Drama out of Page 38), Reminds Us That There Is So Story

October 2020

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From the CEO Autumn is well and was in conversation with the inimi- flagship seriesAdult Material reached truly here, though it table Tim Hincks. our screens. And Nick Frost tells is one unlike any we A huge thanks to both Tims and to Shilpa Ganatra how he was inspired to have experienced Alex. Watch out for further RTS one- co-write and star in Amazon Prime’s before. Thankfully, it to-ones with industry leaders in the Truth Seekers. remains the season for coming weeks. Our TV Diary is written by former top-flight RTS events We carry full reports of three more RTS bursary scholar Florence Watson, across the UK and for enjoying some recent RTS events: “Defining diver- now working as a script editor at Sis- superb television. sity? That’s easy”; “Winners, losers ter Pictures. Matthew Bell’s interview The opening session of the Society’s and own goals: Live sport in lock- with S4C’s CEO, Owen Evans (News, Digital Convention provides our cover down”; and “Making a drama out of page 38), reminds us that there is so story. We were delighted that Tim a crisis”, in which the great Richard much more to wonderful Wales than Davie could make the time for an Curtis reminded programme-makers choirs and rugby. exclusive interview so soon after that humour can be a potent weapon taking up his new role as Director- in television’s approach to environ- General of the BBC. mental issues. In our second Digital Convention Moya Lothian-McLean provides an session, Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon inside account of how Channel 4’s Theresa Wise Contents Cover: Tim Davie (BBC) Florence Watson’s TV Diary A writer who ‘dabbles’ in TV Florence Watson is relieved that the magic of the writers Mike Bartlett explains to Caroline Frost why the 5 room is still intact, even in the age of coronavirus 20 characters in the Doctor Foster spin-off, Life, are an antidote to social divisions Comfort Classic: Blackadder Costume comedy came of age in this milestone of Ghostbusters for the online era 6 mirth. Steve Clarke can’t stop laughing Nick Frost reveals how he helped create Amazon Prime’s 22 new supernatural sitcom Truth Seekers. Shilpa Ganatra Ear Candy: From the Oasthouse gets goosebumps Caitlin Danaher is invited to explore Alan Partridge’s 7 nooks and each of his crannies Our Friend in Ireland Agnes Cogan reports sightings of Matt Damon as filming Working Lives: distributor 25 resumes in the Republic of Ireland Fremantle’s Jamie Lynn explains programme distribution 8 to Matthew Bell More laughs, less dystopia Programme-makers who tackle environmental issues A BBC for everyone 26 are urged to avoid sensationalism, hears the RTS RTS Digital Convention interview: Tim Davie insists that 10 the BBC must serve all licence-fee payers, regardless of More than a numbers game who they are and where they live An RTS panel raises some big questions concerning 28 the TV sector’s inability to foster a genuinely diverse Channel 4 rises to the challenge workforce RTS Digital Convention interview: Alex Mahon, the 14 broadcaster’s CEO, praises the UK’s indie sector for Why Netflix has no rules riding to the rescue during lockdown Simon Shaps reviews Reed Hastings’ new book – and 30 divulges what happened when he was headhunted by Porn unwrapped the streaming giant Channel 4’s powerful drama Adult Material was created 17 by an all-female team. Moya Lothian-McLean sheds TV sport reboots light on how they did it The RTS learns how the health crisis is nurturing 32 innovation in TV sport

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 2020. [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 October 2020 3 For 65 years we’ve been telling the world’s stories. Now we’re telling our own.

This autumn marks ITN’s 65th anniversary on air and we’re celebrating with a virtual festival of news and content.

We’re looking back at our own story; the scoops, the interviews, the exclusives and the “and finallys”, and we’re kicking off an industry-wide debate about the future of broadcast journalism and TV production.

We’ll also be hosting a special event in partnership with the Royal Television Society on the key questions and issues facing our industry. Details coming soon from the RTS.

Be part of the story at broadcastnow.co.uk/itn-65

#ITN65 TV diary

Florence Watson is relieved that the magic of the writers room is still intact, even in the age of coronavirus

omething I have It’s fantastic and, despite only ever to let those thoughts overwhelm noticed about the meeting the team via Zoom, we have you. I joined the industry in 2017. As Covid world is that managed to create a dynamic that a working-class black woman from everyone keeps using feels just as strong as any pre-Covid Liverpool, talent schemes have been the phrase, “Time is project. my lifeblood. meaningless”. January If you have ever been in a writers The RTS bursary helped me feels like a distant room, you will know there comes a through university. Since then, Chan­ memory but, equally, I’m not sure point when it’s hard to work out nel 4’s Production Training Scheme Show we reached October so fast. The where your brain ends and everyone and The Network scheme run by The amount of news we are having to else’s begins. The characters live, TV Foundation have kept me work­ absorb and then adapt to is unprece­ breathe, love and die in this collective ing. I owe a lot to the people who dented – and it shows no signs of space. held the door open for me at the start letting up. It’s a type of witchcraft I wasn’t of my career. This month, I got to do sure would operate between screens, the same as a member of the RTS ■ Early last month, my landlord but, having been through it, I am Education committee. announced that they had decided to pleased to report that good ideas, sell the home my housemates and I talented writers and a brilliant show­ ■ Each year, the RTS awards 30 bur- have been living in for the past three runner (Siân Robins-Grace) are all it saries to students from low-income years. It’s sad because, during lock- takes to replicate that magic, no mat­ families. As a former recipient, it’s a down, I finally built up the courage ter the circumstances. privilege to be part of the selection to do all the DIY, deposit-nullifying process. I am blown away by the projects that I never had time for ■ I learnt last month that I have talent and determination the appli- before. won a place on ScreenSkills’ Recali- cants display. I hate moving house and, in these brate mentoring programme, run by Now, more than ever, it is crucial stranger times, there is so much ThinkBigger! for women and disa- that our industry opens not only its more to consider. With homework- bled people who are at a juncture in doors but its pockets to support them. ing becoming the norm, it was their careers. important to find somewhere that My mentor is the awe-inspiring ■ As the end of the year gets closer, would accommodate not only us Anne Mensah, vice-president of orig- and I settle into my new home with (and our lockdown kitty, Oscar) but inal series at Netflix, who I will be my work desk sat opposite my bed, also impromptu office set-ups, desks, getting to know over the next six I am hopeful that we will take the swivel chairs and walls thick enough months. And who knows, by the end resilience and adaptability we learnt to block out the sound of one anoth- we might even be able to meet in in 2020 with us into the new year – er’s meetings. person. and time will start to have meaning again. ■ During all this chaos, I started a ■ Imposter syndrome has always new job, script editing on Sister Pic­ been my biggest hurdle, and, without Florence Watson is a script editor at tures’ new show The Baby, a horror the in-person feedback you get in an Sister Pictures and former RTS bursary comedy focused on motherhood. office, sometimes it can be very easy scholar.

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 5 COMFORT CLASSIC

t is hard to think of another great BBC sitcom blessed by such a strong pedigree as that of Blackadder. Running over four series, spanning 1983 to 1989 – plus the occasional special – the creators and stars of this comic masterpieceI read like a roll call of late- 20th-century British screen talent. Richard Curtis, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, John Lloyd, Miranda Richard- son, Robbie Coltrane, Tony Robinson, Rik Mayall and Ben Elton were all, at some point, involved in the different incarnations of Blackadder. Not, of course, forgetting Tim McInnerny, cast as the wonderfully camp Percy Percy and Captain – cue double entendre – Darling. At the heart of Blackadder was Rowan Atkinson, the preternaturally gifted actor who co-wrote the first series and starred as Edmund Blackadder. The historical setting changed for each series and respectively took place in the 15th, 16th, 18th and 20th centuries. But from series 2, when writers Curtis and Elton came on board, Edmund remained essentially the same character – shrewd, conniving and totally devoid of scruples. Of course, his schemes invariably come hilariously unstuck. Edmund’s intelligence contrasts sharply with that of his dim-witted comic foil, Baldrick, played to perfec- tion by Robinson, and Laurie’s aristo- cratic numbskull, George, Prince of Wales in series 3, and Lieutenant the Hon George Colthurst St Barleigh MC in Blackadder Goes Forth. The absurdities of the English class system gave Curtis and Elton much of their inspiration. What began as a medieval farce – well, sort of – set in the fictional age of Richard IV, and continued in the courts of Elizabeth I and the Regency, Blackadder Goes Forth

ended up in darker territory, when the BBC First World War trenches gave some bite to the comedy. At the culmination of the final series, Blackadder Goes Forth, Captain Blackad- der can no longer avoid the inevitable and leads his comrades in arms over Blackadder the top to almost certain death. Has sitcom ever been so heartbreaking? Costume comedy came of age in this milestone Atkinson’s relish at playing such a comic monster is a joy to watch. Most � of mirth. Steve Clarke can’t stop laughing

6 Ear candy � of the best lines are his in scripts that fizz with verbal pyrotechnics and are crammed with sexual jokes, some of which might now be considered too boorish for our more woke age. Throughout Blackadder’s different reigns, the performers make everything look effortless as they deliver some brilliantly crafted lines heightened by superb comic timing. What lay behind all this perfect tom- foolery, with its echoes of the music hall and pantomime, were years of hard graft, much of it spent at the Cambridge Footlights, the Edinburgh fringe and numerous BBC rehearsal studios, in TV and radio. The matchless Lloyd, who produced all four series and collaborated on the scripts, served his apprenticeship as a radio producer in the 1970s before helping to nurture the comedy gold of BBC Two’s Not the Nine O’Clock News and Central Television’s Spitting Image. Blackadder gave him what he famously described as an “epiphany”. He was referring to the previously mentioned closing sequence of Black- From the Oasthouse: adder Goes Forth. “It started out as a complete disaster because the plugs The Alan Partridge Podcast were pulled by the crew but, somehow,

we got lucky and it turned into this Original Audible amazingly moving piece of TV,” he said. “It wasn’t deliberate, it’s just the orfolk’s most Over the course of 18 episodes, he way things turned out.” notorious broad- promises, listeners will learn about As for the banquet of quotable lines, caster, Alan Par- “the real Alan… his every nook and is it an exaggeration to say that, like tridge, returns each of his crannies”. Shakespeare or Dickens, some of them with a six-hours- Recording in his rural oasthouse have entered everyday speech? Side-­ plus podcasting abode, he regales us with expert advice splitting similes come thick and fast: odyssey into his on everything from defaming people “Baldrick, your head is emptier than a inner mind. He has topped an illustri- via their Wikipedia page to his pre-date eunuch’s underpants”, “You’re a girl Nous career in news, chat and daytime grooming routine. On first dates, always with about as much talent for disguise shows, not to mention his stint on be specific with your questions, he as a giraffe in dark glasses trying to get North Norfolk Digital Radio, with the advises. “What are you up to in life?” is into a polar bears-only golf club.” Or conquest of a new broadcasting bas- far too vague. Instead, he suggests asking he’s “as cunning as a fox who’s just tion: the podcast. something like: “What were you doing been appointed Professor of Cunning What he once assumed was the and where were you between the hours at Oxford University”. domain of “pale, tech-obsessed social of 3:00pm and 5:00pm this afternoon?” Quite simply, Blackadder is smart lepers who couldn’t get a platform on Whether it’s the ear-worm theme British sitcom at its very best. No any meaningful broadcaster” has song or the fake adverts interrupting ­wonder the show was voted the become his creative audio kingdom. each episode, the series is brimming second-best­ sitcom of all time, pipped Stung by a Twitter troll who claimed with one-liners. to the post by Only Fools and Horses. they saw Partridge clip the wing mirror From the Oasthouse shows Armando Cunning plan, anyone? n of another car, the erstwhile TV and Iannucci and Steve Coogan’s marvel- radio host seeks to dispel such poison- lous comic creation at his tactless, Blackadder Goes Forth is on-demand at ous fabrications: “It’s not just a lie. It’s incompetent and unfiltered best. UKTV Play. not just bull. It’s libel.” Caitlin Danaher

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 7 WORKING LIVES

We Are Who We Are BBC Distributor istributor Jamie Lynn premium shows, that the commission- Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante’s incredi- has been a fixture at ing broadcaster pays the entire budget. bly popular series of novels set around the world’s TV content Producers need to bring partners on Naples, and there were producers in the markets for the past board early, including distributors, to States who wanted to set it in the US. two decades. Freman- make a show internationally viable. But our partnership with HBO and RAI tle’s EVP head of EMEA So, we get involved at the earliest had it set in Naples – not only in Italian, distribution recently brokered deals for stage and have creative conversations but in the local dialect. Even in Italy, theD upcoming BBC Three drama We Are about what we think will work around the show had subtitles. It is entirely Who We Are and BBC Two documentary the world. This can lead to early sup- authentic and Fremantle has sold it series Enslaved: The Lost History of the port in the form of a pre-sale, or even around the world. Transatlantic Slave Trade. co-productions, which can be effective creative partnerships and allow the Surely, distributors can’t concentrate What does the job involve? scale and ambition of high-profile solely on high-end dramas? In its simplest form, distributors sell the projects to be realised. We’ve just sold Oscar-nominated direc- international rights for programmes. This has made my job that much tor Luca Guadagnino’s series We Are Who Channels and platforms around the more exciting over the past five to We Are to the BBC – this is high art on world cannot produce all their own 10 years, as the industry has evolved. television. But Fremantle is also one shows, so they need to acquire content. of the world’s premier gameshow and Is creativity ever compromised to entertainment producers and distribu- Has the job changed over time? make a programme more sellable? tors. We’re a company with breadth and Distribution used to be an ancillary part No, I think the best work results from depth, which makes the job fun. of the TV business, but it is now funda- allowing the creator to make the mental to how shows are funded and shows they want to make. Lots of peo- How did you become a distributor? made. It’s rare now, especially for ple were gunning for the rights to My When I was a kid, records and movies

8 Has the lull in production boosted the market for older shows? The demand for classic programming was already growing with new plat- forms and services such as BritBox, Acorn and UKTV Play. It’s been a good year for selling classic stuff, but it’s not entirely coronavirus-led. The gaps in schedules due to production shut- downs are only starting to appear now.

What makes a good distributor? You need to be curious and interested – and listen. You have to understand the challenges local producers face and their shows.

What are the best and worst parts of the job? The best is when you know you’ve helped producers realise their creative vision, found an audience and got a success on your hands. A little bit of international travel is also great. Last week was “budget week”, when I had to look at spreadsheets for hours on end. I understand its importance, but I’m happy when budget week is over.

