November 2016

Hackers stalk TV

Greg Dyke: Essential reading for the under-40s Blackmagic URSA Mini with the URSA Studio Viewfi nder is the ultimate live production studio camera!

When you combine URSA Mini with the URSA Studio Viewfi nder, you Professional Studio Viewfi nder get a complete solution that delivers amazing Ultra HD images and The URSA Studio Viewfi nder has a bright 7” screen with handles and has all of the professional broadcast studio camera features you’ll a large tally light with camera numbers. You also get high quality need! You get talkback, tally, remote color correction and camera dedicated buttons and dials, along with customizable function buttons control from an ATEM switcher and more. It’s a true high end live that are perfectly positioned so you can quickly adjust brightness, production solution that delivers commercial quality results for both zebra displays, focus peaking, change settings and more! There’s HD and Ultra HD productions, all for less than the cost of a traditional even an articulated arm so you can move the camera and never take HD studio camera! your eyes o‹ the action!

Perfect in the Studio or in the Field! Beyond Broadcast Quality Operating a camera at long duration events such as sports can be URSA Mini is a true digital fi lm camera that produces amazing HD back breaking if you have to look through a tiny viewfi nder for hours and Ultra HD images that are far superior to standard broadcast on end! The URSA Studio Viewfi nder has a large display with sun cameras! The Super 35 sensor has very wide latitude, making it shield that lets you comfortably stand behind the camera for longer possible to shoot indoors, expose the image properly and still retain shoots! URSA Mini is perfectly balanced and lightweight, plus there’s the details through windows without them being overexposed! With even an optional shoulder mount kit that lets you move from tripod to URSA Mini you’ll see detail in both the brightest and darkest areas of handheld in seconds! the image simultaneously!

Advanced Studio Camera Features URSA Mini features a built in DaVinci Resolve primary color corrector that can be externally controlled via the SDI connection letting you perfectly balance all of your cameras remotely from your ATEM Blackmagic URSA Mini switcher! You also get broadcast camera features such as tally, From £2,475* talkback, remote focus adjustment and more. Best of all, it works over SDI so you don’t have to buy additional expensive equipment or run Blackmagic URSA Studio Viewfi nder extra control cables! £1,425*

*SRP is Exclusive of VAT. Viewfi nder, URSA Mini, lens and accessories shown can be www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk purchased separately. Journal of The Royal Television Society November 2016 l Volume 53/10

From the CEO It’s so great to see Sir Parliamentary Group, for hosting what National Motorcycle Museum. Con- David Attenborough was a very memorable afternoon. gratulations to all the winners. back on BBC One Sir David’s interest and enthusiasm We have a packed calendar for the presenting Planet for cutting-edge technology is well rest of November. There simply isn’t Earth II, all filmed in known. Perhaps, some day soon, he the space to mention everything, but glorious Ultra-HDTV. will be able to take advantage of the do let me draw your attention to the The RTS had the priv- kind of kit available at the RTS’s early-­ RTS Craft & Design Awards, which ilege of hosting our own encounter evening event “Virtual reality and 360° take place at the end of the month. with the world’s most renowned nat- storytelling”, held at The Hospital Club Also, the RTS is proud to be one of ural history broadcaster in October. in London earlier this month. the partners presenting “An evening Sir David was in conversation with Some of the latest innovations in VR with Steve Hewlett” at the BBC Radio Andrew Marr at the House of Com- were there to test in a “playroom” Theatre on 25 November. mons. For connoisseurs of the UK before and after the panel discussion. Steve’s extraordinary career in TV broadcasting scene, this was an event I, for one, can’t wait for VR to become and radio will be celebrated by his to savour. Both broadcasters were on a mainstream consumer experience. friend and colleague Roger Bolton. It top form. The talk was scintillating Thanks to our brilliant panellists is bound to be an emotional occasion. and often very funny. and to Terry Marsh for producing such I’d like to thank both Sir David a stimulating and informative evening. and Andrew for giving up their time. Away from London, the RTS has And thanks to Damian Collins MP, been busy, too. The RTS Midlands the new Chair of the RTS All-Party Awards were streamed live from the Theresa Wise Contents Alex Graham’s TV Diary Virtual reality gets serious Alex Graham returns to his roots as he listens to a pitch Can 360° content defy the sceptics and bring a new, 7 from a sports journalist and lunches with Steve Hewlett 24 sustainable dimension to storytelling on TV? Matthew Bell dons a headset Hackers stalk TV networks Cybercriminals target broadcasters up to 1,000 times a Our Friend in the West 8 day. Raymond Snoddy investigates the growing threat The Bristol media festival season is in full swing and 27 Lynn Barlow is in her element At the cutting edge of the mainstream Andrew Billen meets the intensely private drama producer The man who put Brucie on the box 11 Nicola Shindler and discovers what makes her tick Greg Dyke says the memoir of one of British TV’s 28 pioneers is essential reading for today’s TV generation The Night Manager: Anatomy of a hit The creative team share how they transformed The naked adventurer 14 John le Carré’s complex novel into great television. Matthew Bell hears how ex-army captain Ed Stafford Steve Clarke takes notes 30 learnt to film his own survival stories for TV The online drive for audiences RTS news As Clarkson and co gear up for the launch of The Grand Reports of recent Society events around the nations 18 Tour, Lisa Campbell looks at Amazon’s content strategy 32 and regions ‘The biggest possible bargain in Britain’ Off Message David Attenborough tells Andrew Marr why he supports Want your next series to make the top 100 TV shows of 20 the licence fee, but urges BBC television to broaden its 38 all time? Just raise the budget to £500m range. Steve Clarke reports Cover picture: Mr Robot – Amazon/Gordon Jamieson

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 2016. [email protected] [email protected] London EC4Y 8EN Overseas (surface) £146.11 Printer: FE Burman The views expressed in Television Writer Sub-editor T: 020 7822 2810 Overseas (airmail) £172.22 20 Crimscott Street are not necessarily those of the RTS. Matthew Bell Sarah Bancroft E: [email protected] Enquiries: [email protected] London SE1 5TP Registered Charity 313 728 [email protected] [email protected] W: www.rts.org.uk

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 3 Television Careers Fair 1 February Business Design Centre London N1 0QH Booking: www.rts.org.uk Your guide to upcoming national and RTS NEWS regional events

RTS FUTURES LONDON SCOTLAND National events Wednesday 1 February 2017 Wednesday 23 November ■ James Wilson 07899 761167 RTS Futures Careers Fair 2017 Women in comedy ■ james.wilson@cityofglasgow- RTS FUTURES Network at the biggest careers Panellists: Saskia Schuster, college.ac.uk Wednesday 23 November fair in TV, learn about the jobs, Commissioning Editor, Comedy, First Dates: Uncovered schemes and opportunities ITV; Tracey Gillham, Casting SOUTHERN 6:45pm for 7:00pm start available and get crucial tips Director; Lynne Parker, Founder ■ Gordon Cooper Venue: TBC on how to stand out from the and CEO of Funny Women; and ■ [email protected] crowd. Tickets: early-bird rate Harriet Braine, Stage Award win- JOINT EVENT £6; full price £10 ner at the 2016 Funny Women THAMES VALLEY Friday 25 November Venue: Business Design Centre, Awards. Chair: Nadine Dereza. Friday 25 November An evening with Steve Hewlett 52 Upper St, London N1 0QH 6:30pm for 7:00pm Annual Dinner Dance In conversation with Roger For group bookings: Venue: ITV London Studios, This year, we are holding a Bolton. A Media Society event ■ Alice Turner 020 7822 2822 Upper Ground, South Bank, masquerade ball with support from BBC Radio 4, ■ [email protected] London SE1 9LT Venue: Kings Meadow, Napier the RTS, London Press Club and ■ Daniel Cherowbrier Road, Reading, Berks RG1 8DF Voice of the Listener and Viewer. RTS CONFERENCE ■ [email protected] Wednesday 7 December Tickets: £10 for members of the 13-15 September 2017 Mince pies and VR 360° RTS, Media Society, London Press RTS Cambridge Convention MIDLANDS 6:30pm for 7:00pm Club or the Voice of the Listener 2017 ■ Jayne Greene 07792 776585 Venue: Pincents Manor Hotel, and Viewer; £15 for guests; £5 for Venue: West Road Concert Hall, ■ [email protected] Calcot, Reading RG31 4UQ students. 6:00pm for 7:00pm Cambridge CB3 9DP and King’s ■ Penny Westlake Venue: The Radio Theatre, Broad­ College, Cambridge CB2 1ST NORTH EAST & THE BORDER ■ [email protected] casting House, London W1A 1AA Thursday 24 November ■ Book online at www.rts.org.uk Networking evenings WALES Local events The last Thursday of the month, ■ Hywel Wiliam 07980 007841 RTS AWARDS for anyone working in TV, film, ■ [email protected] Monday 28 November BRISTOL computer games or digital RTS Craft & Design Awards Thursday 1 December ­production. 6:00pm onwards. YORKSHIRE 2016. In partnership with The big fat bumper quiz 2016 Venue: Tyneside Bar Café, Tyne­ Friday 18 November Blackmagic Design. Hosted by TV presenters Tim side Cinema, 10 Pilgrim St, New­ Journalism Week@Leeds Venue: London Hilton, 22 Park Warwood and Adam Gendle. castle upon Tyne NE1 6QG Trinity University Lane, London W1K 1BE Entry: £66 per team of six. Doors ■ Jill Graham Speakers: Alex Thomson, chief ■ Alice Turner 020 7822 2822 and bar: 7:00pm. Quiz 7:45pm ■ [email protected] correspondent, Channel 4 News; ■ [email protected] prompt. Christine Talbot and Duncan Venue: Bristol Folk House, 40A NORTH WEST Wood, ITV News Calendar; Phil RTS EARLY EVENING EVENT Park Street, Bristol BS1 5JG ■ Rachel Pinkney 07966 230639 Hay, football writer, The York- Tuesday 29 November ■ Belinda Biggam ■ [email protected] shire Evening Post; Richard Con- Social media muscles in on TV ■ [email protected] way, sports news corresp­ ondent, Panellists: Dara Nasr, Managing NORTHERN IRELAND BBC; and Scott Manson, director Director, Twitter UK; Stephen DEVON & CORNWALL Thursday 17 November of content, OgilvyOne. RTS Nuttall, Senior Director, EMEA, ■ Kingsley Marshall RTS Northern Ireland Yorkshire supports Leeds Trinity YouTube; Patrick Walker, Direc- ■ Kingsley.Marshall@falmouth. Programme Awards 2016 University’s annual Journalism tor of Media Partnerships, EMEA, ac.uk In association with Performance Week, 15-18 November Facebook. Chair: Kate Bulkley. Film and Media Insurance Venue: Leeds Trinity University, 6:30pm for 6:45pm start EAST Venue: The MAC, 10 Exchange Horsforth, Leeds LS18 5HD Venue: IET, 2 Savoy Place, Wednesday 30 November Street West, Belfast BT1 2NJ Tuesday 6 December London WC2R 0BL East Centre launch event ■ John Mitchell Christmas quiz ■ Book online at www.rts.org.uk Our launch party includes a spe- ■  mitch.mvbroadcast@btinter- 7:30pm-9:30pm cial preview of the interactive net.com Arts Trinity, Holy Trinity Church, RTS FUTURES animation exhibition AniMotion. Boar Lane, Leeds LS1 6SU Tuesday 6 December Email [email protected] to REPUBLIC OF IRELAND ■ Lisa Holdsworth 07790 145280 Christmas quiz book your place. All welcome. Thursday 1 December ■ lisa@allonewordproductions. Hosted by Mark Wright. 6:45pm 7:00pm-9:00pm Small voice, talks loud. co.uk for 7:00pm start Venue: The Forum, Millennium With actor and writer Joe Taylor, Venue: London Studios, Upper Plain, Norwich NR2 1BH Venue: RTÉ, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 Ground, London SE1 9LT ■ Nikki O’Donnell ■ Charles Byrne (353) 87251 3092 ■ Book online at www.rts.org.uk ■ [email protected] ■ [email protected]

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 5 Music makes it

Finding the soundtrack to tell your story has never been easier

Original music crafted by the world’s greatest composers, artists and musicians with the same great service you’ve come to expect from us.

