March 2021

Channel 5’s Boleyn girl

Television www.rts.org.uk September 2013 1 Digital Purchase Order An adaptable solution for modern production accounting

Digital Purchase Order (DPO) is the industry standard purchase order solution for production. Simplicity is at its core and by managing complexity behind the scenes DPO is able to deliver complex features in a simple to use website and mobile applications. The DPO invoice approval feature enables productions to work even more safely and efficiently under the post Covid-19 protocols that encourage paperless workflows and the digital approval of POs and Invoices.

Digital Purchase Order benefits: Create POs in seconds Control costs in multiple currencies Customise approval chains Save 50g of CO2 emissions per PO 24/7 access Digital travel authorisations Digital cheque requests New - Invoice approval feature

To find out more visit the Digital Production Office® website. www.digitalproductionoffice.com or contact us for more information: T: +44 (0)1753 630300 E: [email protected] www.sargent-disc.com www.digitalproductionoffice.com @SargentDisc @DigiProdOffice /SargentDisc /digitalproductionoffice Journal of The Royal Television Society March 2021 l Volume 58/3

Digital Purchase Order From the CEO An adaptable solution for We are all still stuck Thanks, too, to the always upbeat Spiral have become global blockbusters. in lockdown, but I am Ore Oduba for hosting the nomina- A recent Creative Diversity Network delighted to say that tions for the RTS Programme Awards. report makes hard reading for all of us modern production accounting the industry turned Since you’ve asked, we’ll be announc- who want British TV to be genuinely up in virtual droves ing the winners on 16 March, when inclusive. Please read Rosie Jones and to celebrate the nomi- our host will be that doyen of the TV Deborah Williams’s passionate pleas to nees and winners of talk show, Jonathan Ross. Don’t miss the industry to recruit more disabled this year’s RTS Television Journalism the live stream on the RTS website. people on both sides of the camera. Awards. A huge thanks to the evening’s Our cover story is Channel 5’s inno- Finally, if wild swimming intrigues hosts, Mishal Husain and Simon Bucks, vative approach to drama. The station’s you, turn to Katy Boulton’s Our Friend for doing such a great job, and to all the gripping thriller The Drowning was a column – though some of us might juries. Congratulations to the winners. genuine treat. I can’t wait to see its wait until it feels more like spring to Not even the lack of a physical scripted take on Anne Boleyn, starring take the plunge. audience could stop the irrepressible Jodie Turner-Smith as the ill-fated Sky News editor, John Ryley, from Tudor queen. giving an emotional acceptance speech French TV drama is enjoying a pur- as Sky News was once again voted ple patch: Stuart Kemp explains why Digital Purchase Order (DPO) is the industry News Channel of the Year. the likes of Netflix’s Call My Agent! and Theresa Wise standard purchase order solution for production. Simplicity is at its core and by managing complexity behind the scenes DPO is able to deliver complex features in a simple to use Cover: Anne Boleyn (Channel 5) website and mobile applications. The DPO invoice approval feature enables Contents productions to work even more safely and Ricky Boleto’s TV Diary At the Sharp end efficiently under the post Covid-19 protocols that Newsround’s Ricky Boleto regularly makes sense of Richard Sharp is the BBC’s new Chair. Steve Clarke encourage paperless workflows and the digital 5 tough stories for CBBC but is shocked that his garden 18 profiles the former Goldman Sachs banker helping shed has gone viral to steer the BBC through challenging times approval of POs and Invoices. Comfort Classic: Friends Where are all the disabled people? The US sitcom both defined and transcended an era. Rosie Jones and Deborah Williams discuss television’s Digital Purchase Order benefits: 6 Caroline Frost discovers why audiences remain addicted 20 failure to hire more disabled people Create POs in seconds Ear Candy: In Writing with Hattie Crisell Working to new rules Control costs in multiple currencies Harry Bennett is inspired by the creative journeys As Covid-19 supervisors become commonplace on Customise approval chains 7 of Hattie Crisell’s guests 22 set, Tim Dams learns how producers are keeping the cameras rolling Save 50g of CO2 emissions per PO Working Lives: Director 24/7 access Sheree Folkson talks to Matthew Bell about the huge Our Friend in Yorkshire Digital travel authorisations 8 range of productions she has directed Katy Boulton shares her new obsession and invites 25 a commissioner to dip their toe in very cold water Digital cheque requests Channel 5’s drive for drama New - Invoice approval feature Shilpa Ganatra speaks to Sebastian Cardwell, the man Sleuthing by the sea 10 spearheading the station’s innovative approach to TV’s Could Grace, starring John Simm, become ITV’s new dominant genre 26 Inspector Morse? Matthew Bell investigates Why French shows are so in vogue How to cut TV’s carbon footprint To find out more visit the Stuart Kemp explores why the UK is not alone An RTS panel examines how TV producers can play Digital Production Office® website. 12 in enjoying an affaire du coeur with French TV 28 their part in combating global warming A cagey game for rights RTS Television Journalism Awards 2021 www.digitalproductionoffice.com As cricket returns to free-to-air TV, Matthew Bell checks Mishal Husain and Simon Bucks presented the awards 15 out the bidders eyeing other top sports rights 30 at a ceremony streamed on 24 February or contact us for more information: T: +44 (0)1753 630300 E: [email protected] Editor Production, design, advertising Royal Television Society Subscription rates Printing Legal notice Steve Clarke Gordon Jamieson 3 Dorset Rise UK £115 ISSN 0308-454X © Royal Television Society 2021. [email protected] [email protected] London EC4Y 8EN Overseas (surface) £146.11 Printer: FE Burman The views expressed in Television www.sargent-disc.com www.digitalproductionoffice.com News editor and writer Sub-editor T: 020 7822 2810 Overseas (airmail) £172.22 20 Crimscott Street are not necessarily those of the RTS. Matthew Bell Sarah Bancroft E: [email protected] Enquiries: [email protected] London SE1 5TP Registered Charity 313 728 @SargentDisc @DigiProdOffice [email protected] [email protected] W: www.rts.org.uk /SargentDisc /digitalproductionoffice Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 3 AMBIENCE From low light and chilled-out tunes, to relaxing vibes and the promise of great conversation, discover music to create the perfect ambience - and bring your story to life.

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Newsround’s Ricky Boleto regularly makes sense of tough stories for CBBC but is shocked that his garden shed has gone viral

think it’s fair to say that shed. I shared a picture of the reno- The next day, I’m heading out to reporting for Newsround is a vations on social media and it’s gone try and film a piece to camera for a job like no other in journal- viral. I’ve had messages from shed report about cladding. We’re featur- ism. I know John Craven and lovers all over the world… it has also ing two young children who live in all those who’ve followed in made it on to the BBC News home- flats that need to have it removed. his footsteps would agree. page – this is ridiculous. Stories like this can be a challenge, This week alone, I’ve gone I suppose we’ve all had to adapt especially when we have to refer to from explaining the situation in Myan- one way or another over the past year the Grenfell Tower tragedy, where Imar to revealing which celebrity was when it comes to how we work, and 72 people lost their lives. behind the sausage costume on ITV’s it seems my shed has caught every- Newsround never shies away from The Masked Singer. In case you were one’s imagination. reporting these kinds of stories, but wondering, it was Joss Stone… all in a we are mindful about the way we day’s work for a Newsround presenter. ■ The BBC’s brilliant tech corre- tell them. spondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, has ■ The week starts with a short walk been in touch and asked me if I can ■ Back on the box and back in the to the end of the garden. I’m cur- sort out his working from home shed, this time for BBC Breakfast to rently working from home and, like set-up, which is covered in wires talk about children’s mental health so many of us, I’ve become accus- and extension leads. I’ll be over as during the Covid-19 pandemic. tomed to this ultra-short commute. soon as I can Rory! It’s clear that each lockdown has Over Christmas, I converted a brought different challenges for ­garden shed into a “state of the art” ■ Back to the day job now, and it’s young people and I’ve been hearing home studio. It’s got lights, a TV internet safety day, all beamed live about their struggles with home monitor, various tripods, cameras… on the CBBC channel from the CBBC schooling and feelings around the works. Getting reliable internet to studio – and with me in the infa- loneliness.­ the back of the garden was tricky and mous shed. As restrictions start to ease, one it is ice cold first thing in the morning. In the CBBC studio today is Hacker thing that this lockdown has taught It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make, T Dog, Wigan’s answer to Edd the me is just how brilliant all my col- because having this home studio Duck and way funnier, too. Phil leagues are. They’ve continued to get means I can continue to work for Fletcher is CBBC’s resident puppeteer. Newsround on air and online through- Newsround without having to travel to He has me in stitches whenever I get out the past year. the studio in MediaCity UK in Salford. to work with him. It’s heart-warming to get messages It has also brightened up all those from our viewers, who say that we’ve Zoom meetings where, instead of ■ It’s still a bit mind boggling to see been there for them and part of their sitting in front of yet another book- my shed on TV. My three-year-old is daily routine, even when everything shelf, I’m sat in my shed. watching in our living room while else has changed. I’m at the back of the garden. He ■ I’m a bit overwhelmed by the gives me a massive hug when I Ricky Boleto is a presenter on amount of interest there is in my return indoors. Newsround.

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 5 COMFORT CLASSIC Friends Netflix

t’s a sign of a true TV phenome- Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry non when any one of a handful The US sitcom and David Schwimmer. of catchphrases, a haircut, a song both defined and The show was originally devised by about a malodorous puss or just producers David Crane and Marta a single word – “Pivot!” - can transcended an era. Kauffman around a simple premise, instantly propel you back to the that of “six people in their twenties turn of the millennium and six people Caroline Frost discovers making their way in Manhattan”. For gatheredI in a West Village apartment, a decade, the show never strayed far why audiences remain always strangely affordable, or on their from that single idea – and that, local coffee shop sofa, always strangely addicted to it throughout the trials, triumphs and available. tribulations of early adult life, your Friends was that phenomenon and so friends become the family you choose. it continues to be. It is one of Netflix’s Rewatching Friends now, what’s biggest global titles. The show’s depar- freshly impressive is how fully formed ture from the streaming giant’s US each of the characters is from the off. service ignited a fresh surge in DVD There are comprehensive back stories sales – 17 years after Friends signed off of family dysfunction as well as distinc­ at NBC. tive individual traits to each member The show’s final episode aired to a of the group: Joey’s small brain but US audience of more than 50 million, big heart, Monica’s incessant control-­ making it the fourth most-watched freakery, Rachel’s challenges with finan- series finale in history. cial independence, Ross’s comfort with By then, Friends had run for 10 sea- dinosaurs over people, Phoebe’s other-­ sons, an astonishing 236 episodes, and worldly quirkiness and Chandler’s good made superstars of its lead actors - looks belying his sarcastic awkwardness. Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa It’s all there, as well as the group’s

6 Ear candy bottomless comradeship. Nobody misses a first night of Joey’s new play, and everyone, of course, attends the wedding of Ross’s ex-wife. These six people may be competitive, cheeky and fall out with each other at regular intervals but, ultimately, this is a tight band whose bonds are fast and true. Knowing this makes for a very relaxing viewing experience. Of course, this could all have become unbearably mawkish, but it is saved by the scripts. “The Friends writ- ers room was simultaneously a party room and a prison cell,” according to Saul Austerlitz, author of Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show That Defined a Television Era. Each 22-minute episode is packed with one-liners and running jokes that play to everything we already know, plus, most crucially of all, the stars’ great chemistry. Only when guest stars such as Helen Hunt, George Clooney and Noah Wyle In Writing with (as ER doctors, no less), Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt turn up to do a turn does it become clear just how special the interaction between our leading six Hattie Crisell really is. Their effortless timing and

understanding of one another make Hattie Crisell them hard for even those talented­ co-stars to keep up with. riting is his filled with photos, music and books This strength in numbers was some- so often for “subliminal inspiration”. thing the stars enjoyed off-screen as a solitary The writers then retrace their roads well, where their unity became a and ardu- to success and share the lessons they superpower when it came to salary ous pursuit learned along the way. This is at once renegotiation. By seasons 9 and 10, that pod- reassuring and inspiring. Especially they were each earning $1m an epi- casts such those, like Jon Ronson, whose roads sode, as well as pocketing syndication as In Writing with Hattie Crisell are a wel- were paved with rejection letters. royalties from 2000 onwards. Wcome refuge. Now an award-winning screen- Some of the storylines in Friends are In each episode of In Writing, journal- writer, Ronson admits to receiving a more likely than others for a bunch of ist Hattie Crisell seeks solidarity and particularly humiliating response to Manhattan twentysomethings, but we insight from one of the best of any and the first script he sent on spec to the go with it, and them, through 10 sea- all genres. Among the 27 to date are BBC: “Usually, when we reject submis- sons of births, deaths, secret romances, playwright and screenwriter Lucy sions, we like to offer some encour- accidental weddings and judgemental Prebble, novelist David Nicholls and agement but, in your case, we don’t see parents. writer and performer Robert Webb. any point in you continuing.” Why? Because, just as for the gang The interviews feel less like formal Each episode offers a similar com- on-screen, there’s a great comfort in conversations than intimate visits. forting reminder that failure and self- knowing that we can always come Crisell starts each one by asking the doubt are universal. So why do we do back to that kitchen table or that coffee writer to describe their writing room. it, asks Crisell. Ronson recalls Randy shop sofa, and revel in the company of The answers set the scene and give Newman’s answer to the same ques- those friends who, in the face of triumph the first insight, with the working envi- tion: “It’s how I judge myself and how I or disaster, always have your back. n ronment usually informing the process. feel better.” Listen to In Writing and Prebble’s bare room is designed to you’ll feel better about writing. n Friends is on Comedy Central and Netflix. avoid distraction, while Nicholls likes Harry Bennett

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 7 WORKING LIVES Director Bridgerton Netflix

Sheree Folkson is one of the completely different, although not all you a great buzz of adrenaline, which directors on Net­flix’s biggest ever US shows I make are shot that quickly. you don’t get in the edit. series, the period drama Bridgerton. It depends on the budget. During a long career spanning TV and How did you become a director? film, she has worked with some of the Who do you work with most closely I was obsessed by old movies – I loved best actors and writers in the business. on a production? Hitchcock and William Wyler as direc- The producer, director of photography tors, and watching Bette Davis, Barbara What does the job involve? (DoP), production designer, first assis- Stanwyck and Hollywood musicals. We take a script and turn it into a living, tant director, the cast, the editor and The directors were always men and I breathing thing. [with the US way of working] the writ- never thought about becoming one, but ers and showrunner. it was the female stars who often car- That sounds simple, but surely it takes If I start a show, I also work closely ried the movies. So, I went to drama time to make a show? with the writer, costume, make-up and school but then struggled to find much I start work, as sole director, on a four- hair and casting departments. With the work, though I did play a Munchkin in part drama in the UK at the end of April. British system, you don’t work so much The Wizard of Oz at Newcastle Playhouse! Sole directors are involved in the early with the writers on set, but on Bridger- I gave up acting and went to univer- creative decisions and also have to cast ton, which was shot in the UK but using sity and did a politics degree. Then I and crew a series, so I’m already look- the US system, the writer or showrunner decided I needed to do something ing at actors and crew with the produc- was on set every day. creative and was accepted by the BBC ers and writer. It will be shooting until on its graduate trainee scheme. September and editing until November. Do you enjoy sitting in the editing suite? That sounds like great training? Is it done differently in the US? I do enjoy the edit. There’s less time It was amazing – I spent two years I work a lot in the US, where I can pressure and you haven’t got 100 peo- working in different departments, finish a one-hour episode in just three ple looking at you, thinking, “What working out where I fitted in. There weeks – that’s maybe seven days’ now?” It’s just you and the editor in a was an eclectic mix of people – future prep, shooting for 10 and an edit in just room. The hardest bit of the job is BBC political editor Nick Robinson was four days. The American system is being on set filming. But it also gives in my year.