Are there any tricks of the trade you can share with us? Enslaved: The Lost History of Our former CEO taught me early on the Transatlantic Slave Trade

BBC that going for the best financial deal is not always the right decision – finding were my obsession. I was a budding beautifully. We had a few high-profile the right home for a show will serve it journalist in Canada, before moving to places interested in taking it, but chose better in the long term. Fremantle is still London in my mid-twenties, but I the new Walter Presents service on a company that believes in finding and couldn’t find work in music journalism. Channel 4 here in the UK. The ratings connecting with audiences, which is I was hired by a PR company that and reaction were great, despite it why we work closely with public and represented international production being a German show in a prime-time free broadcasters, as well as platforms. companies, which sent me to Mipcom slot usually reserved for the best of US Recently, we’ve placed some great in Cannes. My eyes were opened to the drama – great kudos to Channel 4 for programmes with the BBC, including world of television and I knew what I not underestimating its audience. Enslaved: The Lost History of the Transat- wanted to do. Soon after, I landed my lantic Slave Trade, fronted by Hollywood first job in distribution, covering Asia Is it a glamorous life? star Samuel L Jackson. We could have for an animation company. Without There’s a lot of pressure and it can be sold it to a US streamer but, although planning it, I picked the right vocation. exhausting with all the travelling and this deal was harder to seal, it was Lucky me. juggling involved, but I’m not going to better for the programme to not be tell you it’s not fun. hidden behind a paywall. What was the first TV show you sold? I think it was a British animation series Are you missing the TV trade shows What advice would you give to some- about animated ghosts to Hong Kong. I cancelled as a result of coronavirus? one looking to work in distribution? showed it to a broadcaster, pitched my I’ve been to Mipcom and MipTV every Curious people get the most done. heart out, and the buyer said he’d take year since 2000. There’s an immeasur- Passion is an overused and corny word it. I said: “Great, so you liked it.” He able value in sitting with your clients but that matters, too, as do tenacity and replied: “Not really, but I liked your and international partners, whether it’s resourcefulness. When you have to, you effort, so I’ll buy it.” in Cannes or visiting them in their can learn how to write a programme home territories. Now, we’re using contract and dissect a rights agreement, What programme are you most proud video conferences and it’s worked but the other traits are skills that have to of distributing? better than I anticipated. But, trusted be nurtured. n So many, but probably Deutschland 83, relationships are key to our business. because it was such an unlikely main- Existing relationships are as strong, but Jamie Lynn, executive vice-president and stream success – we loved it from the I don’t know how easy it will be to head of EMEA distribution at Fremantle, outset and it came together so build new ones on Zoom. was interviewed by Matthew Bell.

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 9 RTS DIGITAL CONVENTION 2020

o say that Tim Davie has hit the ground running is an understatement. In his first week as the BBC’s 17th Director-General he deliv- ered a remarkably candid speech setting out clearly his values and agenda.T A fortnight later, he was the first speaker at the RTS’s Digital Convention 2020, when he was interviewed by the Society’s CEO, Theresa Wise. Looking much younger than his 53 years, a consequence of his new buzz-cut hairstyle, the noticeably plain-speaking Davie cut a refreshing figure. He covered a wide range of topics, such as diversity, impartiality, competing with the tech giants, increasing revenue from the BBC’s commercial activities, BBC pay and the corporation’s important role as a global ambassador for Britain. He also argued that the BBC’s policy on abolishing free licences for those over-75s who do not receive pension credit was correct. Throughout, he stressed that the BBC needed to be valued by all licence-fee Tim Davie insists that the BBC must payers, regardless of where they lived in the UK or their social class. “We’ve serve all licence-fee payers, regardless got to deliver for every household. Us of who they are and where they live offering value is not just a line,” he

insisted, mindful, perhaps, of his own RTS background in south London, where he was the first member of his family to attend university. “It has surprised me that this has become part of me – focusing on making sure that every member of the public really gets value from us. That’s what I’m about.” A BBC for What does a modern public service broadcaster look like – and how does this differ from what the BBC has been doing to date, asked Wise. “What I’m about is evolution, not trying everything out. One of my mes- everyone sages is that you have to evolve things to protect them.” “We’re not trying to beat Netflix.… the BBC for an average of 18 hours a He added: “I want people to think It’s about whether we are truly valued week. But there are certain bits of the deeply about what’s important in this and essential, and whether the BBC country – and it’s not as simple as age market, what’s important for us in the feels indispensable – not for every – that don’t necessarily feel the BBC is UK? What do people genuinely care hour of your media consumption but for them. It’s not as straightforward as about in the BBC? for part of it.” saying, ‘It’s the under-35s’. It’s often “There is good news for the BBC. In Were some audiences underserved about your life circumstances, where this world, I don’t think there’s been a by the BBC? “Absolutely. The BBC you are, where you live.... better time for proper impartial news doesn’t deliver equally to everyone. “The BBC is extraordinary in how it’s or proper local, regional storytelling. You’re never going to quite get that right. connected with an enormous number “With such incredible competition, There are some people who are getting of people across the UK. We’ve still got you can’t take an audience for granted extraordinary value from the BBC. a real bedrock of support to justify a any more. The BBC has to be truly “The overall numbers are pretty universal fee, but I did say [recently different and differentiated. good: 91% of the population come to that] we don’t have an inalienable right

10 to exist. That is under pressure. There – and senior leadership is critical to earning more than me, but that’s nor- are audiences that, in a diverse Britain, this – progress and the speed of mal in the TV world. We could name a feel a little bit further away from us.” change has been slow.… Talking number of other [industries] – finance, How did he square the fact that he bluntly, a lot of people lower down the football – with [high pay for some wanted the BBC to appeal to the whole organisation look at it and go, ‘Great talent]. It can sometimes be a bit of Britain while, at the same time, intent, but I can’t do that’ or, ‘I don’t uncomfortable, but we’re trying to get cutting 450 newsroom jobs in the Eng- really believe it’s going to happen.…’ value within a market. We don’t exist lish regions? Did he worry that some “This is mission critical. Everything fully in a bubble.... regions, such as the North East, might that goes on at the BBC – including “We try and get a discount [but] we get left behind? editorial decision-making – is utterly want to pay fairly. And there is a mar- “You worry, of course, because you dependent on having a truly diverse ket. I recognise the dynamics of this, want to make sure you have the provi- team. I was very blunt in my first but I don’t think the solution is to say, sion. By the way, local and regional words [to staff]: don’t hire in your own ‘We’re going to equalise pay between programming is utterly critical to us. image and there can’t be a ‘BBC type’ different job types’. That doesn’t work “Let’s be clear, the metric here is not or we’re in real trouble.” for me.” how many people we employ, it is the value to audiences. Every area of the BBC has to find efficiencies, which doesn’t mean I am diluting anything, it just means I am doing it better. “There is a sense that the BBC could be more efficient in many areas – and it has done some good work, so this isn’t the new guy coming in and saying it’s all overstuffed with this, that and the other. The fact is that we’ve got a lot better over the years at being more efficient, but there are areas – and the regions is one of them.… A couple of facts: we will still have well over 2,000 people in the regional news group, Tim Davie (right) being interviewed where we do around 3,800 hours of by Theresa Wise coverage, which will remain the same. RTS “It’s not as if we’re going to be a small player. I would like to look at local news Davie said he intends to create a A less contentious area for the BBC is provision as part of the 2022 discussions “50-20-12 organisation”, a reference, the so-called “soft power” that it wields [concerning the next five-year licence- respectively, to the proportion of staff on the global stage, which the corpora- fee settlement] to say, ‘Going forward, who are female, from BAME back- tion has argued is even more vital in how could that evolve?’ grounds or are disabled. the era of Brexit. Did Davie agree? “This is not just about the slow strip- He added: “Truly, it’s about leader- “It’s never been more important,” he ping of areas, I think we can grow.… ship and accountability. I have been said. The unique strength of Britain’s More than anything, it’s about audience very direct with BBC leaders and told creative industries was “not a random value. I want people in the North East them they will not get promoted with- occurrence”: it depended on public to feel the BBC is for them.” out us assessing how happy their staff interventions, exemplified by the BBC, Turning to diversity, Wise said that are and how they’ve delivered against and successful commercial businesses, CEOs everywhere were striving to diversity targets.” such as Sky. improve the diversity of their work- On the problem of the gender pay “Sky’s is an incredible model, and forces in terms of minorities and gap that has caused great controversy part of that is [due to] our reputation socio-economic groups. How would at the BBC, he indicated that there was across the world for trusted content Davie effect real change in this regard more work to do, but it was wrong for and quality, and, specifically, the BBC, at the BBC? the BBC to beat itself up on this issue with 468 million weekly users of our He emphasised that “talk is cheap”, “when we’re often a lot better than the content.... One of the things the BBC and that action on greater representa- [rest of the] industry”. stands for [globally] is trust and very- tion of disadvantaged groups at all Wise pointed out that Sarah Sands, high-quality content. I think other levels of the BBC was essential. “One who left the BBC this summer after companies benefit from that.… We are of the things that everyone in this editing Today, recently criticised what thankful for some government invest- industry should do is go back and read she said were the huge differences ment [Foreign Office funding for the the speeches from 10 years ago. It’s a between producers’ and presenters’ World Service]. We’d like more in this sobering experience.” salaries. What did Davie think of this area and that’s what we’re trying to do. He added: “There’s been incredible discrepancy? We’re trying to build it. progress on-screen but internally “As CEO, there will be presenters “I would love to see 1 billion people �

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 11 RTS DIGITAL CONVENTION 2020

Lessons from

the crisis Strike: Lethal White BBC

Theresa Wise: Will the � coming to our services weekly. The [in North America]: we sold a third- Q changes to the BBC’s data is very compelling. If people con- party investment to AMC. Now we’ve way of working due to the nect with the BBC and Britishness – all got ourselves a nice business there. pandemic lead to lasting those terms are loaded, but [I mean] “There are real opportunities across change? Britishness around the world – they many of our fronts to look properly at Tim Davie: The learnings are more likely to trade with us.... [direct-to-consumer] businesses and A we’re getting from Covid “This is not without jeopardy. If you there might be other areas – I’ve got are such a strange combination. look at what governments around the some thoughts in my head that I’ll keep Stating the obvious, we won’t world are doing, investing in creative to myself – where we could get growth.” be in a position where everyone clusters, investing in our industry, they As for securing and retaining talent in is coming in five days a week. want to grow share. competition with Netflix et al, whether We’ll have more flexible “On my watch, the BBC has to be that be for writers, actors or other per- working patterns and be part of a successful, growing creative formers, Davie said the key word for thinking about how we use our industry and not just winning for itself. the corporation had to be “focus”. buildings differently. That’s really important to me. I think He accepted that the BBC was not We are a production business people who know me, [know that] I was going to have all the most expensive and a news operation so, at the interested in growing the radio market, talent in the world but argued that it end of the day, we need people growing the television market. I want was uniquely placed to grow talent. “I in, but we’ll take some learnings. the market to grow. It is really impor- think we are a force for good. I person- I suspect a lot of leaders have tant the BBC does that in the right way.” ally like working in a place where there found that Zooming all day is What were the priorities for the BBC is purpose. I care about this place, I like exhausting, but the ability to do increasing its commercial revenues? working here. Zoom calls with 1,000 people… “Now we’ve got the production base of “We do something different. I am I hate doing video calls but I BBC Studios, are we firing on all cylin- not going to compete on exactly the can’t see myself not using ders across all genres? I think we’ve same territory. There’s no point. We Zoom and other things like it in made great progress. We’re writing lots want to grow talent and be differenti- the future.… As the BBC, we’ll of business in natural history.… Grow- ated and be more BBC, rather than less try and capture some of that ing our business as a creative force BBC. There’s an obsession with copy- best practice quickly.… around the world is really powerful. ing other people but you won’t beat There are all kinds of things “I think the migration from linear to them on their terms. You’ve got to win we’ve learned that we’d like to on-demand says, ‘OK, how do we on your terms. replicate and there are some begin to get into direct-to-consumer “People ask, ‘Is it a winnable battle?’ costs to be saved there. services in the right way?’ Of course, it’s a winnable battle if you I’m hoping we leap forward, “That’s difficult, because, if you don’t focus. We’ve done a bit of that with take the best of it and get rid of generate a lot of profit short term, [you BBC Studios. We certainly do that in the worst of it very quickly. can] build that for the long-term future the UK across a lot of the BBC’s output, of the BBC. We’ve seen [it] with BritBox but we could do better.”

12 Once Upon a Time in Iraq BBC

In his debut speech as DG, Davie told asking a question someone might the BBC to “champion and recommit to suggest that this is not because they impartiality”. Many people believe the want to get to the truth but because BBC is shaped by particular perspec- they’ve got a partisan view. Davie’s video tives – so what was he planning to do “Part of what I was trying to do in and audio fixes to change this? “It means that, together, that speech [on 3 September] – and we renew our vows on impartiality. I think it is needed – was to say, ‘OK, “By the way, before we go completely do we really believe it’s deliverable?’ ‘I am a very heavy consumer of over the top here, I would defend the And I do. radio. My tastes are eclectic. I am vast majority of BBC output. I think we “I know that, short-term, you could not saying that just to be diplo- do a brilliant job of delivering impartial get more Twitter followers by being matic. I listen to a lot of sport, Test output in terms of the left/right axis.… outrageous, but there’s a bigger pur- Match Special, that sort of thing. “I do think there is something about pose than that. Longer-term, it will put ‘Over the weekend, I listen to metropolitan-based organisations, or us in a stronger position. 6 Music; Radio 4 during the week. the way you hire, that can somewhat “We really need to get excited about I’ve always been a fan of radio feel a bit distant from some of the impartiality and finding truth, evi- drama. I’m a little bit nostalgic about population. And it’s not about left and dence, testimony. I was very clear that, some of the comedies on 4 Extra. right. It’s more complicated than that. if you’re not passionate about that, ‘On TV, it’s a classic mix. Once “It’s about, ‘Do I feel it’s for me?’ you’re in the wrong place.” n Upon a Time in Iraq is a must There, I think we’re in a challenging watch. I love good documentaries. situation if we want to deliver impar- Report by Steve Clarke. Tim Davie was Like everyone, I’ll escape into the tiality. More and more people, espe- in conversation with Theresa Wise at the dramas. I’ve been enjoying Strike: cially young people, are struggling with first session of the RTS Digital Convention Lethal White. the idea. They’re surrounded by every- 2020, sponsored by YouTube, on 17 Sep- ‘Now, of course, I get quite a one having an opinion. tember. The producers were Helen Scott lot of recommendations from the “This changes the grammar editori- and Sue Robertson. View the full video at: shop floor, so I’ll be doing that.’ ally because, when [an interviewer] is bit.ly/RTSdavie.