Contact Rebecca for more info [email protected] or +44(0) 20 7566 1441 TV diary

Alex Graham returns to his roots as he listens to a pitch from a sports journalist and lunches with Steve Hewlett

quick trip to our new Moving Image Archive. I’ve ■ Dim sum with Steve Hewlett. I’ve cottage in the Sus- given some of my ill-gotten gains known Steve even longer than I’ve sex Downs. Denis from selling Wall to Wall to help fund known Michael. We worked together Healey lived in the this amazing new digital facility. in the early buccaneering days of next-door village You could not have come up with a Channel 4, when rules were there to until he died last cause closer to my heart. Born into a be broken, and for many years on the year. The local house with no books, the local library Board of Sheffield Doc/Fest. historical society is selling some of his made me the person I am. And, of Earlier this year, Steve discovered booksA to raise funds. I go looking for a course, without dedicated archivists, he had cancer. It’s been a very tough gem and am not disappointed. a show such as Who Do You Think You time for him but, characteristically, Between battered indigo covers, a Are? would never have existed. he has brought his forensic intelligence turgid official history of the Russian to the experience. His interviews with Revolution dating from 1938, the era ■ After a brief encounter with an old Eddie Mair on Radio 4’s PM have had of Stalin’s purges. On the flyleaf, in Glasgow friend, I’m back on a train a powerful impact. faded fountain pen, I come across the to Sheffield at 7:00am. I don’t mind He also hasn’t lost his pugnacious signature of the future Chancellor the early start as I have the pleasant good humour. We laugh and joke with the inscription, “Balliol 1939”. He duty of reviewing Liz McIntyre’s first our way through a carafe of wine, may have repudiated his early politics year as director of Sheffield Doc/Fest. discussing everything from Brexit but I’m intrigued that he kept the I can’t believe it’s been a year! Oh, to Bake Off. book for more than 70 years. and if you’re wondering, she passed Of course, when I stepped down – with flying colours. ■ Lunch with Kath Viner, the first from Wall to Wall this is what my woman editor of The Guardian in its future was meant to be like: country ■ Cup of coffee with Kevin Mitchell, 195-year history. I don’t yet know walks and poring over second-hand The Guardian’s tennis and boxing cor- Kath well but I suspect we’re about books. I certainly didn’t expect to be respondent, to discuss a drama idea to become very close. After serving writing the TV Diary again! for Two Cities. We quickly get the for four years as a trustee, I have just idea out of the way and then spend become Chair of the Scott Trust – ■ To BBC Worldwide with my new two hours talking about the unex- the ultimate owner of The Guardian business partner, Michael Jackson. pected similarities between these and The Observer. Its remit is to Michael and I have known each two gladiatorial sports. ­preserve Guardian journalism in other for 30 years, but we’ve never ­perpetuity. run a business together until now. ■ To the London Film Festival to see The great CP Scott, whose legacy we Worldwide has taken a stake in our William Oldroyd’s remarkable feature protect, said the editor and business company - Two Cities Television. debut, Lady Macbeth. One of several manager of a paper should march We’re here to listen to a fascinating shocking scenes in the film involves hand in hand, with the first always presentation about the latest trends the shooting of a horse. The scene just an inch or two in advance. in global TV drama: from Scandi noir gets its power from the fact that I’m not sure how much holding to New Zealand slacker comedies. there’s no edit. The gun goes off and hands Kath and CEO David Pemsel Least Euphemistic Title award easily the horse drops dead. do. But, when it comes to getting to won by Canada’s euthanasia drama Fortunately, the director is on hand grips with The Guardian’s future, so far Mary Kills People. at the end of the film to explain how at least, they seem perfectly in step. it was done. “We were lucky enough ■ To Glasgow to celebrate the opening to find the only horse in Britain that Alex Graham is Joint CEO of Two Cities of the National Library of Scotland’s is able to fall over on command.” Television.

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 7 Hackers stalk TV networks

large broadcasting cyberattacks could severely damage symposium will be held Cybersecurity a major media organisation, as with in New York at the those on Sony Pictures Entertainment beginning of next two years ago and TV5Monde last year. month, but the state of Cybercriminals target The latter came close to destroying the TV drama, the rise of broadcasters up to station. Netflix or the impact of mega-mergers In the case of Sony, a hacker group onA the media landscape are unlikely to 1,000 times a day. calling itself the Guardians of Peace be mentioned. penetrated the company’s IT system. This symposium, called by the North Raymond Snoddy It gained access to everything from American Broadcasters Association investigates the employee records, salaries and infor- (NABA), is devoted entirely to the grow- mation about contracts to unreleased ing threat that broadcasters around the growing threat films. Famously, these included The world face from cybercrime and the Interview, a comedy about a plot to hacking of their networks. Alexis Renard, a senior technologist assassinate the North Korean leader It is the highest-profile assessment from TV5Monde, will tell of the devas- Kim Jong-un. of the current state of risk to be organ- tating 2015 attack on the French broad- Threats were made to carry out ter- ised by the industry, and a sign of casting network. rorist attacks on any cinemas showing increasing alarm. Alongside speakers “The issue has kind of been sitting in the film. As a result, Sony cancelled the from the US networks and the European the weeds for the past four or five years. premiere and The Interview went Broadcasting Union (EBU), the gathering It is now a pressing issue, a serious straight to digital release, combined will be addressed by Phyllis Schneck, threat,” says Michael McEwen, Director- ­ with a limited number of theatrical deputy under secretary for cybersecurity General of NABA. screenings. US security agencies con- and communications at the US Depart- Broadcasters are now facing attemp­ cluded that the cyberattack had been ment of Homeland Security. ted hacks on their systems daily; organised by North Korea – which Also speaking will be Shawn Henry, ­McEwen claims they come in the denied any responsibility. President of CrowdStrike, the company thousands. The vast majority are little Any large corporation could have that in June traced the hack – and leak more than a nuisance, carried out by suffered the fate of Sony, but what – of sensitive documents from the the curious or by recreational hackers. happened to TV5Monde has caused Democratic National Committee in A small number are much more greater alarm among broadcasters. the US back to Russia. professional and deadly serious. These There, the broadcasting system itself

8 came under a sophisticated attack that seriously at board level. Broadcasters may have been planned for months. have been slow to catch up but they New details have emerged recently of are doing so now,” believes Fell. how all 12 channels of TV5Monde were Peter Collins, a media cybersecurity taken off air on 8 April 2015 by a group specialist, agrees that the main broad- calling itself the Cyber Caliphate. Staff casters are very much aware of the had been celebrating the launch of a threat. He believes that it is best to be new channel when news came through proactive, rather than wait for a serious that the station’s channels were attack to occur before taking action. disappearing. “You have to keep assessing poten- Yves Bigot, Director-General of tial threats in advance,” says Collins, TV5Monde, recently told BBC security “and keep up to date with what is correspondent Gordon Corera: “It’s the happening in the world and learning worst thing that can happen to you in from that. Global awareness is now TV. We were a couple of hours from necessary.” having the whole station gone for good.” For understandable reasons, broad- If the entire system had been cor- casters are reluctant to discuss their rupted there was a danger that satellite anti-cyberattack measures in any channels distributed by TV5Monde detail. All that the BBC will say is that might have cancelled their contracts. the corporation is well aware of the Because of the launch, engineers dangers; full-time staff are devoted to were on the premises that evening. protecting the integrity of its networks. One found the machine where the The embarrassment would be crip- attack was taking place and discon- pling if, for example, one of the BBC’s nected it from the internet. UK TV channels were taken down by After the attack, TV5 employees had hackers. More speculatively, what if a to return to using faxes for months. channel were erased and replaced by Even now, with the station reconnected Islamic State propaganda videos? to the internet, all external emails have Worse still are the business implica- to be rigorously authenticated. Bigot tions of criminals successfully pene- fears that the station will never be the trating encrypted pay-TV channels. Sky same again. has an entire department devoted to Security investigators believe the protecting the integrity of its encryption “Cyber Caliphate” claim was designed systems. Ultimately, the satellite broad- to provide cover for the true perpetra- caster’s multi-billion-pound business WE [MUST] RID tors, a Russian group of hackers. Their rests on these arrangements. motive is not obvious, but British secu- The economic impact of cybercrime OURSELVES OF rity analysts suggest it may have been is one of the reasons for the high level HUBRIS. WE MUST a case of testing methods of cyber­ of concern from the US Department of BE PREPARED warfare. These could be aimed at Homeland Security, and the UK’s broadcasting networks anywhere GCHQ. Increasingly, broadcasting, in TO ADMIT THAT ­during times of international tension. all its forms, is seen as a critical utility WE HAVE BEEN Simon Fell, the EBU’s director of that must be protected. technology and innovation, says that Very unusually, two “civil servants” ATTACKED AND the TV5 hack “was a wake-up call to from GCHQ came to speak under BREACHED, AND those who haven’t already woken up to Chatham House rules (that is, off the these things”. While the cyber threat is record) at the Society of Editors’ recent FIND A WAY OF real, Fell believes that there is no need annual conference in Carlisle. SHARING THIS to panic. Most broadcasters are very Although serious crime has been well aware of the danger. part of GCHQ’s remit for some time, INFORMATION The kind of anti-penetration tests that most of its surveillance has been FOR MUTUAL were usual in IT departments are now directed towards foreign states and being carried out in transmission or terrorist targets. BENEFIT – AND broadcasting technology departments. Now cybercrime is very much on its TO DO IT QUICKLY There is so much at stake that many agenda, including the protection of all companies have been appointing chief significant state and commercial com- information security officers (CISOs). munication networks in the UK. Offi- These employees often have board- cial concern about the threat of cyber- level access. This is something that ­attacks has grown over the past year. simply would not have happened in the A new National Cyber Security Centre immediate past. One of the sessions at (NCSC) has just opened in London the New York symposium features a under the leadership of Ciaran Martin, panel made up entirely of CISOs. previously Director-General of Cyber “Security is being taken extremely at GCHQ. �

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 9 YOU HAVE TO KEEP ASSESSING POTENTIAL THREATS IN ADVANCE… GLOBAL AWARENESS IS NOW NECESSARY

� According to GCHQ, the UK faces about the daily threats that broad- we have been attacked and breached, “a growing threat of cyberattacks from casters face? and find a way of exchanging this states, serious crime gangs and hacking Last year, the DPP formed a strategic information for mutual benefit – groups, as well as terrorists. The NCSC alliance with NABA to tackle cyber­ and to do it quickly.” will help to ensure that the people, attacks. And, in September, the alliance The DPP chief hopes, following public and private sector organisations issued recommendations on best the New York symposium, to see this and the critical national infrastructure practice. The objective is to help man- kind of industry-wide system set up. of the UK are safer online.” ufacturers come up with products He adds: “We need to create a neutral At the Society of Editors conference, in line with the best cybersecurity space in which people feel they can one security specialist was asked about standards and that are fit to be inte- safely share their experiences and, possible attacks on broadcast net- grated into broadcasting facilities. The over time, create an early-warning works. “If someone was able to take overall aim is to harden both IT and system.” a broadcaster offline, and essentially broadcast departments against attack. Harrison notes that the big players challenge one of our rights to free Steve Plunkett, Ericsson’s chief in broadcasting are already monitor- speech, that would not be the right technology officer for broadcast and ing cyber activity in real time for outcome,” was the understated reply. media services, warns that all stages in themselves and their clients. But, he It is clear that GCHQ is interested the broadcast chain, from programme asks, “How do we make that more in helping to protect the security and development to the point of transmis- effective internationally and how do integrity of networks carrying every­ sion, must be designed to be robust we collectively get the benefit of it?” thing from Olympics results to finan- and resilient and they must be prop- McEwen at NABA is realistic about cial and markets information. erly tested. the ability of broadcasters to deal Helen Stevens, director of broadcast Mark Harrison, the DPP’s Managing with the most determined profes- operations at ITV, chairs the UK’s Director, notes that broadcasters have, sional hackers. Digital Production Partnership (DPP), in the past, complained that manu- “We know we won’t be able to stop which links UK broadcasters, distrib- facturers have been reluctant to build the most serious hacks. What we want utors and equipment suppliers. She security into their equipment. It might to do is mitigate the damage,” he says. says that, with the growth in web- slow performance and put them at a McEwen believes that most broad- connected services and IP-driven competitive disadvantage. This is no casters have managed to create production, broadcasters needed longer the case. defensive trenches in the war against to focus on protecting their content “The other key thing that a lot of the new cyber enemy. “from increasingly frequent people are talking about is how to rid He hopes that, by staying alert, they cyberattacks”. ourselves of hubris,” says Harrison. will be as safe as they possibly can be But what can be done specifically “We must be prepared to admit that in the trenches.