8 How does it feel to be involved with a runaway success like Bridgerton? Obviously, it feels great. I have always loved period drama – both watching and making it – particularly those with a more modern/irreverent eye. I knew we were making something special, but I had no idea it would appeal to such an amazingly large audience. It’s very fulfilling to think that so many people have watched your work.

Television or film? I think they’ve always been indistin- guishable. You need the same skills and creativity as a director to tell stories, whether they are for TV or film – I really can’t see what the difference is from a creative point of view. From a skill-set angle, you have less time to shoot TV, so it can be more challenging in that way.

What are the best and worst parts of the job? The best is being able to use your crea- tivity and imagination, and working with a large group of talented people who bring their own creativity and imagination to the table. Making tele- vision and film is a communal experi- ence. The worst is when time is short – when I’m filming, I’m frequently David Tennant in Casanova

BBC fighting the clock, which is hugely frustrating. And getting up early. What was the first TV programme water bottle and, when I’m filming, you directed? loads of warm clothing and water- What advice would you give to some- I started to direct factual programmes proofs – I get really cold. If I’m outside, one wanting to direct? for the BBC One religious and ethical I’ve been known to bring my hot-water Watch as much as you can. Go back series Heart of the Matter and BBC Two bottle, too. to the old movies as well as watching arts programme The Late Show. My first contemporary film and TV – there are drama was a factual piece, The Trials of What makes a good director? so many things you can draw on. Oz, based on the transcripts from the Understanding the script and the writ- 1971 obscenity trial of the alternative er’s intentions is key, as is having a So, is it a golden age for TV directors? Oz magazine. It was a hilarious con- point of view and vision of your own. There are so many more outlets for trast between the counter-culture and Clear communication with cast and content than when I first started the old guard. I had the most amazing crew, imagination and understanding directing, when there were just four cast: Alfred Molina, Nigel Hawthorne, the craft of the actor are also important. TV channels making drama in the UK. Hugh Grant, who wasn’t yet famous, That’s good for TV directors. and Leslie Phillips as the judge. Do you need technical knowledge? I know what I want something to look Has the job changed over time? What came next? like – I’m very strong on the visual look. There’s less sexism and many more An episode of The Bill, but I found it But I trust my DoP and camera operator female directors. Considering that creatively uninteresting – it was a for- on how to achieve it technically. we’re 50% of the population, though, mula and I couldn’t bring anything to it. we’re still way behind. I returned to docs for a while, but then Which work are you most proud of? I got the chance to direct and produce Casanova – the script from Russell T Is there any genre you’d love to direct? A Royal Scandal about the terrible mar- Davies was just fantastic. He’s like a I want to do a musical more than any- riage of George IV, starring Richard E poet; his words sing and have such wit. thing. n Grant. I loved it and stuck with drama. It was inspiring and it inspired me to make something bold. We had David Sheree Folkson was interviewed by What do you bring with you to work? Tennant and Peter O’Toole in the cast ­Matthew Bell. The director is represented My iPad, which has the script on it, a – it was a wonderful experience. by Casarotto Ramsay.

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 9 The Drowning Channel 5 Channel 5’s drive for drama Shilpa Ganatra speaks to Sebastian Cardwell, the man spearheading the station’s innovative approach to TV’s dominant genre

here must be something following year, Channel 5 gave us Cold was acquisitions-heavy.” Cardwell in the water at Chan- Call (seen by 2.6 million viewers), and began his career at the BBC before nel 5. In 2020, it won in 2020, a year which also saw it air moving to Channel 5. Channel of the Year at Penance and the second series of Blood, He switched from acquisitions to both the RTS Pro- The Deceived, written by Lisa McGee become commissioning editor, then gramme Awards and the and Tobias Beer, attracted an audience controller of digital channels, taking up BroadcastT Awards. The RTS’s judges of 3.3 million. Later still, the reboot of his current position in February 2020. remarked that it was “a confident All Creatures Great and Small did even “I know the ins and outs of the channels broadcaster reaping the rewards of better, with the first episode delivering and who does what and what works years of steady growth and develop- a consolidated audience of 5 million. and what doesn’t work – although every ment – a channel that increasingly But is the best to come? day you learn new things,” he says. now both surprises and delights”. The man who commissions the The idea to move into original dramas That momentum careered into 2021, broadcaster’s drama is Sebastian Card- stemmed from conversations with as The Drowning – the four-parter about well, deputy director of programmes for director of programmes Ben Frow. a mother who befriends a child she Channel 5’s parent company, Viacom- Despite the risk, they felt it was worth believes is her missing son – became its CBS Networks UK. He says: “Each pro- a shot, especially once their first steps most-watched drama to date. A record gramme has grown the audience more, into the area were successful (or at 5.1 million tuned in for the first episode. so people are starting to equate Chan- least, like 2019’s four-parter 15 Days, The Drowning’s success is no fluke. nel 5 with drama, which they wouldn’t showed the genre’s potential). The channel has been dabbling in have done a couple of years ago. “We’ve seen that the dramas have drama since its flagship show, Big “It’s certainly more upmarket than punched above their weight compared Brother, was cancelled in 2018. The when I joined the channel, when it with the other content,” he says.

10 “Dramas are more expensive to make, us look forward-thinking and it’s good in a way that appeals to heartland but they score highly in terms of view- for press – which is important in drama. audiences.” ers, they get talked about, and they “And we can’t just keep doing mys- As with most of the shows that he is drive viewers to My5 as well, which, in tery thrillers. There’s nothing worse working on, it’s still in development this changing landscape of TV, is than dramas becoming homogenised and at the mercy of the book-balancers. important to us.” and a bit boring. It’s about finding Though the amount that the channel The move is bold, not only because areas in scripted that we can move spends per hour has changed little since of the cost but also because competi- into, where we take those viewers and Channel 5 was bought by Viacom in tion in this area is so stiff. Across 2020, nudge them into another world.” 2014, clearly more is being diverted eight of BBC iPlayer’s most-watched To that end, Channel 5 is keeping an into drama. 10 programmes were dramas. eye out for more family sagas, literary The broadcaster has had to become This January, ITV outdid itself as The adaptations and, given the knock-on more creative to make that money go Pembrokeshire Murders became its biggest effect of the pandemic, rags-to-riches further, says Cardwell: “We use tax drama in six years, and, in October, Sky Atlantic’s The Undoing launched to more viewers that the first season of Game of Thrones. It’s a tense battle, with as much jeopardy as the genre suggests. Yet the devil is in the detail. Ask Cardwell what the biggest challenge of entering the market is, and he says it’s finding slots within the melee; he sug- gests one reason for The Drowning’s success was being scheduled on an otherwise-quiet Monday evening. “The worst thing would be to spend all that time and money making a series, and then go up against an absolute beast of a show, a mega hit from one of our better-funded competitors,” he says. “That would be really disappointing. “We’re a counter-scheduling channel. We know that there are certain com- petitors we can take on, and certain competitors we’ll be silly to take on.” All Creatures Great and Small

It helps that part of the strategy at Channel 5 Channel 5 is to set itself apart from the other UK public service broadcasters. stories. “There are also stories of yes­ credits where we can – we’re currently This makes it easier to sign up the teryear,­ like Lynda La Plante’s Widows filmingTeacher [about a schoolteacher shows that are right for it. and Hitchcock suspenses, to take accused of having sex with one of her Cardwell explains that the channel inspiration from.” pupils] in Hungary because the credits aims to work nimbly with production One much-anticipated curveball are double those of the UK. companies and so keep the process series is Jodie Turner-Smith, of Queen & “We’ve buddied up with Acorn [the efficient. When needed, it shapes the Slim fame, playing the lead in Anne British content streamer owned by show to make it exactly right for its Boleyn, a thriller about the ill-fated AMC] for Dalgliesh [a new adaptation of heartland audience. queen. Though the casting is uncon- PD James’s bestselling books], and All “Ben always talks about the audience ventional, Cardwell notes that it’s not a Creatures Great and Small was shown as as being a mother and daughter sitting particularly risky move as the star part of PBS’s Masterpiece slot in the US. on a couch in Middlesbrough who carries her own profile, and Anne “We’re very good at being economi- watch TV together,” says Cardwell. “I Boleyn has proven a popular subject cal, and we’re very successful at it in all kind of agree with that. We know that for the channel. the genres, because that’s just life at we’re not metropolitan, we’re not cool, “Inclusion and diversity is something Channel 5. we’re not London. we talk about a lot, not just in front of the “We don’t have the big budgets of our “Our strategy from the start was to camera, but behind the camera,” he says. competitors, but we still make shows move into the domestic thriller space. “We have all sorts of initiatives going that compete and beat them. That’s Then, we have the returnables, the All on at Channel 5. We’re encouraged, as what we do day in, day out.” Creatures stuff that we think is populist commissioners, to work closely with With Intruder earmarked as the next and will appeal to the Channel 5 viewer, our production companies to ensure Channel 5 thriller to hit our screens and possibly beyond.” we have diversity in all of our shows. – the story of a couple whose lives are Of the 10 or 11 original series it hopes “Within drama, there’s one project in turned upside down after a break-in, to air each year (coronavirus willing, of particular that I’m hoping to get off the starring Elaine Cassidy (No Offence, course), a couple will be options “that ground in the next six months that Fingersmith) and Tom Meeten (The push us into a slightly more differenti- could be a big leap forward, and an Ghoul) – the high drama at Channel 5 ated direction”, he suggests. “It makes interesting way of looking at diversity shows no sign of easing. n

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 11 Why French shows are so in vogue

hrough the comedy-­ Spiral (Engrenages) drama chic of Call My Agent! (Dix Pour Cent), the down and dirty cop-show grit of Spiral (Engrenages), the adven- turesT of gentleman thief Assane Diop in Lupin or the political thrills and spills of The Bureau, international viewers are devouring­ subtitled French sass with gusto. But this current crop of French hits does not share a formula or any com- monality of genre or theme. “What the successful international French shows have in common is that they have nothing in common,” says Frédéric Pittoors d’Haveskercke, a Paris-based executive producer and go-to fixer, who helps European producers develop their international slates and develop- ment projects. What they all share is being “abso- lutely, quintessentially French”, says Walter Iuzzolino of Walter Presents, the international TV drama partnership between Channel 4 and the acquisi- tions and distribution company Global Series Network. “The shows all have a funny, blasé, raucous sense of humour. And they don’t mind stabbing a ciga- rette in your hand if you irritate them,” he suggests. Dominic Schreiber, SVP for co-­ productions and acquisitions at Newen Connect (the distribution arm of TF1 Group-owned Newen), agrees: “Even with the sound down and the subtitles off, you could look at a show such as Call My Agent! and know that it is French.” Vive la différence, then. Sometimes, efforts to capture Frenchness have caused Gallic shrugs among subjects and audiences alike: Emily in Paris, a comedy-drama stream- Stuart Kemp explores ing series created by Darren Star, debuted on Netflix in October 2020. why the UK is not alone The show stars Lily Collins as an in enjoying an affaire du American who moves to Paris to work for a French marketing firm, and it was coeur with French TV criticised for its stereotypical view of

all things French. BBC

12 “The berets. The croissants. The baguettes. The hostile waiters. The irascible concierges. The inveterate philanderers. The lovers and the mis- tresses. Name a cliché about France and the French, you’ll find it in Emily in Paris,” said French newspaper 20 Minutes. French television has come into its own as locked-down viewers across the globe have turned to their TVs in search of escapism. Many have latched on to French content across traditional broadcast channels, pay-TV and sub- scription streaming platforms. Call My Agent! has been around for five years but the show’s fourth season is trending on Netflix, attracting plaudits and fresh attention in equal measure. “The success is a combination of lockdown and being on Netflix. Word of mouth has just snowballed,” Schrei- ber notes. “One of the great things about these [online streaming] plat- forms is that audiences can stumble across these shows.” Coupled with a growing comfort with subtitles, French shows are flour- ishing abroad. Long gone are the days when the French Alpine mystery drama The Returned (Les Revenants), produced by Haut et Court TV, was craftily marketed to Channel 4 audi- ences with images and no dialogue for its prime-time 9:00pm drama slot. Tim Mutimer, EVP for sales and acquisitions, EMEA, at global distribu- tor Banijay Rights, says the advent of Net­ flix,­ Amazon and Apple TV+ as ­co-­production partners and distribu- tors has bolstered the profile of French output. “Such platforms have taken non-English-­language [content] to Torn (Soupçons) audiences around the world, so there 4 All is more of an appetite than there used to be. “It has not been as easy for Netflix to My Agent! to Pierre Salvadori behind the “When you see the success of Lupin invest in the French market as it has camera for En thérapie, TV series have on Netflix… the fact is that something been for the company in other Euro- earned a nobility and prestige they that isn’t filmed in English is not the pean markets.” lacked before. For actors, the appeal is barrier that, once upon a time, it would Indeed, the slower migration to the that the shows are often character-­ have been.” small screen in France by the country’s driven and therefore dramatically Mutimer is promoting Banijay Studios producers is partly down to its pro- interesting, plus, on a purely practical France’s adaptation of Émile Zola’s tected cinema industry model, which level, the work is more stable than novel Germinal, which could deliver subsidises independent film but does cinema.” a Peaky Blinders twist for France 2. not assist TV. Iuzzolino adds: “French film-makers The arrival of the deep-pocketed But a combination of broadcasters clocked it early – sometimes it is streamers in France has opened up and pay-TV operators raising their exciting to have a canvas where, instead new possibilities for young writers, game to attract viewers and a growing of having to condense your story into including those from diverse back- demand from younger audiences for 90 minutes, you can actually tell a story grounds, to develop their own projects, quality programmes delivered online over several seasons. notes d’Haveskercke. is driving a cultural shift in attitudes. “French creative talent is not glib “Netflix and Amazon operate a little “French film talent is flocking to TV,” about television – they are making art. more carefully in the French market, argues Paris-based journalist, writer They take their mission as writers, because there are very specific ways and broadcaster Agnes C Poirier. actors and DoPs very seriously and of working [in France],” he explains. “From Cédric Klapisch directing Call it shows.” �

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 13 ‘FRENCH CREATIVE TALENT IS NOT GLIB ABOUT TELEVISION – THEY ARE MAKING ART’

� French television political drama series Spin, starring film star Nathalie Baye and Grégory Fitoussi (of Spiral and Mr Selfridge fame) began life on France 2 before crossing la Manche, with three seasons rolling out on More4 between 2015 and 2017. The seeds of love for French televi- sion, certainly for UK viewers, were planted by Spiral, which first aired on BBC Four in 2006. Created by Alexan- dra Clert and Guy-Patrick Sainderichin and produced by Son et Lumière, it garnered critical acclaim and a loyal audience of around 200,000 for the corporation long before Scandi noir became a genre phenomenon. All eight series and 86 episodes of Spiral are available on BBC iPlayer. The show became Netflix’s first sub­ titled show when the streamer snapped­ up non-exclusive rights to it in 2012; Braquo, distributed by Banijay, was another early runner, garnering two million viewers on Channel 4 in 2009. There are plenty of other French gems on offer. Amazon Prime is home to No Man’s Land, a drama about a man who travels to Syria, where Kurdish female soldiers battle Isis, to try and find his sister, who he believes has been declared dead in error. Produced by Haut et Court (producer of les Call My Agent! (Dix pour cent)

Revenants), a second season of the Netflix Hulu co-production is likely. Walter Presents boasts no fewer same time so fantastically interna- procedural with a twist being made than 17 French shows. It is readying tional” – are front and centre of Iuz- for TF1, about a police-station clean- for the return of one of the platform’s zolino’s ambitions to curate a “sexy and ing lady who discovers that she has big hits, with the third season of The exciting international drama space”. “high intellectual potential” and Crimson Rivers due this summer. Wal- And there are many more ambitious begins working on police cases. ter Presents also hosts the glossy, French TV shows flirting with UK and L’Opera is a Paris-set drama about Provence-set drama Torn, a show that international distribution deals. Fed- the glamorous and merciless world of The Guardian’s TV guru, Stuart Heritage, eration Entertainment is selling the ballet dancers, produced for OCS, the described recently as “perfect lock- M6-commissioned They Were Ten, a Orange pay-TV platform, a smaller down telly”. contemporary adaptation of Agatha rival to Canal+. And buyers are jost­ Iuzzolino and co created Philharmo- Christie’s best-selling crime novel of ling to secure the UK broadcast rights nia, a rollercoaster psychological all time. It is directed by Pascal Laugier, to Federation’s glossy thriller Time is thriller centering on a classical music best known for hit thrillers The Tall a Killer, set on Corsica and starring conductor, her Parisian orchestra Man, starring Jessica Biel, and Incident Mathilde Seigner, Caterina Murino, members and a dark secret she har- in a Ghostland, France’s most success- and Jenifer Bartoli alongside Fitoussi. bours. It is available on All 4 in the UK. ful film export of 2018. French television is certainly on an Such shows – “so French but at the Newen is pitching HIP, a police upward spiral. n

14 India vs England second Test, 2021 BCCI/Pankaj Nangia BCCI/Pankaj A cagey game for rights he topsy-turvy Test series As cricket returns dominant broadcaster. “A free-to-air in India is bringing broadcaster got its hands on the rights much-needed entertain- to free-to-air TV, because pay-TV broadcasters didn’t ment – though, latterly, think they were that valuable,” he little cheer for England Matthew Bell checks suggests. fans – during lockdown. out the bidders eyeing “Sky has learnt that it isn’t neces- When time is hard to fill, what could sary to have everything – it can hang beT better than six hours plus of other top sports rights on to pretty much all its sports sub- cricket a day shown on free-to-air TV. scribers as long as it has, by some There were many raised eyebrows oldies: across the five days, 10% were distance, the best sports proposition when Channel 4 bought the rights to under 16 and 13% aged 16 to 34. It’s a in the market,” says former Sky COO the four-Test series. Why would a pity for Channel 4 that England Mike Darcey. “If you’re a sports fan, channel that prides itself on risk-­ couldn’t drag out their defeat any you get Sky first and then ask if you taking and a young demographic clear longer than two days in the third Test. need anything else. That’s why Sky is its morning schedules for a game with But was Channel 4’s coup an iso- quite happy to step away from Eng- an elderly and declining fan base? lated triumph or are there more land Test matches in India. Is anyone In fact, restoring live Test cricket to opportunities for terrestrial TV to pick going to churn? No.” terrestrial TV has proved a ratings hit. up sports rights? Illustrating Darcey’s point, at the end Nearly 6 million viewers watched “This is a bit of a one-off,” reckons of last month, Sky snapped up the England’s progress to a thumping win Enders Analysis senior TV analyst rights to the T20 internationals and in the first Test, with many tuning in, Julian Aquilina. Sky Sports, which the one-day series, which follow the bleary-eyed, from the very first ball at holds the rights for England’s home Test series. Short-form cricket puts 4:00am. And not all the viewers were Tests until 2024, remains cricket’s more bums on sofas – Sky wasn’t �

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 15 ‘BT AND SKY’S OVERARCHING STRATEGY… IS TO CUT BACK ON THEIR SPORTS- RIGHTS SPEND’

domestic TV rights fell by almost 5%, while France’s Ligue 1’s deal with Bar- celona-based media group Mediapro collapsed. It has recently signed a stop- gap deal with Canal+, but it is thought that the French league will lose close to 50% of its TV income this season. For the Premier League, UK rights will probably go down 5% to 8%, “but it wouldn’t surprise us if it was 10%”, says Alexios Dimitropoulos, a senior analyst at Ampere Analysis. Auctions need aggressive bidders and, since Sky and BT ended their long-running dispute over carrying each other’s channels in 2017, compe- tition has been lacking. “The only real competitive pressure there’s been in the market for some time has been Sky versus BT and that has gone Manchester City’s because of the cross-supply deal,” says Ilkay Gündoğan Darcey. “That’s why the prices went during the English down last time. They’re both content Premier League with what they’ve got and they will both Liverpool vs see an opportunity to bank a saving.” Manchester City Aquilina adds: “Sky and BT already match last month

AFP have very expensive sports portfolios. The overarching strategy at these two � going to allow these valuable rights Cricket is trying to recalibrate its companies is to cut back on their to fall into the lap of a free-to-air coverage: Sky will continue to broad- sports-rights spend.” broadcaster. cast home Tests, but the BBC has high- Will any new bidders enter the auc- Sports without the mass appeal of lights packages and will show some tion? The consensus is that Amazon football, such as cricket, face a tricky live T20 internationals. will be content to stick with its current choice: greater exposure on terrestrial Football is a different matter. Pre- package of 20 live games bookending TV but less money; or bigger bucks but mier League rights are up for grabs Christmas, which has encouraged smaller pay-TV audiences. again and, outside the highlights pack- soccer fans to join Amazon Prime. Sky’s cricket coverage has been age, cash-strapped free-to-air TV again Says Darcey: “It’s a minor package, exemplary and has filled cricket’s won’t get a look in. The last auction, which happens to work for Amazon ­coffers, but it has come at a cost – in 2018, saw domestic rights sell for very well. It’s a very big leap from the game’s grassroots have withered. £4.5bn over three years – a fall from there to contesting the major packs Talking at an RTS event late last year, 2015’s peak of £5.1bn – to Sky as the of Sky and BT. There’s not zero chance Sunset+Vine Chair Jeff Foulser, whose major broadcaster; BT Sport as the of that, but it’s quite a low chance. And company produced Channel 4’s cover- second player; and Amazon, the the chances of anyone else seem lower age of the 2005 Ashes – the last time junior partner. still. The likes of Netflix and Apple live Test cricket aired on terrestrial TV The years of galloping inflation that haven’t shown any signs of getting before now – said: “This is no criticism saw rights rise from £1.8bn in 2009 to serious about sport.” of Sky, but not everyone can afford to £3bn in 2012 are over. If recent deals in Aquilina says that even a fall of 10% have a subscription. Cricket has suf- major European leagues are any guide, to 15% in the price of Premier League fered in the intervening years because the current bidding for UK rights for rights “would not be surprising”, adding: it wasn’t available to as many eyeballs the Premier League will not reach the “Sport is not a good fit for most stream- as possible. All sport needs terrestrial 2018 figure. ers. Netflix and Disney are video enter- television.” Last year, Germany’s Bundesliga tainment platforms in the UK… sports

16 England vs Wales, Six Nations rugby union, last month Welsh Rugby Union Welsh rights have limited or even zero shelf and that would mean it’s very likely to lives – people want to watch the game ‘IF YOU’RE A go partly behind a paywall. My feeling live, whereas scripted drama can be is that this will be part paywall, part watched over and over again. SPORTS FAN, YOU free-to-air.” “Sports rights typically also get sold GET SKY FIRST During CVC’s involvement with to a domestic market and that doesn’t Formula One, from 2006 to 2017, cov- play to the advantages of these global AND THEN ASK erage moved to pay-TV and income players.” IF YOU NEED was maximised, but many fans felt this There has been speculation that was at the expense of the sport’s soul. fast-rising sports streamer DAZN could ANYTHING ELSE’ Since CVC sold F1 to Liberty Media bid, but nothing can happen until the for $4.4bn, more than doubling its Premier League issues its tender docu- investment, it has acquired stakes in ment which, in years past, would have during lockdown – the England vs two rugby competitions, the English been released by now. Scotland clash on ITV (which shares Premiership and Celtic Pro14. Football Premier League CEO Richard Masters coverage with the BBC) recorded a could be next, with CVC currently recently said: “We are in no rush.… It is peak audience of 8.7 million last negotiating for a stake in Italian league too early to say whether there will be month, the biggest in more than a Serie A’s media rights. any material deviation from our his- decade for the Calcutta Cup. Banker and sports specialist Keith toric packaging strategies.” Unfortunately for union fans, the Harris, speaking at a SportBusiness Darcey thinks the Premier League Six Nations is not a category-A listed webinar last month, said: “If it could be could change the packaging structure event. This guarantees that certain done in Formula One, it could be done to “try to tempt in another player or high-profile sports events, including in another money-spinning sport, generally disrupt the sale of the rights. the finals of the FA Cup and Wimble- which is obviously football.” At the every least, you want uncertainty don, are available on free-to-air TV. With football leagues around Europe – if bidders are uncertain what’s going Worse, to dig itself out of a Covid-19 increasingly anxious about a decline in on, they sometimes manage their fear financial hole, the Six Nations is set to TV revenues, will they, too, turn to by putting more money on the table.” sell private equity firm CVC Capital a private equity money to plug the gap? Rugby union’s Six Nations rights are 14.5% stake in its commercial rights. And will this lead then to even greater also due for renewal. Never has sport Dimitropoulos reckons that CVC will commercialisation of the people’s had a more captive audience than want “to push for higher TV revenues game? n

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 17 At the Sharp end The BBC’s new Chair, Richard Sharp, the former Goldman Sachs banker helping to steer the BBC through challenging times, is profiled by Steve Clarke

here is already some- thing of a buzz around Richard Sharp, the new BBC Chair, and about what he and Director-­ General Tim Davie mightT achieve together as they navi- gate the corporation towards what we all hope is a post-Covid world. Inevitably, not everyone at the BBC was pleased that another money man was chosen as successor to Sir David Clementi – himself a former deputy governor of the Bank of England. But many across the TV sector were relieved that a more controversial candidate was not appointed. “I genuinely welcome Richard Sharp’s appointment,” says Sir Peter Bazalgette, ITV’s Chair. “It is a very Richard Sharp

good appointment for the BBC.” PA This kind of enthusiasm for Sharp, who started his new job last month, is what was the one thing stopping pro- needs to think quite profoundly about not difficult to find within TV, not least duction restarting? I said insurance. it’s future.” because the new Chair was pivotal in We’ve got everything ready to go but Others, too, draw attention to Sharp’s helping to secure the Treasury’s crea- we can’t switch on the cameras again intellect, a lightning-quick mind, and a tive industries relief package, the because no one will insure us. staccato way of speaking that resembles £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund, so “Because we can’t get insurance, no machine-gun fire. important to helping at least some TV one will invest. He doesn’t understand Following his encounter with McVay, freelancers keep their heads above how production works, but he got it Sharp then opened the door for Pact water during the past year. and took me to task with some very to Rishi Sunak – the Chancellor had Pact CEO John McVay, who was tough questioning.” worked for Sharp at Goldman Sachs fundamental to brokering the deal, McVay adds: “He’s very acute, and brought him in as an adviser to says: “Excuse the pun but Sharp by inquiring and will bring a powerful the Treasury last spring during the name, sharp by nature. He asked me intellect to the BBC at a time when it first lockdown.