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 13 RTS DIGITAL CONVENTION 2020

Channel 4 rises to the challenge Channel 4

hey say that times of crisis the content budget and furloughing often bring out the best in Alex Mahon, the around 100 staff, Channel 4’s commis- people and organisations. broadcaster’s CEO, sioners and the UK’s indies rose to the For an example of this, look occasion. Innovative, fast-turnaround no further than how Chan- praises the UK’s indie shows, such as Grayson’s Art Club and nel 4 has adapted to post- Jamie: Keep Cooking and Carry On, soon poned productions and an alarming fall sector for riding to the found an audience as people, unable to inT advertising over the past six months. leave their homes, needed diversions. rescue in lockdown “In a crisis, when you have to change “Indies did incredible things and really fast, Channel 4 is actually amaz- produced things cheaply,” said Mahon, ing,” the broadcaster’s CEO, Alex Mahon, “It was clear to us that we should say who claimed that Channel 4 was more told Tim Hincks, co-CEO of Expecta- something back to Britain about what in tune with the nation’s mood than its tion, at the RTS’s Digital Convention. was happening. It was the exact oppo- rivals were. As lockdown took hold in March, site of what the SVoDs would be doing. Viewers, particularly the under-35s, almost overnight around 1,000 mem- If you were watching Netflix, it would flocked to Channel 4, including to the bers of staff began working remotely. be Tiger King, which was not saying highly regarded Channel 4 News. The “We were prepared with the technol- anything about Britain or the pandemic. number of young people watching ogy. We had a debt facility in place for Tiger King didn’t bring people together Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Cathy Newman a market shock. That helped,” she to face an unseen enemy.” and Jon Snow increased by 79%, recalled. “We had to make a plan to With adverting revenue falling dra- according to Mahon. cut costs fast. matically, Hincks asked if the begin- It also helped that, back in the early “We had a clear, strategic conversa- ning of lockdown was a scary spring, Channel 4 had planned for the tion about what the editorial response moment? “Yes, it was pretty bad.… In worst possible financial scenario, which, should be, led by Ian [director of pro- the worst months, advertising dropped in the event, didn’t happen – “so we grammes Ian Katz] and the commis- 50%. To have 50% of your revenue are up compared with where we sioning team. What did we want to say ripped away and not know how long thought we’d be”. to the nation and what did we think that would last was bad.” Further lateral thinking was required our position was? Fortunately, despite a hefty cut to to film its flagship show,The Great

14 ‘YOU CAN’T COMPETE [WITH] NETFLIX OR DISNEY+ BY JUST MAKING EVERY­THING CHEAPER’

British Bake Off, a tent pole of the it be better for Channel 4 to make fewer autumn schedule. Love Productions shows in order to push tariffs back up? created “a self-contained biosphere” Mahon stressed that, in such an for the six-week shoot – in other uber-competitive landscape, audi- words, baking in a bubble. Last month, ences demanded big shows such as Bake Off gave Chan- Bake Off and Goggle- nel 4 its highest box. “We’ve been audience since 1985, seeing that trend for Progress on as an average of years but, equally, 10.8 million people we’ve been seeing diversity tuned in. new stuff as well.” As for the next six For new shows, months, Hincks marketing – often Tim Hincks: The UK PSBs asked whether the on social media Qare run by white people. broadcaster could – was critical for Can you effect real change with maintain its pro- Channel 4, with a white people in charge? If not, gramme budget. Did younger audience what do we do? Channel 4 have the than the other Brit- Alex Mahon: If you wanted resources to allow ish public service A my successor to be not those programmes broadcasters. white – or the successors of to continue or will Mahon highlighted those who run the other PSBs – we see a chipping a recent deal with is there a strong enough field? away and producer’s social network And, if there isn’t, what are we Tim Hincks tariffs going down? RTS company Snap, doing to develop that? “The programme which involves You can campaign very, very budget will go up cut-down versions hard as a CEO to have an massively next year because we’ve had of 300 shows on Snapchat’s Discover authentically representative to cut it so much this year,” replied platform. “They will have a reach of group of people in the organi- Mahon. “It’s not clear yet how much of five, six, seven million [people],” pre- sation. What’s great about the £150m we took out [from a total of dicted the CEO. Channel 4 is that it’s the only £650m] will go back in, because we Hincks turned his attention to com- place where it’s written into the don’t know what the advertising mar- petition from the SVoDs. Could Chan- remit. It’s a core part of my job, ket will do.” nel 4 compete on scripted content which is why I am so focused She continued: “There’s also a bit of with Netflix et al? “You can’t compete on it. I really care about it. My a concertina effect because of things at the same budget point.… but you can job is to ensure that there is a that have been delayed.… We’ve got to definitely compete on new writers, strong field of people who can get tariffs back to normal rates. We new directors and on new and impor- run the organisation after me. can’t survive, and neither can indies, tant work.” Mahon cited two upcoming That’s quite hard to do, with tariffs being low. dramas as examples of Channel 4’s because you have to go all the “Lockdown has definitely taught us commitment to new work: Adult Mate- way down the pipeline and start some things about how we can make rial (see page 30), focused on a woman from scratch. There is structural cheaper programmes and it’s definitely who works in the porn industry, and racism, structural sexism in the taught us some things about how we Russell T Davies’s latest series, It’s a Sin, industry, without a doubt. For can make faster decisions. set during the 1980s Aids pandemic. us, that’s why there’s a focus on “But you can’t compete in a Netflix “I don’t think the streamers would the numbers. world or an Amazon Prime world or a make them. They wouldn’t find the My aim is to get to 20% Disney+ world by just making every­ people to do them. We’ve got to keep BAME [representation] across thing cheaper. It’s not realistic, because doing that because this is what stimu- the organisation – but, most that’s not the quality that viewers lates the new work in the industry and importantly, to get to 20% demand and it’s not an option that early-stage writers.… The streamers are BAME in our top 100 highest-­ producers have.” looking for stuff that’s much more paid jobs. I’m obsessive about Noting that the BBC’s new Director-­ global or [written by] proven writers. it. I’m at 14% in the top 100 and General, Tim Davie, has said that the There’s a space for us, but it’s not easy 17% across the organisation. BBC may produce less in future, would to compete with them.” �

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 15 RTS DIGITAL CONVENTION 2020

The Great British Bake Off Channel 4

� But, probed Hincks, weren’t the than [similar] governments in many streamers parking their tanks closer other countries.” Lessons from and closer to British lawns? After all, Hincks asked what Channel 4 Netflix’sSex Education could easily have wanted from Ofcom’s delayed review the crisis been a Channel 4 show. “We jointly of public service broadcasting and funded The End of the F***ing World. Sex whether the UK PSBs, all facing com- Education is a brilliant show but pur- petition from streamers, were becom- Alex Mahon: ‘I was amazed by posefully omni-place. There’s room ing closer. how Channel 4 and everyone for both. Sometimes we will overlap, On the PSB review, the Channel 4 adapted so fast. Things you would particularly if it’s a young-adult piece.” CEO said she wanted three things: have thought would take five Channel 4’s position as a state- legislation to ensure PSB prominence years happened overnight. owned PSB makes the broadcaster on all platforms; regulation for the ‘We’ve become more location vulnerable to certain ministers’ fasci- tech companies, which would mean agnostic about where jobs are. nation with privatising the station. At they had to compete on the same We’ve got five locations. We’ll start the end of last year, relations with the terms as the PSBs; and a change in to think more about what jobs can Government entered a tricky patch how Ofcom measured Channel 4’s be done where – do we need to when Channel 4 News replaced Boris performance to account for its grow- be in a specific location? We were Johnson’s vacant seat with a melting ing digital presence. Mahon claimed already on that journey... it’s good ice sculpture for a party leaders’ that All 4 had done better even than because it means we can repre- debate on climate change during the Netflix during lockdown. sent the UK better. general election campaign. As for the PSBs being more collab- ‘Regarding pitching, it’s become Hincks asked how Channel 4 was orative, Mahon said that this had more democratic when indies have getting on with the Government today. manifested in making joint submis- had access to us through Zoom, as “What we’ve found during the crisis sions to Ofcom and the DCMS, and opposed to having to get on a train – and you’ll hear this from other working together on BritBox. and come to a meeting and be broadcasters – is that the DCMS has She added: “The days of us all doing kept waiting in reception. been incredible, the Government has things separately, and feeling like we ‘On Zoom, you get your time been very supportive and responsive. were fighting each other, have gone.”n slot and, regardless of where you “We’ve had this massive insurance are coming from, be it London, scheme launched, the biggest glob- Report by Steve Clarke. Alex Mahon, CEO Middlesbrough or Newcastle, you ally, to help the industry get back to of Channel 4, was in conversation with get exactly the same access. work. We’ve been working super- Tim Hincks, Co-CEO of Expectation, as ‘We’ve had great feedback from closely with DCMS and it has thought part of the RTS Digital Convention 2020, indies. They call it the geo-leveller through how to help the industry as sponsored by YouTube, on 28 September. effect. Also, people turn up on time much as possible. The producers were Sue Robertson and for meetings and leave on time.’ “They’ve been much more consid- Martin Stott. View the full video at: bit.ly/ ered about what the industry needs RTSmahon.

16 Hayley Squires as Jolene in Adult Material Channel 4 Porn unwrapped

or a show that feels so originally lined up to take on the role now, Adult Material has Channel 4’s powerful but was forced to exit the series due been a long time in the drama Adult Material to scheduling conflicts, so Squires making. It is nearly a stepped up. decade since writer was created by an What drew her to the show, I ask? Lucy Kirkwood first all-female team. Complexity, apparently. Kirkwood thoughtF of penning a story that would sent her some scripts and a giant pull back the curtain on the mysteri- Moya Lothian-McLean research treatment containing nine ous world of the British pornography years’ worth of investigations into the industry. Now, her vision has been reveals how they did it porn industry and the storylines that fully realised as a four-part drama had been born out of it. series. Hayley Squires as Jolene Dollar – an “It was a huge document,” Squires Adult Material has a lot riding on it, in adult actor at the “top of her game” remembers. “It talked about all the every sense. Belief in Kirkwood’s work – is an uncomfortable, probing and complexities of the show and her is such that the show has become the darkly funny examination of power research and the character arc of flagship programme of Channel 4’s dynamics and consent. Some people everyone in it. highly anticipated 2020 autumn sea- will not be ready for it. Many thou- “It was the complexity of the char- son, a gaudy gem in its crown. sands more will. acter, the humour of her, the very But those tuning in to see a lascivi- “Adult Material on Channel 4,” a detailed and complex ways Lucy had ous romp will be wrong-footed; after friend texted me, as the first episode told this story without being in any the first episode aired earlier this drew to a close. “AMAZING.” way prescriptive or a mouthpiece for month, several viewers expressed “We don’t give people answers,” her own opinion [that made me want surprise at the darkness immediately Hayley Squires tells me, of her role in the part].” on show, with intense scenes featur- the series, which has already been While Squires remains tight-lipped ing rape and even a murder. Carry On, deemed “career-making”. “We give about the exact ins and outs (forgive it ain’t. them viewpoints. We allow them to me) of Adult Material’s plot line, she is Instead, what Kirkwood has cre- make their own mind up”. happy to share a broad-brush sketch ated, alongside director Dawn Shad- Fate brought Squires and Jolene of the bigger picture. “When you first forth and an ensemble cast led by together: Sheridan Smith was meet Jolene in episodes 1 and 2, she’s �

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 17 Tamika Ramsay as Sabelle in Adult Material Channel 4

� at the top of her game,” Squires says. “When we were working on the “Legendary status. She projects this air ‘IT IS ABOUT THE scripts and the edits, I was really aware of being in control and having all these how rare it is to see honest, unvarnished plates spinning, that she’s fully aware PARTICULAR WAY stories about women and sex and to of the industry and the people she THE BRITS MAKE see women making decisions that are shares her life with, both professionally PORNOGRAPHY uncomfortable and unconventional.” and personally. Both Hollick and Squires say there “Then she meets Amy, who comes [AND] THE was an aim to remove Adult Material to set for the first time. Something BRITISH CLASS from the “male gaze”. “This show was horrific happens to her on her first day fundamentally made by the female of shooting. And Jolene takes it upon SYSTEM’ gaze,” observes Hollick. There’s an herself to take this girl under her wing, incredible male contribution to the and go on this campaign for justice, show but the lead actor, the writer, the which means that they’re taking on Lucy Prebble’s Billie Piper vehicle I Hate director and the DoP were women. her closest colleague and the very large Suzie, comparisons have already been That feels like something that would corporations that she’s been working drawn. All three handle difficult con- have been harder to achieve 10 or with for a number of years.” versations about complicated women, 15 years ago. This is apparently when it all starts agency in a patriarchal world and how “What you get with the shows [such falling apart for Jolene. She is forced to power fluctuates in different contexts. as I May Destroy You and I Hate Suzie] confront trauma from her past and the It’s no coincidence that they are pro- coming to the fore now is that there’s a looming threat of the all-powerful, grammes created by women. generation of female film-makers who international porn studios that blur the “It couldn’t have been made any are coming to their peak and that’s lines between what is empowering other way,” says Shadforth, of the quar- why you’re getting these shows hap- and what is exploitative. tet of women creating and leading pening at the same time, because these She risks losing “everything”, includ- Adult Material. Her colleagues agree. women are not afraid to tell the truth ing her children, Squires explains. But “What’s really standing out is that about uncomfortable realities,” says Jolene does not yield. “She believes in these stories have not [previously] Hollick. something, even if she’s not coming to been told by women,” says Channel 4’s She admits that, at times, during the terms with why she’s doing it.” head of drama, Caroline Hollick, who development process of Adult Material, Although Adult Material was in devel- worked with Kirkwood and Shadforth she found those realities just too opment years before the likes of throughout Adult Material’s develop- uncomfortable. This resulted in stand- Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You and ment process. offs with Kirkwood about removing

