V1 last updated by LL 19.02.21 BBC Radio Commissioning Brief_v1.1_2021 01 19

CONTENTS

SECTION A: RADIO 4 and DRAMA ...... 3 SECTION B: COMMISSIONING OPPORTUNITIES ...... 8 SECTION C: COMMISSIONING TIMETABLE ...... 15 SECTION D: COMMISSIONING PROCESS ...... 16 STAGE 1: SHORT PROPOSAL ...... 16 STAGE 2: FULL PROPOSAL ...... 17 STAGE 3: CONDITIONAL COMMISSION AWARDED ...... 20

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SECTION A: RADIO 4 and DRAMA

Introduction Mohit Bakaya, Controller

Another year, another commissioning round.

Except, of course, it is not really like any other year.

We go into this round in the midst of a global pandemic that has caused 100,000 deaths, dramatically altered our everyday lives and is forcing us to question many of our assumptions about the modern world and the way our society should work. Hopefully, by the time the ideas you pitch to us land in the schedule, we will be beyond the earth-shaking intensity of the virus but we will still be feeling the aftershocks.

Then there is the very different, but some might argue equally disruptive (in relation to our democracy at least), impact of social media. It’s a forum that can, when all the voices are put together, sound like an angry, attention-seeking child, dishing out truths and falsehoods in equal measure, without any guide to indicate clearly which is which. This infant has upended our democratic debate and poisoned the well of truth. It enables parallel communities to thrive where evidence matters less than feeling, where belonging to a tribe of true believers is more important than engaging constructively with naysayers.

And then there is climate change. The biggest challenge of our time.

It is into this uncertain landscape that your programmes will be broadcast, and it is this environment you should be mindful of when thinking up your ideas.

The first and most important thing we will have to get to grips with is, of course, what this seismic shock has done to us all. People have lost loved ones, livelihoods, friendships, routines, their sense of how the world works. They will still be dealing with the challenges brought on by months of lockdown, as well as illness and bereavement. Our collective mental health has been under severe strain. The generations have simultaneously been placed at odds with each other and brought closer together. Think hard about the communities and groups most affected by Covid: the elderly, the poor, those wrestling with long term health conditions. In these groups no life has remained untouched. We are a nation changed.

How do we capture that in a clever, original way? Crucially, how will your ideas complement what Radio 4 will be doing through its live and regular output next year? After a year when we have all gone through a collective trauma, finding different ways to explore the aftermath is going to be a challenge.

An equally big challenge is how can we take the audience beyond the misery of the pandemic? After over a year of unrelenting grimness, they will need a break.

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What are the dramas, comedies, documentaries and podcasts the audience will need in 2022/23?

How can we bring the audience together more, so their understanding of the plight of others improves and the unequal impact of Covid is properly felt? Where, as a result of staring so intensely at one story, has our collective gaze not fallen? How can we delight, engage and transport our audience after such a gruelling year? What is brewing out there that we might be able to smell but not yet hear or see? What are the dots that need joining up for the audience to identify the major trends waiting just around the corner?

These are some of the questions I’d love you to explore.

Also, this far out from when programmes will land, what big statements can we make? Can we set the agenda on the issues that will matter most to the audience but aren’t yet apparent? Are there issues that are best explored through comedy or drama? Is there a big literary work that gets underneath our culture today, maybe one from the last 50 years?

Through all of this there are two things that will continue to matter for our audience: truth and wonder.

We have a commitment to truth. It runs through all our programmes and podcasts. I’m talking about the truth implicit in a brilliant piece of political satire, a line of poetry or the plight of a character in the afternoon drama, as much as the truth revealed by an investigative documentary, exploratory interview or brilliant storytelling podcast.