10 November 2016 www.rts.org.uk Television At the cutting edge of the mainstream

icola Shindler is not development deal from Channel 4’s a great one for giving The Billen profile then-head of drama, Gub Neal, with interviews, possibly whom she had worked on Cracker at because, as the Granada. founder and Chief Andrew Billen meets “He said: ‘Bring me three projects Executive of one the intensely private over the year.’ I think it was for about ofN Britain’s most successful drama £10,000,” she recalls. She had met producers, she sees her job as telling drama producer Davies the year before at the Interna­ other people’s stories, not her own. As tional Emmys in New York (they both I say to her, her Who’s Who entry is the Nicola Shindler and lost). “He had this idea. He had had it least personal I have ever read, absent for ages.”

discovers what Production Company Heyes/Red Paul of parents, partners and children. It did not occur to her that this idea “Good,” she says, “I don’t want people makes her tick of his – a story of unrequited love on to know anything about me.” Canal Street, Manchester – might be In those interviews that she does I think that there is an element of controversial: “I was too young to give, however, there is always one trickiness to what they’re trying to think it through properly. Also, I don’t theme: that she is the writer’s friend. do. So, I’m always scared of upsetting have a filter. To me, a good story is a Now that I am in her office at Media­ them, having upset them, being about good story and if they’re gay, straight City in Salford – a quarter of Greater to upset them. All of those things.” or from Mars, it just doesn’t matter. It’s Manchester populated by the young, A small, dark-haired woman with a about a relationship. I suppose I knew the smart and the personable – I can proper northern accent, she is slightly there’d be a bit of a fuss but I didn’t imagine that these passionate, pro­ scary herself: quick as you like but, realise there’d be quite as much fuss.” tective, hermetic writers, happiest always, I fear, about to take offence at And so, within four months of set­ when probing their subconscious in one of my questions. I play it safe and ting up on her own, Queer as Folk was their garrets, are not every executive’s ask, yes, about her writers. greenlit and Shindler moved into cup of tea. Perhaps her rivals gener­ We need to start with Russell offices in Granada, from where, under ally find them a little scary? T Davies, because it is with him that another development agreement with “Oh, I find writers scary as well. Of Red’s story began in 1998. She set up Tessa Ross at the BBC, she produced course, I do. They’re scary because it’s her indie without a loan, and without Paul Abbott’s series Clocking Off. a really weird way of thinking, writing. backers, from the front room of her Davies, she says, is not as sociable Without saying they are all tortured, home in Manchester. She did have a as he appears – “I think he enjoys �

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 11 � sitting by himself, but they all do”. Nevertheless, he introduced her to Sally Wainwright, at the time known for toiling at Corrie and for her comedy drama At Home with the Braithwaites. Together, they made a contemporary Wuthering Heights, Sparkhouse. It was, however, with Unforgiven in 2009 that Red and Wainwright had their break­ through. Scott & Bailey, Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley followed – three Red series that will help define the 2010s for historians of television. I remark that, in an industry in which only 10% of lead writers are women, Shindler discovered a writing star who was not only a woman but nearly 40. “It is not like that,” she responds, almost crossly. “I really don’t look at someone’s age. She had a brilliant idea.” But doesn’t she feel that, in a tough, male industry, she must champion women writers and give them a voice? “No, because I wouldn’t ever push someone who I didn’t think was really brilliant. So you’re not ‘giving someone a voice’. You’re very lucky to get their work and be able to produce their work. I wouldn’t work with someone just because they were a woman.” We look out of her glass office. My God, are there any men working here? She points to one and gestures to the office next door of her MD, Andrew Critchley. “We have a man executive Cucumber producer as well.” That makes three out of, she thinks, 26. The rest are women. “It just happened that way and now between eight and 13. I immediately made it to her father’s old Cambridge that’s how it is.” regret our conversation about the college, Gonville and Caius, where she Does she find it harder working with weirdness of writers. read history and directed plays. “I was men? “No, not at all. The men who work “We tend not to work together, a real anomaly and kind of interesting. here are all great and I work very well much,” she explains. “We made BBC I was from Rochdale. I had never with male writers.” Three’s first drama, Burn It. He wrote been exotic before, so I used it to my This, of course, is true, from Jimmy all 21 episodes of that.” advantage.” McGovern on Cracker (“he was brilliant She says she enjoys doing the school Leaving with the 2:1 that she wanted, because he had no rules”), through run in the mornings and leaves the she found a job as a publicist at the Ordinary Lies’ Danny Brocklehurst (“he’s office early to see her children when Royal Court Theatre, where she was just writing better and better every time they return. She then works all evening. allowed to read scripts and report back we work with him”) to, now, Harlan It strikes me, and I think she agrees that, on promising work on the fringe. She Coben, with whom she has just set up if there is a common thread to Red’s thought that she might want to be a a company to make the successor to dramas, it may be their grounding in literary agent and asked advice from Sky’s The Five (The Four). humble, domestic reality. a couple of them. She wanted to work “Working with Harlan is astonishing,” The consequence of running both with writers. “They said: ‘Oh, that’s she says. “You give him a story prob­ a business and a family is that she no script editing. It’s a job, too.’” lem and he comes up with 10 brilliant longer gets to the theatre, which, grow­ The BBC took her on as a trainee solutions right away!” ing up in Bury and Rochdale, she did doing just that. From London, she She really does love writers, I say, a lot. At the Royal Exchange, she says, moved to Granada in Manchester, and, on a hunch (for her PR would not they saw everything. which was not only nearer to where tell me), I ask if she is married to one. Nor was there parental censorship she was brought up but somewhere “I am married to a writer,” she over what she read – a classic one night, that felt like home. At last, she was admits. He is Matt Greenhalgh, author Harold Robbins the next. The family working with writers. of Sam Taylor-Wood’s movie Nowhere was “obsessed” by television, although She felt lucky, but they must have Boy, about the young John Lennon. Shindler never imagined working in it. felt lucky, too. Here was an executive They have two girls and a boy, aged She was good at exams at school and who wanted to give writers their

12 murdered in her series, but producers and writers need to take responsibility Shindler’s story TO ME, A GOOD for how they actually depict it. She does not approve of Allan Cubitt’s The STORY IS A Fall. “That man was a serial killer but you didn’t need to show a woman GOOD STORY getting very scared for so long.” AND IF THEY’RE In the 18 years since she founded Red, the business has changed. Pro­ GAY, STRAIGHT duction values and costs have risen. OR FROM MARS, Having been brought up by parents who lived within their means, rather IT JUST DOESN’T than borrow money, she preferred to sell a controlling stake in Red to MATTER. IT’S France’s StudioCanal in 2013. Nicola Shindler, founder and ABOUT A “I considered it really carefully but, Chief Executive, Red Production because of the way Studio Canal works, Company RELATIONSHIP I don’t feel that I lost my independence. It wants products to sell, and it wants Born 8 October 1968, second of good-quality products, but, other than three daughters, brought up in that, I run my company how I need to Rochdale and Bury run it.” Parents Mother, Gay Shindler, nurse The executives who buy her products turned secondary school teacher; have changed, too – perhaps more father, Geoffrey Shindler OBE, solicitor over the past year than they ever have, Family Married to writer Matt with drama commissioners bouncing Greenhalgh; they have three children from the BBC to ITV and from Chan­ Education Bury Grammar School, nel 4 to the BBC. Gonville and Caius, Cambridge In Edinburgh this summer, Kevin (2:1 in history) Lygo, ITV’s director of television, said 1993 Script editor on Cracker at that he wanted the best writers in the Granada country working for ITV and name- 1996 Producer, Hillsborough checked both Wainwright and Davies. 1998 Sets up Red, aged 29 To me, that sounded like good news for 1999 Executive producer, Queer Red until he added: “We’re not in the as Folk

Channel 4 experimental game, and our dramas 2000 Clocking Off need to get large audiences, and that 2005 Casanova heads, who was pleased, not exasper­ suggests experience and people who 2010 Single Father ated, when their scripts came in with know what writing dramas is all about.” 2011 Scott & Bailey scenes worked out to the last detail, “Yes,” says Shindler, “he wants the 2012 Last Tango in Halifax who wanted their help in casting their big-name writers but big-name writ­ 2013 Sells controlling stake in Red pieces and who would, as in the case ers don’t always bring success. Every­ to StudioCanal. The deal values the of Wainwright on Happy Valley, encour­ one has failures. He also says that he company at £30m age them to direct them. wants mainstream, authored drama. 2014 Happy Valley Does this make Red’s writers show­ That doesn’t mean that it has to be the 2015 Ordinary Lies runners? “In my mind, they are, defi­ blandest piece of work in the world. 2016 The Five nitely. It’s a different process to in That just means that it has to try and America. They’re not on set. They’re not appeal to a big audience. Most people Hits Queer as Folk, Scott & Bailey, in the edit all the time, but they’re in don’t want to do something that’s Last Tango in Halifax, Happy Valley touch with all those things, all the time.” bland or been done before. Misses Comedies Heading Out and Yet, at the same time, it is pretty “Most people want to do their best Cabbage and Pat; and Paranoid, clear that it is Shindler who runs the work and they want to push things. So which lost more than 1.5 million show and does it by her own set of you find something that is mainstream overnight viewers in a week for ITV rules. There will never, she says, be a that attracts a big audience, such as this autumn naked breast in a Red drama. “It has Scott & Bailey, and, within that, you Watching Stranger Things, The Nick, been very one-sided for many years. tackle hundreds of subjects that are The Night Of Men get naked and women don’t.” really edgy and niche.” Not watching Game of Thrones, And if a writer said he needed that Mainstream but edgy, that sounds The Fall shot to make the scene real? “We’ve like Nicola Shindler. It is almost Reading Books about writers, had that conversation a lot, but you’d 3:00pm. In the corner of her office, including Peter Biskind’s Difficult be surprised how you can make some­ I notice a shopping bag of Halloween Men and Sick in the Head by Judd thing feel very real without having outfits. It is time to take them home. Apatow blatant nudity.” There is, she says, no She has children back there – and Hobbies Sleeping, children, work blanket ban on young women being a writer she can call her own, too.

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 13 The Night Manager: Anatomy of a hit

ew recent TV dramas have Olivia Colman as Angela Burr and Eliz- brightened up our screens Production abeth Debicki as Roper’s mistress, Jed. as much as The Night The capacity crowd at the RTS event Manager. One critic learnt how the screen version of Le described the six-part The creative team Carré’s novel experienced several false adaptation of John le starts. Cornwell told how the rights to Carré’s 1993 novel as “the BBC’s share how they the book were seized by Paramount glossiest,F smartest, most indecently on publication. transformed John le entertaining Sunday-night drama in Despite throwing money at the pro- ages”. Who could possibly disagree? Carré’s complex novel ject, coming up with a script that Certainly not the audience for the into great television. matched the novel’s complexity proved latest in the RTS’s “Anatomy of a hit” elusive. Even the distinguished screen- strand, which heard from three of the Steve Clarke writer Robert Towne (an Oscar winner key people involved in making the for his Chinatown script) struggled to show: director Susanne Bier, screen- takes notes adapt The Night Manager for cinema. writer David Farr and executive pro- “It went into a big Hollywood devel- ducer Simon Cornwell, co-founder of Thrills aside, the series had much to opment process but ended up with a the Ink Factory, the production com- say concerning the dark and deeply worthy script that was nothing special,” pany set up, among other things, to divided times we live in. Cornwell recalled. “Perhaps that wasn’t take control of TV and film versions of The performances from Hugh Laurie, surprising, because [the book] is stories by his father, David Cornwell, as the amoral arms dealer Roper, and almost 600 pages long and not easy to aka Le Carré. his nemesis, Pine, the damaged secret distil into a 90-minute feature.” The lavish and exquisitely filmed agent played by Tom Hiddleston, were The project languished for several reimagining of The Night Manager mesmerising. The acting of the other years before Paramount gave it resembled a feature film. There were leading characters was impressive, too another go – this time in cahoots with glamorous and exotic locations, stun- – Tom Hollander as Roper’s louche Brad Pitt’s production company, ning special effects, plus a starry cast. factotum Lance Corkoran, aka Corky, Plan B. Once again, the script failed to

14 producer. He added with understate- ment: “The general notion that govern- ments collude with bad people to do Bier on making bad things in difficult places has proba- bly become more prevalent since 1993.” Burr female Farr, whose early career was as a playwright and theatre director, had Susanne Bier: ‘Stephen Garrett read The Night Manager in the 1990s but [one of the executive producers on didn’t remember it very clearly. The Night Manager] told me when However, as a child, he had experi- I first came on board that [they enced a Damascene moment when his were] talking about whether [they father allowed him to sit up and watch could] change one of the charac- Alec Guinness in Smiley’s People, the ters from a man to a woman. BBC’s definitive Le Carré reboot, first ‘I said, “Yes, absolutely, you have broadcast in 1982. “I’d never seen any- got to do that.” Fortunately, the thing like it in my life. For me, it was a world today is slightly different seminal piece of TV,” Farr remembered. to how it was in 1930. Burr is the He added: “When I reread The Night moral heart of the novel, so it Manager, I clicked into realising how seemed right to make the charac- much more politically incendiary it was. ter a woman... My partner’s father is Arab and I saw it ‘Olivia Colman’s team is actually as a story that reflected the Arab Spring.” – ethnically, age wise and in terms While much of the six-part TV series of gender – extremely complex. departs significantly from Le Carré’s Roper’s world is very Caucasian book, the author has said that, para- and pretty male, not in the most doxically, Farr’s adaptation echoes the clichéd of ways, but it is a male story’s essence. “My father’s learned world. that the book has to be the starting ‘Colman’s world is very diverse point, not the end point for the film-­ and it was a very conscious choice. making process,” said Cornwell. It might defy expectations, but it “[The novel has been] updated to the lends itself to reality…. It subcon-