18 was considered so filthy. I like to think we’re in that tradition but also that this is an incredibly modern show, reflect- ing who we are today.” Modern, indeed: an “intimacy direc- tor” – now ubiquitous in the industry – was on set to choreograph all sex scenes, something that “just makes sense”, says Squires, for whom Adult Material was her first time filming scenes of that nature. “Talk about in at the deep end!” she laughs. But she describes the experience as “comforta- ble”, thanks to scenes being so care- fully worked out between the actors and movement director Alex Reynolds, whom Shadforth worked with on His Dark Materials. Consultations with adult stars them- selves also heavily informed the work. On top of Kirkwood’s nine years of research, porn star Rebecca More, aka one half of the infamous Cock Destroyers, was on hand to provide advice and insight to both the actors and the development team. She stressed the large role that social media now plays in the careers of porn stars. It is reflected in the finished product – the very first scene opens with Jolene faking an orgasm for her Twitter followers (a platform her loving part- ner maintains for her). It is a key reve- nue stream for adult actors in 2020, who gain far more agency (and oppor- tunities to profit) from independently made digital content than from films produced for studios. Adult Material is not going to be for everyone. Some will shy away from Siena Kelly as Amy. in Adult Material

Channel 4 the truths it uncovers about an indus- try that, despite being more normal- some of the more controversial deci- character through this. That’s not a ised than ever, still operates under a sions that Jolene makes. feminist thing to see happen on screen.’ veil of protective secrecy. But the There would be late-night emails And that was where I was completely series offers no easy answers and nor about editing out certain scenes. But wrong.” do its creators want it to. Kirkwood and Shadforth pushed back, Although Adult Material had already They are just hoping that people will the scenes stayed, and Hollick says she been commissioned by the time Hol- join them on the journey and be open realised that they were right. lick joined Channel 4, it became her to the difficult themes it confronts “I’d never seen a show like this passion project. It was classic Chan- – and how that might cause audiences before,” she explains. “Sometimes, you nel 4 in its lineage. to reflect on their own judgements, do lose your bottle. But you have to “I don’t think Netflix would make lives and workplace relations. remember, as a commissioner, you’re something like this,” she says. “This But the one thing Hollick most not automatically right.” show is British to its core. It is about wants to stress as our chat draws to a Making Adult Material changed her the particular way the Brits make por- close is that, “it is incredibly funny. profoundly, Hollick says. “I’d always nography; it’s about the British class That will surprise people. There were seen myself as a pretty modern, feminist system as much as anything else. jokes that we just sat in the edit rooms kind of person. But what I realised was “Channel 4 has a remit to push and laughed out loud at. I miss those that I am just as uptight and middle class boundaries, to innovate, to reflect lives script meetings so much. and judgemental as the next person. that don’t get seen on screen. And to “The show is just really funny, even “Some of the arguments I had at be really bold. I’m old enough to if it’s difficult to watch at times, when the start of the script came from my remember Michael Grade being some shocking things happen. It’s old-fashioned feminism, where I referred to as the ‘pornographer in really entertaining. I want people to thought, ‘Well, we can’t put this chief’ because Channel 4’s material ride that wave all the way through.” n

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 19 A writer who ‘dabbles’ in TV

Mike Bartlett explains to Caroline Frost why the characters in the Doctor Foster spin-off, Life, are an antidote to social divisions Mike Bartlett Daniel Hambury/StellaPicsLtd

hen Mike Bartlett audiences of more of than 10 million me,” he explains. “I thought, who does sent actress Vic­ by the second series, a phenomenon that? She seemed to be starting a new toria Hamilton that surprised even its creator. story and I wondered about a woman in the script for his “As a writer or showrunner, you like a marriage for 15 years with a big drink­ latest television to think you have things within your ing problem, who suddenly breaks out series, Life, she control but, when that happens, it’s all of her marriage and her suburban life felt a bit confused at first. “I was read­ luck – that people loved the character, and starts again, at that age. What does ingW this wonderful character Belle, and in terms of Suranne doing it, that it hit that mean for her? It left a big question I suddenly thought, I know this a moment,” Bartlett remembers. “It’s mark that I wanted to explore. That felt woman! I emailed Mike and told him one of the reasons that I wanted to do like a really exciting story that I wanted she really reminded me of Anna, my television, to draw in all sorts of differ­ to investigate. character in Doctor Foster. Mike sent me ent people, from teenage girls to older “Plus, I wanted to write more for back a very short email, ‘Yes, it is Anna. men. It was amazing that it happened.” Victoria Hamilton in that part. I’ve Anna Belle.’” Why then, out of all the memorable worked with her a few times and I And that is how viewers will jump characters he has created, did he wanted to write something she could from the claustrophobic, bitter world choose Anna-turned-Belle to take us get her teeth into on-screen.” that Bartlett created for two series of all on another dramatic turn? The house’s other residents include Doctor Foster, to the far broader canvas of “In the second series, Anna suddenly Alison Steadman as Gail, taking stock Life. The freshly named Belle is one of says, ‘I’m leaving’, and that surprised of her life on the eve of her 70th birth­ the main characters. The series follows day in the shadow of her hectoring hus­ the lives of the residents of a large house band, Henry, played perfectly by Peter in Manchester divided into four flats. Davison. There’s also Adrian Lester as The good news is that, for the tiny ‘THERE’S A HUGE David, happily married to Kelly (Rachael number of drama fans who didn’t tune AMOUNT OF Stirling) but troubled by the attentions in for the battles, betrayals and devas­ of his student Saira (Saira Choudhry). tating denouement of Doctor Foster, Life “SNARK” ON TV Meanwhile, on the ground floor, Melissa offers a completely unique universe AT THE MOMENT… Johns plays heavily pregnant Hannah, that they will understand and enjoy. navigating the attentions of safe and There won’t be many of them, of GETTING LAUGHS stable Liam (Joshua James) with the course. Doctor Foster, with the Bafta­ return to the scene of the baby’s father, winning Suranne Jones at its centre, FROM HOW AWFUL Andy, played by Calvin Demba. increasingly batty decision-making by PEOPLE CAN BE The idea for such a narrative set-up all its protagonists and that dinner had been bubbling inside Bartlett for party, became must-see viewing for TO EACH OTHER’ the past three years, inspired by his

20 Alison Steadman in Life BBC own experience of living in a divided an episode of Doctor Who. He still “I watched a bit of Press recently house in London. “It always amazed describes himself as a “playwright who and I was proud of it. If I did it again, me that we were all one stud wall dabbles in TV”, although the success of I’d give it more juicy human drama, away from each other without really Doctor Foster must surely tempt him to but, equally, I was trying to make a knowing what was going on around us. stick with the small screen. show about quite a niche world for a We’d meet in the corridor and not He says not. “For me, it’s always very broad audience and, given where exchange two words. You don’t know been about starting completely over TV is at the moment, that’s quite hard these people, and yet you sort of know again. Each piece of work is new, even to do. I was disappointed­ that it didn’t everything.” the second series of Doctor Foster is find that audience, but that’s the way There are enough twists and surprises darker, the scenes longer and the style it goes.” in each of the stories to keep a drama more intense. I have to approach it like Life poses no such niche difficulties: fan happy but, for Bartlett, Life is also a that to keep me interested. I like to a house full of intergenerational resi­ way of expressing how he feels about think of myself as an artist, and that dents and their increasingly entangled the collapse of modern society and, in means doing what you do, and if peo­ dramas seems a gift for any writer, but some senses, community: “The fact that ple go for it, brilliant, but you can only Bartlett explains why, to him, it feels people still crave it and they still find it, do what feels right.” quite radical. reaching out and helping others.” Such a philosophy must have helped “There’s a huge amount of ‘snark’ on Bartlett agrees that the themes of to deal with the relative lack of acclaim TV at the moment, people getting loneliness and the hope of starting or ratings that came his way for Press, laughs from how awful people can be over are very strong in the series. his 2018 BBC One series set in the to each other, and this is a show that “Those, plus our desires and difficulties world of two rival London newspapers explores the difficult things people are in reaching out and connecting with gunning for readers, political leaks, having to face every single day, what each other. I think that sums up life in celebrity scoops and each other’s staff. that feels like, and to celebrate their a city, and life itself. No man is an island Despite such heady fare, Press didn’t strengths and faith in who we are. and yet we are all islands. That’s the pull in a Foster-level audience and was “That feels radical because, if you go essential challenge of life.” cancelled after one series. Bartlett today online, that’s not what you see. There, Since getting his break as a playwright remains disappointed but sanguine. everyone is polarised, so sure of them­ as one of the OId Vic’s New Voices in “Rationally, I know that if I said I’m selves, putting up amazing photos, and 2005, Bartlett has enjoyed huge success pitching one show about a woman I think that’s not the reality of life. I in theatre, culminating in his Olivier seeking revenge for infidelity and want to show that real people are bril­ award for King Charles III, subsequently another one based around journalistic liant. That wouldn’t have been a politi­ adapted for both radio and television. procedure, you don’t have to try too cal thing to say 20 years ago, but now His versatility is proved by his cred­ hard to work out which one’s going to it is. We can’t keep dividing ourselves its, which range from King Charles III to be a hit. from other people. We can be better.” n

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 21 From left: Emma D’Arcy, Nick Frost and Samson Kayo in Truth Seekers Amazon Prime Ghostbusters for the online era

o those who know him, We found out later that it was part of [a it is very on-brand that Nick Frost reveals line to Alexandra Palace] that they shut Nick Frost’s new sitcom how he helped create [in 1970], but that feeling of being is a paranormal romp, exhilarated and terrified and letting relentlessly firing out Amazon Prime’s your mind wander never left us.” jokes while two ghost new supernatural Frost is speaking from the offices of huntersT uncover spooky goings-on in Stolen Picture, the production company their house-to-house investigations. sitcom Truth Seekers. set up by him and Pegg after a run A mild obsession with the extraordi- of successful movies together that nary is in Frost’s creative DNA. His Shilpa Ganatra gets included zombie movie Shaun of the preoccupations, along with those of his goosebumps Dead and off-beat cop comedy Hot Fuzz. best friend, Simon Pegg, were evident His new sitcom, Truth Seekers, is Stolen in his Spaced days: the cult Channel 4 Picture’s first project for television. The series often made passing reference to Highgate, there was a forest at the back eight-parter revolves around widower zombies and conspiracy theories. of the house that we’d never really Gus, played by Frost, who is a YouTube “When we used to live together, walked around. After an afternoon of paranormal investigator and, by day, a we spent some evenings going out heavy drinking, we decided to break broadband installer at Smyle – tag line: ghost hunting,” Frost remembers. through the trees. We found a pristine “Connecting worlds”. “We’d get in his car and we’d find an 1940s train platform, with the lights on Through his job, he meets new old Saxon church somewhere in Essex, and a waiting room. recruit Elton (Samson Kayo, familiar to and spend the evening creeping around “At that point, we were so freaked fans of Famalam and Timewasters). As the cemetery. out: we thought we’d uncovered a they make visits to eerie houses, they “One time, when we lived in supernatural train platform in the forest. stumble upon paranormal activity that

22 leads them to a major conspiracy led Spaced, co-starring Pegg and Jessica by the sinister Dr Peter Toynbee (The Hynes, was his first proper acting pro- Mighty Boosh’s Julian Barratt). Emma ject, though you’d barely guess it from D’Arcy (Wanderlust, Hanna) joins the his on-screen appearance as Mike, the investigators as Astrid, and Susan military-obsessed best friend. Wokoma (Year of the Rabbit, Porters) plays It was in 2011, with Paul, that Frost Elton’s troubled sister. began writing. Two years later, with The horror-comedy is in the vein of the last of his and Pegg’s so-called What We Do in the Shadows and Dead Set, “Cornetto Trilogy”, The World’s End, he but it is the characters’ human stories expanded into producing. that sets it apart. Though his acting credits include the “As much as it’s about a gang who Holly­wood biggie Cuban Fury and fantasy Nick Frost find each other and stumble across a Amazon Prime drama Into the Badlands, he claims that he conspiracy, it is also about their loss: is still an apprentice: “I don’t think I’ll they’re all missing something and ever be the finished article, in terms of trying to find something, too,” explains ‘I NEVER acting. I always wanted to be a writer or Frost. “Gus is trying to find his wife, WANTED TO BE a painter, but I never wanted to be an literally. Astrid is trying to find the truth actor. It’s awful, I find it really difficult. about what happened to her and who AN ACTOR. IT’S I’m anxious just talking about it.” she is, and Elton is trying to find a way AWFUL… I’M Because of his own unconventional in which he can live and not be in the route into the world of entertainment, shadow of his sister and her problems. ANXIOUS JUST Frost needs no reminding of the need “You could take out any mention of TALKING for different voices in television. He is the supernatural, and there’d still be a actively seeking greater diversity for comedy about people struggling to ABOUT IT’ Stolen Picture, though he admits that it make their way. It’s a difficult thing, to is not easy to find new talent from a be human these days.” range of backgrounds. Though the real-life escapades were Swedish island”) in just six weeks “I think everyone in the industry is Frost’s and Pegg’s, the idea began with during­ lockdown. aware about what we need to do,” he Frost and his writer friend James Sera­ “It was just me on my own, and no says. “Our voice isn’t necessarily the finowicz (brother of actor Peter and one telling me what to do or how to do one that everyone wants to hear nowa- brother-in-law of Father Ted writer it,” he says. “I think, with films, it still days – it shouldn’t be four white men in Graham Linehan). Once Stolen Picture goes through the editorial process, but a room making television for everyone. was formed in 2016, Frost, Serafinowicz there are fewer voices.” “I was very lucky. I got a chance and and Pegg brought in Nat Saunders, Amazon Prime Video picked up Truth it was either this or I was going to be who created and wrote Sky One’s Sick Seekers in what sounds like an unusually an area manager of a Chiquito restau- Note with Serafinowicz, to complete smooth process. “I haven’t felt more rant, so I took this. But everyone’s got a the creative quartet for Truth Seekers. supported by a team in terms of their story. Just because you’re a poor kid or Each initially wrote two episodes. commitment to the show, and their a single mum, your story is still as valid The foursome then went through them commitment to us as creatives,” says as what I decide to write, or what any- together, aligning and adjusting where Frost. “Their notes were few but smart. one else decides to write.” needed. It might sound like a reasona- I learned quite a long time ago to not be His next job is to get back on set to ble plan but “the scripts were massive a snob when it comes to your writing. complete The Nevers, the HBO sci-fi and long, and some of them were tech- “When Simon Pegg and I wrote Paul drama spearheaded by Buffy the Vampire nically difficult and unfunny”, concedes [about an alien on the run in modern-­ Slayer creator Joss Whedon. Though Frost. “And there were four of us, with day America], there were a few times production halted during lockdown, four separate versions of what we when we got notes back from execs Frost is looking forward to returning to thought was funny or frightening or and I got really cross that they didn’t the fold: “I’m still a fanboy, and to have tragic. It was a difficult way of doing it.” understand our vision. But I learned him direct me… there’s still a part of It worked out in the end: the series is from that process that maybe it’s not me that squeals inside and thinks, lean and engaging, with a smart balance them, maybe it’s the script. ‘That’s the man who invented Buffy!’ of comedy and horror. Frost gives dues “It’s good to listen to notes from It’s more anxiety, to be back acting, but to the creative atmosphere of a writers people who are going to spend mil- I’m happy that I get to do it with one of room. But he also notes that he started lions bankrolling your show, because my heroes.” n and finished a film script for Orion (“a some of them might be pretty good.” funny slasher movie about a family Frost’s propensity to accept feedback Truth Seekers will be available on Ama- who hire an Airbnb on a remote is aided by his on-the-job training. zon Prime Video from 30 October.