18 “At the time, several broadcasters The BBC needs to take urgent action Jean Seaton, author of a volume of contacted him to ask his advice about to make more than £400m-worth of the official history of the BBC, says: things such as bank loans,” says an old cuts that are due within a year. Simul- “He has a background, and a real and friend. “This was long before anyone taneously, it also needs to deflect any vivid interest, in music, and must have mentioned him as a potential BBC blowback as it extracts itself from a demonstrated during the interview Chair. He was more than willing to former commitment to pay the TV process a real hunger for a whole vari- offer his help.” licences of all over-75s. In this context, ety of content. To me, that’s the key.” This praise for Sharp is not shared Sharp’s commercial acumen should During the select committee hearing, by the Labour Party. Alastair Campbell, prove useful. the new Chair said he “inhales” BBC Tony Blair’s former spin doctor, has When Sharp was grilled by the drama, highlighting Fleabag and Roadkill. tweeted: “So the march to the moneyed Commons’ Digital, Culture, Media and On the sensitive topic of diversity, right goes on apace. New BBC Chair there are those who think that having super-wealthy ex-Goldman Sachs boss two Oxbridge-educated white men of, and lately assistant to, Sunak. The ‘I THINK I WON over 50 once again running the BBC is anti-public service contingent really are deeply anachronistic. Seaton, however, getting all their people in on the inside THE LOTTERY thinks Sharp and Davie have an oppor- now.” However, Blair’s Government IN LIFE TO BE tunity to redress the balance by intro- appointed millionaire economist Gavyn ducing some fresh, diverse talent to Davies, another Goldman Sachs high- BRITISH AND, IF strengthen the BBC Board. flyer, as BBC Chair. I CAN MAKE A “Six members of the board are about On paper, Sharp’s establishment to be replaced,” she says. “Provided credentials are abundant: the son of a CONTRIBUTION, he’s wise, he will be very active in successful businessman who was later I COULDN’T BE composing the board so that it genu- elevated to the House of Lords, pri- inely represents the variety of modern vately educated and who, after reading HAPPIER TO’ Britain. If you look at Davie’s targets on PPE at Oxford, spent more than 30 diversity, they’re both ambitious and years in investment banking. He sat on realistic.” Boris Johnson’s board of economic Sport Committee in January, he said Another BBC watcher says: “I think advisors when Johnson was London that the licence fee was “the least worst” he’s going to shake up the board and mayor. way of funding the BBC. He said he hire some media gurus.” Sharp has reportedly donated more had an “open mind” about how the What, then, of the critical question than £400,000 to the Conservative corporation should be funded in the of how Davie and Sharp are likely to Party since 2001 and was on the board future, and that it “may be worth reas- work together? Both possess keen of the Centre for Policy Studies, a sessing” the current system. “At 43p a commercial brains and will think crea- centre-­right think tank. He has said day, the BBC represents terrific value,” tively and imaginatively about future that he will donate his £160,000 BBC Sharp told MPs. international initiatives beyond the salary to charity. “Judged by his performance at the BBC’s core UK public service activities. However, this background doesn’t select committee, Richard clearly More partnerships and clever ideas tell the whole story. “Richard’s got believes in the BBC, although it will may well be on the horizon. quite a lot of non-establishment have many reforms made to it in the “Sharp will be a good fit with Tim,” instincts. That makes him very differ- next five to 10 years,” opines Bazalgette. says a former BBC DG. “They have a lot ent to David Clementi, who is estab- “We’re all a product of our upbring- in common.” lishment through and through,” says ing and I was very fortunate with the “They are both straight-talking guys,” someone who knows him well. “He parents I have; my great-grandparents says McVay. “I imagine they’ll have will be much more difficult for the came to this country escaping tyranny,” some robust conversations. That’s a great leviathan that is the BBC to cap- Sharp recalled at the select committee good thing. For the BBC to survive, ture than some of his predecessors. hearing. “I think I won the lottery in life some profound, robust conversations Richard can be quite a handful.” to be British and, if I can make a contri- are needed.” Nevertheless, Sharp brings to the bution, I couldn’t be happier to. As for the inevitable BBC crises that BBC a direct route into the heart of the “The BBC is part of all our identities, will involve Sharp in his new role, Sea- Government. “The Government has of all our national identities and offers ton thinks it will mostly be water off a appointed their appointee to run the education and enrichment and is also duck’s back. “Sharp looks like someone BBC,” says Bazalgette. “He is the best important for our position in the who thinks he’s going to enjoy himself person to get a reasonable deal on world.… It is a massive privilege to be at the BBC,” she says. “He will be funding out of the Government.” Chair of the BBC.” unfazed by the BBC scandals that In the light of the recent shake-up of The new Chair’s cultural hinterland always emerge sooner or later. personnel at No 10, there is more opti- – he was Chair of the Royal Academy “They won’t bother him. He doesn’t mism that the BBC can build on its from 2007 to 2012 and co-founded the have that vulnerability that certain achievements during the pandemic charity London Music Masters – is politicians have. Bankers don’t have without having to deal with too many another factor that makes him well that kind of personality. He’s a master hand grenades from Downing Street. qualified for the job. of the universe.” n

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 19 Where are all the disabled people? Rosie Jones and Deborah Williams discuss television’s failure to hire more disabled people

f you want some light reading, please do not dip into the Creative Diversity Network’s recent report, “Diamond: The Fourth Cut”. The statistics are grim, particularly when it comesI to disability. According to the report, the UK TV industry has “urgent” work to do on disability representa- tion, both on- and off-screen. This is an understatement of monumental proportions. As a disabled person who has been working in the TV industry for 10 years, straddling both sides of the camera, I am not surprised by this report. I am almost always the lone ranger, working in an environment with not a single fellow disabled person in sight. I started working as a TV researcher in 2011 at one of the biggest production companies in the country. Despite there being well over 100 employees at the company, I was the only disabled per- son working there. This picture contin- ‘I DON’T ued throughout my time in production. The stats in the report support my UNDERSTAND own experiences in production. In the WHY WE’RE last year covered, disabled people made up just 5.8% of off-screen con- IGNORING A tributions, well below the national FIFTH OF OUR workforce estimate, which is 17%. While there are several different, and COUNTRY’ brilliant, diversity schemes in TV pro- duction, these are still too few and far between. And once we start talking about disability representation in sen- ior roles – well, we can’t start talking about that, because there simply aren’t any disabled people in senior roles in television. The on-screen representation of disabled people is also shockingly low, accounting for just 8.2% of contribu- tions. As a comedian who appears on panel shows and comedy programmes regularly, I can’t remember a single Rosie Jones

time where I’ve appeared with another Sukkar Aemen

20 Fragile gains are at grave risk disabled person... oh, apart from on The t is impossible to put into was looking forward to extending Last Leg, obviously! words what it has been like its Paralympics production training I don’t understand why we’re ignor- this last year, living and work- programme. ing a fifth of our country. When it ing as a disabled person in Then the pandemic hit. Across TV, comes to TV, people with disabilities British television. I can’t begin production was halted. Our initiatives are purposely overlooked and ignored. to share the levels of distress were stopped dead in their tracks. In And, let me tell you, as a disabled per- andI depression that I have experienced the past year, what progress we had son, that this has a crushing impact not myself and have had expressed to me seen was rolled backwards. just on society’s opinion of us, but on by other people. Disabled people have told us that how we perceive ourselves. From a Creative Diversity Network they are not being contracted: as free- Simon Albury When I was growing up, I never saw perspective, 2020 lancers, they are anyone like me on television. Despite should have been especially vulnerable being a fiercely independent and the conclusion of our in the age of Covid. strong-willed kid, I started to feel Doubling Disability We’ve been told that ­invalid and unworthy because people programme, they are an insurance “like me” were never shown to be just launched in 2017. It risk – or perceived to like everyone else. was clear from the be – due to the high On the few occasions when disabled first report, 2017’s cost of insuring them. people were on TV, it was to play the ‘Diamond: The First Our fourth report, victim or the angelic creature... and Cut’ – even though published in January those were things that I could never it was based on was emphatic: the relate to. Sure, I’m disabled, but I am limited data – that, UK television indus- not a victim and, my God, I am cer- on- and off-screen, try has ‘urgent’ work tainly not an angelic creature. disabled people were to do on disability. Deborah Williams

How disabled people are perceived shockingly under-­ Hampartsoumian Paul We found that has also had a damning effect on represen­ted in TV. disabled people ­society as a whole. On a daily basis, That did not mean that there were are only making 5.8% of contributions I am still mocked, patronised and no disabled people working in TV and off-screen and 8.2% on-screen. These underestimated. that progress hadn’t been made. How- were meagre gains on 2019; overall, Very few of these instances could ever, if you look at the UK as a whole, there is ‘significant’ under-­representation be described as “malicious” – I believe around 17% of the workforce is disa- across senior production roles. that they come from a lack of under- bled. Diamond revealed that, in tele­ The pandemic is being used as an standing and education. vision, disabled people comprised no excuse to roll the clock back 30 years, If there were more representation more than 5% of employees. which is just shocking. We must not of disability on TV, there would be less We commissioned additional research, allow this to happen. of a sense of “the other” when a non-­ from which came Doubling Disability, a What we must do this year is pick up disabled person meets a disabled per- commitment to double the percentage the baton from Alison Walsh, the former son in real life. of disabled people in off-screen roles by pan-BBC disability lead and disability Having more disabled people on- the end of 2020. The target was 9%. We executive at Channel 4. Her leadership and off-screen must happen... now! even got the Department for Work and and determination gave disabled peo- If you carry on ignoring a huge chunk Pensions on board. We were in an ple hope. Alison is the Don of this space. of our world, you will alienate us and incredibly positive and powerful place. No one has come close to her. As an only widen the gap between the dif- The approach was two-tiered: first, industry, we need to take her example ferent sectors in society, and no one there was the indirect impact involving and carry on and complete the race in wants that – do they? cultural change and discussion of what style. There is much work to be done. How could choosing to celebrate the industry needed to do to bring this We’ve got to fix disability in the industry. how wonderfully diverse our country about. We cannot allow people to arbitrarily is ever be a bad thing? By embracing The second level concerned how assume they know what a disabled minorities, we are able to tell more Diamond could help monitor the person is capable of by just being interesting and richer stories through changes and how broadcasters would introduced to them; we cannot allow television. develop projects that backed disabled a mediocre representation of disabled We can educate, entertain, and all talent in areas such as writing and talent, on- or off-screen. become better people, working in an directing and employ disabled people It needs sorting, and we are in a industry that is a true representation of in all areas of production. unique position now to fix it. n the beautiful world we live in. Now is At the end of 2019, some broadcast- our time. n ers announced what they were com- Deborah Williams is executive director mitted to doing. For instance, Channel 4 of the Creative Diversity Network. Rosie Jones is a comedian.

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 21 Cobra

As Covid-19 supervisors become commonplace on set, Tim Dams learns how producers are keeping the cameras rolling

he show must go on” runs the showbiz saying, but even this old cliché has been turned on its head by the Covid-19 pandemic. Numerous ‘dramasT have temporarily halted produc­ tion in recent months following Covid outbreaks among cast or crew. Sky Working to thriller Cobra, for example, started shoot- ing its second season at the end of Sep- tember, but returned from the Christmas break to find that 15 of its cast and crew had tested positive for Covid. new rules Meanwhile, the third season of Bri-

tannia has just wrapped, nearly a year Sky after it first went into production, in March 2020. The Sky original closed “ultra-caution”­ over production during extended to cover productions that down two weeks later due to the first the pandemic. “The show business start shooting before the end of April. lockdown, then restarted in September ethos that, whatever happens, the show Pattinson describes the scheme as a but had to halt for a week amid posi- must go on, and you just struggle on, “vital safety blanket”, albeit an expen- tive Covid tests. no longer applies.” sive one. “It’s also quite unwieldy. Other productions have delayed Programme-makers say that the We’re not planning on making a claim shooting during the winter’s horrifying industry’s Covid safe-shooting proto- under it, despite the fact we have lost a second Covid-19 wave. Conversations cols, agreed last summer, in combina- couple of days.” with Friends, the BBC follow-up to its tion with the Government-backed He says that a “rigid adherence” to hit Sally Rooney adaptation, Normal £500m Film and TV Production Restart the Covid production protocols has People, pushed production from Janu- Scheme, have been key to restarting been important for keeping people not ary to spring. Channel 5 and Acorn TV production. just physically safe, but also in good detective drama Dalgliesh moved from What began as a trickle last summer mental health. January to March. has become something of a flood. So Cast and crew rightly felt “very frag- Charlie Pattinson, CEO of Cobra and far, more than 160 productions across ile” around the New Year, when hospi- Dalgliesh producer New Pictures, says it the UK have been approved by the talisations and deaths were peaking. has been important to display Restart scheme, which has been “What people want to know is that we