BBC present, it takes place in a different sciously sent the message which is part of the world… [Its] moral heart the political message of the book.’ reflect anything like the depth and – in a way, the Smiley character – is subtlety of Le Carré’s original. a woman (Burr is a man in the book). Enter English writer and director “Beyond that, I would say, from the David Farr, who was approached by end of episode 4 onwards, we’ve Farr on filling The Ink Factory. He succeeded by departed quite substantially, even from turning The Night Manager on its head. the plot’s basic elements. You can’t get out Jed’s role “David came up with a brilliant con- much freer than that. At the same time, temporary take… and we were off to if my father were here tonight, he David Farr: ‘I was getting lots of the races,” said Cornwell. would say, in lots of ways, that it’s notes, “Make Jed more interesting, There was a measure of surprise that the truest adaptation of his work.” give her a bigger part, give her Farr’s script excelled on so many As far as Farr was concerned, the more to do.” fronts. “With the very honourable book’s second half lacked the ingredi- ‘As a writer, when you get a note exception of the original TV adapta- ents that were crucial to a successful like that you think, “That’s never tions from the 1980s, if you look at the TV adaptation. He told Le Carré and, going to work. That means the best adaptations – in a lot of ways, my happily, the author accepted his point: problem is somewhere else.”’ father is a quintessentially British “He wasn’t difficult in any way. I writer – the best ones, without excep- explained why it wouldn’t work. I said, Susanne Bier: ‘But you did make tion, come from people who are not essentially, it’s a dual between two her more interesting.’ British,” Cornwell noted. guys. In the book, Pine gets locked up By moving the story to the Middle and he becomes passive,” said Farr. David Farr: ‘I did, but that was after East (much of the original was set in “That’s not going to work [on screen] I’d already made her interesting.’ Latin America), Farr gave the story a because we are going to have two great sharp, contemporary edge that reso- actors playing these roles. And, like a Susanne Bier: ‘I didn’t want to nated with the Cornwells. great western, we’re going to have to make a show where she’s just “In contrast to a lot of my dad’s work, see the final confrontation.… eye candy, a hot girlfriend…. She is this was a novel that wasn’t hugely “I thought he would want to be really interesting.’ grounded in its time,” explained the completely all over it, but he wasn’t. �

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 15 From left: Simon Cornwell, David Farr and Susanne Bier Paul Hampartsoumian Paul

� Obviously, he scrupulously read So why, asked the evening’s chair, everything that came in and gave very Boyd Hilton, did the producers ask her What about good notes. He is a really creative, to direct The Night Manager? collaborative man, fiercely intelligent.” Cornwell replied: “If you look at her a sequel? Susanne Bier emphasised: “We were body of work, it was very often very adamant not to disappoint John le Carré intense. At the same time, it has a very in a very profound way.… We all loved delicate understanding of relationships his novels so much.… We thought, ‘We’re and how narrative develops though going to do it the right way.’ He trusted relationships and through character. that we wouldn’t disappoint him.” “A lot of people think of Le Carré as Much of the credit for the series’ a very political writer. Yet, at the end of distinctiveness must go to Bier. She is the day, all of his books are love stories. the only living woman to have won an This was something that Susanne Oscar, a Golden Globe and an Emmy; instantly understood.” in September, she was awarded the He continued: “The suspense is Emmy for directing The Night Manager. essentially between two people.… It’s Bier said she had read the book all about betrayal and loss: the things when it was published. For her, three we could have done together had we things from the story stuck in her trusted each other, but we never did.” memory – the excitement of the cat- Explained Bier: “To avoid any mis- Olivia Colman as Angela Burr

BBC and-mouse game between Roper and understanding, the love story of this Pine, the character of the dissolute novel is between Roper and Pine. Simon Cornwell: ‘The broadcasters Corky, and the sense of being present There are other love stories going on, would love to have another series. on an island. but the primary love story is between In lots of ways, I think we would Her initial reaction to reading Farr’s Roper and Pine.… love to do another series. script was one of foreboding: “I got the “That is the engine. There’s been so ‘It is new territory. There is no first episode that David had written and much talk about Jed and Pine, [but] it’s book. There’s never been a Le I was terrified. I thought it’s probably still secondary to the main story.” Carré story that’s been extended not going to do what the novel does. Does their relationship have a beyond the confines of a novel. It But it did – but in a very different way.” homoerotic quality, asked Hilton. “To would be interesting and exciting She added: “Eighty per cent of me, that aspect is not that interesting, to try that. screenplays based on literature have [but] there is definitely an obsession. ‘I think the one thing I can safely an element of something being con- They are completely fascinated by one say we wouldn’t do is something trived. This one didn’t. It seemed as if another,” said Bier. that we didn’t feel had a fighting David had a very easy time writing it.” “There’s a father-son thing clearly chance of being even better than Bier is convinced that, today, most of going on,” stressed Farr. “Pine’s father the first one. the very best screenwriting is done for is dead. Roper’s son is either a disap- ‘We might succeed… if you don’t TV, rather than film: “I’ve probably read pointment or too young to take the go in with that ambition, there’s no 100 scripts in the last five or six weeks mantle on. point in doing it.’ and there is no doubt that, primarily, “Roper is like a malevolent Shake- the great writing is in television.” spearian king, seeking an heir because

16 Tom Hiddleston as WE CARE Jonathan Pine and Elizabeth Debicki BECAUSE ALL as Jed Marshall THAT’S REALLY GOING ON IS TWO MEN LOVING, HATING AND BETRAYING ONE ANOTHER

Bier on how to rehearse

Susanne Bier: ‘I think read- throughs are crucial. I know that, in traditional Hollywood, or even in traditional TV, it is mostly about investors signing off on the text. ‘But I think that it is a huge-

BBC ly important creative element ­because you do have a sense of he can’t be immortal. The great thing series is shot like a very long film…. what is working…. There are lots of about those sorts of characters is the Coming from features has given me a crucial things that you learn from a one thing they can’t defeat is death. certain enjoyment of seducing audi- read-through. They hate it. They’ve got all the money ences. It is fun to seduce an audience ‘Every day, I rehearsed for at in the world but they can’t defeat and think, ‘This is fun, this is going to least an hour – with a difficult death. How you defeat death is through be different.’” scene, it could be up to two and a having an heir.” Did you all sit down and talk about half hours. Then the crew comes. Some critics have wondered at the the visual look of The Night Manager and Actors have long days, but they like suspension of belief required for the the tone, asked Hilton. “It came from it because they own the set and narrative to click into place: why was Susanne,” insisted Cornwell. “Having they own the scenes. someone as worldly and cynical as one single director on board was fun- ‘Once the crew comes on board, Roper not suspicious of Pine? damental to our approach. We wanted they feel quite confident and excit- Didn’t he suspect that Pine was an a single, authorial stamp.” ed about what they’re going to do MI6 plant? “Some part of that has to “My taste normally is a bit more each day.… be delusional,” countered Farr. “He has austere,” explained Farr. “Susanne was ‘Tom [Hiddleston] had the novel just decided that this beautiful boy who totally responsible for this beautiful, on set. Tom is a fantastic actor and arrives at his doorstep – and there is a glorious, visual feast. a wonderful guy to be around, but homoerotic quality in a gentle way – is “Where we connected completely he has a slightly different sense of a little him. He invests in that. That’s the was Simon’s point about the love story. time to everyone else. He would humanity in Roper that makes him This is really about power, love and read pages from the novel… All the interesting and flawed.... betrayal.” crew were going crazy because it’s “We care because all that’s really shot rather fast. going on is two men loving, hating and ‘The Night Manager: Anatomy of a hit’ ‘At some point, he sat the DoP betraying one another, for all sorts of was an RTS early-evening event held at down – the crew were waiting for complicated reasons.” Kings Place, central London, on 10 Oct­ober. him to give instructions – and he Did Bier approach it differently from The producers were Sally Doganis and started reading. It was hilarious.’ directing a feature film? “No… the Barney Hooper.

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 17 The online drive for audiences

Amazon Prime As Clarkson and co gear up for the launch of The Grand Tour, Lisa Campbell looks at Amazon’s content strategy

t’s rare for Yorkshire town facing off against streaming rival Net­ Marine says that Amazon is continu- Whitby to make the national flix, as well as traditional broadcasters. ally investing to improve Prime cus- press – unless, of course, However, Netflix’s planned 2017 tomers’ experience: “The team includes there’s been a flood – but content spend outstrips Amazon’s by hundreds of engineers, designers and wherever Jeremy Clarkson $6bn to $3.6bn, according to Boston technicians working right here in Lon- goes, the world follows. Consulting Group. And Netflix Origi- don… introducing innovations such as Amazon’sI impending launch of The nals currently offers many more new our download feature. Grand Tour is one of the most globally series – Stranger Things, Narcos and “This lets customers watch on their anticipated series of all time. Orange is the New Black are among the devices even when they’re not con- Jay Marine, vice-president of Amazon most popular and critically acclaimed. nected to the internet.… We’re working Prime Video Europe, says: “It is a huge But Amazon is increasingly a force hard to be the first streaming service to TV moment, not only for us but for UK to be reckoned with. Marine points out offer HDR [high dynamic range], which TV generally.” that it has clocked up 80 awards for brings a richer viewing experience.” Indeed, the new driving show is Amazon Original Series, spanning In addition, Amazon’s e-commerce sending everyone into a spin. Rumours drama, comedy and kids’ shows. He is infrastructure facilitates transactions are circulating about celebrities in the looking forward to further noisy and on the back of TV-show viewing. line-up and the size of Clarkson’s pay Emmy-winning series such as Trans- A report by eBay in September shows packet. There is even speculation that parent, Mr Robot and The Man in the High how “dual-screening” is booming for Amazon is looking into bundling Castle. To this end, Amazon has pledged those in need of some retail therapy. broadband alongside its Prime package, to double the amount it spends on Everyone from Game of Thrones to Bake which delivers movies and TV shows licensed material and to triple the Off fans, it seems, is watching TV while via the internet. amount it invests in original content simultaneously shopping. In the report, It’s not an inconceivable idea. Amazon by the end of 2017. one former Amazon executive describes has shown it has an amazing ability to Moreover, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos how a major goal is to use TV franchises move with the times. Its business has has begun talking about video becom- to drive sales of apparel and accesso- shifted from books, CDs and DVDs to ing the fourth pillar of Amazon’s busi- ries. Like Kim Kardashian’s shoes? digital content. Prime Video is its future. ness. At its heart, Amazon remains an Click here to buy. That future would be more secure e-commerce company while Netflix Amazon is keen to add high-end if it didn’t have to rely on broadband is a video-streaming giant. brands to its business, but it should providers, many of whom are also One competitive advantage that be noted that luxury brands are still television providers. Amazon enjoys is its subscribers’ ability reluctant to associate themselves with Amazon’s budget for The Grand Tour is to download content for offline view- the company. In October, luxury goods a source of much speculation – reports ing, something that Netflix has so far group LVMH said that there was “no have claimed each episode had a £4.5m failed to address. way” it would do business with the budget. This was rubbished by producer internet retailer. Andy Wilman when he spoke at the By contrast, digital producers have Edinburgh International Television AMAZON WANTED reacted positively to the launch of the Festival in August. Whatever the true self-publishing video service, Amazon figure, it’s a safe bet that it is an eye-­ SOMETHING A BIT Video Direct. Many believe that they watering amount, given Clarkson and CULT, A BIT TRIBAL, will be better able to monetise their co’s famous negotiating skills and the videos on a platform where vast num- exotic locations filmed in Ultra-HD 4k. AS OPPOSED TO bers of customers are already used to The Grand Tour is the clearest demon- ANYTHING TOO paying for content. stration yet of Amazon’s ambitions in The service is also expected to have the original-content space, where it is MAINSTREAM an impact on YouTube. “The lure of

18 Amazon. It wanted something a bit cult, a bit tribal, as opposed to anything too mainstream. It was looking for a more distinctive, emotional comedy drama.” Sky has also partnered with Amazon US for the first time, with the upcoming drama Britannia, a 10-part drama set in AD43, as the Romans invade Britain. Significantly, it is written by Jez Butter- worth, the celebrated writer of Jerusalem. According to Sky drama commission- ing editor Cameron Roach, Amazon and Sky share common ground in seeking noisy, commercial shows. “We were both looking for big-scale projects and the co-production gives us a big budget on screen and a global reputation and presence,” says Roach. He also reports a positive working relationship with Amazon: “I get the sense that editorial meetings before a shoot are rare for them, but they were good partners and clear about what they wanted. We agreed to share notes, so that the production company would only ever get one set.” Amazon gets the US rights and Sky Vision handles the UK and European rights. Roach believes that there will be more projects of this nature. Whether platforms such as Amazon are a friend or a foe to traditional broad- casters has been debated for some time. The tide now appears to be turning in favour of the company becoming an increasingly valuable partner. “Friend or foe feels reductive,” says Roach. “The delivery mechanism is irrelevant. It’s all about supreme content.” For analyst Tom Harrington at Enders Analysis, Amazon video is “an intriguing The Grand Tour