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 23 12-15 October

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he past six months reports sightings such a notion seemed unthinkable. have been a period of Matt Damon as This effort raisede 6m for charity, an like no other in Ire- enormous sum for a population of land. Our lockdown filming resumes just under five million people. has been followed The most successful segment of the by a partial lifting of across the country night was a satirical sketch riffing on restrictions that has Normal People, starring not only Normal us bobbing up and down between People actors Paul Mescal and Daisy Tlevel two and level three of the pan- Edgar-Jones, but also Andrew Scott, demic regulations. Fleabag’s hot priest! No wonder it The good news is that production went viral. has resumed, and it is slightly surreal Normal People, the drama based on that Matt Damon, star of Contagion, a the 2018 novel by Sally Rooney, was, spooky thriller about a deadly virus of course, the hit of the lockdown; it and a global panic, has been spotted would have been the water-cooler pottering about in Dalkey, a small topic du jour if only we’d had water seaside town south of Dublin, where coolers to go to. he chose to spend lockdown. Viewing patterns changed pro- He’s here, along with Jodie Comer, foundly as streaming made more Ben Affleck and others, to star in inroads. For TG4, Ireland’s Irish-­ Ridley Scott’s latest movie, The Last language TV service, this was nothing Duel – put on hold for a while, but new, since it had pioneered streaming now up and running again. way back in 2002, long before most

Also steaming ahead, following an Cogan Agnes people had ever thought of it. TG4 enforced pause, is Foundation, a sci-fi now serves an unexpected global epic for Apple TV+. It is the largest a different story. For independent audience for Irish-language pro- production ever undertaken in this production companies, the past six grammes (with subtitles). country. The producers are using Troy months have been devastating, “a All broadcasters have taken a huge Studios in Limerick, the biggest in horror show” in the words of one financial hit and have had to find Ireland. For the nerds among us, independent producer. One of our ways of providing a service adapted Foundation is based on a pathbreaking biggest and (usually) most successful to the new requirements of a changed trilogy – long considered to be unfilm­ production companies has seen its TV landscape. able – by Isaac Asimov, a giant of staff reduced from a peak of 580 less From the huge undertaking of sci-fi, whose influence is found in than a year ago to just seven. adapting Asimov’s Foundation for the everything from Star Wars on up. Some productions have had the TV screen, to the nightly spectacle of Another major production under agility to adapt to changed conditions people talking to us from their way again in County Wicklow is Net­ and new protocols, but some, by their homes, often with unscripted inter- flix’sVikings: Valhalla, a spin-off from nature, cannot. Sports events are ventions from barking dogs and play- the successful Vikings series shot for happening again but, without “gates” ing children, the TV community has the History Channel. and crowds of fans, the atmosphere is had to get used to a whole new way All of these big productions have sadly lacking. of doing things. meant welcome and much-needed Fun in a time of lockdown was And it’s not over yet. n work for local crews, technicians, hard to come by, but RTÉ, Ireland’s actors and musicians. At the other national broadcaster, succeeded in Agnes Cogan is Chair of RTS Republic end of the scale, unfortunately, it is launching a Comic Relief Telethon when of Ireland.

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 25 The Good Life He namechecked a few of his favour- ite environmental dramas, including 1985 BBC thriller Edge of Darkness, Steven Soderbergh’s biopic Erin Brockovich and Sky Atlantic’s recent drama Chernobyl. But, he added: “The show I’d like to see back is The Good Life, a TV programme about people trying to do the right thing environmentally, and what a struggle and how comical it was. “There is a sort of ordinariness about the environmental battle, which is there in our day-to-day lives.” Curtis enjoyed TV success with Blackadder and The Vicar of Dibley before moving into movies and creating huge hits such as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually. He was speaking at an RTS event that looked at how TV comedy and drama can address envi- ronmental issues in a less contrived and sensationalist way. “At every level in our business, domestic and political lives, the environment is a big old theme. I don’t think [a drama] always has to end in a nuclear explosion. “We should remind ourselves of how wide [environmental] issues are. It’s deforestation, water, plastics, fish, ani- mals, recycling, energy – it doesn’t always have to be a cataclysmic break- ing of the ozone layer, as entertaining as that might be.” Curtis pointed to recent research

BBC commissioned by the environmental charity Global Action Plan, of which he is a patron. This shows that more than three-quarters of young people in the UK want to see TV drama address environmental issues. More laughs, “We’ve not passed the need to edu- cate because that’s always there… but, in a way, this is the moment for drama to take over,” said Curtis, who was talking to Jeremy Oppenheim, the less dystopia Chair of Global Action Plan. Also pres- ent were Georgia Wagstaff, Bethan Moore, Sophie Marsh, Jack Stanley and elevision cannot be Amy Harris, five young film-makers Programme-makers who accused of ignoring the hoping to making environment-themed, tackle environmental environment. Our entertaining TV drama. They are the destruction of the planet finalists in Global Action Plan’s “Flickers issues are urged to has long been a staple of of the Future” film competition (see box avoid sensationalism, serious TV documenta- on page 19). ries.T And in drama, zombies, pandem- The second half of the RTS event hears the RTS ics and nuclear catastrophe offer stark saw environmental journalist and visions of our future if humanity fails broadcaster Lucy Siegle, of the BBC’s to mend its ways. The One Show, chair a discussion on According to Richard Curtis, how- how television can better reflect envi- ever, environmental programming ronmental issues. doesn’t have to be “boring, didactic or “The environmental movement has terrifying”. The UK’s king of comedy been stunningly good at telling us, if reckoned it can also be “funny, inter- you want to listen, about the [climate] esting, educational and personal”. disaster that is playing out,” said

26 Oppenheim. “Our greatest skill has Coel’s I May Destroy You. We’re getting been to tell this bleak, terrifying there, but there are [only] a handful of future… [But] we’re desperately in need instances.” for the creative sector to turn this on Siegle asked whether TV shows that its head and tell the stories about a addressed environmental issues more future that we need to build together.” positively could reduce viewers’ “Ideas and good storytelling,” are eco-anxiety. “Mental health and the key, said Carnival Films head of pro- environmental crisis are interlinked,” duction Charlotte Ashby. The UK said Addy Raja, a film producer and drama specialist makes The Last King- NHS junior doctor. For the younger dom for Netflix and ITV’sBelgravia . generation, in particular, he said, “there “Just as the HBO comedy series Six is a feeling of hopelessness and being Feet Under broke a taboo in tackling disenfranchised” – yet this was a gen- the topic of death, head on and with eration that wanted to change things. humour, it will take the right stories in TV dramas often portrayed “a dark, Richard Curtis the right hands to make content that Global Action Plan dystopian future and that... causes tackles [the environment] that audi- eco-anxiety”, he argued. ences want to watch,” argued Ashby. ‘climate change’ 3,000 times, which is “I’m seeing evidence of stuff in our “To tell a positive story of a sustainable the same as ‘urine’ and ‘zombies’,” said shows where [environmental] issues future, you need to work hard to find Aaron Matthews, Albert’s head of are tackled on a granular, real level,” an angle, a source of conflict, drama industry sustainability. said Sky Studios director of comedy or jeopardy.” The situation is improving: a follow-­ Jon Mountague, whose recent successes One potential solution, she said, was ­up report will “show that ‘climate include Brassic. “Comedy, in particular, to “tell personal, relatable stories that change’ is now talked about four times relies on taking down big targets, and confront but, at the same time, enter- more than it was the previous year, but what better target [could you have] tain with irreverence and humour”. that only puts it on a par with ‘discos’ than anti-environmentalism? Environmental content in drama and and ‘bikinis’. What does that say about “Were a show such as The Good Life, entertainment is thin on the ground. A an industry of pubic service broad- or something more overtly around 2019 report from Bafta’s environmental casters who talk about bikinis as much environmental issues, to come around, project Albert, “Subtitles­ to save the as climate change?” we would absolutely do it.” n world”, analysed subtitles to assess how Matthews said that Coronation Street, well TV covers the environment. Emmerdale and EastEnders had all run Report by Matthew Bell. ‘Making a drama “Across a whole year’s worth of environmental storylines. “It was also out of a crisis’ was held on 1 October, and broadcasting content, BBC, ITV, Chan- interesting to see climate change run- produced by the RTS, IJPR and Global nel 4 and Sky together mentioned ning as a theme throughout Michaela Action Plan. Flickers of the Future sheds light on alternate worlds

Global Action Plan’s film competition, those who still harbour old destructive ‘Flickers of the Future’, asked young habits. film-makers to create a human story of Screenwriter Richard Curtis was a sustainable future. The five finalists impressed by the finalists’ imagina- – who came up with some quirky, tion. ‘Start as you mean to continue. interesting ideas – will pitch their My funny career has gone from shows to UK broadcasters. writing short sketches and then Georgia Wagstaff has devised using that skill to do a sitcom, and Planet B, in which a hapless young now my films use the same skill,’ man stumbles across a planet-­ he advised. sized secret. Bethan Moore’s Keep- ‘Write what you’re passionate ers, a romantic comedy set in the about, rather than what you think near future, revolves around competi- you ought to address… look at your tive bee keeping. own experience and life. The big secret In Sophie Marsh’s Cross the Line, one of writing is to write stuff that’s interest- woman must work with her alternate ing to you and moves you. self to create a greener future before ‘When I started writing on Not the their worlds disappear. Jack Stanley’s Nine O’Clock News, we were given a list series, Natural Causes, is set in an footprint. Amy Harris’s Cheesed Off of things that were funny – British Rail eco-conscious UK, in which a group of foresees a world where animal products, sandwiches, trade unions. I didn’t think teens try to help their terminally ill friend fossil fuels and plastic have been out- any of them were funny, so I wrote what offset her life by erasing her carbon lawed, and rehabilitation is required for I thought was funny.’

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 27 Defining diversity: More than a numbers game

ITV press advert published on 19 September ITV An RTS panel raises some big questions concerning the TV sector’s inability to foster a genuinely diverse workforce

f you thought that defining Nine Lives Media, said one of the best Only then would the industry be diversity was easy, think again. definitions she had seen was in ITV’s likely to recruit and retain staff from a As the chair of a stimulating and anti-racist advertisement, published in wide range of backgrounds that truly thought-provoking RTS event, response to the Black Lives Matter reflected British society. Aaqil Ahmed, formerly the head routine performed on Britain’s Got Talent “It’s not something that should be in of religion and ethics at the BBC, by dance troupe Diversity. “It said: ‘We the hands of individual broadcasters,” concluded: “Diversity in itself is are changed by what we see just as we said Ahmed, himself from a northern, diverse.I For me, that understanding of are changed when we are seen.’ That’s so working-class background, who was the it isn’t there for a lot of people.… It’s not true – to achieve it, you need to see it.” first in his family to attend university. a numbers game… diversity is very There was, however, a consensus Marcus Ryder, former head of current complicated.” among the speakers that urgent work affairs at BBC Scotland and visiting Throughout the “Defining diversity? was needed from the top, whether it professor at the Sir Lenny Henry Centre That’s easy” session, attempts to pro- was government, Ofcom or a new body for Media Diversity, said: “Ofcom needs vide a definition that all the panel set up to ensure that the television to define diversity and to set minimum could agree on proved elusive. sector finally effected real and lasting standards for the broadcasters that it Cat Lewis, CEO of Manchester-based change on this most pressing of issues. regulates.”