This commitment is more important now than at any time in Radio 4’s fifty year history. I believe we have an absolutely vital role to play in supporting and developing civic well-being and critical thinking. Like social media, Radio 4 is a space where people come together - but to what end? I think we have a role in providing a nuanced, impartial, more evidence based conversation; supplying more light, less heat. More provoking of thought, less stirring up of rage, or (and this is as bad) complacent reaffirmation of strongly held views. We can think through to truth in a civil way.

Our democracy relies on evidence based knowledge, on context and history, on clear analysis and calling out untruths. It requires us to understand the lives, experiences and beliefs of people different to us and to voice our differences through informed, respectful debate.

If people are to make informed decisions at the ballot box and be engaged citizens, Radio 4 has an enabling role to play. That is not just with our existing audience but also those who don’t yet listen to our stuff but could and would … as long as it arrives in a form that works for them. So we need to keep thinking about ways to reach beyond our base, find people where they are with our content so that they, too, have access to all the brilliant thinking and enquiry that we have built our reputation on.

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I want Radio 4 to up its intellectual ambition. And I want us to broaden the range of people we hear from, so that we feel relevant in every corner of these islands.

We also have a commitment to wonder. People need intelligent delight. They want to be transported at a time when travel is hard. They want to feel close to the lives and experiences of others, whilst possibly still having to observe a physical distance. Things will ease over time but we will not be left unaffected. Radio can help with the post-Covid world. We can bring people closer and supply the joy, laughter and escape that have been so scarce in recent months.

I also want us to keep exploring new treatments for our classic genres: arts, drama, comedy, factual. We need to focus more on HOW we tell our stories, how we play with the form to surprise and delight, so we can reach a new audience in BBC Sounds and in the schedule. We’d like you to think about nifty new ways to reach an audience not brought up on speech radio, so that Radio 4 can build on its unparalleled success in Sounds. The mashing up of genres – entertainment with knowledge, drama with documentary – might be worth considering. How can truth and wonder come together to take us to new destinations?

You are our spies in the world. It is your knowledge, experience, contacts and insights that will help us get into the stories that will create compelling audio for our audience – existing and potential. That means we need our supplier base to better reflect and represent the nation we broadcast to, both in terms of make-up and of the questions it asks and the territory it explores.

We must not make lazy assumptions about who the audience is and what matters most to them. We cannot focus only on the issues, preoccupations and lives of some communities, at the expense of others. We must represent the whole country. So we will up our commitment to diversity, in every sense of the word: class, race, religion, gender, disability, region, political perspective. And we will buy programmes from suppliers across the whole UK in the hope that this broadens the scope of the lives we reflect and the stories we tell.

We want ideas that tell us important truths about the world around us, ideas that are clever in conceit so that they can engage new audiences, ideas that create awe and wonder, ideas that reflect the actual country we live in, not just the one we see in the mirror.

Finally, I know this has been a gruelling year. You have all done amazingly. You have made programmes, in incredibly challenging circumstances, to provide the audience with essential companionship as well keep them informed and entertained. And the audience feedback has been extraordinary. On their behalf, thank you.

I understand that working up new ideas for a commissioning round may feel like the last thing you want to do right now, especially as we had to postpone parts of the last round to take pressure off suppliers in the first lockdown and have only recently issued some results. However, the commissioning round is an important creative moment in the Radio 4 calendar. It allows all suppliers to stand together on a level

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playing field, as we fire the starting gun, setting off a contest which culminates in brilliant dramas, comedies, podcasts and documentaries delighting millions of people.

Millions …. It’s worth remembering that, I think. You can make programmes for so many outfits now and it is great that the market for speech audio is growing fast. However, nowhere else will you reach so many people across the UK. Your programmes on Radio 4 affect and influence the national conversation in ways that no other broadcaster does. Your comedies raise more laughs, your dramas move more hearts, your podcasts and documentaries stimulate more brain cells and, as a result, play a crucial part in our functioning democracy. If you care about that, Radio 4 is the place to try to shore up the values we believe in.

