Commissioning Brief Spring 2020 FACTUAL Proposals for Specific Ideas

RADIO COMMISSIONING FRAMEWORK

Commissioning Brief Spring 2020 FACTUAL Proposals for specific ideas

Production of factual programmes

Commissions mainly for broadcast from April 2021 to March 2022

Proteus 2021-2022 Round 1

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 1 of 37 CONTENTS

SECTION A: ABOUT RADIO 4 ...... 3

SECTION B: TIMETABLE ...... 4

SECTION C: THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS ...... 5

STAGE 1: SHORT PROPOSAL ...... 5 STAGE 2: FULL PROPOSAL ...... 6 STAGE 3: CONDITIONAL COMMISSION ...... 9

SECTION D: EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITIES ...... 11

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 2 of 37 SECTION A: ABOUT RADIO 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 is unique in the breadth and quality of its informative, educational and entertaining programming. Every day, on air and online, Radio 4 has more original content than any other broadcaster in the world. Its authoritative news and current affairs journalism is complemented by programmes exploring many areas, including science, the arts, history, religion, ideas, drama and comedy, offered through regular strands, one-off programmes, series, podcasts and special seasons. Its intellectual curiosity and ambition need to be greater than ever in these uncertain times.

The rapidly changing political and media landscape means that the need for properly researched, evidence based journalism, the holding to account of power, wherever it resides, is vitally important to our democracy. We believe that offering people joy and wonder, and a common space to share experience in a fragmented culture, are also essential to our role.

Each week, Radio 4 reaches around 10.5 million people. We are always seeking to evolve and innovate in order to best serve our established audience and attract a new generation of listeners, as well as reflect more comprehensively the whole of the UK and the people living within it. We aim to be a trusted guide to the wider world and the forces shaping our future.

Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

BBC Sounds offers us a brilliant opportunity to reach an audience that may not yet have the Radio 4 habit, or, in some cases, even own a radio. There is already an avid and growing online Radio 4 audience. In 2019 there was an average of 14.7 million monthly UK downloads of Radio 4 programmes and podcasts; and an additional 10.2 million monthly downloads outside the UK.

All Radio 4 programmes appear on BBC Sounds and we will also continue to commission content which is either digital-first or digital-only (though, increasingly, we hope our content will work on both platforms). We have had amazing success here with Intrigue: Tunnel 29, The Ratline, The Whisperer in Darkness, You’re Dead to Me and many other commissions. We also know that flagship Radio 4 programmes, like The Archers, The News Quiz, In Our Time and Desert Island Discs, are extremely popular on Sounds.

If you have an idea that you think will further help Radio 4 broaden its reach, we want to see it. It will always need to have the Radio 4 hallmarks of quality and intelligence, but we are also looking for really innovative, ground-breaking ideas as we seek to introduce a new audience to the delights of Radio 4. Think what you can do with Radio 4 that you can’t do anywhere else!

Mohit Bakaya Controller, Radio 4 & Radio 4 Extra

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 3 of 37 SECTION B: TIMETABLE

The commissioning process has three stages, as set out in the timetable below.

Stage Dates Activities Commissioning Late January Publish commissioning brief documentation and briefs published open round in Proteus. Launch briefings The commissioning team brief programme makers

LONDON Mon 27th Jan SALFORD Tues 28th Jan GLASGOW Weds 29th Jan CARDIFF Tues 4th Feb

Deadline for short proposals in Proteus. 1. Short proposal 12:00 Weds 26th Feb Late submissions cannot be accepted.

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 requested 23rd March from those proceeding to next stage. 2. Full proposal Week Opportunity to discuss re-requested short commencing proposals prior to submitting full proposals. th 30 March This may be by phone rather than face to face. to Week commencing 4th May 12:00 Deadline for full proposals in Proteus. Weds 6th May Late submissions cannot be accepted.

3. Commission Late July Commissioning decision made, subject to awarded contract. Editorial specifications and price agreed.

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 4 of 37 SECTION C: THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS

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 radiocommissioningenquiries@bbc.co.uk.

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

STAGE 1: SHORT PROPOSAL

Step 1

Complete your short proposal in Proteus. NB. Please ensure that as a registered supplier you have access to Proteus. Don’t leave it until the deadline. [email protected] can help with any issues.

Observe the cap on numbers where this is applied. If the cap says a maximum 10 proposals per supplier, we will only 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 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 5 and two companies offer in partnership, they may submit 10). Each joint proposal should be entered only once.

All short proposals must be submitted in Proteus by the Stage 1 deadline.

PROPOSALS FOR FACTUAL AND ARTS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IN PROTEUS: 2021-2022 ROUND 1

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.

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 5 of 37 Commissioning Brief number: This number is at the top of each commissioning brief. Enter each proposal in one schedule slot only. If we consider it suitable for another slot, we will transfer it.

Delivery date: Enter an estimated delivery date e.g. 01/09/2021.

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

We will not consider bids above the guide price unless the editorial proposition 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 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 in Stage 1. 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.

Step 2 Short proposals are evaluated by the commissioning team who shortlist those which they wish to see as full proposals.