22 On the set of Temple Sky have their best interests at heart – that close-contact­ bubbles; limiting the their health takes precedence over our ‘MANY numbers on set; crew working two schedule.” metres apart; departments split into Among all the Covid protocols, pro- PRODUCTION smaller sections; and the ubiquitous ducers say regular testing has been COMPANIES CITE mask wearing, extra washing and sani- critical to ensuring a smooth filming A 15% TO 30% tisation facilities. schedule, and to allaying the worries Inevitably, Covid has also made of cast and crew. RISE IN COSTS’ production itself more complex. Big Conversations with Friends indie Ele- Talk, for example, has built more sets ment Pictures, for example, is one of for The Offenders at Bristol’s Bottle Yard several productions to have its own, year to develop a new programme of Studios to give production more “con- fast-turnaround coronavirus testing Covid supervisor training for film and trollable environments”, explains Allen. lab on-site. “We’re definitely erring TV, targeted at production managers, Element has also built more sets in on the side of caution,” says Element line producers and location managers. Belfast for Conversations with Friends. co-founder Ed Guiney. “It’s a full-time job,” says Kenton “We’re shooting on an awful lot of A Covid-19 supervisor has also Allen, CEO of Big Talk, which is cur- stages,” confirms Guiney. become a familiar presence on sets rently shooting Stephen Merchant’s Not only does this make it easier for to oversee safety precautions. The Offenders in Bristol for BBC One a production to adhere to Covid guide- All high-end dramas need to have and Amazon Prime Video. lines, it also means that a shoot can a Covid-19 supervisor. They carry out Like many other executives, Allen is keep away from the public. risk assessments with the health and unable to visit the set of his own show. It’s still very challenging to be out on safety manager and on-site medic, “They’re running a Covid-secure envi- the streets with a crew, particularly in oversee the implementation and ronment. Jumping on a train to Bristol residential areas, says Allen. “Crew ­monitoring of Covid-19 safety controls, and going on set is a no-no, I’m afraid. are having to deal with, on occasions, and have the authority to stop unsafe One needs to lead by example, and some quite reactionary behaviour from working practices. that would be setting a bad example.” members of the public,” he explains. Covid-19 supervisors might come However, a Covid supervisor gives Studios also give productions more from a dedicated health and safety people such as Allen “the confidence shooting flexibility if a location sud- background or be a trained crew that it is all being done correctly to denly become unavailable, as happened member who then works in a dual support the producers – it is essential”. to Cobra. It lost a major location – a role. To help meet demand for Covid Indeed, complex Covid safety proto- seafront town in the North West – early supervisors, the Production Guild of cols now reach into every corner of on in production. The local council, says Great Britain (PGGB) and the British production, including: twice-weekly Pattinson, was so occupied with dealing Film Commission (BFC) partnered last PCR testing for all working within with Covid that it, understandably, �

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 23 Wrangling extras on The Offenders John Myers

� “couldn’t get its head around 20 or home to his family over Christmas costs. The social distancing and mask 30 people coming in to film”. during a two-week break because he wearing “also take quite a lot of the International travel has been the would have had to quarantine on the fun out of it”, says James Richardson, other big headache. Few have opted way out and the way back. He spent co-founder of Britannia producer to shoot abroad in recent months, Christmas on his own. Vertigo Films. Having steered Britan- with notable exceptions including “He’s been amazing,” says Pattin- nia through nearly a year of Covid-­ Around the World in 80 Days, starring son. “But whether he’d do that again, interrupted production, his advice for David Tennant, which restarted film- I don’t know.” producers is: “Don’t be daunted by it.” ing in November in Romania and Asked if there is anything about Everything that producers do is about completed in South Africa this year. making TV shows in Covid times that solving problems, he says. “International filming is difficult,” programme-makers would like to Richardson had two guiding agrees one producer. “I know people adopt for the future, few can identify parameters for Britannia: could the who are shooting in Budapest at the any positives. “The shooting process cast and crew still do their best work? moment. It’s pretty unpleasant – has been pretty well designed over the Was everyone safe? “If the answer to everyone is locked up in their hotel past 70 to 80 years,” says Allen. “I don’t those two questions was yes, then I room for most of the time.” think Covid has taught us anything felt we could carry on going.” Even transporting international we’d like to carry on in the future.” Looking ahead, most producers are talent to the UK is difficult, and Covid restrictions have added to optimistic about the coming months, expensive. Big Talk, for example, is the time and expense of production, predicting buoyant levels of produc- flyingThe Offenders star Christopher note production companies, with tion as the vaccination programme Walken by private jet, rather than many citing a 15% to 30% rise in accelerates and social-distancing using a commercial airline, from New measures ease. “I don’t feel that these York to the UK for the shoot, after protocols are going to go away which he will isolate and be tested quickly,” says Pattinson. “But I feel as ahead of filming. “We have a duty of ‘DON’T BE though it’s got to get better.” care to an extremely brilliant actor to DAUNTED… It can hardly get more difficult than get him here in as safe a way as pos- shooting during January, at the peak sible,” Allen explains. EVERYTHING of the pandemic, when one in 50 For those international stars who PRODUCERS people had Covid-19 in the UK. “The do make it here, there are still chal- industry has been pretty amazing lenges, though. Cobra star Robert Car- DO IS ABOUT working through this,” says Pattinson. lyle – who lives in Vancouver, Canada SOLVING “I don’t think you can underestimate – flew over ahead of production in the anxiety levels. People were September. He was unable to return PROBLEMS’ incredibly brave.” n

24 OUR FRIEND IN YORKSHIRE

Katy Boulton obson Green has the laughter (believe me – when you done it. Professor shares her flash your backside at the fishermen Alice Roberts has new obsession for the umpteenth time while getting also given it a go. changed, you and your friends will Darcey Bussell and invites a howl with laughter); and, of course, the tried it in Scotland post-swim cake (medicinal purposes recently. Kate commissioner to only, you understand). Humble did it naked. Susannah Con- dip their toe in very It seems I’m very much not alone, Rstantine took an axe with her when and we can see the evidence of the she did it. Barely a week goes by cold water nation’s new-found obsession with without someone from either Coun- cold-water swimming all over our tryfile or The One Show doing it. And screens. Robson Green first went on Port Talbot resident David Bryan his Wild Swimming Adventure (ITV) in credits it with helping to save his life. 2009. The two-parter has since been I’m talking wild or – as I prefer to re-released on Amazon Prime Video, call it – cold-water swimming. It’s reflecting current interest. something that I, along with hun- Last summer, we saw Roberts dreds of thousands of other people, embark on a quest to discover what took up last year as a way of coping lies behind the UK’s lockdown craze with lockdown. And it’s something in her BBC Four documentary Wild that seems to have taken over our TV Swimming with Alice Roberts. And, just screens and my life in equal measure! last month, we’ve had True North’s I’ve always enjoyed the odd dip in a Wild Coasts of Scotland series for More4, lake, but I started swimming outdoors in which Darcey Bussell went wild

on a more regular basis last summer. Boulton Katy swimming off the Isle of Skye. And, of Why? Because it was something that course, these are just a handful among would provide some much-needed from one week to the next is relatively many other programmes and features. exercise and it was one of the few small. If you just keep on swimming My new obsession is a campaign to things that I was permitted to do with regularly, you adjust to the cold, bit by create a lido in my local community. a friend or two. So, when a mate sug- bit, over time. Then, one day, you find So, if there are any commissioning gested it, it was an easy “yes” in a yourself swimming in 4°C water, with editors out there, I reckon the journey summer of “nos/can’ts” – although I snow falling around you (surreal but from idea to reality would make a honestly didn’t think it would last, magical). And you confidently tell great documentary series. and I certainly had no idea just how your friend in a Mr Toadish kind of a Or how about a TV travelogue of much it would get under my skin. way, “I’m going to carry on doing this Britain’s lidos, exploring our many The water felt cold that first sum- for ever!” and varied outdoor pools? I’d watch mer’s day. In fact, it was 16°C, which, Other reasons for me to continue it, for sure, and I’m certain I wouldn’t I’ve since learned, is fairly warm as include: regular mid-swim sightings be the only one! n things go. After every aquatic trip, I of a kingfisher; a definite (and much would say wistfully to my companion, needed) mental health lift; the fact Katy Boulton is strategic development “Well, that’ll probably be the last one that it allows me to meet with a friend manager at TripleC/DANC (Disabled until next year because it’ll be too or two within the various rules and Artists Networking Community), which cold next week”. But here’s the thing. restrictions; the beautiful countryside campaigns for representation and Water takes longer than air to cool (I live in the South Pennines); the ­opportunities for disabled people on down, so the temperature difference connection with the changing seasons; and off our screens.

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 25 race was shot under stringent coronavirus protocols but you would never know an epi- demic was sweeping the Sleuthing nation from watching ITV’s new Sunday-night drama. This wasG as the broadcaster and the show’s producer intended – and immensely pleasing for its star, John Simm. “No one wants to see anything about Covid. by the sea It was the most depressingly boring year and we don’t want to see it on Could a contemporary thriller set in Brighton film,” he says. Simm plays detective superintendent and starring John Simm become ITV’s new Roy Grace, the eponymous hero of Peter James’s bestselling crime novels. Inspector Morse? Matthew Bell investigates The actor hadn’t read a Grace novel before being offered the part. “It’s not a genre I would read normally,” he admits. “I devoured the first three very quickly and I was absolutely hooked. I’m on book 10 at the moment.” Grace can use strange methods, including consulting a medium, but, says Simm, “he’s not maverick – he’s just a really good police officer”. “In today’s police world, maverick cops don’t have a place,” says James. “In so many television dramas, you see the senior cop being bolshie and shout- ing at people. “I’ve been going out with the police on my research for well over 30 years and the really good ones are not shouty – they’re calm, methodical and actually very kind. I look at John on television and he is completely that.” Brighton, where the novels are set, offers James scope for his imagination to run wild. “Graham Greene has been the only writer who really understood its dark heart. I was born and grew up in Brighton and, as a kid in the 1950s and 1960s, it was a dark, dangerous and seedy place.” Now, he admits, “it’s one of the cool- est places in England”, but the crimi- nals never left. “It’s really fertile ground for me.” James classes himself a thriller writer, not an author of murder mysteries: “The classic British whodunnit starts with a body on page one and the rest of the novel is a puzzle to solve it, whereas I like to have the victim alive but in peril at the end of chapter one.” There have been three previous adaptations of Grace novels, all of which James dismisses as “lame”. He has rejected other proposals, including an odd BBC Scotland proposal to relo- cate Roy and his team to Aberdeen. John Simm as Roy Grace

For this latest adaptation, he turned ITV

26 to an old friend, actor-turned-producer Patrick Schweitzer from Tall Story Dead Simple features a scene of psy- Andrew O’Connor, the co-founder of Pictures, made it on to the set. chological horror this viewer found Second Act Productions. “He’s some- “Everything had to be done from a almost impossible to watch. This body I completely trust and who’s distance or not done at all,” says Sandler. pleases Lewis: “It worked as we meant always been a fan of my work.” O’Connor recalls: “We couldn’t get it to, then.” But there are limits to what James passed on adapting his own to hang out with the actors – that’s dramas can portray in primetime. work: “The average Roy Grace novel is the best bit, right? There’s no point in “Peter’s stories are so deliciously dark,” 120,000 words; a script is 20,000 and making drama if you can’t hang out says executive producer Patrick you’re writing in a very different way. I with the stars.” Schweitzer. “While we haven’t been felt it would be better to let somebody The Covid-19 rules raised the stress able to go full on with the blood and else have it.” levels of the cast. Richie Campbell, guts because of the compliance issues O’Connor approached his old friend who plays Roy Grace’s partner, detec- you face with a family [viewing] slot, I Russell Lewis, the creator of Inspector tive sergeant Glenn Branson, recalls: think it’s a defining aspect of the show Morse prequel Endeavour and writer of “I was so nervous. I like a hands-on that it has darker subject matter and countless episodes of Morse, Lewis, approach [to acting]… a bit touchy- challenging cases.” Kavanagh QC and Sharpe. Lewis and feely, so to speak, but as [everything] Despite the odd grisly scene, could O’Connor were child actors and met was stripped back, I was wondering if Grace give ITV another Inspector Morse? at acting school in the 1970s. Lewis is a busy man, performing the herculean task of penning all 30 epi- sodes of Endeavour over the past nine years – but he found the time to adapt the first two Grace novels. As well as writing 40-plus books, James has produced films and TV shows, enduring “writers with egos the size of planets – and bigger”. He says Lewis couldn’t be more different: “Russ has no ego. He is a genuinely warm, funny, bright guy. He’s been incredibly respectful, and he didn’t need to be, as he’s had an amazing career himself. He’s not changed anything without discussing it with me.” Lewis talks as warmly about James: “It was a real privilege for me – the guy’s a ledge. Peter was amazingly supportive throughout. “Peter’s written for the screen before, so he knows that what you can do in a Simm’s supporting cast in Grace book sometimes doesn’t work the same ITV way on screen. He was completely open to me expanding and developing what we would be able to create what we Like John Thaw, Simm is a bankable was in the novel.” [wanted] on screen.” star, and there’s plenty of source mate- Over the years, Lewis has put the In the event, the actors coped and rial. Peter James’s 17th Grace novel is works of PD James, Bernard Cornwell, then flourished until working within out in May and he’s already “55 pages Agatha Christie and Colin Dexter on the protocols become “second nature”, in” on number 18. screen, and says the same rules apply says Campbell. Rakie Ayola, who plays Does James see Grace becoming a TV to all adaptations: “You want to do assistant chief constable Alison Vosper, institution? “I’d be devastated if it right by them and by their creation.” adds: “You get beyond the strangeness.” wasn’t,” he says, laughing. “Roy is des- Production on Grace began early last “I was so happy to see Rakie in that perately close to my heart… If we could year from a base at Brighton Race- role,” says Campbell, who, like Ayola, is have a series as long as Morse, I’d be course, abruptly stopped as the country black and part of a diverse cast. “But it over the moon.” went into lockdown and then restarted was also because I knew she was good “It’s for the audience to say and not in early autumn. for that role; they hadn’t just shoe- for us to make that call,” adds Lewis. “We were one of the first dramas to horned her in. Grace is a very modern “You never take anything for granted. go back into production,” recalls Paul show and a good representation of the It’s a two-hour slot, as was Sharpe, Sandler, who founded Second Act country.” Lewis, Morse and Kavanagh, so it’s going Productions with O’Connor: “The whole “It’s a diverse cast and it should be,” to invite comparisons with those kinds team really pulled together and worked says Simm. “Things are changing for of shows. But, hopefully, it’s very much under very difficult and stringent the better, slowly but surely.” The first its own thing. [Grace] is contemporary conditions.” of two Grace films, Dead Simple, airs on and the pace is completely different None of the executive producers, ITV at 8pm on 14 March; the second, – it’s a roller-coaster ride for the audi- who also number James, Lewis and Looking Good Dead, later this year. ence. We’d love to do more.” n