And this is not just linear radio. Radio 4 is the biggest network in BBC Sounds, as well as performing incredibly strongly on other platforms. 15 out of the top 20 on- demand shows in 2020 in BBC Sounds were documentaries, dramas, comedies and podcasts commissioned by Radio 4, made by you. If you genuinely want a new audience, listening digitally, to hear what you do, we are the station to make that happen.

Please help us build this bridge between truth and wonder so that the audience have a vantage point from which to make sense of the turbulent world we live in. I cannot think of a time when they’ve needed us more.

Mohit Bakaya Controller, BBC Radio 4 & Radio 4 Extra

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Drama on Radio 4

Alison Hindell, Drama Commissioning Editor

First of all, I’d like to thank you for your heroic efforts in this last difficult year. You and your teams, and particularly your recording engineers and sound designers, have had to reinvent your whole working process and it is astonishing that so few balls have been dropped in the process. Not just that, but you have achieved such fine productions that most listeners would not be able to identify whether something has been recorded remotely or not and the results have been, in the main, astounding.

It is odd to be writing this brief without having seen any of you in person since the start of last year’s round. Our carefully designed drama schedule inevitably fell apart in the light of an unforeseen global pandemic and It’s fair to say that filling that schedule for much of this year has been a high-wire act. It is difficult right now to anticipate what conditions we will be living in, in the UK or globally, in the next few years, but here’s hoping that by 2022 we will be much nearer a kind of normality from which you – and we – can plan.

But one thing is certain: we will still want the best drama and stories to help us make sense of the human condition and to alleviate and divert from the darker side of reality. We could all do with more joy and escapism, as well as gritty and challenging tales, and your dramas help provide diversion and visits to other worlds and lives.

The post-Covid world is an unknown landscape and we need writers and storytellers to help guide us through and make sense of a new world order, be it through contemporary or future-facing original writing or surprising reinventions of timely classics. And the audio drama landscape has changed, too: the BBC is no longer the sole provider, which means more choice for listeners and more opportunities for you, but also means we all have to compete more loudly and strongly to be heard. We want to hear your best, boldest, most exciting and freshest ideas.

Alison

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SECTION B: COMMISSIONING OPPORTUNITIES

Who is eligible to offer proposals?

We invite proposals from all BBC departments and from independent companies who can demonstrate considerable experience in radio/audio or TV drama production at both producer and executive producer level. We are eager to welcome new production talent into the world of Radio 4. If a producer has not made programmes for us before, include their track record in the full synopsis field of your full proposal.

How do I submit an idea?

The commissioning process is all explained in Section D of this document. We hope we have explained everything clearly. If you have further questions, contact the Commissioning Co-ordinator, Sharon Terry [email protected]. But read Section D first!

Short proposals

The first stage is a short proposal of no more than 250 words.

Your short proposal should convey the essence of the idea: a very brief summary of the plot, an idea of why you are excited about it and why it matters. It is important to give an indication of the tone and genre and to know where your piece is set. Stating what you think is obvious is helpful here, as is making clear the impact and ambition of the project. Don’t be coy or teasing: lack of clarity is one easy route to a rejection.

It will not be possible for you to submit full proposals without having gone through this first stage, so it is worth spending time on getting it right.

Podcasts

BBC Sounds is the home for Radio 4 podcasts including original drama series which are co-commissioned with Rhian Roberts, the Digital & Podcasts commissioner. Most of our podcast dramas will originate through the 28’ Drama slot which is not open in this round. If you have an idea which you are convinced is distinctive enough to cut through as a podcast, offer it through the 57’ Saturday slot and state in your short proposal that it is designed as a podcast. Say this again if you are invited to make a full proposal. But the bar is high and we need to be convinced that it is a very special idea. Numbers of titles commissioned here will be in single figures and therefore we are capping this at no more than one offer per supplier.

Price

In view of the significant rise in tariffs for 2021/22, the guide prices this year will remain at that level. However, the prices shown at the top of each commissioning brief are guide prices: if you can deliver a programme below the guide price, please enter this figure in the ‘Price per Episode’ field in the Proteus form.