Step 3 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 Step 1 If you reach the next stage, you will be invited to discuss your shortlisted ideas with a member of the commissioning team. This may by phone rather than face to face. We will not discuss ideas that have not been submitted as short proposals.

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 6 of 37 Step 2

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

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

All full proposals must be delivered in Proteus by the Stage 2 deadline.

PROPOSALS FOR FACTUAL AND ARTS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IN PROTEUS: 2021-2022 ROUND 1

The following must be entered for each full proposal:

Title: If your idea is commissioned you must not change this title without the written agreement of the commissioning editor. 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: Submit each proposal in one slot 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 stipulate otherwise. If you think the price will be different, you can enter this in the ‘Price per Episode £’ field.

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

Executive Producer: Include CV in full synopsis if the executive is new to Radio 4.

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.

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 7 of 37 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.

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.

Appendices After setting out your idea, please add the following appendices in the full synopsis field (these are 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 ensure you send them to the relevant commissioning co-ordinator well before the submissions deadline.

If you make a mistake…

If you submit a proposal in error do not create a duplicate proposal. Please contact the relevant commissioning co-ordinator before the offers deadline and 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.

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 8 of 37 Step 3 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, Radio 4 The relevant commissioning editor(s) Other members of Radio 4 management (e.g. station management, finance, scheduling) may also be consulted.

Step 4 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

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 disseminate to colleagues where necessary.

Price

Each conditional commission will be made with a fixed price offer that has been judged as value for money by the Commissioning, Finance and Business Affairs 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, however, you wish to challenge the offer made, a detailed budget in Proteus will be requested and scrutinised by our Finance and Business Affairs teams with the aim of reaching agreement.

Conditional acceptance may be withdrawn if agreement on price 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 quoted on the commissioning brief is based on buying the standard set of rights for

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 9 of 37 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.

Editorial

A conditional acceptance might have specific editorial conditions attached to it, e.g. that a particular actor is available. Fulfilment of them must be confirmed before the commission is finalised and before you start work.

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

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 10 of 37 SECTION D: EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITIES

Commissioning Editor Richard Knight Commissioning Executive Kirsten Lass Commissioning Co-ordinator Jacqueline Clarke [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

Before I introduce the briefs, I’ll briefly introduce myself.

I’ve come to Radio 4 from the BBC’s Radio Current Affairs department where I was an editor. I worked on things like Profile, Tunnel 29, The Inquiry, Fatwa, My Indian Life, The Corrections and many other programmes. Before all that I worked in daily news.

I have consistently tried to encourage editorial and creative risk-taking in pursuit of programmes which feel contemporary, relevant and create impact.

Lots of you are doing that too and I’m looking forward to developing programmes with you which feel like they belong in Radio 4’s future. I hope we can have an honest, supportive and creative relationship so that we can work together to get your strongest ideas and best talent on air.

Our job is to ensure Radio 4 continues to be the gold standard of factual broadcasting; explaining - with rigour and clarity - how we got here and where we're going.

We have the space to provide the kind of deeper journalism and fuller understanding that allows us not just to ask questions but to answer them; not just to diagnose problems but to look for ways to fix them. That role feels more important than ever.

I want us to have the confidence to tackle the biggest and most difficult stories – ambitious agenda-setting journalism with the potential to echo around the world. That might mean going after a smaller number of larger targets or working in collaboration with other trusted news organisations.

We are also a place for delight, beauty, wit and hope. Factual output does not all have to be hard work. Perhaps none of it should be. (I love programmes which wear their seriousness of purpose lightly or wittily but without intellectual compromise.) And I would like to find more stories which bring joy and optimism to our audience. There are plenty out there.

I hope you’ll think hard about who your idea is for and why you think that audience might want or need it. We have to compete for our listeners’ attention and that means being clear about your offer to them.

We will always cherish the perfect one-off documentary – they are essential to the success of the Network – but we also need to look for opportunities for impact and scale. I will look for ways to prioritise (through funding, attention – which might mean my working more closely with production teams – and promotion) some projects

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 11 of 37 which have the ambition and potential to get everyone talking about them. If you have one of those, please tell us.

The slots and their prices - even the schedule itself - are a default framework within which most of what we do will sit. But not everything. We will sometimes break the rules for the right project.

Radio has been “disrupted” (sorry to use that irritating word) and we need to relish the challenge and be ready to do things differently to meet it.

As the incumbents we could view change with fear or complacency – or we could be having the time of our professional lives, working with new producers and techniques. I want you to help us embrace the opportunities the changing audio landscape is creating.

That means listening to and learning from the most original of the new audio storytellers while preserving our best traditions of quality, expertise and intelligence. I want us to make programmes which work on Radio 4 and have the potential to be really popular on BBC Sounds, too. We need your help to make Radio 4's factual community an open, accessible and creative one; a place where new production talent can feel at home. That's a challenge to us, as commissioners, but also to you, our suppliers, because we want you to bring those people to us.

We need to reflect the whole of the UK and all parts of society. That means working harder than ever to make sure our audiences encounter those they might not otherwise meet - and to take Radio 4 to places no-one expects us to go. It means paying a lot of attention to who tells your stories: the voice.