28 Creative strategy consultant Ally percentages of salary spend. Yet, when According to data published by Cre- Castle, a former programme-maker, we talk about 20% or 30%, it seems ative Diversity Network’s Project Dia- BBC audience insights expert and we’re talking about headcount.… We mond, which measures the number of specialist in representations of disabil- need to unpack what we mean by people from minorities working in ity, thought it was vital that the regula- some of these percentages.” British TV, Castle said the overall figure tor did this in collaboration with the One company – praised by Ryder for disabled people in the sector was industry. “Yes, there are moral, com- – that has done pioneering work in “roughly around 5%”. mercial and creative cases for diversity hiring people representative of their Again, however, there was a problem but it’s the people on the ground who local area was Nine Lives Media. with defining disabled. “Everyone who are the decision-makers and they need The company’s CEO said she was has a disability has a very different lived to support it,” she said. more optimistic than Ahmed about experience of that disability,” noted Dr Clive James Nwonka, a fellow in British TV’s progress towards employ- Castle. “We don’t mind the term because film studies at the London School of ing more people from diverse back- there has to be an umbrella term for Economics, said that, following the people who are disabled but, within that, Black Lives Matter protests across the there has to be an acknowledgment that globe, the film and TV sector needed to ‘THERE NEEDS TO there is a huge spectrum of experience.” translate its own reaction to George Lewis noted that the on-screen rep- Floyd’s murder into policy and practice. BE SOME SORT OF resentation of disabled people was He said this would “require a coalition inadequate. She praised Tim Davie, the of stakeholders and sectors across film CONSEQUENCE BBC’s new Director-General,­ for back- and TV coming together in a community FOR FAILING TO ing a “50-20-12 organisation”, referring of ideas to see how their different inter- respectively to the proportion of ests and investments in diversity can MEET A TARGET’ female staff, those from BAME back- work in a holistic industry approach. grounds and people with disabilities. “What that looks like, I am not sure. I “It’s good leadership to be giving that do think there needs to be some sort of grounds. “I genuinely think things are message to the industry.” consequence for failing to meet a target getting better.… Thirty-odd years ago, Ahmed was more sceptical. He said or a percentage or adhere to a particu- schemes were introduced to train that the BBC’s 20% target for BAME lar standard. Without these, it is difficult diverse people to come into the indus- people was problematic because it was to implement any long-lasting change.” try and many independents didn’t do too general: “It’s not British Asian or Ahmed said it was vital that broad- anything about it. British black – it’s black, Asian and casters and companies based outside “Now, broadcasters are saying to minority ethnic. You could come from London, particularly in the north of independents: ‘We expect you to be anywhere in the world and be included England, recruited locally – and, in genuinely diverse in your programme-­ in the percentage.” doing so, fully reflected the ethnic and making and have diverse teams on- Nwonka agreed. He said: “We need social make-up of their areas. and off-screen.’ Broadcasters to think more about British non-white “When you look at the move to BBC themselves need to ensure they are identity as being crucial to inclusion.” North and Channel 4 to Leeds, you retaining people from diverse back- He regarded diversity as “the manage- know who the diverse groups are in grounds and not having the revolving ment of difference in institutional those areas and expect to see them door and glass ceiling problem.” cultures”. working for broadcasters in those areas.” She agreed that reflecting the differ- The academic added that his and Nwonka explained why it was ent demographics of the UK in local other researchers’ work suggested that important for TV companies to take workforces was important, especially part of the problem in defining diver- local demographics into consideration since ITV was no longer a regional sity was that it was usually powerful, when conceiving and implementing network of separate, often powerful, white, middle-class men who decided diversity schemes. He said: “Percent- companies. at a particular moment what diversity ages and targets are useful initially, but The decline of northern ITV fran- was. They also decided which “diverse” they can’t be the long-term solution. chise holders, such as Granada, York- groups were included in the various You need to go deeper and look at how shire and Tyne Tees, had changed the diversity initiatives. different demographics exist in differ- sector’s class profile. Lewis said: “The “It’s really dangerous to think of ent areas of the country.” consolidation of television in London diversity as an all-encompassing, Ryder agreed that the data used to has meant that, as an industry, it has everyone can be included at the same measure diversity was often something become very upper middle class. time to the same degree [concept]. It’s of a blunt instrument and ignored key When I started in telly as a 16-year-old not, but is completely contingent on information, such as the level of the at Tyne Tees Television, it was full of how individuals feel at different times.” jobs that people from minorities were working-class people.” Defining diversity is simple? Hardly.n employed in. Regarding disability, Castle said “We take it for granted that, when there had been a lot of frustration over Report by Steve Clarke. ‘Defining diversity? we talk about 20% or 30%, we know the BBC’s 12% target because it was “so That’s easy’ was an RTS event held on what that means,” he said. “That’s much lower than the national represen­ 22 September. The producer was Angela dangerous. One of the ways we meas- tation of working-age disabled adults, Ferreira, Managing Director of Douglas ure regional diversity is to look at which is around 17% to 19%.” Road Productions.

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 29 Why Netflix has no rules Simon Shaps reviews Reed Hastings’ new book – and divulges what happened when he was headhunted by the streaming giant

andour is a big deal for No Rules Rules: Netflix as well as “jerks” along the way. Unlike Netflix co-founder and and the Culture of others, it also believes in offering co-CEO Reed Hastings. Reinvention by Reed higher pay than its direct competitors. Having argued for Hastings and Erin Once in place, these star hirings are “increased candour” Meyer, is published left to make big bets. early on in this by Virgin Books, These bets can be multi-million-­ eye-popping account of Netlix’s cor- priced £20. ISBN dollar commitments. This was the porateC culture, he returns to the idea 978-0753553633 case, for example, with documentary some 60 pages later in a section called head Adam Del Deo’s decision to buy “Pump up candour”. Not content with Icarus for $4.6m in January 2017. Appar- that, he makes the point again, towards ently, his boss, chief content officer the end of the book, with the exhorta- Then nothing. I learned, once again, Ted Sarandos, simply told him to tion: “Max up candour” (Chapter 8). that silence is indeed the American “swing big” if he thought it was going So, in the spirit of pumping up my way of saying no. to be a hit. That was it. No business own candour, I should confess to a Reading this fascinating account of case or ROI analysis before the deci- dalliance with Netflix. Back in 2014, how Netflix does things differently, not sion was taken. I received a call from a headhunter merely in the way it has revolutionised To Del Deo’s relief, the film eventu- asking if I was interested in a senior television, but as the employer of 8,000 ally won an Oscar. Too many big bets job at Netflix. A year earlier, the com- people around the world, I now realise, that don’t deliver lead to a quick exit, pany had launched House of Cards, so all these years later, that its business or, as Hastings puts it: “Adequate per- Netflix already felt like the place to be model and its corporate culture are formance gets a generous severance in television. different sides of the same story. The package.” I was given a job spec, which, to my overused term “disruptive” does not So, back to my question about holi- eyes, contained nothing out of the do it justice. day policy. I was told that Netflix had ordinary other than that candidates During my day in the LA office, I had no rules around vacation. Instead it were required to have mastery of casually asked questions about holiday expected employees to use “good Power­Point (I certainly knew someone policy, and commissioning authority, judgement” about the amount of leave who could do that for me), Excel (I which produced answers that made it they took. On the question of who definitely knew what that was) and abundantly clear that Netflix was needed to sign off major commissioning Word (bingo!). different. decisions, I was told that up 10 people I was invited to Paris for an interview, The company is not alone in seeking across the organisation would weigh in. as the executive I would be working to recruit the brightest and the best, My interpretation: nobody took any for was there for the launch of Netflix to achieve what Hastings calls “talent holiday because there was peer pres- in France. This was before Netflix density”, shedding adequate performers sure to work long hours, with perhaps launched in 130 markets on a single a couple hours off after lunch on day, a feat it pulled off early in 2016. Christmas Day. And on the signing off I then went to LA for a day of inter- of new commissions, frankly, it views, one every 30 minutes, with an ‘THE OVERUSED sounded nightmarish. Who were these assortment of people from across the 10 people? Did they read scripts? How organisation. Back in London, I spoke TERM “DISRUPTIVE” long did they take? to the head of HR, who called me DOES NOT DO This book reveals I was wrong on from somewhere deep in the heart both counts and I am sure my scepti- of Silicon Valley. NETFLIX JUSTICE’ cism showed.

30 proposed to spend. Instead, executives are encouraged to “farm for dissent” – seek out people who might chal- lenge, or test out a decision – and “socialise the idea”, which means “tak- ing the temperature” in the organisa- tion about what is proposed. The decision-maker is the person closest to the creative pitch and, as “the informed captain”, is encouraged to make the bet. If it succeeds, Del Deo or anyone else is encouraged to celebrate the success (but perhaps not with vintage claret). If it fails, the onus is on the decision-­ maker to “sunshine” the decision. In Netflix language, that means talk openly about the thinking behind the decision and offer a detailed explanation for what went wrong and what has been learnt from the experience. At the end of 2018, Sarandos was congratulated on the huge critical acclaim for Roma and the ratings suc- cess of Bird Box, which was viewed by a record 45 million subscribers in its first week. Sarandos’s response was that it wasn’t his decision to pick the two films. Instead, he explained, he picks the pickers, who, in turn, pick the films, in what he calls a “hierarchy of picking”.

Netflix After shadowing Hastings for a day, Sheryl Sandberg, the author and Face- Netflix’s policy on holidays is Netflix content team sitting in first. book executive, told him: “The amaz- designed to create a culture where Wells was surprised by the behaviour ing thing was to sit with you all day employees are encouraged to “do and the content team wondered why long and see that you didn’t make one what’s right for the organisation”. The a senior executive was travelling decision.” “no vacation policy” is not a “no vaca- economy. Hastings and Sarandos hunt for tion” policy. On the contrary, top exec- The system is built on the notion that talent, provide the essential context utives, from Hastings and Sarandos you need to give employees freedom – what Netflix wants to achieve and downwards, deliberately talk about to act, rather than exercising top-down how it operates – and then encourage their, often exotic, trips to “set the control. In the case of the first-class their teams to take countless big swings. context” for everyone else. tickets to Mexico, or lavish entertain- At the same time, they relentlessly seek With expenses, the same principle ment generally, individuals will none- out feedback on their own performance applies. There is no finely tuned theless have to be prepared to justify (some of it is quoted here and is not expenses policy or approvals process. the expense, and show how it was in very pretty) and they make it their Employees are again expected to use the best interests of the organisation business to listen to feedback about their own judgement about what is to fly first or order six bottles of vintage employees across the company. necessary, and to “act in Netflix’s best claret. There may well be perfectly Netflix, in this account, is no easy interests”. reasonable business arguments for both. ride. It is relentless in searching out Around the time that the “no rules” On the commissioning process, the great content, growing its worldwide rules were being introduced, David “10 names” are not other people who subscriber base and further improving Wells, a senior finance executive, took might second guess Adam Del Deo’s its technology. It rewards its employees his seat in economy on a short flight to intention to acquire Icarus and the well but, in return, it has sky-high Mexico, only to discover the entire unprecedented amount of money he expectations of them. n

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 31 England player Ben Stokes contributed to Sky’s lockdown replay of the 2019 Cricket World Cup Getty Images TV sport reboots

n 12 March, Arsenal “We stopped taking money from pubs manager Mikel Arteta The RTS learns how the and clubs.” It also decided to keep all tested positive for health crisis is nurturing its sports channels on air. Now it had coronavirus, sending to fill them. his team and staff innovation in TV sport As did BT Sport. “It meant intense into self-isolation. and quick decision-making,” recalled TheO following morning, the Premier Director Rob Webster, looking back to Simon Green, head of Sky’s UK rival. League threw in the towel – it was obvi- the March lockdown. “Our Italian col- “We’d lost all our live sport and we ous that it was no longer possible to play leagues were ahead of us in terms of realised that we had an awful lot of football during the Covid-19 epidemic. the virus and their sport. It was only a time to fill across our schedules.” The rest of football and pretty much matter of time. At Sky Sports, Webster said that all sport followed. At a stroke, the “We’d done as much planning as we reinventing archive content was criti- schedules of the UK’s specialist sports possibly could, but I don’t think any- cal: “If you’re rerunning classic matches broadcasters had been emptied. one could have been fully prepared for in your schedule, and that’s really all At an RTS event in late September, that moment – and the realisation that you can do for a period of time, you’ve some of the leading figures in sports we had 11 sports channels dedicated to got to make them as exciting, compel- broadcasting recalled the day the coro- live sport when there wasn’t going to ling and fresh as possible.” navirus lockdown brought down the be any live sport [to show].” The broadcaster aired “watchalongs”, curtain on live sport. Sky Sports took the decision “pretty classic clashes that included England’s “It was a moment that had been much on day one, to allow our custom- last-gasp victory in the 2019 Cricket coming,” said Sky Sports Managing ers to pause paying us”, said Webster. World Cup. “We managed to get Ben

32 Stokes, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler showed during the first Test against Germany,” said Green. Broadcasters talking through what was happening West Indies this summer. there had introduced supporters’ roars [as we] played out the final.” Webster added that Sky was com- and groans when the Bundesliga Digital services company NTT Data mitted to having “very diverse” on- resumed, and it seemed to work. normally works on sporting events and off-screen teams, but admitted He admitted: “I was the last one to such as the Tour de France (delayed “we’ve got a long way to go”. be convinced that we should make until late August) and the Open golf When the Premier League resumed crowd noise the default [setting], and tournament (which was cancelled this in mid-June, production was largely allow our viewers to opt out.” year). The company’s UK Webster revealed that sports innovation lead, Silvia Manchester 75% to 80% of Sky viewers Di Gregorio, told the RTS United player watch matches with crowd event: “We all wanted to Marcus Rashford noise added – and that the keep the fans’ experience returned to broadcaster had a team of alive – [and make it] richer Premier League eight mixing the noise than ever, due to the action last effects to match the action month circumstances.” on the pitch. For Sky Sports, NTT pro- “It has been a big way of duced The Open for the Ages, a mitigating what we all know, virtual tournament featuring which is that sport needs 21 of the world’s greatest crowds to have a natural golfers from the past 50 years, atmosphere. We’re desper- using data analysis, a fan vote ate for crowds to return but, and archive footage to find a until that happens, artificial winner for a fictional Open at crowd noise helps mas- St Andrews. sively,” said Webster. NTT is not directly invol­ Looking back over the ved in sports production; its six months since the March role is to enhance the view- lockdown, he added: “It’s ers’ experience. For The Open reinforced just how impor- for the Ages, this involved tant sport is to so many analysing enormous amounts people.” of golf data, using artificial The start of the new intelligence (AI). “Without AI football season last month models, it would have taken coincided with the begin-

a huge amount of manual Getty Images ning of what looks like a work to go through all the second wave of coronavi- archives – in this case, more than 50 done remotely although Green said rus and the return of lockdowns, albeit years of the Open,” said Di Gregorio. that, pre-Covid-19, BT Sport “had locally for the moment. “Nothing “Technology has advanced massively already begun the process of moving immediately changes,” said Green. “We over the past months of this huge to as much remote production as we see ourselves as an extremely agile [Covid-19] challenge and it will con- could. It isn’t done just on the basis of business that is able to react to cir- tinue to play a key role.” saving money, remote production is cumstances as they change. The killing of George Floyd by a also about sustainability. We think “Let’s hope that Covid is past us in a police officer in Minneapolis at the end we’re reducing our carbon footprint.” year’s time and we are back to some of May, which gave new impetus to the Sky Sports’ Webster added: “When sense of normality in terms of how we Black Lives Matter movement, reso- football returned, we ended up pro- can operate as a broadcaster – and that nated hugely with UK sport during the ducing or broadcasting more than the world is able to get together again summer. Players in many sports “took 100 games in six weeks – the pace of and go to sporting events.” the knee”, a symbolic protest adopted production was like we’ve never expe- But, he warned, the financial conse- from the example of American football rienced before. Normally, we do quences for many sporting organisa- quarterback Colin Kaepernick protest- 100 games in half a season. tions and smaller clubs ing about police brutality in 2016. “The viewer doesn’t know that would be profound: “We need to Sports broadcasters, too, have reflec­ you’re producing remotely. You still rebuild that sporting ecosystem as ted Black Lives Matter in their coverage. have teams on site, but a lot of the soon as possible. “Sport is so visible, it’s such a big part of heavy lifting in terms of the produc- “However, that will be the same for our culture and our livelihoods, that’s it tion is done remotely. It’s been one of so many different industries, not just is not a choice – it has to happen. We the success stories, if you can call it sport and broadcasting.” n have to use our voice in sport to move that, during this period.” the conversation along and to help Football was back but crowds Report by Matthew Bell. The RTS event change attitudes,” said Webster. remained absent, draining atmosphere ‘Winners, losers and own goals: Live sport He pointed to Ebony Rainford-Brent from matches. TV’s response was to in lockdown’, was held on 24 September. It and Michael Holding’s emotional and add crowd noise to its broadcasts. was chaired by BT Sport broadcaster and powerful film about racism in cricket, “I’ll let you into a secret: we just journalist Reshmin Chowdhury, and pro- Black Cricketers Matter, which Sky Sports watched what was going on in duced by Vicky Fairclough and Dan Korn.