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 27 How to cut TV’s carbon footprint Green Production Guide Green

ach hour of television how you can all work together for that produced leaves a carbon­ An RTS panel examines common purpose.” footprint of 9.2 tonnes, how TV producers Changing the culture was Holdgate’s which is the equivalent of fourth pillar. “My stock phrase is: being two households’ annual can play their part sustainable­ isn’t my job, it’s everyone’s consumption. This star- job,” he said. “That includes things such tling figure is the average across all in combating global as training – one-to-one sessions, even genresE – quadruple it for drama. this session. It allows people to under- warming That was the top line given by Roser stand what their piece in the puzzle is.” Canela Mas of Albert, the pan-industry neutral by 2030 relied on four pillars. Canela Mas also stressed the impor- body set up to help make television The first was energy, he said: “Things tance of shared responsibility, explain- production sustainable, at an RTS panel such as powering our studios with ing that this was why she avoided the discussion, “Producing sustainable TV renewable energy, and emissions that idea of having designated environ- – myth or reality?”. we can directly control, like diesel mental officers within a production. Laying out the problem, she empha- generators. Jane Atkinson, senior vice-president sised that climate scientists have “The second is waste. How do we of global production at Fremantle, who warned of irreversible consequences if eliminate waste in the first place and, is helping to expand Albert’s remit the average temperature of the Earth’s then, how do we manage it on an internationally, gave an example of atmosphere rises by more than 1.5°C ongoing basis. That includes things like how sustainability could be baked into by 2050. “So far, temperatures have trying to eliminate single-use plastics, production decisions when it was part risen by 1°C, so we are 0.5°C away from as well. of the overall culture. where we shouldn’t get,” said Canela “Third is sourcing – 90% of emissions “Italy’s X Factor traditionally shoots Mas, industry sustainability manager sit in our supply chain. It’s out of our its audition shows in a huge circus at Bafta and Albert. “In terms of our direct control but it is within our indi- tent. The producers noticed that there industry, it means that, while reusable rect control. was a building company in Rome that water bottles are a good start, we need to “There’s a lot more industry collabo- had been requested by the government look at how we operate as a business in ration on sourcing, because a lot of to reduce its emissions. order to be more resilient in the future.” producers and broadcasters share the “As part of that, it put fabric on the One positive sign that she noted was same supply chain.” exterior of [its construction sites] that that all UK broadcasters had signed up Holdgate noted that there was “a live absorbed pollution from cars. X Factor to request carbon footprint details as conversation about sports broadcasting, Italia approached the company and part of the production process. And the because it’s a niche field and there’s a asked if it could make the tent out of “net zero 2030” target adopted by small group of suppliers for that par- that material. We would never even many companies suggested that the ticular genre. There are lots of conver- have thought about that.” industry was prioritising its environ- sations [taking place] between ITV Indeed, new advances in technology mental impact. Sports, Sky Sports and the BBC, where are helping to make sustainability Phil Holdgate, head of production they are engaging with the suppliers. more achievable. “There’s a lot of work sustainability at ITV Studios, explained “It’s not all about beating people being done around cloud-based tech- that the goal of becoming carbon with a big stick. It’s about figuring out nology, for example, so you don’t have

28 to take all of the kit and caboodle with to sustainability with the producer, society’s perception of the problem. you wherever you go,” said Holdgate. said Watsham. “We’ve already reached the people “That has been accelerated by Covid, “There are clever ways, but you have who are more likely to be engaged but it was something we were maybe to weave them in at the beginning,” he first. It’s the people who least want to working towards, potentially with a said, adding that it was especially engage with it that we want to reach,” slightly longer roadmap. important to start early with scripted said Watsham. “Likewise, what does 5G mean? Do comedy and drama. “That’s why it isn’t just about shout- we need great big satellite trucks? And UKTV has committed to a robust ing really loudly – if you shout really if the kit is getting smaller, then, poten- follow-up, too, by gathering “infor­ loudly in someone’s face, sometimes tially, the vehicles can get smaller. And mation, through post-production they don’t want to listen. We’ve got to does electrification or hydrogen power be more imaginative in how we get come into that as well?” our messaging across.” Yet, sustainable production is only One idea he wanted to see employed part of the puzzle in was a “DNA report” on a pro- terms of tele- gramme’s sustainability that could vision’s envi- be shown to interested broadcasters. ronmental While there was still much to do, impact. Rich- ard Watsham, director of commissioning Sony TV productions can involve huge energy expenditure on moving people and gear at UKTV since 2014 and responsible paperwork, on every single ‘planet Albert’s very existence showed that for the likes of Judge Romesh, suggested placement’ within all of our program­ the industry was in a strong position that, “when you think about the TV mes, whether they’re verbal or visual”. to become sustainable. industry relative to other industries, “We’ve also committed to having a “The TV industry in the UK is one of the biggest impacts we can meeting at the end of every produc- blessed because we have Albert. It is have is influence. That’s going to have tion to discuss with the producers how 10 years old this year, and it’s one of more significance [even] than impor- they got on, in order to hold all of our the greatest examples I’ve come across tant work within our own industry.” feet to the flames a little.” of pan-industry collaboration, proba- To that end, there has been a push The panellists were agreed that they bly anywhere in the world,” said Wat- to shape how TV can change social wanted the climate change message sham. “We see normal competitors in attitudes towards sustainability. Albert to be delivered tactfully within pro- the market laying down their tools, collects data on how often climate grammes. “I’m a big TV consumer,” working together in a holistic way change is mentioned in programmes. said Canela Mas. “If I put the TV on towards a shared purpose.” While the number of mentions and I have a programme telling me These collective efforts suggest that, increased between its annual reports, I’m a terrible human being, I’m going in the realm of television, sustainabil- “it is still lower than words such as cats, to change the channel. I don’t want to ity is more solid than a myth. n cakes and weddings”, said Canela Mas. know that after work. At UKTV, “planet placement” (an “All I want to know is how I can Report by Shilpa Ganatra. ‘Producing sus- Albert initiative to raise awareness of make it better.” tainable TV – myth or reality?’ was an RTS climate change) is part of the produc- They were also unanimous that event held on 2 March. It was chaired by tion process: before production starts, promoting the term “climate emer- journalist Lucy Siegle. The producers were UKTV discusses opportunities relating gency” was unhelpful at this stage of Victoria Fairclough and Emily Wilson.

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 29 Mishal Husain and Simon Bucks presented the ceremony streamed on 24 February RTS Television Journalism Awards 2021

Clive Myrie, BBC; Network Presenter of the Year and Television Journalist of the Year Alamy

30 Judges’ Award Technical Teams ‘The pandemic and lockdown forced the industry to devise new ways of content gathering and, in the frontline, were hundreds of colleagues – the technical and engineering teams – whose contributions are rarely recognised in these awards. ‘They not only had to innovate at speed, often they were the only people who routinely had to go to work despite the personal risks. ‘As one juror said pithily, “they kept journalism on the air’’.’ BBC

Breaking News Current Affairs – Home Daily News Programme Beirut Blast Panorama – The Forgotten Frontline of the Year Al Jazeera English BBC Panorama for BBC One ITV News at Ten ‘All three shortlisted entries brilliantly ‘This excellent film combined both ITN/ITV News for ITV reported three very different breaking heart and policy as it followed the ‘This was a very closely fought contest, stories – all as shocking as they were unfolding tragedy in care homes as with breakfast programmes, daily news dramatic. The winner was largely the they struggled to protect residents shows and main bulletins all delivering work of a single resident correspon­ against coronavirus over several outstanding entries. The winner dent, Zeina Khodr, working tirelessly for months. It demonstrated great combined compelling storytelling on hours at a stretch. She not only cap­ storytelling and analysis, with extra­ a wide range of subject matters, with tured the essential details of what had ordinary interviews. It was a searing, great reportage, writing and presenting.’ happened, and its impact, but under­ emotional film, very powerful and Nominees: pinned the narrative with key back­ gave a devastating account.’ ◗ BBC Breakfast, BBC News for BBC One ground information, local knowledge Nominees: ◗ BBC News at Ten, BBC News for and political context.’ ◗ Hunting the People Smugglers (Expo- BBC One Nominees: sure), David Modell Productions for ITV ◗ Coronavirus – Boris Johnson Rushed ◗ In Cold Blood (Exposure), Darlow Digital Award to Hospital, BBC News for BBC News Smithson Productions for ITV Need To Know – 2019 UK General Channel Election Series ◗ London Bridge Attack, Sky News Current Affairs – International Seth Goolnik and Warren Nettleford, BBC News Arabic – The Schools that ntk.network Camera Operator of the Year Chain Boys ‘Designed to make political journalism David McIlveen – BBC News at Ten BBC News Arabic for BBC iPlayer engaging for young people, the service BBC News for BBC One ‘A detailed and forensic exposé of the was initially broadcast on the Snapchat ‘David’s work demonstrated a mastery shocking abuse of young boys in platform covering the final weeks of of composition and lighting. A camera­ Islamic schools in Sudan, featuring the the 2019 general election campaign. man with all the technical skills and a eyewitness accounts of two of the boys.’ Its storytelling techniques combined sympathetic eye on the story narrative, Nominees: a lightness of touch and humour to tell he managed to create new ways of ◗ Into the Red Zone, Sky News important political stories.’ filming sequences that [even] experts ◗ This World – Italy’s Frontline: A Doctor’s Nominees: wondered how he achieved his results.’ Diary, BBC TV Current Affairs London, ◗ Being Black at Cambridge, BBC News Nominees: Mongoose Pictures and PBS Frontline for BBC News Online/BBC iPlayer ◗ Dan Morgan, Sky News for BBC Two ◗ Go There – Fear and Anxiety in the ◗ Natalie Thomas, Reuters Video News Epicenter of the Wuhan Coronavirus for Thomson Reuters News Outbreak, CNN

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 31 ITV News at Ten; Daily News Programme of the Year

Interview of the Year Andrew Marr and the Chinese Ambassador – The Andrew Marr Show BBC News for BBC One ‘A fantastic example of TV interviewing art at its best. It was a masterclass in technique, gutsy and went for the jugular, showing a brilliant use of silence. Made me proud to be a British journalist, Andrew was respectful, rude

and across his brief... it was a real coup.’ ITV Nominees: ◗ Channel 4 News – Ciaran Jenkins/ Michael Gove, ITN for Channel 4 ◗ CNN Tonight – Sara Sidner Interviews Minneapolis Police Chief with Floyd Family Live, CNN Nations and Regions Current Affairs Unequal Force? A BBC London Special BBC London for BBC One ‘An outstanding piece of journalism. It was a brave, moving and shocking programme, investigating the relation­ ship between black people and the police in the capital over the past Beirut Blast, Al Jazeera English; 50 years. The effort put into getting the Breaking News

community to trust the programme- Al Jazeera makers paid off in the quality of the interviews. A timely and compelling watch that was informative, balanced and unsettling.’ Nominees: ◗ Disclosure: Scotland’s Lockdown, BBC Scotland for BBC One Scotland ◗ Spotlight – The Killings of the Three Scottish Soldiers, BBC Northern Ireland Nations and Regions News Coronavirus in London: Who’s Hit the Hardest? Covid UK, Sky News; BBC London for BBC One News Coverage – Home

‘An astonishing and prescient journalis­ Sky tic endeavour. There have been many programmes about coronavirus but this was agenda-setting journalism based on meticulous research and a deep ­understanding of the region. Using a series of well-crafted films and an excellent reporting team, the pro­ gramme established, well before others, how ethnic groups have been dispro­ portionately impacted by Covid-19.’ Nominees: ◗ ITV News Calendar – Jack Charlton Tribute, ITV Yorkshire for ITV Hannah Miller – Granada Need To Know – 2019 UK General Reports, ITV; Nations and Election Series, ntk.network; ◗ ITV News West Country – The Toppling Regions Presenter of the Year Digital Award

of Colston, ITV West Country for ITV ITV ntk.network

32 Nations and Regions Presenter of the Year Hannah Miller – Granada Reports ITV News Granada for ITV ‘Hannah represented her audience in Andrew Marr and the Chinese everything she tackled. Her ability to Ambassador – The Andrew Marr get to the heart of each story with her Show; Interview of the Year

BBC probing style and authority [went with] a warm personality and courtesy. Her Unequal Force? A BBC London tightly written scripts always comple­ Special, BBC London; Nations mented the pictures. She truly symbol­ and Regions Current Affairs ised her region.’ Nominees: ◗ Riz Lateef, BBC London for BBC One ◗ Charlene White – ITV News London, ITN/ITV News for ITV Network Presenter of the Year Clive Myrie – BBC News at Ten; BBC News at One; BBC News Channel BBC News for BBC One and BBC News Channel ‘Brilliant, versatile, measured, com­ David McIlveen – BBC News at Ten; pelling, relaxed but reassuring and Camera Operator of the Year BBC BBC empathetic were just some of the adjec­ tives used by jurors. The winner had had an astonishing year – as excellent as a package-maker and interviewer as a studio and location presenter.’ Nominees: John King, CNN Victoria Derbyshire – BBC News for BBC News Channel, BBC Two and BBC One News Coverage – Home Covid UK BBC News Arabic – The Schools Sky News that Chain Boys, BBC; Current ‘All entries covering the Covid crises Affairs – International

BBC were of an exceptionally high standard, but Sky’s coverage stood out because of its variety of angles and insight into the lives of ordinary people. From the packed hospital wards to the A-level students, from the government dithering to the data, and from those in high-rise blocks in the shadow of Grenfell, to the joyous “and finally” tale of the Man­ chester DJ trying to lift spirits in a roof­- top rave, Sky’s output was a must-watch during these difficult times.’ Coronavirus in Nominees: London: Who’s ◗ Covid and the Care Home Crisis, BBC Hit the Hardest?, News for BBC One BBC London; ◗ The Tavistock’s Gender Identity Nations and Development Service – Newsnight, Regions News

BBC BBC Two

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 33 News Coverage – International A Warning from Italy Sky News ‘These reports were a wake-up call for the UK. Stuart Ramsay’s scripts were prophetic of the disasters that were yet to come and contained warnings that went unheeded. Powerful and brave journalism.’ Nominees: ◗ The Death of George Floyd, CNN ◗ Beirut Explosion – ITV News, ITN/ITV News for ITV News Technology The Trump Data Leak – Channel 4 News