Amazon case study. It acts as an alluring element of the Amazon Prime membership, making content exclusive to Amazon It’s a win-win, according to BBC head trapping users within the online giant’s will be a risk for YouTube, which risks of comedy Shane Allen. He notes that ecosystem well past the point when losing viewers,” according to Joseph fully funded content is increasingly rare. they think they are tired of shopping. Evans, writing in an Enders Analysis DVD sales no longer plug the gap in any And yet it is also a very good streaming report. Creators will be able to either deficit-finance deal. service in its own right.” charge users to access their content “Amazon’s investment created a However, he believes a rapid, Netflix-­ ­ or to offer it on an advertising-funded, more lavish product for the BBC and style worldwide roll-out is unlikely. YouTube-style­ basis. gave Amazon a critically acclaimed Amazon’s full video service is currently Amazon’s increased willingness to show,” says Allen. only available in the US, UK, Germany, partner with established broadcasters He adds: “The concern with any Austria and Japan, with a roll-out to also signals the super-sizing of its partner is the level of editorial interfer- India anticipated. content ambitions. And those British ence, but we had made a pilot that was Harrington says: “Having a streaming producers who’ve worked with Ama- true to what [writer and performer] service without a physical distribution zon refute the suggestion that the Phoebe Waller-Bridge wanted when infrastructure to support Amazon company can be tricky to deal with. it came to cast, ambitions and tone. Prime would be going against present Following its joint venture with the Amazon bought into that. It was really, strategic momentum. BBC on drama series Ripper Street, really hands off.” “That said, Amazon has time on its Amazon recently made the move into The comedy might be darker in tone side: wherever it goes, it becomes a site comedy. The online giant invested in than some might expect for Amazon, that most people trust. Buying from it the well-reviewed BBC Three comedy but Allen says the BBC’s distinct output becomes a very regular, even enjoyable Fleabag. “and our model of shorter runs suited thing.”

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 19 The biggest ‘possible bargain in Britain’

t’s a rare that two thoroughgoing trenchant­ criticism from each one BBC men are seen smiling, let David Attenborough at 90 about what they perceived to be some alone laughing, inside the of the BBC’s present shortcomings. precincts of the House of Marr’s deceptively conversational Commons. When senior BBC David Attenborough style elicited some moments of sur- people visit Parliament, they are tells Andrew Marr prising candour from the much inter- invariably greeted by sceptical MPs, viewed broadcasting knight. keenI to give them a rough time. why he supports the An animated Attenborough spoke The atmosphere could not have passionately on the subjects he cares been more different when, last month, licence fee but urges about: conservation, broadcasting and, the RTS invited Adrew Marr and Sir BBC television to inevitably, the BBC, for which he first David Attenborough to hold a conver- worked a lifetime ago, in 1952. sation at the Commons. broaden its range. They began their discussion by visit- The two broadcasters were intro- Steve Clarke reports ing the vexed topic of Brexit. What duced by Damian Collins MP, recently might Brexit mean for those involved elected chair of the Culture Media and in conservation, asked Marr. Sport Committee. He is also the new Sir David suggested that there were Chair of the RTS All Party Parliamen- pluses and minuses stemming from the tary Group, which hosted the event. UK’s planned departure from the EU. The occasion was full of good The loss of EU farming subsidies humour. This was despite some “will affect our countryside very much”.

20 While running BBC Two, he green-lit Planet Earth II Monty Python’s Flying Circus, introduced snooker and commissioned the land- mark documentary Civilisation. His success was such that he was regarded as a director-general in wait- ing. But Attenborough, to our benefit, turned his back on corporate ambition and returned to making programmes. But did we still need the BBC in today’s content-rich world, where all tastes are apparently catered for at the click of a mouse? “Oh, yes, there is no doubt about that,” insisted Attenbor- ough. “As colleagues say, the BBC keeps us honest.… The BBC can set standards, of veracity, of responsibility. “Taste is a very difficult thing… but the BBC has to be there and do things that others don’t tackle because they don’t think it’s worth it commercially for them. “If you look back at popular program­ mes, you’ll see that the BBC pioneered them, again and again and again.” Attenborough regretted that long-­ running documentaries dealing with serious subjects were absent from contemporary British broadcasting. He said: “Today, there is a tendency to do shorter series, until you get the ultimate absurdity when they announce: ‘Today, we present a new, two-part series.’” Once the audience had stopped laughing, Marr noted that Attenborough had been responsible for several big series, such as Life on Earth and the previously mentioned Civilisation. Which one was closest to his heart? “Civilisation has a very great place in my heart because it was the first of

BBC those 13-parters.” Was it hard to persuade the then-­ However, enabling Britain to act inde- maintained Sir David. “We know the Director-General to spend all that time pendently on matters such as fishing basic science to solve it. What is and money on the series? “He didn’t policy was a positive. needed is a concerted attempt by all know,” replied the erstwhile BBC Two “By and large, I would say there are the research scientists of all the devel- controller to more laughter. “How could a substantial number of people in the oped nations to work out a route map he know? In those days, I had a pro- conservation movement who think, to show where the difficult points are.” gramme allowance. If I chose to spend maybe, there is a chance to tailor- Marr asked if Attenborough regarded the funds in that way, it was entirely up make our own legislation to fit our the UK as being one of the leading to me. circumstances,” suggested Attenborough. voices for radical change in energy “The 13-parter was something I He added: “If we are going to go out [of policy. “There is no party politics in decided to do because, as a child, I sub- the EU], we must make the best of it.” this,” he replied. “There are no favoured scribed to something called The Outline On the other hand, co-operation on nations. We are all in this together. of History by HG Wells. I used to wait at a global scale had led to the ban on Brexit is beside the point.” the letterbox for this thing to come CFCs. As a result, the size of the hole Turning to TV, Marr took Attenbor- through.… That market was not being in the ozone layer was getting smaller. ough back to 1965 and his appointment dealt with at all by television and colour Similarly, the impact of global as the second controller of the fledg- had recently been introduced.… It was a warming on climate change would ling channel BBC Two. What would great relief that Civilisation worked.” only be ameliorated by collective he do if had the job in today’s digital Marr agreed that the BBC needed to action. “If we could harness the sun’s world? raise the bar and back more program­ energy, we could solve all the problems To audience laughter, the naturalist mes of genuine ambition, such as the of CO2 and global warming,” said: “I would resign immediately.” behemoth that was Civilisation. �

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 21 But to see 150 animals I’d never seen before, of the most amazing QUESTION shapes and colours, all entirely unafraid of me, was the most & ANSWER transforming experience of my life. Does it bother you that some Qpoliticians seem to have it in for the BBC? With your years of wisdom, do you have an explana­ tion for this? In my experience, the opposi- A tion is always in favour of the BBC because the government has a big majority in the House and a lot of control over the media. The BBC was the one place where the opposition did have a say-so. I was also there when there was a change in government. Suddenly, the opposition was now in power. Within six months, you could give them the same speeches [as the

Paul Hampartsoumian Paul previous government].

Has the BBC’s coverage of cli­ Do you think it would ever be Qmate change failed to reflect Qpossible to return to having the balance of public opinion more BBC in-house productions? From left: Andrew Marr because it was so concerned about Several councils have discovered and Sir David Attenborough impartiality? recently that it is better to have Whatever it did, there would the services in-house, rather than A be somebody who thought outsourced. � Both broadcasters said that they it was either too early or too late. The first time I had to work wanted to see more TV coverage of Myself, I thought they had it about A on a BBC programme in a classical music on the BBC. “I fear that, right.… I had to decide how far I studio that wasn’t the BBC’s, I was if I am watching an obscure concert, would go in saying climate change rather childish about it. I thought, it’ll be on Sky Arts,” Marr complained. was responsible for this, that and ‘Well, in my day, we didn’t allow “Because of the pressure [for the BBC] the other. this.’ But I’ve grown out of that. It to outsource, there are no in-house arts I remember the moment when I was silly. or history documentary-­making facili- could say positively that the world There is room in the marketplace ties left in England. This seems to me was warming due to humanity. It for independent operators to provide to be a terrible moment.” was when a US climate professor specialist services that the BBC and Attenborough concurred: “Yes, and showed a whole series of graphs, other broadcasters can make use of. I would also say that there is nowhere demonstrating what there was in within the BBC where what you might the upper atmosphere. He plotted What advice would you give call house style is actually cherished, that against population and the Qto someone who wanted to where house standards are cherished. industrial revolution.… be a natural history presenter? “You [gesturing to Marr] are in the The BBC has quite a good record My advice would be not to BBC more than I am now, but where on these sorts of things.… When A stand between the camera and is somebody in authority who says, you get these big things, it’s very the animal too frequently (laughter ‘Did you not realise that, when you difficult to get it right. I would say, and applause from the audience).… did that, you actually cut in a question by and large, the BBC gets it right. In the programmes I do, the animals that was repeated by the person already tend to be the stars. in shot?’… What was the most mesmer­ “Production standards are missing. Qising experience of your Can you name a favourite I miss other standards, too.” ­professional life? Qprogramme? Marr said there were large numbers It was the first time I put on Porridge. It is absolutely top of people who thought the BBC licence A sub-aqua gear and dived on a A of almost anything. It seems fee was unsustainable. What did Sir coral reef. We all know that diving to me a drama, a comedy, a deep David think? is itself an extraordinary experi- insight into human personalities, “A lot of the people I talk to, and I ence. Simply being able to move causes you to think, magnificently hope I’m not too cliquish, but a lot of in three dimensions is wonderfully played, perfectly cast. I don’t know the people are delighted to pay for what liberating. a better series on television. they get from [the] radio networks and three or four television networks.

22 [THE BBC IS] DOING TOO MANY ACTUALITY SHOWS [AND,] AS AN EX-BBC TWO CHANNEL CONTROLLER, I THINK WE ARE DOING TOO MUCH [DRAMA]

BBC TV needs a new menu

David Attenborough: ‘I think, personally, that we are doing too many actuality shows. And, im- portant though they are, there are other things – such as cooking

Paul Hampartsoumian Paul and so on, and gardening, which are very good and certainly should “They recognise that it’s the biggest to make solid value judgements in be on the network – that we are possible bargain in Britain.” programmes such as Civilisation. Today, doing rather too much of. So, finally, some good news for Tony anyone proffering judgements of this ‘We are also doing a lot of Hall and his lieutenants, but Marr had nature was met by hostility. drama. Personally, as an ex-BBC not yet finished playing devil’s advocate. “Yes, and, in my book, that is to be Two channel controller, I think we Surely, the great success of BBC regretted,” said Attenborough. “A mem­ are doing too much. Not because iPlayer had almost demolished the ber of this House actually said: ‘I don’t there’s anything wrong with them case for the BBC? The idea of channels wish experts to tell me what to do.’” This in themselves – they are all abso- was vanishing. People expected to rebuke of Michael Gove was greeted by lutely excellent in their own way – watch shows on-demand. Channels guffaws from the RTS audience. but we are nudging out and we are were an anachronism. Did Attenborough have any advice to not exploring enough new things Attenborough disagreed. He said: offer the new BBC Chair? Reluctantly, and new subjects.’ “That may be so in the long term, but he replied: “I don’t know a sentence or one of the extraordinary things, when a paragraph to answer that. you look at the statistics, is that chan- “I am absolutely persuaded that the nel loyalty is extraordinarily deeply BBC is a place where sanity and good The art of crisp ingrained. You put a show on BBC judgement and civilisation can be Four, nobody watches it, but you put protected and exercised.” commentary it on BBC Two or BBC One and it gets Finally, out of the current crop of a big audience.” presenters, which of these did he think David Attenborough: ‘I give com- Coincidentally, later that day more would eventually emerge as the next mentaries in ways that were fash- than 14 million viewers would watch David Attenborough? “I am not sure ionable 30, 40 or 50 years ago. the final of The Great British Bake Off there is a need for one, actually.” ‘A lot of people can write but broadcast by BBC One. Others might disagree. they aren’t being allowed or en- It was unclear if Attenborough was couraged to write film commentar- hoping to tune in but, as the dialogue Sir David Attenborough was in conver- ies in the way that they used to be continued between these two BBC sation with Andrew Marr at an RTS All- 40 years ago. heavyweights, he made it clear that Party Parliamentary Group event held on ‘There aren’t a lot of people who he wanted to see fewer lifestyle shows 26 October at the House of Commons. The write in the sort of documentary and less drama on BBC TV (see box, left). producer was Sue Robertson. At the event, way that I try and do.… Returning to the subject of documen- Sir David was presented with a trophy in ‘There are too many words in taries, Marr said that, in the more elitist recognition of his role as a Vice-President most commentaries.’ days of the mid-1960s, it was possible of the RTS.