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 33 RTS NEWS Waterloo Road and Call the Midwife writer Lisa Holdsworth revealed

RTS Yorkshire how she has had “to check my privilege in the light of Black Lives Matter” during an illuminating inter- view for RTS Yorkshire. The Chair of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain said: “It’s very easy to think that we’re a lovely, right-on industry with no uncon- scious bias. That it’s a meri- tocracy and, whatever you do, as long as you’re writing good stuff, you’re going to get the job. It’s simply not true.” Holdsworth was discussing her career and the state of UK drama with RTS Yorkshire Chair Fiona Thompson. Her break came almost two A Discovery of Witches

decades ago, when Kay Mellor Sky asked her to write an episode of ITV drama Fat Friends, which she described as her “sink or swim moment”. Drama: improve access Holdsworth was part of the Emmerdale writing team and went on to pen many popu- couple of weeks due to the That kind of drama is sorely know but who you know.” lar dramas, including New stress and the news. Will I missing from UK television She added: “I talk to a lot of Tricks. In an episode of Mid­ get it? Will people I love get at the moment. We get it in people who call themselves somer Murders, she famously it? Will we have an industry the soaps, but even the soaps aspiring writers. I say to them, knocked off Martine to go back to?” are regularly dropping trains ‘If you finish something, you McCutcheon’s character with Discussing TV drama, she off viaducts or blowing up are a writer.’ You might not be a large wheel of cheese. said she was frustrated with pubs – I’ve been guilty of it a good one, but you’re a writer During and since lockdown, commissioners’ “obsession myself when I was [writing] because so many people Holdsworth has been scripting with high-jeopardy stakes Emmerdale.” never get past the third page Sky One drama A Discovery of – the bomb on the train, the Holdsworth said it was or buying the stationery.” Witches. “Writing has become body in the skip. “very difficult” to get your first You can watch the full easier, but it was really tough “I really miss drama that is break as a TV writer – “It’s still, interview at: bit.ly/RTSYlisa. to concentrate during the first about high emotional stakes. in this country, not what you Matthew Bell

regularly in Granada Reports’ pandemic coverage. “The Granada feeds news hunger stories we choose are the ones we think are going to Granada Reports head of has recorded no cases since time… on a story this big.” resonate with our viewers, news Lucy West and early June. “It’s a global pan- Stokes described the self- wherever they live,” said West. Isle of Man reporter demic but the Isle of Man has governing island as “bizarrely “There’s a real hunger for

RTS Isle RTS of Man Joshua Stokes threw had its own story. We’re the brilliant… for a journalist, people to understand the light on how the programme first place in the British Isles regardless of the pandemic. latest [news] coming out of is covering the coronavirus that removed social distanc- The Isle of Man, in general, is government, what the changes crisis at an RTS Isle of Man ing… It’s been a unique expe- a fantastic patch to work on”. are in terms of where they can event in early October. rience,” said Stokes, who is in The island forms just 1% of and can’t go, and when they The North West is a Covid- his first TV job. “I’m so lucky the North West’s TV audi- have to self-isolate.” 19 hot spot, but the Isle of Man to have a job here at the right ence, but it has featured Matthew Bell

34 Gripping Netflix docu- mentary Last Breath enjoyed great success at

RTS West of England the RTS West of Eng- land Awards in early Septem- ber. The feature-length film, which tells the remarkable story of a diver who survived being trapped 100 metres under the sea with only min- utes of breathable air remain- ing, scooped four awards. Last Breath, made by MetFilm Production/Floating Harbour Films, won the Documentary award, with Paul Leonard-Morgan (Com- poser), Sam Rogers (Editing) and Ben Baird (Sound) pick- ing up prizes, too. Netflix also had success with Our Planet, made by Bristol wildlife specialists Last Breath

Silverback Films, which won Netflix the Natural History and Cin- ematography awards. The comedian Deborah Frances-White hosted the Netflix docs on a roll online ceremony. Earlier, winners had been door- stepped and presented with thanks to the West of England Poldark and Broadchurch have while The Doctor Who Cook­ their RTS awards, and Centre Committee and Suzy been filmed. book: Revisited took Factual offered on-the-spot accep- Lambert, and the wonderful Emma Napper won the Entertainment and Features. tance speeches in return. Deborah Frances-White. Director prize for the Natural BBC One’s War on Plastic “It’s never been so impor- Thanks, too, to the winners History Unit’s BBC One with Hugh and Anita, made by tant to recognise and cele­ for keeping their counsel.” series Seven Worlds, One Planet. Keo Films, secured the Fac- brate the extraordinary talent The Sir Ambrose Fleming Both this and Our Planet were tual award . in this region. Although we Memorial Award for an out- narrated by the evergreen The BBC also bagged the couldn’t be together this year, standing contribution to David Attenborough. two News awards on offer. there’s no doubt we were all television in the RTS West of Doctor Who-related shows BBC Network News won the celebrating in our own way,” England area went to Bris- picked up two awards. Doctor News or Current Affairs Story said RTS West of England tol’s The Bottle Yard Studios, Who: The Macra Terror won in award for Amar, its moving Chair Lynn Barlow. “My huge where shows including the Animation category, report about a boy disfigured during a napalm attack in RTS West of England Luke David, BBC Inside Out West• Floating Harbour Films for Netflix Iraq. Luke David from BBC BBC Current Affairs West Television Awards winners Director•Emma Napper, Seven Worlds, Current Affairs West was Children’s•I Want to Change the One Planet•BBC Natural History Unit for named News or Current Sir Ambrose Fleming Memorial Award• World•Drummer TV for the British Sign BBC One The Bottle Yard Studios Language Broadcasting Trust Affairs Story Reporter of Editing•Sam Rogers, Last Breath• Short Form•Inside Out West: Student Natural History•Our Planet• MetFilm Production/Floating Harbour the year. Nurse•BBC West Silverback Films for Netflix Films for Netflix Naturalist and wildlife TV Documentary•Last Breath•MetFilm Flying Futures•Miky King•Drummer TV Grading•Blair Wallace, Earth from presenter Iolo Williams won Production/Floating Harbour Films On-screen Talent•Iolo Williams, Space•Evolutions Bristol/BBC Natural for Netflix The Watches•BBC Natural History Unit the On-screen Talent prize History Unit/Open University for BBC One Factual•War on Plastic with Hugh and for BBC Two for his work on BBC Two’s Anita•Keo Films for BBC One Animation•Doctor Who: The Macra Sound•Ben Baird, Last Breath• The Watches. Factual Entertainment and Features• Terror•Sun & Moon Studios/BBC MetFilm Production/Floating Harbour The Doctor Who Cookbook: Revisited• Studios for BBC America Films for Netflix Evolutions Bristol was the Moon Balloon Productions Cinematoraphy•Our Planet•Silverback VFX and Digital Creativity• principal sponsor of the News or Current Affairs Story• Films for Netflix BDH Creative VFX team, 8 Days: awards, which can be viewed Amar•BBC Network News Composer•Paul Leonard-Morgan, To the Moon and Back•BBC Studios at: bit.ly/RTSwe20. News or Current Affairs Reporter• Last Breath•MetFilm Production/ for BBC Two Matthew Bell

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 35 RTS NEWS

exciting new market is the under-21s. People have woken How to up to the fact that young peo- ple listen to podcasts. Every- one is trying to understand what under-21s want.” make a Turning a podcast into a TV show – as happened with US thriller Homecoming, podcast which starred Julia Roberts – “is the dream”, said Ames. “It’s something that, as a production company, we try “High production val- to do. More and more TV ues plus audience shows and movies are look- insights” provide the ing to option [podcasts].”

Northern Ireland key to a successful In podcast production, she podcast. So says the producer said, there are opportunities of the BBC’s Obsessed With… for a variety of producers, series of audio companions whose roles include logistics, for shows that include I May booking guests and studios, Destroy You, Normal People and writing scripts, recording and Line of Duty. editing. “Focus on your audience Audio engineers or sound Chalk & Blade produces a broad range of podcasts

and give them an elevated but BBC designers, who need techni- inviting, stimulating, playful cal knowledge, are also in conversation,” said Lily Ames, an RTS Futures NI event in to The Guardian and brands demand. Chalk & Blade’s head of pro- late August to Conor Finn, such as Net-a-Porter – as a “The recording has to be duction and culture. creator and host of the Finnter­ “boutique podcast produc- perfect. People need to know Ames, a Canadian who has views podcast. She described tion company”. how to use the equipment, been based in London for the Chalk & Blade – whose cli- Podcasts permit “more and master the mixing and past six years, was talking at ents extend from BBC Sounds complex storytelling”, sound design,” she said. For explained Ames. “Because audio engineers, “there’s a people are opting in, the real demand and less supply”. content is hyper-focused to The RTS Futures NI event, [a particular] demographic “Hit TV programme to binge- A lifetime in TV tech – it’s narrowcasting. With worthy podcast”, was pro- news, for example, podcasts duced by Finn and Scott Norman Green offered of Practice group. “By the are more opinionated.” Duffield. It can be viewed a personal tour through end of the first day, I knew The market for podcasts is at: bit.ly/rtsNIpod. broadcast TV tech in an I’d made a mistake – this evolving rapidly: “The most Matthew Bell

RTS London illuminating RTS Lon- wasn’t television; it was the don film released in Septem- civil service. And, as I was ber. ITV Network’s first head neither civil nor a servant, I the expertise of question of technology discussed the decided I must leave as soon RTS hosts setters from the Scotland, big developments in TV, or as possible!” he recalled. Northern Ireland and Mid- what he referred to as “the Green quickly moved to lands centres, as well as Lon- fun factory”, from the early the Independent Television first regional don and Yorkshire, to test the 1960s, when he was in ABC Companies Association as its knowledge of those brave TV’s engineering research first co-ordinating engineer, telly quiz enough to be quizzed on department at Teddington working on, among many their regional TV knowledge. Studios, to ITV in the 1990s. projects, Teletext, digital video Comedy impressionist and At ABC, Green worked on and high-definition TV. The What started as a cou- stand-up Darren Altman the problems of using colour latter led to him meeting ple of centres looking hosted the competition, film in TV and, in particular, President Mitterrand during a into holding Zoom TV during which each centre

on The Avengers. He went on demo of the new technology London and Yorkshire quizzes, blossomed presented its set of questions to develop the first computer-­ at the Élysée Palace. into a collaboration that to an online audience. controlled presentation And They Say Engineers Are became the first RTS Regions “Think You Know About switcher in Europe. Boring! was produced for RTS and Nations quiz. TV?” was held on 9 Septem- In 1972, he joined the IBA London by Philip Barnes. It Produced by RTS London ber. There are plans for a as the principal engineer in can be seen at: bit.ly/RTSLgreen. and Yorkshire, the early- Christmas edition. the Quality Control and Code Matthew Bell September event drew on Fiona Thompson

36 CNN engineer Krystel broadcasters continue to Richards was named encourage people to give it a RTS Young Technologist go and see what it can offer

RTS Awards of the Year at a special in terms of career choice,” ceremony in September. said O’Brien. Richards was on the BBC’s Jon Block, currently chief Broadcast Engineering product officer at advertising Apprenticeship scheme, company VIOOH, won the before joining WarnerMedia RTS Young Technologist of CNN Engineering as an asso- the Year 12 years ago. At the ciate broadcast-IT engineer ceremony, he said: “The as the bureau was preparing award gave me confidence. to relocate to its new IP Most importantly, it opened production facility in Old my eyes to the opportunities Street, London. in the media world.” “These uncertain times Arran Paul was announced have brought challenges but as the runner-up of the RTS the industry has adapted and Young Technologist Award, Krystel Richards pushed technology to its CNN receiving the Coffey Award limits. It is this innovation for Excellence in Technology. that makes television such Like Richards, he was on the an exciting field to work in, BBC’s Broadcast Engineering with opportunities at every Apprenticeship scheme, turn,” said Richards. Richards wins before moving to the perma- “Krystel demonstrated not nent role of location engineer. only an impressive breadth of The awards were estab- understanding of the indus- top tech prize lished by the RTS with funds try, but also showed great from the family of AM Beres- vision for both technology ford-Cooke, an engineer who and education, along with a co-presenter of the Techish “Getting people into the contributed much to the commitment to supporting podcast, hosted the cere­ engineering side of television development of British others,” said Terry Marsh, mony, which included a isn’t easy, but my world is broadcasting technology. Chair of the RTS Young speech by ITN head of field such an integral part of The awards ceremony can Technologist Award jury. operations Lucy O’Brien, a broadcasting’s balancing act be viewed at: bit.ly/RTStech. Abadesi Osunsade, member of the awards jury. that it is important that all Matthew Bell IBC Showcase highlights R&D projects

n In any other year, a Sep- rest of the year. IBC CEO Mike a live remote production that they enable our rising tide of tember without visiting the Crimp said he was excited that employed 5G networks; an video streaming services. IBC techno-fest in Amsterdam Showcase would be ‘an ongo- interactive live music talent The tech giants are mem- would be unthinkable for TV ing platform, building on the show; a process for generat- bers of the Alliance for Open technologists. This year, it was success of the opening week’. ing automated video content Media, which has funded just yet another unthinkable IBC claimed that its exhibi­ shot lists using artificial intelli- development of the royalty- departure from their routine. tors’ live presentations and gence; and new techniques for free codec. Whether AV1 can Although in-person atten- workflow tours had generated streamlining and cutting costs eventually displace the current dance at a trade-show stand some 8,000 sales leads. in animation workflows. dominant compression or conference room was Eight ground-breaking A major panel discussion on codec, H264, will depend impossible, IBC organised a research projects, involving­ the opening day of IBC Show- upon ongoing patent battles slew of online alternatives. more than 60 manufacturers case gathered speakers from over who owns the foun- Through IBC Showcase, the and broadcasters, used the Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, dational technologies of all organisation hosted virtual Showcase platform to unveil Google and Tencent to discuss video-compression techniques space for 1,000 exhibitors and proof-of-concept demos. These uptake of the next-generation – including those of AV1. dozens of live sessions. Some multi-company collaborations video compression codec AV1. Amazon principal research 20,000 visitors attended over were the fruit of the IBC2020 Codecs (short for coder-­ engineer Yueshi Sheen said at the course of four days, and Accelerators programme, decoder) are software for com- the event that AV1 would be ‘a the Showcase programme has launched earlier in the year. pressing digital data streams; key technology for 5G’. been extended through the The R&D projects included: working with bespoke hardware, Gordon Jamieson