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Likewise, if you foresee exceptionally pricey elements in your production, please indicate that at the full proposal stage. If you don’t mention price, we will assume you are offering the drama at guide price.

Over the full slate of offers we will need to balance more expensive projects with ones that come in under the guide price.

We do not need to know the price at the short proposal stage.

Co-production

Radio 4 continues to be very interested in exploring co-production opportunities in drama (and other genres). The level of co-production money that we secure will increase the overall amount of drama that we are able to commission.

To that end, we welcome proposals that have potential co-production deals attached. If you have a significant in-principle commitment from a would-be partner (such as a podcast distributor or other broadcaster or publisher), while remaining subject to Radio 4‘s editorial priorities and stipulations, this is likely to raise your chances. If this applies to your idea, please indicate that in your short proposal and again in your full proposal if the idea gets through to the second stage.

Capping

The competition for commissions will be even tougher this year. Other than in one or two exceptional instances, we won’t be capping numbers of proposals but we will cull ruthlessly at the short offers stage. So to save yourselves and your writers too much disappointment, we ask you to propose a streamlined number of offers. Focus your time and effort on ideas that reflect the content of these guidelines and are stories you think the audience will really want to hear.

Which slots are open in this round?

In this round we are commissioning ideas for the 57’ Saturday and 57’ Sunday dramas only.

Brief number 47080 57’ Saturday Drama Brief number 47112 57’ Sunday Drama

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Commissioning Brief no. 47080 57’ Saturday Drama

Schedule slot Saturday 15.00

Number of programmes 12 maximum available

Transmission period April 2022 - March 2023

Duration (including announcements) 57’

Price per episode £25,000

Commissioning Round 2022/2023 Round 5

Editorial opportunity

This slot remains the home for 12 of the best and most inventive writers to create statement pieces about the contemporary world as they imagine it may be by 2022. I would point you to the station priorities and themes laid out in the introduction to this document as a good place to start for ideas that can be spun into exciting, important stories.

The shockwaves of a global pandemic have affected almost every aspect of life and, although we have a limited appetite for explicitly post-covid plays, there is no doubt that there will be new circumstances to navigate. And of course we also welcome inspiration from areas we have not yet thought of.

A range of tone, genre and style will be welcome, as well as under-represented voices, attitudes and geographical locations. Playing with form, as well as simply playing, will also be of interest, as will ideas inspired by – or provoking – questions of controversy.

A 57’ play is, in effect, a whole act longer than a 44’ play and stories here will be correspondingly complex, subtle and multi-layered, with three-dimensional and psychologically-developed characters. The quality of the writing itself is also important. Think boldly, come at themes tangentially and in an unexpected way. Ask difficult questions and maybe pose imaginative solutions. Most of all, tell us edge-of- the-seat, can’t-move-till-it’s-over stories.

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As mentioned, despite our best-laid scheduling plans, this slot has not yet bedded in to its monthly rhythm but we hope that will start to become clearer, if production gets a bit more straightforward over coming months. The intention is to schedule these plays once a month, but there is room for flexibility for the right, ambitious two- or three-parter. We are capping this at no more than one multi-part idea per supplier.

We will be looking for a broad range of writers but this is not the space for beginners. Nor do we want adaptations of stage plays (performed or otherwise), historical stories or dramatisations from other sources. We want wholly original audio writing about the contemporary world. Contemporary here means 2022 and beyond.

To date, this slot has included, among others, the debut musical by Roland Gift; a role-reversed examination of the gender divide (Dan Rebellato); a comedy about nuclear fusion (Marcy Kahan); a drama about twinhood, families and the impact of covid on care homes (David Eldridge); a modern fable about identity and sanity (Ed Thomas); and a meditation on the invisibility of older women (Rachel Joyce).

Please note, there are only 12 commissions available. This will be a toughly- competed slot and we do not advise that you enter multiple ideas.