And just as we have to continue to diversify the range of voices we hear, the production teams behind them and the experiences we record – we should also widen the range of people whose thinking we take seriously.

Let’s not rely on a familiar 'ideas establishment' or wait for others to validate someone’s views before we judge them ready for Radio 4. I would like us to give a platform to exciting new thinkers, deserving of the exposure, before others do.

Please remember that we're here to tell stories – even when we're explaining, analysing or investigating. Stories are how people make sense of the world and - this is important! - they are also what make people listen to the radio. In other words: treatment is as important as subject.

Finally: I know developing great ideas takes a lot of hard work – so thank you for directing your creative energy at Radio 4 and good luck.

Rich Knight

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 12 of 37 FAQS APPLYING TO ALL FACTUAL SLOTS

HOW TO WRITE SHORT AND FULL PROPOSALS

Short proposals:

We have to read thousands of offers. So it's a good idea to grab us in the first line. (If your offer is badly written, dull or unclear we will probably assume the programme you're pitching will be too.) What we really need to know - in 250 carefully-chosen words - is this:

 Subject – what’s the story  Relevance – why does it matter  Treatment – how are you going to tell it  Voice – who will we hear (and why them)

Full proposals:

If you're invited to write a full offer you've hit on territory we agree is worth exploring and convinced us your approach could work. We will hopefully have discussed it at a pitching meeting. So what we really need to know now is this:

 That you've addressed any questions we've raised  Treatment - in detail. What will we hear?  More detail on presentation/voice – who and why  Who the programme is for and why you think they want or need it  That you're in a position to deliver what you're promising (be ambitious, of course, but realistic)  Confirmation of key production personnel - producer, exec – and their relevant experience or expertise

SO WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH DIGITAL?

We want to encourage bold digital ambition. If you have an idea for a project which you think could achieve strong impact in the digital space - either as a podcast or in some other way - we would love to hear about it. We’re looking for offers which are digital by nature rather than digital afterthoughts. Our digital commissioning editor and factual commissioning editor will work together to identify any such projects they want to support. Note that we will only be able to get behind a limited number of big digital projects in any one year.

IS THERE A BATCH SYSTEM THIS TIME?

Yes. There's more information within Long Form Documentary guidance and a separate document which explains how to bid for one.

CAN YOU GIVE US SOME HELPFUL DOS AND DON'TS?

 Tell us original, compelling factual stories - things that have actually happened or are happening

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 13 of 37

 Challenge the audience’s view of the world

 Inform our audience with clarity and rigour

 Find compelling people as presenters and contributors

 Tell us why your idea is best told as a story in sound

 Be the first to explain fascinating new thinking and trends to our audience.

 Think how you might use the slots to build bridges between people, find solutions and promote understanding

 Tell important historical stories which have new contemporary relevance

 Revise history when new perspectives, thinking, or facts come to light

 Ask questions no one else is asking

 Bring voices that we rarely hear to the audience’s attention

 Hold the powerful to account – taking a broad view of where power lies

. Reveal in the public interest what others would prefer to hide

. Take risks with storytelling as well as subject matter

DON’T

 Pitch an idea that it is not, at heart, best told as an audio documentary

 Offer an idea that could (and therefore probably should) be made as an item on one of our many existing news and magazine strands

 Offer anything until you have a clear idea about why there needs to be a documentary or series about the subject you are seeking to explore

 Simply reinforce the majority view of the world

 Describe a general area of concern or interest - or make an observation anyone else might make - without also telling us your brilliantly counter- intuitive or illuminating angle

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 14 of 37 The following briefs are open in Proteus Round 1 2021-2022:

Brief no. 47209 Brief name: Long Form Documentary

Brief no. 47194 Brief name: Multi-part Documentary Series

Brief no. 47006 Brief name: 14’ Feature

Brief no. 47088 Brief name: Archive on 4

Brief no. 47169 Brief name: Narrative History

Brief no. 47040 Brief name: Wednesday Interviews

Brief no. 47004 Brief name: New Formats

Brief no. 47210 Brief name: World Service/Radio 4 Narrative Podcast

Brief no. 47114 Brief name: Poetry

Brief no. 47165 Brief name: Arts Features

Brief no. 47132 Brief name: Special Events & Seasons

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 15 of 37

Commissioning Brief no. 47209 Brief name: Long Form Documentary

Duration 28’ and 37’ (including announcements)

Schedule slot Various days, 16.00, 13.30, 11.00, 20.00

Transmission period April 2021 - March 2022

Guide price per episode £9,300 for a 28’ programme £12,000 for 37’

Commissioning Round 2021/2022 Round 1

CAP: No more than FIFTEEN ideas per supplier, please, unless you are seeking a batch (in which case, see separate batch brief for a guide to how many ideas we expect you to submit at this stage).

Editorial Opportunity

We will primarily take single documentary ideas here, though some series may be included. Most multi-part documentary series should be submitted separately under BRIEF 47194.