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 23 Virtual reality gets serious

he latest virtual-reality Until that point, “[the motion] made headsets and gadgets VR production me sick and the content was glib”, battled for space with a he said. bumper audience at the Can 360° content He thanked the games industry for RTS early-evening event being the “cash cow” that has funded on virtual reality and defy the sceptics the development of VR technology 360°T technology earlier this month. and bring a new, over the past decade or so. Kit from some of the leading inno- As a result, he argued, short-form vators in virtual reality was available sustainable dimension virtual-reality “stuff is now being shot for the audience to test in a “playroom”, that is [truly] immersive”. before and after a panel of experts to storytelling on TV? But much of the content, Blakeslee discussed the consumer appeal of this admitted, is poor: “You look at You- new technology. Matthew Bell dons Tube and most of the videos are rub- Introducing the event, journalist Kate a headset bish, but there is some good [work] Bulkley said: “There’s a lot of money and new [virtual-reality] storytellers and ambition chasing virtual reality greeted with similar wild enthusiasm are being born.” and 360° at the moment, which is very but never completed the course (see Addressing the TV producers in the exciting.” Some media commentators box, right). audience, Blakeslee advised them to had predicted that VR would grow to Is virtual reality headed for the “embrace [virtual reality] but don’t become an $80bn industry by 2025, knacker’s yard or is TV on to a winner? think it’s right for everything”. she continued. Ken Blakeslee, Chair of consultancy Both the BBC and Sky News filmed It wouldn’t be the first time, however, WebMobility Ventures, admitted that he the Calais refugee camp in 360° video, that the industry had backed the wrong had only started to “take virtual reality which Blakeslee said was a highly horse. The advent of 3D television was seriously about a year and a half ago”. effective use of VR technology.

24 Will VR swim – or sink like 3D?

Television has form for promoting new technologies that do not live up to the hype. Journalist Kate Bulkley, who chaired the event, asked the panel whether virtual reality would fare any better than 3D TV. The latter had been much hyped by set manufacturers and some broadcasters, including Sky, before disappearing. ‘For 50 years, the industry has been trying to do 3D on a 2D screen and it just doesn’t work,’ said Ken Blakeslee from Web- Mobility Ventures. In contrast, he argued, virtual reality ‘has a big chance of taking off’. Sounding a note of caution, Blakeslee added that the need to wear headsets to enter the VR world – like 3D’s ‘glasses problem’ – could put a brake on growth. Sky VR executive producer Neil Graham was involved in the broad- caster’s early 3D experiments. He said: ‘I didn’t have the same feeling of excitement, immersion and emotional connection’ that he now GAMES ARE GOING TO got from a VR experience. DRIVE [VIRTUAL REALITY] He argued that ‘3D was a layer on an existing form of content, whereas virtual reality is a whole Oculus Rift headset and Oculus Touch controllers

Oculus VR Oculus new ecosystem that transports you to new places and gives you new Sky has been busy creating virtual-­ He had been picking the brains of experiences – they are completely reality content, across all the broad- experienced virtual-reality creators different’. caster’s programme genres, in its Sky and directors. Over the next two to Spencer Kelly, from BBC tech- VR Studio, which opened earlier this three years, Sky was looking to com- nology magazine show Click, said year. In sport, the studio has produced mission “around 12 high-end, virtual-­ the programme had always been virtual-reality shorts to support its reality films”, he revealed. sceptical about the claims made for Formula One coverage and a film Spencer Kelly, the main presenter of 3D: ‘We spent years going to tech about British heavyweight boxer BBC technology magazine show Click, expos and being told that 3D TVs Anthony Joshua. emphasised that he is “sold” on virtual were going to be the next big thing. Sport and virtual reality were a natu- reality: “The technology is there and it We thought, “No, you’re lying – ral fit but, suggested Bulkley, using the really does feel immersive.” But he you’re just trying to sell more TVs”.’ new technology in drama was a trick- added a caveat: “You have to film con- Google’s Tamzin Taylor said that, ier proposition. tent differently.” unlike 3D, VR was cheap; Google’s “Drama’s a longer burn than sport,” Kelly was speaking from experience. new virtual reality headset, Day- admitted Sky VR executive producer Earlier this year, Click filmed an episode dream, was priced at just £69. Neil Graham, who runs Sky VR Studio. of the show entirely in 360° video. “We She also argued that the inter- “It does have challenges but we have wanted to see if we could make our activity of virtual reality, which seen some tremendous footage.” normal 25-minute programme in virtual put the viewer at the heart of the Sky saw its role as both a commis- reality,” he said. action, gave it a significant advan- sioner and distributor of virtual-reality “Choose a great location” he advised, tage over 3D: ‘VR will give the user content. “We felt that, if we were to to grab the audience’s attention. “It’s control over their experience and commission and distribute content, an easy win if you can put the camera [allow] them to do more with the we first had to learn how to make it,” in an interesting place.” For Click, storytelling.’ recalled Graham. this involved shooting at the Large �

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 25 From left: Tamzin Taylor, Neil Graham, Kate Bulkley, Spencer Kelly and Ken Blakeslee Paul Hampartsoumian Paul

� Hadron Collider near Geneva and in Control is key, said Tamzin Taylor, reality] – and porn will, if I’m honest,” the Alps. who works in new business develop- said Kelly. “The nature of virtual reality is that ment for Google’s Android apps and Echoing Blakeslee’s earlier com- you park your traditional ways of games division: “Having an immer- ment, Kelly added that virtually reality­ making TV, where you cut between sive experience with a comfortable would remain a niche until viewers different shots every few seconds, or headset is important, but giving the could wear comfortable VR glasses, cut to a reaction shot or a close-up,” user control over their experience is instead of today’s headsets. said Kelly. “You can’t do any of that the exciting part.” Technology, agreed the panel, was because, if you’re wearing a [VR developing rapidly. “Look at the headset] and [the film] has 10 cuts in number of patents out there for vari- a minute, it will feel like your head is ous different types of contact lenses exploding.” SHOOTING A and glasses” said Graham. “We’ll be VR film-makers should imagine VR SCENE IS laughing at the headsets that we’ve that they are filming in a theatre, got at the moment in two or three rather than making telly: “It’s a long ACTUALLY A LOT years’ time.” scene and you have to direct the EASIER THAN With the launch of the Sony Play- audience to which part of the stage Station VR and Daydream in 2016 you want them to look at – that’s the NORMAL TV – and with an Apple virtual-reality trick with virtual reality. device likely to follow at some point “Shooting a scene is actually a lot [THOUGH] YOU in the next couple of years – Graham easier than normal TV, because you HAVE TO GET IT argued that virtual reality was poised choose a great location, put a camera to grow fast. up, hit record and do the scene. And RIGHT IN ONE TAKE Making money from VR, however, you’ve got to get it right in one take.” lies in the future. “Right now, where Post-production is another matter. we are in virtual reality, we’ve no idea “All the work comes afterwards – Currently, virtual reality is niche at what point it will be monetised, but when you stitch the image together,” broadcasting – but could it break out we are confident in the technology, said Kelly. into the mainstream? content and experience,” said Graham. Google is launching its new virtual-­ Taylor thought so, revealing that “At the point at which the monetisa- reality headset, Daydream, this month. Google expects to have “tens of mil- tion model becomes clear, we want to The lightweight fabric headset, work- lions of Daydream devices on the have been doing it for a long time so ing with a small controller and a market” by Christmas 2017. “The that we can get the content right.” compatible smartphone, will offer question is how you make the con- mobile virtual reality. tent compelling and refreshing The RTS early-evening event ‘Virtual It is a higher-tech version of Google enough so that people know they reality and 360° storytelling’ was held Cardboard, the company’s first virtual-­ have to come back to your app to on 1 November at The Hospital Club reality headset, which is made – as its watch it again and again,” she said. in central London, and produced by name suggests – from cardboard. “Games are going to drive [virtual Terry Marsh.

26 November 2016 www.rts.org.uk Television OUR FRIEND IN THE WEST

ists and mel- so exciting, and our season was off to low fruitful- The Bristol media a great start. ness” means festival season is On the other side of the city’s float- festival sea- ing harbour, at the cinematography son in Bristol. in full swing and festival, Bond director Roberto Shaefer This is when is in was discussing light and pictures. the city’s Lynn Barlow Meanwhile, Philippa Lowthorpe, creative sector comes together to her element still the only woman to win a Bafta ‘celebrateM its talent and share a sense for fiction direction, was unpicking of belonging. that special relationship between A festival is all about entertainment. director and DoP with her DoP, Those festivals with a specific focus Matt Gray. on cultural groups often seek to inform A retrospective with double Oscar community members of their tradi- winner and festival patron Chris tions and involve elders who share Menges was the icing on the cake. The stories and experiences. Killing Fields, The Mission, Local Hero, Kes… That couldn’t be a more fitting I could go on. description for the creative-industry Netflix made the journey to Wild- family that calls Bristol home. screen for the European premier of We welcomed the autumn with the The Ivory Game. Leonardo DiCaprio Encounters short film and animation was an executive producer on the festival, along with the Bristol Interna- project but, no, he wasn’t in town. tional Festival of Cinematography and Sir David Attenborough talked to Wildscreen, the world’s largest gather­ Chris Packham about the future of

ing of natural history producers. Jon Craig our fragile planet, while the “wildlife This month, we’re staging an RTS Oscars” – the Panda Awards – filled Futures Festival. This is aimed at the next year. Aardman ­Animations 1,000 seats at the Colston Hall. hundreds of creative-industry students planted its roots here 40 years ago and Comedian John Bishop was among who study in the city and surrounding helped to fuel a highly successful local the winners. His Gorilla Adventure, region. When they graduate, the vast film, TV and animation community. made by Bristol company Tigress, majority stay in Bristol and provide an Both the BBC and Aardman are won the Panda for Popular Broadcast. important seam of emerging talent for generous elders in the production, These glorious festivals are great the industry. planning and delivery of Bristol’s news for everyone in the sector, Who can blame them for wanting festival season. including the city’s brilliant technical to remain here? It’s said that Bristol is At Encounters this year, Aardman specialists. They encompass camera a disproportionately creative city: it Executive Chair David Sproxton pre- crews, editors, producers, musicians, has more than 140 small, medium miered a world-first – a 30th anni- researchers and the burgeoning digi- and large companies involved in versary, re-mastered version of that tal teams. content creation. The city is the lead- iconic Peter Gabriel track Sledgeham- Festival season is our chance to ing tech hub outside London. mer. Remember the fruit on the show each other and the world why Bristol now has a thriving film ex-Genesis front man’s head? Bristol is the first choice for anyone studio, The Bottle Yard. Broadchurch, Other treats were journalist Paul who wants to learn from the very best Poldark and The Lost Honour of Christo- Mason’s “Desert island flicks” and a and why it is such an inclusive, excit- pher Jefferies were made there. conversation with renowned author ing place to work. Our success has evolved organi- and screenwriter David Nicholls. His cally over more than 80 years and most recent novel, Us, is being adapted Lynn Barlow is a journalist and documen­ began when BBC Radio first arrived for television. tary producer, as well as director, creative in Whiteladies Road. It was followed Set that alongside 500 young film- industries, at the University of the West of by the Natural History Unit, which makers and animators from across England. She chairs the Bristol Centre and celebrates its diamond anniversary Europe showing us why short-form is recently joined the RTS Board of Trustees.

