southern Centre held College, Portsmouth. On and of producing effective out the day’s news stories. It its third annual “Work­ hand to offer advice, were material for mobile media. is such touches of realism ing in journalism” 15 journalism professionals They also pointed out the that make the event popular

Southern Centre event at Southampton at varying stages of their value to would-be journalists with the students, who Solent University late last careers, from the just-quali­ of improving their under­ appreciate how the experts’ year. It was attended by fied to experienced editors standing of current affairs in practical advice adds to their 180 students and staff from and producers. order to interpret the world to classroom learning – that Solent, Bournemouth, Win­ The professionals stressed others. Only a few hands went and the chance to talk infor­ chester and Portsmouth uni­ the importance of multi- up when the students were mally with professionals. versities, as well as Highbury tasking in the online world asked how many had checked Gordon Cooper

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 33 OFF M E SSAGE

arely have so many plastic-free” by 2020, the first she will occupy a similar role. “Being British broadcast- FTSE100 company to make such a offered a new job at age 82 is rather ing luminaries commitment, he said. cheering,” she told The Oldie. gathered under This involves “everything from Three cheers for Gillian. There isn’t one roof. The occa- how we build studios and sets to the a single senior radio person in New sion, of course, was way our products are manufactured Broadcasting House who doesn’t the RTS’s very and delivered to our millions of tremble when Reynolds raises her pen. special 90th birthday celebration, customers,” noted Darroch. heldR at ITV’s South Bank HQ. Let’s all hope that other broadcast- ■ For readers who are devotees of The guests of honour were HRH ers are following Sky’s lead. classy, subtitled TV drama, look no The Prince of Wales and the Duchess further than a new 10-part Swedish of Cornwall. Pictures from the splen- ■ Belated congratulations to the new series, The Restaurant. did event can be seen in this edition culture secretary, Matt Hancock. We Already hailed as a Scandinavian of Television. The RTS-branded cup- all know that the West Suffolk MP is Downton Abbey, the upstairs-down- cakes would not have looked out of something of a digital wunderkind, stairs saga, set in post-1945 Stock- place on Bake Off. having become the first Member of holm, was a breakout hit in Sweden The occasion was covered, at some Parliament to launch his own app. when the first series premiered there length, by ITV’s News at Ten, a wel- What is less well known is that, last autumn. Two more series are in come positive story in a news agenda unlike some of his predecessors, he the pipeline, bringing the show for- full of Brexit muddle and splenetic watches a lot of television. ward in time to the 1970s. US Presidential tweets. This is something that every broad- One for Channel 4’s Walter Pres- Also, it was good to see the Yorkshire caster and content provider must ents… or BBC Four, perhaps? Post reporting the unveiling of a plaque surely welcome. at the University of Leeds in recogni- ■ And finally, attendees of the tion of the Society’s 90th anniversary. ■ There was a time when media launch of BBC Two’s Civilisations got editors, particularly those employed an unexpected treat when Sir David ■ In television, it is not just David by the Guardian, stuck around for Attenborough made an appearance. Attenborough and Blue Planet II that several years. Not any more, it seems. Attenborough, who, as BBC Two are drawing attention to the global Graham Ruddick, who became the controller, commissioned Kenneth plastic plague. Guardian’s media editor only last May, Clark’s series Civilisation in 1966, Writing recently in the Evening is already in transit – to join the explained the idea behind for the Standard, Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch Times as assistant business editor. commission. He needed to sell the outlined how his company is cutting At least no one can accuse the great idea of colour TV. down on the use of plastic. He Gillian Reynolds – the doyenne of “I thought the simple idea would stressed that Sky News had covered radio writers – of being flighty. After be to get all the loveliest things in the issue and pointed out that Sky what seems like for ever (in fact, it’s colour, put them in a chronological had eliminated plastic containers a mere 42 years), she is forsaking the order and to contemporary music for food and drink across its sites. radio perch at the Daily Telegraph in and then you would have a series,” Sky aims to be “single-use order to join the Sunday Times, where he explained.

34 February 2018 www.rts.org.uk Television RTS PATRONS RTS Principal BBC Channel 4 ITV Sky Patrons

RTS A+E Networks International NBCUniversal International International Akamai The Walt Disney Company Patrons Discovery Networks Turner Broadcasting System Inc Facebook Viacom International Media Networks Liberty Global YouTube

RTS Accenture Deloitte ITN STV Group Major Amazon Video EndemolShine KPMG TalkTalk Patrons Atos Enders Analysis McKinsey and Co UKTV Audio Network Finecast OC&C Viceland Boston Consulting FremantleMedia Pinewood Studios Virgin Media Group FTI Consulting S4C YouView BT IBM Sargent-Disc Channel 5 IMG Studios Sony

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Who’s who Patron Chair of RTS Trustees CENTRES COUNCIL RTS Futures at the RTS HRH The Prince of Wales Tom Mockridge Lynn Barlow Alex Wootten Charles Byrne Vice-Presidents Honorary Secretary Dan Cherowbrier IBC Conference Liaison David Abraham David Lowen Caren Davies Terry Marsh Dawn Airey Kieran Doherty Sir David Attenborough OM Honorary Treasurer Stephanie Farmer RTS Technology Bursaries CH CVO CBE FRS Mike Green Cat Lewis Simon Pitts Baroness Floella Kingsley Marshall Benjamin OBE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Jane Muirhead AWARDS COMMITTEE Dame Colette Bowe OBE Lynn Barlow Will Nicholson CHAIRS Lord Bragg of Wigton Tim Davie Nikki O’Donnell Awards & Fellowship John Cresswell Mike Green Tony Orme Policy Adam Crozier David Lowen Fiona Thompson David Lowen Mike Darcey Graham McWilliam Judith Winnan Greg Dyke Tom Mockridge Craft & Design Awards Lord Hall of Birkenhead Simon Pitts SPECIALIST GROUP Lee Connolly Lorraine Heggessey Jane Turton CHAIRS Ashley Highfield Rob Woodward Archives Programme Awards Armando Iannucci OBE Dale Grayson Wayne Garvie Ian Jones EXECUTIVE Baroness Lawrence of Chief Executive Diversity Student Television Clarendon OBE Theresa Wise Angela Ferreira Awards Rt Hon Baroness Jowell Phil Edgar-Jones of Brixton DBE PC Early Evening Events David Lynn Dan Brooke Television Journalism Sir Trevor McDonald OBE Awards Ken MacQuarrie Education Sue Inglish Gavin Patterson Graeme Thompson Trevor Phillips OBE Stewart Purvis CBE Sir Howard Stringer

Television www.rts.org.uk February 2018 35 RTS TELEVISION JOURNALISM AWARDS 2018

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