 The genres we intend to cover here include:

CURRENT AFFAIRS INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS POLITICS HISTORY SCIENCE RELIGION NATURAL HISTORY HEALTH AND HOW WE LIVE

 We welcome ideas which sit somewhere in the overlap between these genres.

IMPORTANT: First read FAQS APPLYING TO ALL FACTUAL SLOTS, page 13.

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 16 of 37

Further guidance

 Radio 4 is and will continue to be a champion of outstanding single documentaries. We want your very best ideas for programmes which will inform and delight our audience.

 Ask yourself: is a long-form documentary the best expression of your idea (rather than some other treatment) and the kind of thing you won't hear on an existing strand (eg Crossing Continents or Analysis)? The answer to both questions needs to be "yes".

 We want stories here – revelatory accounts of things that have happened or are happening which we should understand better – but we also need outstanding original analysis: tell us about the hidden trends shaping our future before others have spotted them.

 The subject of your programme needs to be original, rigorous and it needs to matter to a national audience. But identifying such an area will never be enough. There's a pretty good chance someone else will have spotted the same gap.

 So you need to explain how you will tell your story in a way which will pull the listener in from the start, and leave them unable to turn away till the end.

 What are you offering the listener in return for their time? It could be understanding, clarity, delight, escape, news they can use or one of a number of other things. But you should be clear about what it is.

 If your programme requires a presenter (most will) please tell us who you think that should be, whether they have been approached and whether they have been involved in the formulation of the idea.

 Authored, thesis-driven programmes are welcome.

 If you're pitching a history programme, please remember that history is almost always fascinating and it can be hard to distinguish between two proposals unless there are other reasons given for revisiting - and perhaps revising - a story now.

 Please indicate whether you are pitching for a 28’ or 37’ slot. However, be aware there are fewer 37’ slots available (the slot is occupied for some of the year by File on 4) and we will use them primarily to run investigative documentaries and more complex stories which require the space. Recent examples of programmes we have run here include The Boy in the Video, A Guide to Disagreeing Better and A Bright Yellow Light.

 Beware anniversary pegs. They are rarely sufficient in their own right.

 Radio 4 reserves the right to commission individual ideas and to schedule them alongside work from other suppliers.

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Batches

We will award batches of long form documentaries to a small number of suppliers whom we judge to have the capacity, agility and editorial oversight required to supply programmes (28’ and 37’ slots) throughout the year which respond to the changing world around us.

The batch relationship provides a way to work collaboratively on our more reactive programmes – programmes which could not be pitched now, this far ahead of transmission, because of their topicality.

These documentaries could cover the full range of factual genres – history, politics, science, current affairs, religion, big ideas and natural history.

It’s important to understand that the batch relationship exists for a specific purpose. Suppliers outside the batch are not less valued by Radio 4. We are leaving a number of slots outside the batch.

We will continue to commission all other slots in the standard way to ensure that we can continue to work with a large and diverse range of suppliers.

That said: our ability to reflect a fast-changing world is essential to the success of Radio 4 and we look forward to working closely with our batch suppliers to ensure we are in a position to do that.

Batches will be awarded for two years. We will initially contract for one year. We will confirm the number and price for year two in due course.

For information on how to bid for a batch, see the separate document RADIO 4 COMMISSIONING BRIEF SPRING 2020 FACTUAL - proposals for batches.

World Service co-commissioning

We will commission around 15 long-form documentaries in collaboration with our colleagues at BBC World Service. These programmes will be funded above slot price in order to make more extensive travel or higher editorial ambition feasible. Winning ideas here will clearly need to serve both domestic and international audiences and - stylistically - feel at home on both networks (while offering something new and exciting to both). They will also need to be supplied at two durations. Be careful to avoid offering ideas which feel like they could (and therefore should) be editions of Crossing Continents/Assignment.

Please make it clear in your offer if you think your idea might work as a Radio 4/WS co-commission.

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Commissioning Brief no. 47194 Brief name: Multi-part Documentary Series

Duration 28’ (including announcements)

Schedule slot 11.00

Transmission period April 2021 - March 2022

Guide price per episode £7,200

Commissioning Round 2021/2022 Round 1

Cap: No more than FIVE series per supplier, please

Editorial Opportunity

This is the place for detailed analytical projects of enquiry. Tell us about the forces shaping our world before they reach the news agenda. Tell us in a manner which is compelling, digestible and definitive. Recent examples of programmes we have run here include The Secret History of Science and Religion, Rethinking Representation and The Corrections.

IMPORTANT: First read FAQS APPLYING TO ALL FACTUAL SLOTS, page 13.

Further Guidance:

 We are looking for original - but not necessarily investigative - journalism. This is an opportunity to explore a deep question. It could be about something that pops up in the news every day - but goes unexamined in depth - or a theme which is hidden just below the surface.

 We welcome original thinking here - not just in terms of analysis, but in how you present that analysis. We are looking for intellectual and creative ambition. The best of these programmes will be surprising, unexpected and counter-intuitive. They will change the way listeners see the world.

 They do not all have to tackle geopolitics or social ills (though we can't ignore them). You might choose instead to focus on more subtle (even benign) forces at work in the world.