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 27 Sunday Night at the London Palladium, with Bruce Forsyth (right) and Sammy Davis Jnr

The man who put Brucie on the box ITV/Rex/Shutterstock

t’s only fair that I start with a The Best of Times: and, if this book is anything to go by, confession. Given the personal A Personal History of his judgement is as sharp as ever. support that Brian Tesler gave Television 1952-1994 by In fact, the book should be essential me at crucial times in my Brian Tesler is published reading for people under 40 working career, I would have found it by Kaleidoscope, priced in television today. Then, they would very hard to write a critical £24.99 understand not only how the industry reviewI of his autobiography, even if it started in the 1950s, but just how much had been a pile of junk written by an it has changed in a relatively short 87-year-old, long past his best. period of time – and not necessarily Thankfully, I didn’t face that dilemma. for the better for programme-makers. The book isn’t junk – it’s a fascinating Book review Let me explain. Brian Tesler played account of one person’s journey from a major part in advancing my career the earliest days of television at the back in the 1980s and 1990s, when he BBC through to his retirement. This Greg Dyke says the success­fully supported my candida- coincided with the takeover of London memoir of one of ture, first to be director of programmes Weekend Television (LWT) by Granada at LWT and later to be his successor as in the mid-1990s. British TV’s pioneers is the company’s Chief Executive. So, I And although it is true that Brian is essential reading for do owe him big time. now well into his eighties he looks I found the first two-thirds of the 10 years younger. His memory is fine today’s TV generation book, covering the period when I wasn’t

28 in television and didn’t know Brian, the Weekend World offended Scottish judges. most interesting part. Largely, this was Instead, he was fined £5,000. because Brian was one of the pioneers It also covers the history of the vari- of television entertainment. He was the ous ITV companies in great depth. From man who first put the likes of Wilfred Tesler’s account of a whole series of Pickles, Roy Castle and Petula Clark on franchise rounds, you understand that, the box in the early 1950s. when the IBA Chair Lord Thomson said, Brian put the band leader Billy Cotton “There must be a better way” of allocat- on television at around the same time ing ITV franchises, he was not wrong. and also helped his son at the beginning Whichever way government and the of his BBC career – young Bill Cotton television authority of the moment ended up running the whole of BBC tried, there were always cock-ups and Television. injustices. ITV companies that should Bill Cotton used to say of Brian: “He have lost, instead, survived. Meanwhile, taught me everything I know about ones that should have survived, lost. television. Unfortunately, he didn’t Reading again the details of the last teach me everything he knew.” franchise round – when I was Chief Furthermore, Brian was the man who Executive of LWT and we won with launched Bruce Forsyth’s career, when a bid of £7.5m and our only opponent he gave him the job of hosting ITV’s lost by bidding £34.5m – you realise Sunday Night at the London Palladium. once again what madness it all was. Bruce, of course, went on to have a tele- Personally, I was fascinated to dis- vision career even longer than Brian’s. cover how close I was to not becoming Before I worked directly for Brian, I the Chief Executive of LWT – the job was always told that, while he wasn’t a nearly went to a bicycle manufacturer business genius as the Managing Direc- from the Midlands. He not only knew tor of LWT, he was the best judge of a fuck all about television but was proud programme. In the time that I worked of the fact. Thank you, Brian, for get- with him that was certainly true. ting rid of him. If Brian watched a pilot and said that Do I have any criticisms of the book? he thought it would work he was usu- First, I’d say that there are just too ally right. He had an eye for detail, which many names in it – names that will meant that when he added, “but this or mean nothing to most people in tele- that would improve the show”, you vision today. Second, it doesn’t really listened and took notice. get into the ridiculous industrial rela- Having been one of the early enter- tions that dominated ITV for most of tainment producers at the BBC in an its history until the early 1990s. era when being sent to work in tele­ It doesn’t ask the question: why did vision was still seen by some at the the ITV companies’ boards and senior corporation as a demotion, he executives put up with such nonsense switched to ITV to work for ABC. for so long? After all, when they did Today’s producers and directors finally take on the unions, they col- would read Brian’s account of those lapsed like a pack of cards. early years at both the BBC and ITV But these are small points about a with envy. You had an idea, suggested book rich in history, anecdotes and it to your boss and, within just a few colour. This is a book that tells the weeks, it was on the screen. story of the development of a glamor- No months of audience research, ous industry and the glamorous people no maybe and months of waiting, no who worked in it. interfering by pain-in-the-arse com- During my time in television, I was missioning editors, no messing around always critical of the “old men” – and by schedulers. There was a slot, you they were almost exclusively men had an idea and you filled the slot. It – who spent their lives telling us how was that simple. wonderful the early days of television The book is full of wonderful stories had been. and anecdotes. How Sammy Davis Jnr Having read Brian’s account of those decided that he wasn’t going to do a years, maybe I was too critical. He show just minutes before he was due makes them sound a lot of fun. in the studio; how The Avengers, starring Diana Rigg and not Nyree Dawn Porter, Greg Dyke was formerly Chief Executive became a worldwide hit; and how of LWT, Chair of Channel 5 and Director- Tesler nearly went to jail because LWT’s General of the BBC.

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 29 The naked adventurer Paul Hampartsoumian Paul

d Stafford is more than On the Pacific Ocean desert island, an adventurer. The first RTS Futures the only equipment – other than a man to walk the length camera – allowed was a medical kit of the Amazon is also a and a satellite phone to send texts in film-maker of some Matthew Bell hears the event of an emergency. repute. At an RTS how ex-army captain Stafford survived and made a com- FuturesE event, he presented a pelling series, but he was not afraid to self-shooting masterclass illustrated by Ed Stafford learnt to admit that it had been a gruelling clips from his survival programmes. experience. In 2008, equipped with cameras film his own survival “It’s all well and good to have ideas,” from Ginger TV (the company that stories for TV he said, “but I didn’t think it through. It hired him), Stafford set out from the was an utter baptism of fire. I’d never Peruvian Andes to begin a 9,700km commissioner, she had green-lit Staf- spent more than two days on my own quest to walk the Amazon. ford’s shows for the channel, including and now I had 60 days.” Two years and four months later, he 2013’s Naked and Marooned, made by The production company used reached the mouth of the river with Tigress Productions. a drop-box system on Naked and enough footage for his first series, the The concept for this survival series Marooned to send replacement camera two-part Walking the Amazon, shown on was simple but forbidding. “If you batteries and any filming instructions Channel 5 and Discovery in 2011. were dropped off stark-bollock-naked to Stafford. Twice a week, a boat would Liz McIntyre, director of Sheffield on an island, without a knife, without leave the production base on a nearby Doc/Fest, interviewed the former Brit- food, without any contact with the island, pick up dead batteries and make ish Army captain at the RTS Futures outside world for 60 days, would you a drop – no actual contact was allowed event. In a previous job, as a Discovery be able to survive?” asked Stafford. with Stafford.

30 “I’ve never said this in public before, but I once snuck down to the drop box The art of shooting a survival series when [the boat] was coming in to pick it up, which I wasn’t meant to do. “I literally hid in the bushes because I just wanted to see [people]. They didn’t know I was there,” Stafford confessed. The adventurer wrote a book, also called Naked and Marooned, about his experience on the desert island, in which he admitted that he received psychological help after leaving the island. During his ordeal, Stafford felt that “I was losing my mind, while trying to document the whole thing at the same time – it was the most extraordinary thing I’ve ever done in my life. “This is not in the remotest sense a sob story, because [there] couldn’t have been a more intense period when I learnt more about myself.” Discussing a production company’s Discovery series Lone Survivor duty of care to people appearing in its Discovery programmes, he warned against put- ting “people who have a lust to make a Ed Stafford revealed at the RTS Futures myself for not fully capturing that name for themselves on TV into ridic- event that his inspiration for Walking [Amazon] expedition.’ ulous situations. Essentially, they are a the Amazon was Bruce Parry, an earlier For Tigress Productions’ Marooned guinea pig and you’re watching some- TV adventurer. with Ed Stafford, shown in 2014, the one’s mind unfold on camera.” Parry had filmed and presented adventurer spent 10 days alone in Stafford told the RTS Futures audi- Cannibals and Crampons (an episode some of the world’s remotest areas. ence that he was “not blaming anyone for the 2002 BBC One series Extreme Armed with a selection of GoPros and took full responsibility for what Lives), about his ascent of a mountain and hand-held cameras, Stafford I [had] signed up for”, but added that in the Indonesian part of New Guinea. returned with stunning footage from, other people could be more vulnerable. ‘I thought that if I could go away and among other places, Patagonia and In all the places he films, Stafford do something like [that], take a camera Guatemala. ‘There were two projects meets local, often indigenous, inhabit- and make a film about it, then I would going on: the first was getting enough ants first to learn about their way of be able to make a career for myself in food in order to survive; the second life. “It would be arrogant and crass for TV,’ said Stafford. ‘It was always [my] was making a cool film about it.’ an ex-army bloke to come into each strategy; it wasn’t just this romantic Stafford has embraced the opportu- environment and just do his thing notion of walking the Amazon and nity ‘to be artistically creative’ and admit- without paying respect to local people,” being completely purist about it.’ ted that film-making ‘is more interesting he said. Stafford made Walking the Amazon to me now than the survival part’. Looking back over the series he after just ‘half a day’s film training on His role, however, finishes with the has made, Stafford said: “The thing that Streatham Common’, he recalled. filming: Stafford is not involved in the I am now genuinely proud of in these No amount of UK training, though, edit. ‘I’ve been really lucky in having shows is that they’re not just about would have prepared him for shooting amazing editors,’ he said. killing a snake or crossing a river – in South America. ‘I was held up at gun- ‘When we started making these they have an emotional depth to them. point three times, at arrowpoint three survival shows I was really worried, “I’m learning stuff about myself and or four times, I was arrested for murder especially [on Naked and Marooned how to live my life. Discovery has once and drugs trafficking another time and] spending 60 days on that island. given me the opportunity to turn that – and I didn’t get any of it on camera It was such an emotional journey that I into a TV programme. because I was scared,’ he said. thought, “How on earth are they going “That the audience can go away and Since making Walking the Amazon, to be able to take that and turn it into learn the same thing is great – we have Stafford has come on leaps and bounds even a close representation of what almost managed to transcend the [sur- as a film-maker. ‘[Now], I am very much happened?”’ vival] genre.” aware of the exact moments that I Stafford saw a rough cut, however, need to film. The moment I get scared, and ‘couldn’t believe how close it was The RTS Futures event, ‘Self-shooting the camera’s on; any extremes of emo- to what I went through’. masterclass with Ed Stafford’, was held tion and I know that I need to record it, He added, to audience laughter: ‘They at the Cavendish Conference Centre in but that came through the experience make you look like a hero, despite all the London on 12 October. It was produced by of being extraordinarily frustrated with shit footage.’ Phil Craig, Iestyn Barker and Jack Oliver.

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 31 RTS NEWS Yorkshire chuckles at TV brothers omedy duo the the brothers were given the Chuckle Brothers run of a warehouse contain- celebrated 50 years ing props and costumes left in television at a over from Opportunity Knocks. YorkshireC Centre event in They selected two dog mid-October. Their children’s costumes and the rest is show for the BBC, Chuckle­ television history. For the Vision, ran for 21 series from next 25 years, the Chuckle 1987 to 2009. Brothers were a mainstay The brothers, Paul and of UK children’s TV. Barry, were interviewed on The Chuckles retain a loyal stage at Holy Trinity Church following – indeed, many in Leeds by author and light of their fans turned up at the entertainment aficionado event in Leeds, including one Louis Barfe. young man who had had his The brothers’ father, Gene photo taken with them as a Patton, was a well-known child in the 1990s. Super fan Gang Show performer who Shaun Hope, who claims to worked with a teenage Peter have spent more than Sellers. Indeed, the brothers The Chuckle Brothers with interviewer Louis Barfe £25,000 on Chuckle Brothers think that some of the char- memorabilia, was also in the acters later performed by the audience. chameleon-like Sellers bore However, further TV appear- regular TV slot – in dog At the end of the night, a striking resemblance to ances were hard to find and costumes – with the BBC it became clear why the their father. they spent most of the 1970s pre-school show The Chuckle­ entertainers are held in such Their own careers started and 1980s touring pubs and Hounds, their first television affection – the duo stayed when they won Opportunity working-men’s clubs. incarnation. around for almost an hour Knocks in 1967. They went on In the mid-1980s, their Paul Chuckle revealed that posing for photographs and to triumph in another talent talent for clowning was spot- the idea for their comedy signing autographs. show, New Faces, in 1974. ted and they were offered a dog characters came when Lisa Holdsworth ONLINE at the RTS

n Talent agents have long n For the past couple of years, nothing more than kicking back ­suffered from a negative the RTS digital team has visited and watching Made in Chelsea. ­reputation, and are often seen all kinds of industry insiders, You can watch his tales of being as cynical and manipulative. from dubbing mixers to science arrested for murder, learning how ‘I thought I had a reputation correspondents, for our Tips in to shoot documentaries and the as a ferocious old bag – which 60 Seconds video series. We psychological strain of isolation I don’t mind,’ agent Vivienne are now resting the format, and at www.rts.org.uk/ed-stafford. Clore told Ed Gove in the latest have launched a brand new in our Face to Face interview stream – Tea Break Tips – still n If you missed out on tickets series. Clore, whose clients offering great advice, but now for the phenomenal ‘The Night include Jo Brand and Sandi in more detail, to watch with a Manager: Anatomy of a hit’, you Ed Stafford at the RTS

Toksvig, shared her experiences brew. Human rights film-maker Hampartsoumian Paul can watch it at www.rts.org.uk/ of running a talent agency, from Louise Orton, who has directed TNM. Sir David Attenborough’s the long hours to the ferocious short films for BBC World, is n It’s amazing what you learn sell-out conversation with negotiations fuelled by diminish­ the first person you can stick attending RTS events. Speaking to Andrew Marr, which took place ing budgets. An honest insight the kettle on to watch for her adventurer Ed Stafford ahead of at the House of Commons last from an agent with more than tips for reporting human rights his recent RTS Futures event, the month, can be found online at 30 years in the industry issues at www.rts.org.uk/report­ digital team discovered that the www.rts.org.uk/Attenborough. (www.rts.org.uk/vivienne-clore). ing-human-rights. Naked and Marooned star likes Pippa Shawley