ITN for Channel 4 Sky ‘Channel 4 News made headlines around the world with its investigation into News Channel of the Year the Trump administration’s manipula­ Sky News the Black Lives Matter movement, climate tion of data. A small team of journalists ‘As the Covid pandemic unfolded, news change and the final, chaotic days of the came up with a range of technological channels provided crucial information, as Trump presidency. The winning channel solutions to painstakingly access and it emerged, that affected us all. All three was distinguished by its high-quality, interpret vast amounts of data. They nominated channels did a first-class job global coverage but, in particular, by its revealed, among other things, the reporting the virus and explaining the revelations on the Covid crisis in Britain’s Republican strategy for preventing medical science and data with which we care homes – a real national scandal.’ voting in black communities.’ are now, sadly, all too familiar. Nominees: Nominees: ‘There were other huge stories, too ◗ BBC News Channel ◗ BBC News Online: What Covid-19 – notably­ the death of George Floyd and ◗ CNN International Means for You, BBC News for BBC News Online ◗ Sky News Remote: Life After Lock- down, Sky News Scoop of the Year Free School Meals BBC Breakfast for BBC One ‘The product of great contact building, perseverance, diplomacy and a clear eye for a story. Everyone wanted this exclusive but only one team got it and it made headlines everywhere for days.’ Nominees: ◗ Abuse in British Gymnastics – ITV John Ryley, News, ITN/ITV News for ITV Sky News; Nick Martin, Sky News; Outstanding ◗ Inside Italy’s Red Zone, Sky News Specialist Journalist of the Year Contribution Sky Sky Specialist Journalist of the Year Nick Martin – Sky News Sky News ‘He was one of the first to raise the alarm about residents being discharged from hospital back to care homes without a negative Covid test. He brought to life the human dramas of care-home residents and their relatives while holding politicians to account. A damn good journalist, with great attention to detail.’ Nominees: ◗ Gary Gibbon – Channel 4 News, ITN for Channel 4 Free School Meals, BBC One; ◗ Victoria Macdonald – Channel 4 Scoop of the Year

News, ITN for Channel 4 BBC

34 Television Journalist of the Year Clive Myrie – BBC BBC News for BBC News Channel ‘The pandemic has produced some remarkable reporting on all channels. The three nominees all demonstrated great journalistic strength, powerful writing and real humanity in their work, but one stood out for the judges for the all-round quality of their reporting.’ Nominees: ◗ Alex Crawford – Sky News ◗ Robert Moore – ITV News, ITN/ITV News for ITV Young Talent of the Year Renata Brito – Video Journalist The Associated Press ‘In the 25th anniversary of the Young Talent of the Year award – launched in memory of John Schofield, the BBC and ITN reporter shot and killed in Croatia – the judges were delighted at the strength and range of talent nominated. ‘Agency journalists have been the Renata Brito, Associated Press; unsung heroes of the last year, when Young Talent of the Year

AP many newsrooms could not deploy as they would have wished. ‘Renata’s portfolio showed an extraordinary range, tracking the impact of the pandemic from Europe to Brazil, and migration across the Mediterranean. With great commit­ ment, she got inside stories when others couldn’t and showed great initiative and compassion.’ Nominees: ◗ Rianna Croxford, BBC News for BBC One and BBC News Channel ◗ Fadi Al Halabi – Channel 4 News, ITN for Channel 4 The Trump Data Leak, Channel 4 News; News Technology Outstanding Contribution

Channel 4 Sky John Ryley Sky News ‘The Outstanding Contribution award goes to a journalist who really has done what it says on the tin – effected genuine change in our business. He has worked for all three of the major UK broadcasters. His style is innova­ tive, idiosyncratic. His integrity, influence and authority, colossal.’ n

Watch the full video of the RTS Television Journalism Awards 2021 A Warning from Italy, Sky News; at: bit.ly/RTS-tvj News Coverage – International Sky

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 35 RTS NEWS Taylor. “If your friends are really into something and they tell you about it, you’re more likely to give it a go because you trust their opinions.” Listening to this debate, there appeared to be two distinct kinds of viewers – younger audiences fond of box-set bingeing on stream- ing services and older audi- ences, who tended to default to traditional broadcasters. “I’m watching live Six Nations rugby at the moment,” said Walley, acknowledging that he was twice the age of the other two panellists and session chair Abby Robinson. “We can’t forget the fact that people are still consuming The Undoing: star casting

Sky soaps every day. I’d like to fly the flag for live, scheduled linear broadcast TV, and not just focus on on-demand.” Is there too much telly? He said more technological innovation was in the pipe- line to aid viewers faced by Steve Clarke hears there are plenty of great shows to too much choice: “Sky Q, Netflix and Amazon have

RTS London discover, but they are not as easy to find as they could be driven innovation in presen- tation and search. There’s e live during international editor, remind­ ed­ editor at the Radio Times. still lots to do.… Better quality the golden age the RTS that nominations for As with modern pop on search and recommendation of TV. But is the Golden Globes had services such as Spotify, will probably be the next there too much bizarrely omitted I May Destroy decisions about what to wave of tech innovation.” Weye-candy and is lockdown You, widely regarded as one of watch on Netflix are often What, then, constituted encouraging us to become the best TV shows of 2020. made by briefly sampling a hit in this era of peak TV? addicted to series that, during She recounted how, despite a particular show, perhaps It didn’t always correlate to ordinary times, would seem, herself, she’d invested a lot of with 10 minutes of viewing. the size of a show’s budget, well, mediocre? time and emotion in Sky Would better curation help argued Walley. Sometimes That was the core of an Atlantic’s much-marketed navigate the ocean of TV? social relevance was key, he RTS London discussion, “Too thriller The Undoing. In retro- The standout shows are added, highlighting the much TV!”, which examined spect, she regarded the show there, even if they are not breakout success of Chan- how the pandemic is affecting she was addicted to as a rou- always easy to find. nel 4’s It’s a Sin, set during the our viewing tastes and why, tine crime series, regardless Arguably, thought the Aids epidemic of the 1980s. despite significant progress, of the star casting of Nicole panellists,­ word-of-mouth “Social-issue drama, and platforms need better curation Kidman and Hugh Grant. recommendations commu- I’m including I May Destroy to guide audiences through Spending 20 minutes nicated via social media You, that is topical encourages the labyrinth of peak TV. scrolling through Netflix were a more effective way word-of-mouth recommen- As the panellists agreed, trying to find a show to watch for certain audiences to dis- dations,” added Ravindran. n you can’t have too much and then giving up, a victim cover something rewarding, great TV. Whether there is of what panellist Nigel Walley, than relying on the streamers’ ‘Too much TV! Navigating the enough of it is a moot point. MD of consultancy Decipher, own recommendations. new golden age’ was held on And, perhaps, ultimately, the described as “the tyranny of “The success of shows such 10 February, chaired by Digital definition of what constitutes choice”, was not an uncom- as Bridgerton and Normal People Spy TV writer Abby Robinson, outstanding TV is subjective. mon experience, according to owed a lot to clips being and produced by Philip Barnes Manori Ravindran, Variety’s Frances Taylor, streaming shown on social media,” said and Damien Ashton-Wellman.

36 A restored version of 1968 comedy classic Carry On Up the Khyber

RTS Yorkshire for the BritBox stream- ing service was the surprise winner of a prize for post- production excellence at last year’s RTS Yorkshire Awards. “In conversation” with RTS Yorkshire Chair Fiona Thompson­ in February, ITV Content Delivery’s James Macmillan recalled: “We were totally blown away.… It’s been a very tough year for every- one, but I can’t think of a better way of ending 2020 Carry On Up the Khyber than by winning the award.” ITV The Leeds-based business development manager explained how the Carry On movie was restored to its Carry on restoring original condition. To show the BritBox edito- rial team what was possible, behind restoring classic been seen in high-definition and we’ve got film dating he said, “We took a [35mm] movies, Macmillan said: “We before.… There’s definitely back to the 1920s in the reel of a Carry On film out of don’t want a Carry On film to an appetite for more films to vaults in Leeds. We’ve got a the archive and transferred it. look like it was made in the be restored.” duty of care for that content We picked a couple of scenes 21st century.… We want it to ITV Content Delivery to make sure it is preserved to restore.… There was a real look as good as it possibly restores and digitises the and available for future gen- night and day difference could have looked the very broadcaster’s huge archive erations to watch and enjoy,” between before and after.” first time it was presented. of film and tape. “We’re the said Macmillan. Discussing the thinking “The Carry Ons have never custodians of ITV’s archive Matthew Bell

‘Content made in Yorkshire is Raiders of the lost archive produced for audiences across the globe, so the whole basis on which we determine what Footage from a 1989 episode ‘I did a piece a while ago from visible, that value will diminish.’ to collect and preserve has of Bullseye – sourced from some archive filmed in 1968 in a Sue Todd, partnership man- changed enormously.’ the ITV Archive in Leeds – was slum street in Leeds [featuring] ager at the British Film Institute, Looking to the future, BBC used for a key sequence in some urchin kids playing. We said her organisation’s focus News archive manager David The Pembrokeshire Murders. put it out, asking, ‘Is this you?’ was on the ‘mass digitisation Wormstone outlined his hopes The suspect in the ITV true- Three of them got back to us… of videotape’. She summed up for TV archives: ‘Make it all crime drama, John Cooper, had and we put them in an edit suite the BFI’s overall strategy as digital and make it accessible.’ appeared in the game show, and filmed them looking back at ‘collecting, preserving and mak- Howard added: ‘Regional col- which gave the police the themselves 50 years ago.’ ing that material accessible’. lections… capture the character evidence to convict him. Sue Howard, director of the Screen Yorkshire chief Sally of a region. The material that is ‘Being able to access that Yorkshire Film Archive, said Joynson identified the biggest held in those collections is vital kind of thing is absolutely archive content had a variety challenges facing archives: ‘We to the cultural and historical amazing,’ said Mark Witty, a pro- of values: it was a ‘key cultural have an explosion of content- record of our country. But that ducer at ITV regional news show asset’; of commercial value to makers, platforms and pro- material is only of value if it is Calendar, who was talking at an rights holders; and, for regional ducers – how on earth do you used and seen by people.’ RTS event on TV archives last collections, it was important chart a course through that new ‘Protecting Yorkshire’s TV’s month. ‘For me and all my fellow for their communities who landscape? What do you pre- heritage’ was a joint RTS York- producers in news, [archives ‘identify with it’. She added: ‘If serve? Who do you negotiate shire/RTS Archives Group event. are] an invaluable source. we don’t continue to keep it with? Who is your audience? Matthew Bell

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 37 RTS NEWS

Since Susie Schofield Past winners have included helped set up an RTS the Irish investigative reporter Television Journalism Donal MacIntyre, BBC eco-

Journalism awards Award in honour of her nomics editor Faisal Islam and late husband 25 years ago, one Waad al-Kateab, the Syrian thing has remained constant: Oscar-nominated film-maker the sheer quality of young Recently, more winners talent vying for the prize. have come from diverse and “It’s so important to cherish overseas backgrounds. The and recognise the young 2019 winner was Anja Popp, talent you have working for who went on to be mentored you,” said Schofield. “For the by Kamal Ahmed, until past three years, I’ve been on recently the editorial director the jury for the award and it’s of BBC News. This year’s always so difficult to whittle it winner was Brazilian-born down to the final three. There Renata Brito, who now works is so much talent out there.” for Associated Press in John Schofield was shot in Barcelona. 1995 while covering the war in While the award is in rude Croatia for the BBC, aged 29. health, one thing that dismays His widow was taken aback Schofield is that so many of Renata Brito: Young Talent of the Year 2021

by the huge number of letters AP today’s young journalists she received following­ his work on short-term contracts. death. They all said John had “There are fewer staff jobs been certain to become the today, so there’s less job secu- leading journalist of his Schofield prize rity than there used to be,” she generation. says. “This pains me. How can John was totally unaware of you plan your life with a series the high esteem his peers held of short-term contracts? him in. His wife was deter- marks 25 years “That puts off a lot of tal- mined that no other young ented people from becoming journalists should be put in journalists. Another problem that position – “to die and not providers, BBC News, ITN The award was renamed is retaining people, especially know their worth” – so she set and Sky News. It launched the Young Talent of the Year those from BAME back- up the John Schofield Trust. the RTS Young Journalist of Award in 2014 and recognises grounds, who often find they The trust pairs rookie jour- the Year Award in 1996 in outstanding work on- or are the only non-white voice nalists with mentors, drawn memory of John. All winners off-screen by a journalist in the room.” from the UK’s main TV news are given mentors. under the age of 30. Steve Clarke

innovation, Mulcahy and fellow panellist Guy Pelham, Covid has led to news innovation an ex-senior editor at BBC News, were more upbeat. The Covid-19 pandemic voices” to young people, who of the production is excep- “The pressure of the pan- has driven technologi- tended to shun mainstream tionally good – extremely demic has forced innovation,” cal innovation in TV TV news bulletins. well considered, editorially, said Pelham. He cited a recent

Thames Valley newsrooms, with many The service is funded by a and balanced. example of a reporter, camera doing tasks at home that were mix of advertising revenue “The problem is that there operator and producer based, once believed to require and crowdfunding. “There is no editorial oversight – so respectively, in Europe, Asia broad­cast studios. It has also does seem to be a substantial if, tomorrow, the producer and Africa, who went to film a caused news audiences to wave of these sites,” he said. gets a sponsorship deal that story in Africa. On their return surge as people have sought However, Glen Mulcahy, a he doesn’t declare, his edito- to their homes, they were able out trusted information. former head of innovation at rial line could go way left of to collaborate and assemble Simon Morice, who chaired RTÉ, questioned whether centre, say, and no one is several pieces for TV. the RTS Thames Valley ses- these initiatives provided the going to call him out.” During “That sort of thing won’t go sion “Will news ever be the kind of trusted, regulated the Trump era, unregulated away,” said Pelham, who pre- same again?” last month, news that public service news services that lack ­dicted that the spike in view- highlighted how innovative broadcasters have been impartiality rules have, argue ing for traditional TV news services on YouTube, such as praised for during the pan- some commentators, wid- services would end once the the US podcast Too Long; Didn’t demic. He said: “I’ve looked ened divisions in US society. health crisis was over. Read, were offering “authentic at the service, and the quality On technological Steve Clarke