 Stories can be local or global, big picture or close-up and forensic. But we will always want stylish production and clarity.

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 Your contributors should probably be leaders in their fields. Your presenter might have specific expertise but they must have a talent for simplifying complexity for a general audience and a broadcast voice which is easy to absorb and hard to ignore.

 Where the series is big enough we may want to explore the possibility of a book spin-off. Where a pre-existing book deal is involved, this MUST be flagged in the proposal.

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Commissioning Brief no. 47006 Brief Name: 14’ Feature

Duration 14’ (including announcements)

Schedule slot Various days, 09.30, 13:45, 20.45

Transmission period April 2021- March 2022

Guide price per episode £3,600 (or £2,800 for ‘talks’)

Commissioning Round 2021/2022 Round 1

Editorial Opportunity

Our short-form slots are important to Radio 4 as a place for high-impact episodic storytelling (like Tunnel 29 and Breakdown), ambitious formatted series which work at scale, like Green Originals, and punchy podcast-friendly offers which feel right at this duration, like Naturebang.

We will commission all short form docs under this brief and run them at various slots in the schedule (though we will preserve the 13:45 slots primarily for serialised storytelling stripped across one or two weeks.)

Subjects can be anything that falls under ‘Factual’.

Please don’t submit big multi-part Narrative History ideas here. They are being commissioned separately.

IMPORTANT: First read FAQS APPLYING TO ALL FACTUAL SLOTS, page 13.

Further guidance

 All programmes commissioned here will have a clear logic for why they are best told episodically and at this duration.

 We are looking for series which use the serialised short-form format to pursue analysis or argument in a clever and original way. These slots have been home to some brilliantly innovative ideas and we are very keen to find more. In other words: we are not only looking for serialised storytelling here! But … … we are also looking for compelling episodic factual storytelling with the potential to deliver a hit podcast and find significant success in BBC Sounds. We will continue to put some of these stories under our Intrigue brand –

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 21 of 37 which was home to Tunnel 29 and The Ratline - but others will stand alone.

 You will need to demonstrate that you understand how to structure a great story and that your offer has the components required to deliver one.

 Please think really hard about the voice in which your story will be told. What tone, style or personality will pull listeners in? What is the role of your presenter - if you have one - and what is their relationship to the story? Tell us about the producer too. Do they have a track record in delivering great storytelling?

 Avoid ideas or treatments which feel derivative. There’s a great deal of innovation happening – it’s an exciting time – and we would much rather Radio 4 was leading than following.

 We will identify some projects with very strong podcast potential for additional funding and promotion. These projects will work both as box-sets designed for digital binge-listening, and as linear programmes broadcast daily.

 We will expect to work more closely with the producers of the small number of these projects we select as our highest priorities than is usually the case.

 To avoid confusion: although we plan to co-commission a major narrative serial with the BBC World Service – see separate brief – we will also commission story-led series in this brief which will become significant Radio 4 priorities.

 We do take a number of one-off 14’ ideas – they have to fit the short duration and be able to stand alone. (You can offer series of such short programmes which can be run together or apart; these could be features, mini-formats or interviews.)

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Commissioning Brief no. 47088 Brief name: Archive on 4

Duration 57’ (including announcements)

Schedule slot Sat 20.02

Transmission period April 2020 - March 2021

Guide price per episode £9,000

Commissioning Round 2020/2021 Round 1

CAP: No more than FIVE ideas per supplier, please

Editorial Opportunity

Story is key here. The best Archive on 4s deploy analysis, argument, wit, revisionism, new interviews and authorship along with compelling archive material.

IMPORTANT: First read FAQS APPLYING TO ALL FACTUAL SLOTS, page 13.

Further guidance

 The authority, charisma and energy of the presenter are all vital to the success of programmes in this slot. The presenter needs to actively engage with the archive and do more than simply link clip A to clip B.

 One of the challenges for those making programmes in the Archive on 4 slot is to tell stories that can sustain for an hour. Proposals should set out how the idea justifies a 57’ origination, with enough twists and turns to keep the listener engaged.

 Don’t forget this goes out on Saturday night. Programmes should seek to entertain and engage, as well as inform and educate.

 Programmes can include new interviews, where appropriate, but the slot is not funded or designed to feature a large amount of new material. You are also allowed out of the studio on occasion!

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 23 of 37  Too many offers come in where the bulk of archive available is written, rather than broadcast archive.

 New archive coming to light is rarely, in itself, sufficient reason to make a programme. Offers should demonstrate both the story you want to tell, and why that story is best told through audio archive.

 Archive sources beyond the BBC’s have worked well. Indeed, some of these are better suited to providing longer inserts than much of the BBC News material.

 There will always be a place for simpler programmes that just make use of fantastic archive without much else besides, but the archive needs to be just that – fantastic.

 In the past, we have had too many anniversary pegged programmes that move gently, but rather predictably, through their story, offering few new insights. If you are submitting an anniversary pegged proposal, do say how you might introduce surprise or challenge expectations.

 When choosing the presenter, do think carefully about how his/her voice would contrast with the type of archive that will dominate the hour.

 Be mindful of the cumulative effect of an hour of very old archive. It can make listening hard work.