Full proposal to include

If you are invited to submit a full proposal, please include a breakdown of the theme, the story and the main characters, plus the reasons why you and your writer think this idea is exciting for 2022/23.

You should also explain why you think this proposal responds to the outline above as distinct from a single 44’play. What is it that makes it right for a more substantial slot?

If you are suggesting high profile casting, indicate the level of commitment from those individuals. Do they know about it? Are they interested? Or just on your wish list?

We’d also like to know what it will sound like: structure, style, pace, use of sound and music - the aural landscape and artistry.

Please discuss a realistic delivery date with your writer: because this is a monthly slot, there will be little flexibility once the schedule has been confirmed. We will, therefore, need some plays that can be broadcast in the first few months of 2022/23.

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Commissioning Brief no. 47112 57’ Sunday Drama

Schedule slot Sunday 15.00

Number of programmes 40 maximum (i.e. approximately 20 available commissions)

Transmission period April 2022 - March 2023

Duration (including announcements) 57’

Price per episode £25,000

Commissioning Round 2022/2023 Round 5

Editorial opportunity

The Sunday drama epitomises Radio 4’s ‘bridge between truth and wonder’. It is the home of entrancing story-telling that shows us who we are and who we can be. It is the place for thought-provoking works of imagination, conjuring other lives creatively, using art to evoke empathy and to take us out of ourselves to a place of joy, hope, escape and entertainment. Not to mention for the sake of the love of literature itself.

It is almost exclusively the home of dramatisations: classic writing, literary fiction and occasionally non-fiction, and intelligent genre fiction with something to say in response to the priorities of the network.

Where the Saturday dramas are about the present and the future, these Sunday dramas are mainly works from the past that speak to universal human themes, with the added frisson of specific resonances with the ‘now’. For example, this year we have broadcast a new dramatization of Dostoevsky’s Devils. Commissioned as a vision of radicalised young men disseminating terror and plotting revolution, it also happens to be set in a community stricken with the fear of an outbreak of cholera, which suddenly made it all the more resonant.

But this slot is not just about the established canon: we are more than 20 years into the 21st century and more recent works with traction and title-recognition are welcome, too.

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Some or all of the following themes may be of interest but please don’t try and submit ideas under every one of them: 40 slots breaks down to available commissions for approximately 20 titles in total.

• Stories and voices from under-represented communities throughout the UK – including production teams and producers as well as writers and cast members.

• Core classics treated with respect – or reinvented with irreverence. And international classics that will be discoveries for most of our listeners.

• We’ve seen a massive social change in working patterns and environments over the last year. Workplaces are often the setting or backdrop for fiction and I’d be interested in a literary tour of the changing world of work in the 20th century.

• 2022 sees the 70th anniversary of the coronation and the start of the New Elizabethan Age, an era of hope and new beginnings. Are there titles from the 1950s that capture some of this optimistic energy?

• Post-colonial titles, or titles to revisit in a post-colonial light.

• Feel-good literary fiction telling stories of triumph over adversity, or just with a happy ending.

• Historical literary fiction and retellings of big, pertinent stories from history.

• Narrative poetry and stage-plays that break into two parts. Works of non-fiction.

• Who is the next writer that we think we know, or may have forgotten, but who is ripe for rediscovery across several of their titles?

• We also welcome wild cards ….

Above all, we want good plots, identifiable characters and a compelling audio world that listeners can’t switch off, with a range of light and shade to choose from.

What to avoid?

The 1920s titles that we have broadcast under the Electric Decade banner have been much appreciated and we will leave that decade alone for a while now. The knock-on of schedule changes this year means we will still not be looking for Thomas Hardy or other rural Victorians; we are also planning a big season of D.H.Lawrence, and a small number of Latin American titles, and are well-covered for Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and Modernism.

Crime as a genre is not high on our list unless illuminating some of the broader priorities of the network.