38 TikTok targets older viewers The hugely popular short-form

RTS London video platform is looking beyond its youthful audience, hears Tara Conlan

t was 2020’s most down- to do a 24-hour live stream loaded app and is hugely “to keep our users informed”. popular with young audi- TikTok recently aired a live, ences. No wonder broad- long-form show about love, Icasters want to know how fronted by Loose Women’s Judi they can use TikTok to their Love, and a series of live best advantage. events with prominent peo- According to TikTok’s ple, including Olly Alexander European strategy manager, and Ian McKellen, to celebrate Edward Lindeman, the LGBT+ History Month. short-form video platform, Lindeman explained that, which started off as lip-­ as the app learnt what users synching app Musical.ly, now liked, producers should has 100 million monthly spend time practising on it. active users in Europe. “There isn’t a trick for engi- But to grow further, it is neering [a TikTok video to go targeting older audiences viral but], when users are with traditional TV talent watching videos to the end using the app, such as Gor- or engaging with comments don Ramsay and Dan Walker. or sharing that content, these In an informative RTS are really strong performance

London session in late Feb- indicators that tell us this TikTok ruary, Lindeman said: “What content is popular. we’re working on as a busi- “Think about your content: and into a creative world”. account had over 23 million ness is delivering a content are people likely to watch it to ITV senior digital entertain­ views and had given ITV ecosystem – loads of great the end; will they find it origi- ment producer Jen Leeming insight into which contestants TikTok videos that will be nal; and is it really engaging?” praised TikTok’s “seemingly resonated with the audience. interesting and TikTok public endless creative ways to make Lindeman encouraged relevant to users figure partner- videos”. She said I’m a Celeb- producers to contact him on who are older. ‘WE’RE ships manager rity… Get Me Out of Here! had LinkedIn for help and argued “That’s a Michael Djan used TikTok to help connect that, although the platform major business ACTIVELY added that, by with young viewers: “We runs ads, TikTok is “still work- driver for us. jumping on wanted to think TikTok first, ing out” its monetisation. What’s been LOOKING trends, being and that meant going into any He was tight-lipped about really pleasing FOR authentic and shoot, and spending time with rumours that TikTok might for us over the inspiring joy talent, thinking about the launch longer, three-minute past year [is see- MEDIA and creativity, platform specifically, rather videos but, “for sure we’re ing] the number PARTNERS’ public figures than re-versioning content looking at different tools of users over 18 could increase from other platforms.” within the app that will expand dramati- their followings, Leeming ensured a dedi- make the platform as effec- cally,” he said. “and that can be cated digital TikTok producer tive for content creators, both Lindeman noted: “We have really important, particularly was hired for the show, and private individuals and pub- live functionality on TikTok, for TV shows or those who changed the account’s post- lishers, as possible”. n and we’re actively looking want to leverage that”. ing schedule from night to for media partners to use it Djan described TikTok as morning, as many of the ‘TikTok famous: How TV can to deliver great content a space “where you can be show’s young fans had gone leverage TikTok’ was held on experiences.” The platform yourself… taking the content to bed. By the end of the 24 February and produced by has partnered with Sky News out of a polished world series, I’m a Celebrity’s TikTok Damien Ashton-Wellman.

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 39 RTS NEWS

in the past 15 years that we’re now in a position to do those Books need ‘big hooks’ for TV things. We’ve got CGI and the budgets,” she said. From Austen to Atwood, Pictures. She was talking at a then it doesn’t deliver on the Her most recent adaptation hit dramas based on Women in Film and Televi- rest of it. Sometimes you can was series 1 of Sky’s historical books are part of TV’s sion UK event last month. fix that, but sometimes you fantasy A Discovery of Witches

Women in Women & TV Film DNA. Be it Pride and Originality and the ability can’t, because you’d be muck­ (Deborah Harkness wrote the Prejudice or The Handmaid’s to stand out from the crowd ing up the DNA of this brilliant books), regarded by some as Tale, what are the ingredients are essential. “I have to think, book.” one of the most successful TV for a successful series ‘Can I see this on TV? And, Screenwriter Kate Brooke, adaptations of a sequence of adapted from a novel? commercially, can I sell it?’” whose credits include Mr novels. “It was definitely a “As a producer, not every she added. Selfridge, A Discovery of Witches challenge,” said Brooke. “I book does adapt, but what I Another must-have is the and Bancroft, highlighted “big had to wrestle with it. It felt need for an adaptation is ability to sustain a whole books with big worlds to very ambitious, with lots of something that has got a clear series, not merely a compel- grapple with” as vital ele- different worlds to deal with hook and an emotional pull,” ling first episode. Campbell ments for a successful small- – vampires, demons and explained Belinda Campbell, said: “You can have a brilliant screen adaptation. witches.” joint MD of Red Planet idea, a brilliant first act and “TV has changed so much Steve Clarke

BBC Scotland’s new different industries – they’re boss, Steve Carson – a different services within the former Chair of the industry of broadcasting.”

Northern Ireland Society’s Northern He was promoted to head Ireland Centre – looked back of BBC Scotland last year. over his TV career last month Offering advice to young- in the company of Scott sters looking for a break in Duffield, Chair of RTS TV, Carson said: “Don’t think Futures Northern Ireland. that other people necessarily “I always wanted to work know more or better than in broadcasting,” he recalled. you. If you’ve got the creative “Probably, like a lot of people spark and you’re interested [growing up] in Northern [in TV] that’s half the battle.… Ireland at that time, and Just get out and do some- probably still today, I didn’t thing and, if it doesn’t work see anyone who sounded like out, start again.” me or who lived where I did The RTS session with Car- on the television – outside of son was part of the Digital the news, unfortunately, talk- Cities Virtual event run by the ing about absolutely horren- BBC Academy last month. dous things.” n Controller of BBC Three Steve Carson

After graduating from BBC Fiona Campbell has suc- Manchester University, Car- ceeded Vikkie Taggart as son landed a job as a runner, Chair of RTS Northern Ire- having been rejected by BBC land Centre. “Northern Ire- training schemes. He then land is an incredibly vibrant moved, via youth and enter- The BBC’s new part of the television ecology, tainment, to BBC current with so much talent and affairs as a producer/director potential, and I’m incredibly on programmes that included man in Glasgow proud to be named as Chair,” Newsnight and Panorama. said Campbell. “For my generation, grow- “As one of the most signifi- ing up during the Troubles, cover to cover.” He returned 2013, before moving to head cant commissioners of con- current affairs was pretty to Ireland and went on to of multiplatform commis- tent based outside London much around you,” said Car- found an indie, Mint Produc- sioning at BBC Scotland. and with her home base in son. “My father was a print tions, before becoming direc­ The latter give Carson the Belfast, Fiona is exceptionally journalist, and a good one, on tor of programmes at RTÉ “opportunity to launch a well placed to continue to the Belfast Telegraph. I grew up in 2009. channel”, but it also allowed support the remarkable talent in a house in which the news Carson rejoined the corpo- him to work across TV, radio, in the nation,” said Society was on and I was encouraged ration as head of BBC North- online and social media CEO Theresa Wise. to read the Telegraph from ern Ireland Productions in platforms: “They’re not Matthew Bell

40 The main prizes at the RTS West of England My Favourite Hill Student Television

RTS West of England Awards in late Febru- ary were shared around the region’s educational estab­ lishments. A team of students from the University of Gloucestershire scooped the Scripted award with Paper Round Boy. The judges described their “funny and charming take on the super hero genre” as a “brilliant, artistic little film”. The Non-scripted award went to I Can’t Breathe by stu- dents from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. This response to the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement was an

“incredibly moving and pow- UWE erful film”, which one judge said was “one of the best student films I’ve ever seen”. Chris Childs from the Uni- Lockdown students excel versity of the West of England took the Animation award for My Favourite Hill, which dominated the Craft awards. Bank Robbery of Clive and Camerawork – Non-Scripted the judges described as Owen Jenkins won the Edit- Maude both won Camera- prize for Strongman. “delightfully unhinged”, with ing – Scripted prize for There work – Scripted awards. “Another outstanding year “some lovely moments”. Was a Green Light, while Alex Curtis Pyke from the Uni- for creative talent in the West Students from the Univer- Camper’s A Beautiful Beach Hut versity of the West of Eng- of England and all the more sity of Gloucestershire and Samuel Oxton’s The Last land was awarded the impressive as many entries were completed in lock- RTS West of England Bristol Old Vic Theatre School There Was a Green Light•Owen Jenkins, down,” said RTS West of Student Television Scripted•Paper Round Boy•George University of Gloucestershire England Chair Lynn Barlow. Stickley, Anastasija Pcelinceva, Ted Box, Craft Skills: Camerawork – Scripted• Bristol City Council’s senior Awards winners Millie Bennett and Brandon Thompson, A Beautiful Beach Hut•Alex Camper, University of Gloucestershire film manager, Laura Aviles, Animation•My Favourite Hill•Chris Childs, University of Gloucestershire University of the West of England Craft Skills: Camerawork – Craft Skills: Camerawork – Scripted• spoke at the online ceremony, Curtis Pyke, Non-scripted•I Can’t Breathe• Non-scripted•Strong Man• The Last Bank Robbery of Clive outlining a major expansion of University of the West of England Lionelle Nsarhaza, Nelson Nsarhaza, and Maude•Samuel Oxton, University the city’s Bottle Yard Studios. Gemma Warren and Ben Prusiner, Craft Skills: Editing – Scripted• of Gloucestershire Matthew Bell

“If you’re on screen, rather than in person, you’re still How to ‘smash’ an interview… more than able to let your personality shine through. Chewing gum or interview for an entry-level industry was important, as “Use your comfort zone to answering your phone job in television. was a passion for telly. “Watch your advantage – you’re in were just two of many Before an interview, she TV and be ready to discuss your home. You shouldn’t be

RTS Futures ways applicants could advised: “Do your research your favourite programmes half as nervous as if you’re sabotage their chances dur- – learn about the company, in an interview,” said Gordon. meeting someone in person.” ing an interview, heard the watch the shows. But, she added, “try to have Before setting up Creative attendees at an RTS Futures “Think about the skills or some other types of pro- Train, which offers advice workshop earlier this month. experience you have to offer grammes to discuss” as well as and services to people want- The session was run by a show. Remember, when it a binge-­worthy Netflix­ drama. ing to work in television and Creative Train founder Jade gets to the interview, you’re During the coronavirus to TV employers, Gordon Gordon, who went on to offer going to have to sell yourself.” epidemic, job interviews have recruited for Viacom and ITV. advice on how to “smash” an Wider knowledge of the TV tended to be online, she said. Matthew Bell

Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 41 RTS NEWS

The team behind ITV2 hit Love Island discussed their work as reality-

RTS Futures show casting profes- sionals at an RTS Futures session last month. “‘You’re only as good as your last cast’ – that’s the mantra we use every year on Love Island,” said Lewis Evans, one of the series producers on the show, which is currently casting for its next run in the summer. He has been part of the Love Island casting team since the first series. Evans continued: “The key to working in casting is that you’ve got to like people.… I love chatting and I am Love Island incredibly­ nosey – casting ITV gives you the opportunity to go and talk to anyone.” “You need to have an ear and an eye out for [potential] Casting for reality TV contributors,” said casting producer Henry Byrne. “They might not be right for what is right for a show. Evans, numbers game”, which the team who lives in [, say,] you’re working on at the however, noted that some means that she has to cast South Wales or Scotland.… moment, but it’s worth sto­r­ people are “slow burners”, her net wide. “You need to We can cast from anywhere,” ing them up for when you’re who develop during a show think of creative ways of said Evans. working on another show.” – “a grower, not a shower”. reaching people.” The RTS Futures event “All Fellow casting producer Mo Casting assistant producer Since the coronavirus pan- about TV casting” was held Mohsin said: “Generally, you Bianca Clayton explained that demic, casting has become on 22 February, and was know when someone walks “diversity is always important less London-centric. “We all chaired and produced by ITV in, by the way they carry – you need a mix of people work from home now and entertainment talent manager themselves and their per- that represent the UK”. She I would love nothing better Lauren Evans. sonality”, whether he or she added that “casting is a than to have someone on Matthew Bell

is credited with driving a surge discover the identity – or identi- Country all have in common? in people ordering an HIV test. ties plural – of H. Yes, of course, they are all won- The What better demonstration of The producers have pulled off derful, inventive home-grown public service broadcasting? a coup by signing Kelly Macdon- comedies. UPSIDE ald as the latest in a long line of But they also all started life stellar guest stars. on BBC Three, which the Upside Line up, line up, And, by the way, wasn’t it was thrilled to see will return to Everything I long we better get to it good to see Adrian Dunbar – the EPG as a fully fledged chan- aka superintendent Ted Hastings nel next January. to do, it’s a sin If you haven’t already marked in Line of Duty – in his civvies, As comedy guru Ash Atalla Congratulations to Channel 4 for 21 March in red in your diaries, revisiting some of his roots in lamented when BBC Three was proving, with It’s a Sin, that truly what are you waiting for? the recent Channel 5 travelogue originally turned into an online- great TV drama doesn’t need to As everyone now knows, this Coastal Ireland. Breathtaking only operation in 2016, it was as cost a fortune. Russell T Davies’s is when the hugely anticipated scenery is an understatement. if ‘a 60-year-old man wearing writing keeps on getting better – and somewhat delayed sixth a golf jumper has just walked and more popular. It’s a Sin has season of BBC One’s bench- into a really good nightclub and generated 18.9 million views on mark crime series Line of Duty Welcome home, you turned the music off’. All 4, and is one of the service’s returns to our screens. been gone too long Quite. most successful box sets ever. This may well be the TV Time to switch the music But the It’s a Sin effect highlight of the pandemic – and What do Little Britain, Flea- back on again. Smart move, doesn’t stop there. The series perhaps the moment we finally bag, Gavin & Stacey and This Tim Davie. n

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