 Please indicate whether the presenter has been involved in the development of the proposal.

NB: Where the programme is comprised of clips of archive recordings or pre- recorded material, details of ownership and availability of rights should (if possible) be provided. If no preliminary enquiries have been made, this should be stated. As far as entire or complete programmes are concerned (i.e. where we would normally expect to take a licence to broadcast), details of availability of broadcast rights, ownership and price per broadcast must be provided.

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Commissioning Brief no. 47169 Brief name: Narrative History

Duration 14’ (including announcements)

Schedule slot Mon – Fri 13.45

Transmission period April 2021 - March 2022

Guide price per episode £3,600

Commissioning Round 2021/2022 Round 1

Editorial Opportunity

Narrative History has established itself as a high-impact slot on Radio 4. It is where we explore some of our most ambitious history ideas, such as Tales from the Lobby, Encounters with Victoria and Equal As We Are.

We are only inviting BIG Narrative History ideas here - ideas with enough ambition to justify scale.

Other 14’ programmes will considered under the 14’ Feature brief.

IMPORTANT: First read FAQS APPLYING TO ALL FACTUAL SLOTS, page 13.

Further guidance

 Narrative History is one of the key ways the station defines its ambition for the year. So ideas need to be big, bold, imaginative and agenda-setting.

 Narrative History ideas will be at least 10 episodes long and tackle big subjects demanding that level of exploration and exposition. It is the opportunity to construct chronological, thematic or other narratives from these brilliant building blocks that makes this slot both challenging and exciting.

 These series require a truly great presenter - someone with the authority and charm to compel listeners to want to spend a great deal of time with them. Voice, in other words, really matters here; we need a presenter who gently pulls listeners into the narrative with them, rather than pushes them away. We know it when we hear it. And we need to hear it here.

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 25 of 37  We also need rigour. So we will need to be confident that you are bringing genuine expertise to the project. Let us know if you are using an adviser or consultant.

 Drama-documentary would work well here and we will be keen to discuss collaborations between drama makers and journalists to get at real-life stories with accuracy, authenticity and emotional insight. If you are interested, please flag in your short proposal (we can then help with brokering cross-discipline partnerships if necessary). In order to avoid over-development at this stage, we are capping proposals for drama-documentaries to ONE per supplier. Proposals will be co-commissioned by the drama and factual commissioners.

 We would expect an indicative outline of how the series might work across a number of weeks. Please also state digital ambitions, where appropriate.

 With long lead-ins, ideas must stand the test of time and not date too quickly.

 Where the series is big enough we may want to explore the possibility of a book spin-off. Where a pre-existing book deal is involved, this MUST be flagged up in the proposal.

 Please indicate whether the presenter has been approached. If they are high profile it might be worth waiting until we express interest in them and the idea.

 We are keen to commission a few big ideas that achieve economies of scale and are offered at lower than guide price.

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Commissioning Brief no. 47040 Brief name: Wednesday Interviews

Duration 43' (including announcements)

Schedule slot Wed 20.02 (rpt Sat 22.15)

Transmission period April 2021 - March 2022

Guide price per episode £4,200

Commissioning Round 2021/2022 Round 1

Editorial Opportunity

The scope and price of this slot has changed. It is home to The Moral Maze for 26 weeks of the year and had been home to ‘Wednesday Debates’.

Now we are looking for new interview formats which can reconcile the lower the slot price with our ambition.

IMPORTANT: See FAQS APPLYING TO ALL FACTUAL SLOTS, page 13.

Further guidance

We are looking to place two different types of interview formats here:

 Programmes which – like The Spark, which we have run in this slot - interrogate important new thinking in a manner which is both forensic and entertaining over the long duration.

 Programmes which offer illuminating emotional interviewing – revealing compelling personal stories which speak to a larger issue. That could be exposing a period of crisis, a difficult decision, a moment of revelation or something else – but it must help us to understand our world or a news event better, while giving us a powerful personal story.

 We would love to encounter interviewees here who are usually under our radar – either because that’s where they prefer to be (avoiding attention and scrutiny) or because they are living on the margins of modern Britain

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 27 of 37  We are open-minded about how you try to meet this brief – whether you want to include an audience, record at events, find a creative approach to sourcing questions, or whether it’s simply a brilliant choice of interviewer, subject and structure – but your idea must be deliverable at the slot price.

 Where a format is proposed and it is not possible to look forward to issues relevant in 2021/2022, it would be useful to include an indication of the subjects that would be covered were this series to be broadcast in the next few months.

 Think about how you can use this space to challenge deeply held opinions and narratives; to use a fashionable phrase - bring us some cognitive diversity.

 While ideas for one-off debates - which may need to be funded at a higher price - are still welcome here, keep in mind that we are much more likely to commission any such debate on a reactive basis, closer to the point of transmission.

It’s possible that some ideas submitted here will be fast-tracked and their suppliers invited to bring them to air well before 2021/2022.