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Full proposal to include

If you are invited to submit a full proposal, please include:

• an episode-by-episode synopsis summary, • an outline of the main characters (especially if it’s a small cast format), • an indication as to what you plan to do with it, • why you and your writer are excited by this idea.

Your personal passion for a project will help it stand out from the crowd, but you also need to explain why you think the listener will be equally excited.

As with the Saturday Drama, we’d also like to know what it will sound like. Is it faithful to the original or is it a radical reinvention? What will be the structure, style, pace, use of sound and music - the aural experience for the listener?

Please send a copy of the book with the proposal unless we have specifically said otherwise at the pitching conversation.

An indication of whether rights are available in principle is also crucial.

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SECTION C: COMMISSIONING TIMETABLE

Stage Dates Activities Commissioning Mid February Publish commissioning brief documentation briefs published and open round in Proteus.

Webinar 23 February The commissioning team brief programme briefing makers by zoom.

1. Short 12:00 noon Deadline for short proposals in Proteus. proposal Late submissions cannot be accepted. Thursday 25 March If you have questions that you need answered before submitting short proposals, send them to the commissioning co- ordinator well before the deadline. Week Commissioners shortlist proposals and notify commencing producers of outcomes. Full proposals 19 April requested from those proceeding to next stage. 2. Full proposal Week Opportunity to discuss re-requested short commencing proposals (by phone or zoom) prior to 26 April submitting full proposals. to week commencing 17 May 12:00 noon Deadline for full proposals in Proteus. Thursday Late submissions cannot be accepted. 20 May 3. Conditional Late July Drama results released. commission Commissions offered, subject to contract. awarded Editorial specifications and price agreed.

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SECTION D: COMMISSIONING PROCESS

We hope this section explains the process clearly. If you have further questions, contact the Commissioning Co-ordinator Sharon Terry [email protected]. But read this section first!

Everything in this commissioning round is open to competition. There is no formal eligibility questionnaire. If you are registered on the BBC supplier database it is assumed that you satisfy the basic eligibility requirements. If you are not registered but would like to be, contact [email protected].

We invite proposals from BBC departments and independent companies who can demonstrate considerable experience in radio/audio or TV drama production at both producer and executive producer level. If you have not produced programmes for Radio 4, please include your track record in the full synopsis field of your full proposal.

STAGE 1: SHORT PROPOSAL

Complete your short proposal in Proteus. Please ensure in good time that as a registered supplier you have access to Proteus. Don’t leave it until the deadline. The Proteus team can help with any issues [email protected]. Observe the cap on numbers where this is applied. If the cap says a maximum 10 proposals per supplier, we will only be able to read your first 10.

Fewer, stronger ideas are more likely to get through. In slots where each commission is for multiple episodes, the number of commissions will be far fewer than the number of individual programmes available.

We welcome proposals from suppliers who wish to group together in a partnership, as long as this is made clear in the proposal. Where there is a cap on proposals, the suppliers joining together may combine their cap allowance (e.g. if the cap is five and two companies offer in partnership, they may submit 10). Each joint proposal should be entered only once.

All proposals must be submitted by the deadline in Proteus: 2022-2023 Round 5.

The following must be entered for each short proposal:

Title (of your proposal, not the slot) NB: Titles of proposals filter down to programme titles and are public facing so please ensure you use Title Case. It is fine to use w/t for working titles.

Commissioning Brief number This number is at the top of each commissioning brief. Enter each proposal in once only. If we consider it suitable for another slot, we will transfer it.

Delivery date Enter an estimated delivery date e.g. 01/09/2022.

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Price per episode This will default to the guide price, unless you say otherwise. If you think the price will be different, enter this in the ‘Price per Episode £’ field. We will not consider bids above the guide price unless the editorial idea clearly justifies it. Although submitting a lower price may help your chances of a commission, the editorial proposition is always paramount.

Number of episodes State the intended number of episodes.