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 37 RTS NEWS FEATURE

his month, Owen Evans celebrates three years as Chief Executive of S4C. TIt’s been “a very busy time”, says Evans, pointing to a move to a new Carmarthen HQ, a deal with the BBC to broadcast from the corpora- tion’s new Central Square base in Cardiff and improved digital services. These initiatives were all long in the planning, unlike the channel’s response to March’s coronavirus lock- down, which blew large holes in its schedules. S4C lost its live sport immedi- ately and then its soaps, Pobol y Cwm and Rownd a Rownd, which returned to screens only last month. Two rapid commissioning rounds helped to fill the gaps. S4C serves 500,000 Welsh Owen Evans

speakers in Wales and a S4C further 150,000 across the rest of the UK. “The Welsh S4C Chief Executive Owen Evans talks about embracing language isn’t just about our communities here, there’s a TikTok, supporting local indies and flying the flag for digital diaspora around the Wales’s indigenous tongue. Interview by Matthew Bell world who are keen to get Welsh [shows]. It’s very much a living language,” says Evans. “I was brought up in a Welsh town, I’ve worked Mind your language across the UK and I’ve come back to the language, like a lot of people do in later life. It’s a Department for Digital, Cul- vital for the supplier of any wouldn’t want to disrespect real privilege to be fighting ture, Media and Sport and service because you’ve got to those people who fought for for something you believe in.” led by Euryn Ogwen Wil- shore up your future audi- the channel to be set up Evans joined S4C from the liams, S4C’s first director of ence, and it’s doubly so for almost 40 years ago and are Welsh Government, where he programmes when the chan- the Welsh language because, the people watching us on had responsibility for educa- nel launched in 1982. if we’re not getting through the linear channel.” tion and public services. The “We’ve transformed our to that audience, then the Evans promises that the closest he came to a TV job linear channel will continue was working at BT for a to serve the older generation, decade, where part of his role ‘I WOULD LIKE US TO BE A BIT but it will also showcase more covered broadband strategy. challenging programmes. But he is adamant that a OF AN ENFANT TERRIBLE’ Welsh, he points out, is lack of television experience widely spoken outside rural has been no hindrance: digital footprint and are now danger of the Welsh language Wales – notably in Cardiff “Someone [in TV] said to me, on multiple platforms,” says actually dying is amplified,” and Swansea, in the UK and ‘Once you’re in the media, Evans. Youth-focused online says Evans. beyond. “As well as our you’ll never go back.’ And service Hansh, which is dis- S4C’s linear-TV service, heartland communities, we that’s been the case. I’ve tributed on platforms includ- however, faces a very differ- also have this new digital loved it and learnt so much.” ing TikTok, Facebook and ent challenge: its audience diaspora –­ it could be in Two years ago, the chan- YouTube, has seen monthly is typically older and more Cardiff or in Copenhagen nel’s digital output was criti- views grow from just 40,000 rural, with programmes to – and we need to give them cised in an independent in 2017 to 1.5 million. match. “I would like us to be the type of content that review, commissioned by the “The youth audience is a bit of an enfant terrible, but I modern urbanites, as well as

38 rural people, want to watch.” While audiences have New for the autumn on S4C: been, at best, stagnant in Anrhegion Melys Richard Holt Wales in recent years, S4C has (Richard Holt’s Sweet Treats) grown its reach across the UK via its VoD service, S4C Clic, and other digital services. Is Evans irritated by per- sisting stereotypes of the Welsh? “What do I think about the hackneyed view of Welsh people, that we turn up and sing around coal fires? Yeah, it happens – I grew up in Aberystwyth and everyone sang in the pubs there. But Wales has got so much more than coal, choirs and rugby. It’s a modern country with an outward-looking vibe to it. We have to reflect that.” Another challenge for S4C is airing shows that reflect the wide linguistic range of its viewers. “I want to welcome learn- ers to the language – there’s nothing more beautiful than someone learning God’s own language,” says Evans. “We used to ghettoise learners on Sunday morning but now we have peak-hours program- ming where the language is simplified. The language is there for all, it shouldn’t be something that divides a

nation, it should be something McCallum Kate that brings people together.” The lockdown hit Iaith ar into the sector so that [com- number, have disrupted film- face it, other broadcasters Daith (Welsh Road Trip) featured panies] could be producing ing. “It’s possible to shoot but come and go but producers five celebs, including Ruth and employing,” recalls we’ve got to ask ourselves: in Wales rely on S4C.” Jones and Adrian Chiles, trav- Evans, who is hugely grateful should we be shooting in Next up for Evans is the TV elling across Wales to learn to Wales’s indie sector for its certain places? We’ve also licence settlement for 2022 about the language with positive response. had to cancel productions at and beyond, and negotiating Welsh-speaking mentors One of the first fruits of an hour’s notice when peo- S4C’s share of the pot. The in tow. lockdown commissioning ple have tested positive,” Welsh-language broadcaster When the UK went into was a three-part drama from says Evans. is now funded entirely from lockdown in late March, S4C Keeping Faith producer Vox S4C programme budgets the licence fee, receiving just acted quickly to protect its Pictures, Cyswllt (mewn Covid) are typically a fifth of other over £80m – a drop in the local independent producers. (Connect During Covid), exam- UK national channels. This ocean compared with the “Within two or three weeks ining people’s feelings of means that it relies on good- £3.8bn the BBC receives. of lockdown, we’d already loneliness and hope. (The will from local authorities “The Welsh language isn’t pumped an extra £7m into third and final series of the and communities to film. the most commercial lan- commissioning. We realised Eve Myles drama Keeping “If you’re in an area that is guage to operate in, because that things were tough out Faith airs this autumn.) a Covid blackspot, the last of the small size of the popu- there and nothing helped Productions at many of thing you want to see is a big lation,” says Evans. mental health better than S4C’s 50-odd suppliers – TV crew turning up.” “There are a number of being able to pay the which range from one-man But S4C also has a duty to things that we do that mortgage. bands to larger indies – has protect Wales’s indigenous nobody else is going to pro- “We tried to put as many resumed, but local lockdowns, TV industry and keep pro- vide, so we’ve got to show pounds as we could back which are increasing in ductions ticking over: “Let’s the value in that.” n

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 39 RTS NEWS

An RTS Futures event at the end of Septem- ber went behind the

RTS Futures scenes at Coronation Street and Emmerdale in the company of some of the younger members of their production teams. The four panellists, who are all in the early stages of their careers, discussed their jobs on two of the country’s premier soaps. Joseph Hart switches between the roles of second and third assistant director (AD) on Emmerdale. “ADs are logistical, organisational roles, but the third AD does have a creative outlet – it’s really good fun,” he explained. “A third AD is based on the This is what the first floor… and does the back- assistant director on ground action. You tell the Emmerdale gets to do…

extras when and where to go.” ITV Second ADs work back- stage, getting actors ready for scenes and updating produc- tion logs. Soaps offer way into TV Molly Eborall started as a runner on Emmerdale after being selected for an ITV the newly created role of whose first TV job was as a Sometimes they work on assessment day. She advised: cohort manager during the runner on Hollyoaks, fulfils an stunts, which are a thrill for “Be confident but not over- coronavirus crisis: “I make administrative role, working both Hart and Jovanovic. bearing. You need to show sure everyone sticks to the on shooting schedules and “Last year, I blew up a boat,” good communication skills.” restrictions ITV has in place call sheets. “I love a good recalled Jovanovic. “I Eborall is currently a third to make filming safe. I walk spreadsheet,” she joked. shouted action, which trig- AD on Coronation Street. around with my two-metre The panellists, to a person, gered the guy to detonate the Working as an assistant stick, asking people to main- love their jobs, even though explosion. You would not director “opens doors to a tain their distance. the working day is long. believe the adrenaline rush.” few different areas”, said “My job could be helping a “Have fun along the way “Working in continuing Rachel Jovanovic, who, until director work out how, logis- – we’re not saving lives, we’re drama: Coronation Street and recently, was a first assistant tically, they can get one actor making telly,” said Hart. Emmerdale”, was held on director on Emmerdale. She to hit another actor over the Eborall added: “The people 28 September. The event was said first ADs could go on to back of the head with a kettle you work with become like hosted by Alex Wootten and work as directors, production from two metres’ distance.” family because you’re there produced by Wootten and managers and schedulers. Coronation Street production 12 hours a day. There’s a real Jude Winstanley. Jovanovic has moved to secretary Georgina Anderton, buzz from being on set.” Matthew Bell

put it into practice. He added: “There’s no point in Covid-19: a safe return to work having a policy if it’s not being adhered to.” An RTS Northern Ire- said employment lawyer Millar McCall Wylie, said Mitchell also looked at the land workshop offered David Mitchell at the Septem- health and safety policies consequences arising from advice from Belfast law ber event. Employers have a would probably need to be the finish of the Coronavirus

Northern Ireland firm Millar McCall duty to ensure “the health, updated “to take account of all Job Retention Scheme at the Wylie on returning to work safety and welfare of all their the measures that need to be end of this month. It is being safely after the production employees… and ensure [they] put in place for coronavirus”. replaced by the Job Support lull caused by Covid-19. are not exposed to any risks Employers may need to Scheme, which will run until Compliance with health to their health or safety”. implement a separate Covid- the end of April next year. and safety legislation is key, Abbie Long, a partner at 19 policy, said Mitchell – and Matthew Bell

40 The Generation Game: Throughout, there is little Can the BBC win consensus on what the BBC over today’s young needs to do to get the young audience? Edited on side. What is clear, how- by Michael Wilson ever, is that, for decades, and Neil Fowler, broadcasters have thought published by long and hard about how to Bite-Sized Books, persuade young people to priced £7.99. use their services. ISBN: 979-8665954899 In pre-pandemic days, many of them were out hav- This engaging book is, ing a good time, too busy to to say the least, timely. stay in and watch TV. If Tim Davie can Yet, even then, provided

Book review squeeze a copy into his commissioners came up backpack, he will find much with the right shows, teens to stimulate and inform him. and twentysomethings A wide range of writers offer would make the time to Fleabag their views on what could be BBC watch them. As Greg Dyke a defining issue of his tenure might have said: “It’s the as Director-General. content, stupid.” Many of those who have In an era of peak TV, the written essays for The Genera­ under-35s have unpreceden­ tion Game will be familiar to Talkin’ ’bout ted choice – but certain Television readers. The RTS’s shows, effectively marketed, own Graeme Thompson and still break through. Tim Hartley, and regular my generation Perhaps the corporation contributor Marcus Ryder, should ignore calls to reboot are represented here among BBC Three as a linear chan- 21 well-chosen writers such as Blue Peter’s Sarah young teenagers to a teacher nel and focus instead on embracing media journalists, Greene and Peter Purves. in her late twenties. Some seeking out and commis- broadcasters, programme- Arguably, most of interest say the BBC is old-fashioned. sioning must-watch content makers, politicians and are the views of young peo- Some call the licence fee that catches the imagination academics. ple themselves, expressed in good value. Others say it is of millennials and their Their remarks are juxta- eight vox pops. Their com- too expensive. I suspect that younger siblings. They’ve posed with some choice ments are short – but they when 19-year-old student already made a promising sound bites, notably from are the audience that the Phoebe Powers from Wigan start, as shows such as Flea­ Nicky Morgan, briefly Boris BBC needs to have on its side says “the BBC feels formal bag, Normal People and I May Johnson’s Secretary of State for it to continue to thrive. and serious”, she is echoing Destroy You have shown. at the DCMS, and presenters Their ages range from many of her generation. Steve Clarke

the creators re-edited the first For You on reaching its 30th month, he returned to the studio episode late into the night to anniversary on 28 September. for the first time since March to The include Donald Trump’s positive Four days later, it was good to present The Martin Lewis Money test for coronavirus. see Hislop, Merton and co back Show Live. UPSIDE If a weekly fix ofSpitting in the studio – though separated His tips on how to get the Image isn’t enough to keep from one another by Perspex best deals on savings, mort- audiences amused, then Brit- screens, with an extremely gages and insurance products All hail our beloved Box has assembled 14 Best of socially distanced audience. have never been so valuable as Spitting Image compilations to The show was vastly more they are now and provide a real puppet masters binge on – an impossible dream atmospheric than earlier this public service for viewers. Welcome back Spitting Image, in the pre-digital 1980s, when year, when it was forced to Another number cruncher absent from our screens for far the show first aired. broadcast from panellists’ homes. playing an invaluable role during too long. Let’s hope that the the pandemic is the ubiquitous new incarnation of the puppet Tim Harford. His More or Less pranksters, a coup for BritBox, Plastic sets make Consumer advice programme on Radio 4 is can match the heights of the it feel more real and vital statistics required listening for those of shows that lampooned figures us struggling to make sense of of the Thatcher-Reagan era. Staying with satire, the Upside It is good to have financial guru our daily dose of coronavirus-­ Early signs are encouraging as congratulates Have I Got News Martin Lewis back on ITV. Last related statistics.

Television www.rts.org.uk October 2020 41 RTS PATRONS RTS Principal BBC Channel 4 ITV Sky Patrons

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

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