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Commissioning Brief no. 47004 Brief name: New Formats

Duration 28' (including announcements)

Schedule slot 09:00

Transmission period April 2021 - March 2022

Guide price per episode £8,000

Commissioning Round 2021/2022 Round 1

Cap: No more than TWO format ideas per supplier please

Editorial Opportunity

We always have one eye open for an irresistible, entertaining and potentially enduring format which could sit happily alongside some of our best-known titles.

IMPORTANT: See FAQS APPLYING TO ALL FACTUAL SLOTS, page 13.

Further guidance

It sounds simple (after all, Desert Island Discs is pretty simple) but – as anyone who’s tried could tell you – it’s far from easy to find a new format which feels like it could run, as Desert Island Discs has, for many decades.

We would be excited to see proposals from suppliers who think they have the magic formula of format, purpose and presenter required to create a new title with the potential to become a permanent fixture in our schedule.

(Note that if you supply a returning series which is usually submitted under this brief we will need a Proteus offer in order to re-commission it.)

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Commissioning Brief no. 47210 Brief name: World Service/Radio 4 Narrative Podcast

Duration Podcast duration is flexible (including announcements)

Schedule slot TBD

Transmission period January 2021 - March 2022

Guide price per episode Approx. £10,000

Commissioning Round 2021/2022 Round 1

CAP: No more than ONE idea per supplier, please

Editorial Opportunity

BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4 are working together to create a really exciting editorial opportunity: a serialised narrative podcast which will be a major priority for both networks in 2021.

Our hope is that in joining forces we can help the winning supplier to deliver a highly ambitious series which creates global impact and that tells a story relating to climate change.

WS and R4 are running the commissioning process for this brief in tandem but the decision-making timeline will match that of other briefs in this Radio 4 commissioning round. However we reserve the right to accelerate our decision-making for the right project.

Offers for this brief will be evaluated by Richard Knight (Commissioning Editor, Factual, Radio 4) and Jon Manel (Commissioning Editor, Podcasts, WS) in collaboration with colleagues at both networks.

The winning series will be podcast-first but will also get a linear placing.

Further guidance

 We are looking for an original, irresistible and wildly compelling story. It could be narrow or expansive; life-and-death or beautifully subtle. But whatever kind of you story of you offer it has to relate (somehow) to climate change.

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 To be clear: we are not looking for analysis or discussion. We are looking for a story which is – to borrow a made-up word from publishing – unputdownable.

 You will have to convince us that your story has the ingredients required to be a global hit AND that you know how to create one.

 We are looking for a podcast which creates its own unique feel. Proposals which are based on other podcasts are unlikely to be successful – we are looking for a podcast like no other.

 You will be able to demonstrate why your proposal is a podcast series and not a radio series and how it will stand out among the thousands of other podcasts that already exist. Creating a narrative podcast that works successfully over ten or more episodes is difficult. We will need to be convinced that there’s a narrative arc over the whole series, as well as within each episode.

 You will have firm ideas, which will be clear in your proposal, about who this podcast is for. This podcast must have ambitions to meet the audience goals of BOTH networks. Radio 4’s goals are explained elsewhere in these guidelines. The WSE podcast strategy is to become one of the most successful podcast-makers - in an extremely competitive market - reaching audiences which are underserved by the BBC and by podcasting. BBC World Service podcasts are seeking to reach new audiences around the world, particularly younger listeners, and in countries where podcasting is still nascent.

 You will probably have identified a story consultant/story editor to help you.

 You will persuade us that the project has the right executive oversight, the perfect voice and approach to presentation and – this is at least as important – the right producer. In other words: we will need to have complete confidence in your team, as well as your idea.

 We will expect more detail at full offer stage than would normally be the case.

 WS and R4 commissioners will expect to have greater editorial oversight of this project than usual. Our purpose isn’t to meddle irritatingly. It’s to create a usefully creative collaboration between the production team and both networks.

 Please consider how you might get listeners involved and make them feel part of a community around your podcast.

 This isn’t essential but, if successful, would your idea have any potential for a second season?

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Commissioning Brief no. 47114 Brief name: Poetry

Duration 28’ (including announcements)

Schedule slot Sunday 16.30 (rpt Sat 23:30)

Transmission period April 2021 - March 2022

Guide price per episode £7,000

Commissioning Round 2021/2022 Round 1

Poetry on Radio 4 should be imaginative and fearless, arresting and beautiful. Our task is not only to put poetry on the network but through poetry to see the world in distinctive and memorable ways.

We commission the most exciting poets writing and performing today. We have recently championed pamphlets and early collections by Kaveh Akhbar, Anthony Anaxagoru, Mary Jean Chan, Zaffar Kunial, Kim Moore, Holly Pester, Sophie Sparham and Danez Smith, as well as work by more established poets such as Simon Armitage, Fiona Benson, Liz Berry, John Burnside, Carol Ann Duffy, Liz Lochhead and Andrew McMillan.

We would like to do more of this.

We would also like to develop new ways of involving the audience through request (Poetry Please), mutual recommendation (William Sieghart’s Poetry Pharmacy) and live performance (Contains Strong Language).

Collaborations are encouraged: e.g. poets working with scientists, musicians, visual artists, sound designers, theatre makers. We’d like the best producers to be at their most playful and imaginative.