Duration The total allotted airtime per episode, including continuity announcements and credits, for example 14’ or 28’ (not 15’ or 30’).

Short synopsis: This is where you sell your idea at this stage. Maximum 250 words.

If you prepare proposals offline to paste into Proteus, keep the format simple: bold, underline and italic only. Proteus will remove other formatting, including bulleted and numbered points, as well as converting your font to the equivalent of Arial size 11. To prevent corruption issues, use the Proteus “T” icon pasting tool located just above the text field box to paste into Proteus. Once in the synopsis field you may need to rearrange your paragraphs and subtitles.

Full synopsis: Do not enter anything in this field at this stage.

Short proposals are evaluated by the commissioning team who shortlist those which they wish to see as full proposals.

We release the results in Proteus. Proposals will show as ‘Rejected’ or ‘Re- requested’. Re-requested means the idea has been shortlisted to go to the full proposal stage. We regret that we cannot give feedback on rejected short proposals.

STAGE 2: FULL PROPOSAL

If you reach the next stage, you will be invited to discuss your shortlisted ideas with a member of the commissioning team, by phone or zoom. We will not discuss ideas that have not already been submitted as short proposals.

If a proposal is re-requested in Proteus, do not re-create it from scratch. Just edit it to reflect the requirements of the full proposal and then re-submit it.

While it is possible at this stage to submit fresh offers which have not been discussed, experience shows that few ideas that were not offered as short proposals get commissioned.

All proposals must be submitted by the deadline in Proteus: 2022-2023 Round 5.

The following must be entered for each full proposal:

Title If your idea is commissioned you must not later change this title without the written agreement of the commissioning editor. Titles of proposals filter down to

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programme titles and are public facing so please ensure you use Title Case. It is fine to use w/t for working titles.

Commissioning Brief number Submit each proposal once only. If we think it suitable for another slot, we will transfer it.

Delivery Date (linked to anniversary / event dates where relevant). This information is important and will be used when scheduling a commissioned programme.

Price per episode This will default to the guide price, unless you say otherwise. If you think the price will be different, enter this in the ‘Price per Episode £’ field.

We will not consider bids above the guide unless the editorial idea clearly justifies it.

Producer Include CV in full synopsis field if the producer is new to Radio 4.

Executive Producer Include CV in full synopsis field if the executive is new to us.

Number of episodes State the number of episodes.

Duration The total allotted airtime per episode, including continuity announcements and credits, for example 14’ or 28’ (not 15’ or 30’).

Short synopsis For the final proposal this must be under 50 words. Its purpose is to convey the essence of the idea and enable us to find it quickly in our records. Think of it as a fledgling Radio Times billing.

Full synopsis This is where you sell your idea. It must not exceed 2 x A4 pages of size 11 type.

If you prepare proposals offline to paste into Proteus, keep the format simple: bold, underline and italic only. Proteus will remove other formatting, including bulleted and numbered points, as well as converting your font to the equivalent of Arial size 11.

To prevent corruption issues, use the Proteus “T” icon pasting tool located just above the text field box to paste into Proteus. Once in the synopsis field you may need to rearrange your paragraphs and subtitles.

Supporting material When we publish the results of Stage 1 we will advise you on how to deliver any materials (published books, audio, scripts etc) in support of your proposal. We do not require any supporting material with short proposals.

Key talent Any intended writer/abridger/performer/presenter etc. should be shown in the full synopsis. You do not have to secure talent agreement before submitting an offer but you should let us know the degree to which named talent has expressed an interest in the project or has intellectual ownership of it.

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Appendices

After setting out your idea, please add the following appendices in the full synopsis field (in addition to your 2 page allowance):

Appendix A Confirmation of acceptance of the key BBC contract terms:http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/25pj6s2n6N9yVjxgbXThbNW /agreements-contracts

Appendix B Risk management: identify any specific risks and the processes or systems that will be put in place to manage these.