They may be programmes of poetry or programmes about poetry, from the most ancient to the not-yet-published. They may focus on a school of poetry, a single poet, a single poem, a single metaphor.

We have broadcast some beautiful single programmes recently but these can get lost in the schedules and so we will also be looking for new ideas that group four to six programmes under a common theme. What might those themes be?

We need to ensure that our coverage is varied and inclusive. It needs to be both local and international, whether through programmes like the three series of dialect

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 32 of 37 poetry we have broadcast from around the United Kingdom in Tongue and Talk or the global poetry in translation series Mother Tongue. What can we do to follow these initiatives?

If poets are, in Shelley’s phrase “the unacknowledged legislators of the world”, then we also want to continue to explore the intersection of poetry and politics (Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic), poetry in performance (Power Lines) and poetry in society (Have you heard George’s Podcast?)

Poetry on Radio 4 should offer us new ways of seeing life, illuminate the everyday and deepen our emotional and intellectual response to the world.

Bring us the best of it.

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Commissioning Brief no. 47165 Brief Name: Arts Features

NB: We are not commissioning batches in this round.

Duration 28’ (including announcements)

Schedule slot Mon 16:00, Tues / Thurs 11:30

Transmission period April 2021 - March 2022

Guide price per episode £7,000

Commissioning Round 2021/2022 Round 1

We are looking for ideas for individual programmes and for series that engage with art of all kinds to reflect and enlighten the age in which we live, the past we have known and the future that lies before us.

We are looking for fresh stories, told in surprising ways, that don’t repeat what is already reviewed on Radio 4 or in the arts coverage of the newspapers. Slip in through the side door. Tell us something we don’t know in a way we haven’t been expecting. Bring us art from surprising places, whether extremely local or ambitiously international.

In responding to a fast changing world, we want to be reactive and fleet of foot. Ask yourself: ‘Why do we need to tell this story now? Is it vital? Is it urgent?’

What is really happening now in music, the visual arts, theatre, film, storytelling, gaming, literature, poetry and in the heads of creative people all over the world?

This is not to say there is no longer a place for programmes that address big anniversaries or explore the meaning for us today of great art from the past. There is.

But we want treats, surprises and big names. Accessibility and intelligence are not mutually exclusive. Think of Roderick Williams’s Choral History of Britain or Clarke Peters’s Black Music in Britain. Please continue to suggest landmark ideas that combine a comprehensive intelligence with audacity and impact. And programmes that dissolve the boundaries between linear and digital.

Version 1 21.01.2020 LL 34 of 37 The arts should offer shared intimacy and the thrill of discovery. They should be fun, daring, life-enhancing, filled with curiosity and risk. That’s the kind of programme we invite you to make.

We have to ask: “How can we bring something thrillingly original to the station and make it sing on Radio 4?”

The arts have to earn their audience. Who are you making this programme for? Here is Hilary Mantel in Giving up the Ghost: “Trust your reader, stop spoon-feeding your reader, stop patronising your reader, give your reader credit for being as smart as you at least…”

Arts programmes on Radio 4 are not for a niche audience. They are for everyone who comes to the station seeking content that inspires and delights, stretching the boundaries of mind and heart.

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Commissioning Brief no. 47132 Brief name: Special Events & Seasons

Transmission period April 2021 - March 2022

Commissioning Round 2021/2022 Round 1

Proposals for special events and seasons are assessed by the whole commissioning team, working together.

Editorial Opportunity

A Special Event or Season is a proposal on a single theme which crosses strands or day parts. The impact will be different and distinctive from the rest of the station’s schedule. A sense of occasion or celebration may be created.

Proposals may span a variety of commissioning briefs and their coherence becomes obvious only when the various parts are assembled.

Sometimes, small, carefully constructed clusters of programmes might be commissioned in their entirety from one supplier. More often, Radio 4 will scope out the scale and scheduling of a season.

Ideas that help evolve the perception of Radio 4 and challenge lazy assumptions are welcome here.

Therefore, ideas for Special Events that get past the short proposal stage should be discussed with commissioning editors before you do any work on the detail.

We can be over-reliant on anniversaries. An anniversary might be marked on several stations. Your proposal for Radio 4 must be utterly distinctive and clearly shaped for our audience.

We particularly welcome suggestions of events or a focus on a subject that will surprise the audience. Innovative treatments of more predictable events are also welcome. A big event on Radio 4 may also enable us to design a schedule of complementary archive programming on Radio 4 Extra.

With such events, the core programmes and the idea might come from one group of producers, but other programmes might subsequently be commissioned from elsewhere.

We have found that event ideas which have been created between different teams with varied expertise can be particularly striking. So, a seasonal event or idea might come from one source, but the station reserves the right to commission a portfolio of programmes from diverse sources to provide the listener with the best possible schedule.

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Some of our Special Events are contained within one day. Others are spread widely, in terms of genre, format and schedule.

So, we are looking for:

 programming which merits schedule-busting and/or collaboration with existing News sequences and factual strands;  special days, nights or weekends;  seasons spread over a given period or building up to a big landmark or event.

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