If you have any questions that you need answered before you submit your full proposal please contact one of the commissioning co-ordinators well before the submissions deadline.

If you make a mistake

If you submit a proposal in error do not create a duplicate. Contact the commissioning co-ordinator before the deadline. They can return it to you for editing.

Digital commissioning

Beyond the standard metadata and possible clip requirements, we do not require any extra digital deliverables to be offered for these commissions.

The digital commissioning editor will look at the slate of commissions along with the genre commissioning editors and assess the potential for any additional digital content, and whether it merits additional funding. The programme maker will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the capacity and ability to do so.

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital-first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Evaluation

We evaluate all full proposals against the editorial brief and commission those which most successfully fulfil the brief and contribute to the most varied, original and balanced schedule for the Radio 4 audience.

The following people will evaluate your proposal:

Mohit Bakaya, Controller Alison Hindell, Drama Commissioning Editor

Other members of Radio 4 management (e.g. finance, scheduling, digital, editorial standards) may be consulted.

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Commissioning decisions will be communicated in Proteus. Brief feedback for rejected proposals will be given there.

At any stage of the process, we may need to come back to you to seek clarification. Your answers will be factored into the evaluation process as appropriate.

STAGE 3: CONDITIONAL COMMISSION AWARDED

Confirmation of all commissions is conditional on the issues listed below. Radio 4 is not responsible for any costs incurred prior to full agreement. There will be important information included in the feedback field in Proteus which will not be communicated through other means so it is vital that you take time to read this, make notes and share with colleagues.

Price

Each conditional commission will be made with a fixed price offer judged as value for money by the commissioning, finance and business teams. Most will be at the published guide price but we reserve the right to negotiate an alternative price if we believe it appropriate. If our price is accepted in writing by an independent company there will be no need to submit a detailed budget. Contracts will be issued immediately.

If you wish to challenge the offer made, a detailed budget in Proteus will be requested and scrutinised by our finance and business teams with the aim of reaching agreement. Conditional acceptance may be withdrawn if agreement is not reached within a reasonable period.

Rights

Radio 4 requires an appropriate set of rights dependent on the type of programme. This will vary only in exceptional circumstances. The guide price is based on buying the standard set of rights for that programme. If fewer rights are bought, the price may be reduced.

Radio 4 will welcome proposals with co-production funding.

Schedule and delivery dates

Each proposal should include your ideal delivery date although our conditional acceptance will not necessarily be able to reflect this date. We are unlikely to issue precise transmission dates for programmes not pegged to a particular anniversary or season but will give the calendar quarter in which we intend to place them. If you cannot deliver to meet the given transmission quarter, notify Amanda Benson (Schedule Planning Manager) within 14 days of results publication. Precise delivery dates will be confirmed well before the start of each calendar quarter.

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Editorial

A conditional acceptance might have specific editorial conditions attached to it, e.g. that a particular presenter or actor is available. Fulfilment of them must be confirmed before the commission is finalised and before you start work. If they turn out to be unavailable we may accept a substitute but this must be agreed with the commissioning team.

Compliance and BBC Editorial Guidelines

You will be required to deliver programmes in line with BBC Editorial Guidelines and be able to adapt to changing BBC editorial and business needs during the period of the commission.

Proposals must be submitted in accordance with instructions and information contained in this document and on the commissioning website (via links below). Proposals not complying may be rejected by Radio 4, whose decision will be final.

The BBC reserves the right at any time prior to award of a commission, and without incurring any liability to the affected suppliers, to accept or to reject any proposal, or to annul the commissioning process, rejecting all full proposals.

By submitting your proposal, you confirm acceptance of the key contract terms.

Please refer to this important information supporting your proposal: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1zfTRpfbKBQCTD7ptzDwSlz/full-proposal- submission-supporting-information

More information relating to all commissioning briefs and rounds can be found on the Pitching Ideas page of the Radio Commissioning Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4fC4NcVXqkZntJv8ZHpClD8/pitching- ideas

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