32 he onward march of technology is gather- ing pace – and the broadcast media Tindustry has to keep up. This was the key message from RTS London’s review of this year’s IBC technology exhibition, held jointly with the Institution of Engineer- ing and Technology (IET) at the latter’s sumptuously refurbished HQ on the banks of the Thames. Amsterdam’s annual media technology event welcomed nearly 1,600 exhibitors and more than 55,000 visitors to its exhibition halls and con- ference sessions. The RTS and IET are two of the six partners behind IBC. From left: Nigel Walley, Tom Marshall, Craig Buckland, Stephanie Scheller and Graham Turner

“Everything is changing Pictures Raw so fast with the arrival of IP [internet protocol] and the Cloud, and we, as an industry, are having to innovate at the same pace – and a show like London revisits IBC IBC has to reflect that,” said Decipher MD Nigel Walley, showed how their technolo- He screened clips of these top boxes; with the growing who chaired the RTS/IET gies could work together. video packages, including interest in VR, how do you event in mid-October. The zone demonstrated one showing how companies protect that content?” Walley continued: “It’s the work of the Joint Task- were taking full advantage of Looking further into the likely that IBC will be radi- force on Networked Media, what they could achieve future, Buckland reminded cally different every year which has been developing using IP and the Cloud. the audience that none of the – and the challenge for the a roadmap for the implemen­ Forbidden Technologies’ top 20 internet companies in management of IBC is to put tation of IP in broadcast in-the-Cloud editing system, the world are European – in place the wi-fi, apps and environments. The manufac- Forscene, is well established. 11 are from the US, with the social media to enable the turers’ association, the IABM, But the company is now rest from Asia. “And Google live discussion during the and the Alliance for IP Media moving towards a fully virtu- is bigger that all the European show to match the pace of the Solutions also contributed to alised post-production system media companies combined,” innovation of the technolo- the exhibition. in the Cloud, highly secure he added. “Who will be the gies and the breakthroughs At its heart was a live pro- and integrated with suppliers broadcasters of the future? revealed in the conference.” duction studio based on one such as Amazon web services. I suspect the platforms.” A consensus soon emerged developed by Belgian broad- This will allow the processing Stephanie Scheller, head at the London discussion caster VRT, which has been of pictures at every stage of of business development at that the rapid growth in the on air for several months as production, from the camera Appiness, cited the opportu- use of IP and the Cloud was part of the LiveIP Project, a to the screen to be done nities offered by the sophis- changing broadcasting infra- collaboration between the through an online browser. ticated exploitation of meta- structures fundamentally. European Broadcasting Graham Turner, Chair of data in the rise of multi-­ SDI (serial digital interface) Union and VRT. IET’s Multimedia Communi- device consumption of video. was now completely absent Tom Marshall, creative cations Network, has a par- “Make more of your meta- from IBC, argued Vodafone director at Captive North, ticular interest in content data – using it creatively can media and broadcast busi- produced the “What caught protection and piracy issues. make advertising more inter- ness development lead my eye sessions” at IBC, He spoke of the constant esting to engage with,” she Craig Buckland. which gave leading technol- battle to protect copyright said. “In the multi-screen New at IBC 2016 was an IP ogists a chance to seek out content in the IP arena: “On world, metadata will fuel the interoperability zone, where and report on the show’s the Nagra stand, there was future – its potential is vast.” more than 30 companies most interesting exhibits. a tall column of pirate set- Nick Radlo

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 33 RTS NEWS Help for young talent in Wales

he annual Wales opportunity to meet the Centre event “Meet people behind television the makers” once productions in Wales – and again proved to be a the chance to quiz them Thuge hit, attracting a healthy about their shows in the audience of freelancers keen pipeline for 2017. to learn from the panel of Director of BBC Cymru producers and commission- Wales Rhodri Talfan Davies ers assembled for the event. talked in detail about the The high-level panel broadcaster’s programme included commissioners, plans and its move to managing directors of pro- purpose-built­ headquarters duction companies and the in the city centre. Chief Executive of Ffilm The evening was conceived Cymru Wales. Broadcasters partly to strengthen the links and indies represented at the between producers and event included BBC Cymru commissioners, and partly to Wales, Boomerang,­ Wild- open opportunities for free- flame Productions, Green lancers based in and around Bay Media, Wales & Co and the Welsh capital. ie ie Productions. RTS Wales hopes to organ- “Meet the makers”, which ise a similar event in the new was held in late October at year, targeted at the film and The Waterguard in Cardiff drama side of the industry. Rhodri Talfan Davies

Bay, gave freelancers the Cath Tudor Photo Stock James Davies/Alamy

n Daniel Cripps was once told community-centre caretaker in that only one person in his a rough part of Newport. ‘The year at college could expect unusual hours gave me time to get a job in television – ‘I Cardiff to think and to write,’ he said. was determined that would Cripps sought a wide range be me.’ event of production experience, Originally from Shropshire, which he gained on three BBC Cripps graduated in media One shows: Crimewatch, Doc- production at the University offers tor Who and Sherlock. of South Wales. At last year’s ‘Meet the During his college years, he leg up makers’ event, run by RTS produced video showcases Wales, Cripps had a conversa­ for actors at Bristol’s Old Vic into TV tion with Sam Grace, director Theatre and worked as a first of programmes at the Cardiff- assistant director on short based indie Boomerang. films shown at Cardiff’s Iris After submitting his CV, he Prize Festival. was interviewed by Grace, The dedication paid off initially gaining a two-month when his final-year short film, development contract, before Between Viewings, won the being promoted to the role Daniel Cripps

2011 RTS Wales Centre Student Wiliam Hywel of development assistant Television Award for Fiction. producer. Getting work after leaving what work you’re going to get industry to support yourself ‘I owe a lot to my college university proved to be tough. straight after uni and, more in the early stages,’ he told and to the RTS for my career ‘You have to be prepared to likely than not, you’ll need Television. For Cripps, this success to date,’ said Cripps. be flexible and realistic about a part-time job outside the included working as a night Hywel Wiliam

34 pecialist aerial ­camera operator and director of photogra- North East debate pits phy David Baillie discussedS the pros and – mostly – cons of mini-flying drones against helicopters cameras at a North East and the Border Centre event, “Drones or helicopters: truth or lies?”, in mid-October. As someone who has won awards for his stunning heli- copter footage of Antarctica for the landmark BBC One series Frozen Planet, Baillie is not convinced about the desirability of using drones and GoPro cameras in so many programmes. At the RTS event, which was held at the Northern Counties Club, Newcastle, Baillie recalled an enthusias- tic producer on a polar shoot unpacking his drone as the ice-breaker ship reached its destination. David Baillie He was secretly amused when, on its first flight, the drone disappeared out of hydraulic tower. He does, on He added that, although a Worse still, a producer range and crashed. occasion, use drones. helicopter could fly for three can’t load the presenter and Baillie argued that using a He explained that a drone, hours without having to crew on to a drone to fly to drone to track the length of could, for example, take shots refuel, a drone would have to the next filming location – the research base delivered that would be impossible – return to ground in as little five minutes away by air, but worse results than his own due to the noise and excessive as 10 minutes to recharge its an hour by road. static camera mounted on a down-draft – for a helicopter. batteries. Graeme Aldous Dublin previews new drugs doc n Journalist and broadcaster Centre drew a large audience Shane Kenny discussed his of RTS members and guests, hard-hitting and highly per- including people who sonal documentary Benzo­ claimed that their health had diazepine Medical Disaster at been adversely affected by a Republic of Ireland Centre the use of benzodiazepines, Shane Kenny speaking at the Dublin event event in October. which include Valium, Xanax Charles Byrne Kenny was prescribed a and Ativan. benzodiazepine drug in 2001 In the documentary, an saying that the drugs can programme Morning Ireland, to treat Ménière’s disease, a excerpt from which was cause harm if their prescrip- anchored radio’s News at One, rare inner-ear condition. In shown at the event, health tion and withdrawal is not served as business editor and the documentary, he argues professionals talk about the carefully managed. had a stint as an investigative that prescribed drugs turned side effects of benzodiaze- Kenny has yet to find a reporter on current affairs a manageable, relatively mild pines and how difficult it is broadcaster for the film. programme Seven Days. He condition into a disabling, to stop using them. In a varied career at RTÉ, also served as the Irish gov- long-term illness. Kenny’s film quotes the Kenny launched the broad- ernment’s press secretary. The event at RTÉ Television British Medical Association as caster’s flagship radio news Charles Byrne

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 35 RTS NEWS Scottish arts TV in the spotlight BC Scotland’s arts hint visually at what was to programming was come later. Richard’s books dissected by the are all set in Australia and RTS at Glasgow’s there were elements that BPacific Quay in October. deal with the genocide of Executive producer Pauline aborigines and stories his Law (BBC Two’s The Marvellous father told him about being World of Roald Dahl) and Jack in a concentration camp.” Cocker, who was named Best Flanagan’s father survived From left: Pauline Law, Jack Cocker and James Wilson

Director at the RTS Scotland forced labour on the Burma Ilisa Stack Awards in May, talked about railway as a prisoner of war their work and craft. during the Second World War. development, admitting: ences, Cocker did not believe Cocker discussed Richard Cocker praised Dave “There’s a lot of waiting with that the ratio was awry: Flanagan: Life after Death, an Arthur – “the best editor I’ve bated breath.” “There are a lot of directors acclaimed episode of BBC ever worked with” ­– and Audience members fired on Imagine – I think I’m the One’s arts strand Imagine presenter Alan Yentob: “Alan questions at the duo. Sub- only male. I’ve only ever had about the 2014 Man Booker pushes you to be more cine- jects included the dynamic one male boss in my career.” Prize-winning author. matic.” Law added: “[Yentob] between a director, presenter Law agreed, but added: “Beginnings and endings has been a film-maker, so he and subject; soundtracks; “I find it frustrating that the are difficult,” said Cocker. really brings something to and the ratio between men top level of commissioning “The idea was to try and grab the editing suite.” He also and women in TV. is very male-dominated.” people's [attention] and to spoke about programme Based on his own experi- Rebecca Robertson RTS launches Bristol offers advice new centre in Norwich on getting started n The Society’s new East to break into the industry. Freelance development Centre launches at the end of Executives also gave a series producer Kate Thomas and this month with a look at the of talks. BBC producer Mel Rodrigues AniMotion touring exhibition. BBC talent manager Sas delivered a double-hander on The event is on Wednesday Bonser discussed CVs: “Don’t pitching ideas. The duo dis- 30 November at The Forum, make it too wordy, use bullet cussed what makes a good Kate Thomas

Millennium Plain, Norwich, Ellie Kynaston points and don’t go crazy pitch – “idea, access, talent, starting at 7:00pm. with the graphic design.” On treatment and taster” – and “We have formed a brand n More than 170 students preparing for interviews, she offered tips for getting ahead: new RTS Centre here in the attended the first RTS Bristol said: “Research and watch the “Research the commissioner East to celebrate the thriving Futures Festival. Held at the content; be armed with and the channel/slot, know creative media industry in our Watershed, Bristol, on 1 Nov­ examples and always come your competition and your region,” said RTS East Chair ember, the fair provided an with an idea.” strengths, and build Nikki O’Donnell. “We want opportunity to meet local Hugo Pettitt, an RTS West relationships.” to create an environment indies, BBC Bristol Popular of England Student Awards RTS award-winning editor where everyone can come Factual, ITV News West winner in 2014 and now a Glenn Rainton discussed and share their ideas and Country and post-production researcher/assistant producer post-­production and how his inspiration, and learn from houses. at BBC Studios/BBC Docs, first boss had challenged the most experienced pro- In a buzzing atmosphere offered advice on making him: “He said to me, ‘Right, fessionals, as well as the and to the backdrop of a DJ, the leap from academia to what music do you not like newest innovators.” students were encouraged to the industry. – I want you to cut to that If you would like to be a chat to the experts – from He encouraged students to and make it emotional and part of RTS East, please email shooting researchers to man- make use of university facili- compelling’.” [email protected]. aging directors – about how ties to create a taster tape. Suzanne Lambert

36 n Writer and director Steven kids’ series Chico Chugg, Knight and Birmingham-born which is made by TaDaKids. actor Martin Shaw – best Staffordshire University known for his roles in Judge students picked up a number John Deed and Inspector George of awards in the student Gently – were each awarded categories. Andrew Pasquale a Baird Medal at the RTS Bell won for The Oval Portrait Midlands Awards this month. (Animation and Craft Skills: Knight is the creator of Production Design); Richard BBC Two’s Birmingham-set Binnington, Searching for gangster series, the RTS- Signatures (Comedy & Enter- award-winning Peaky Blinders. Peaky Blinders: created by Baird Medal winner Steven Knight tainment and Editing with

The Baird Medal recognises BBC Sam Woodhall); and Jack Midlanders’ contribution to Kelly, Josh Clarke and Alex TV. The awards were pre- Daly, Buses (Drama). sented by ITV News Central Yue Liu from the University anchor Sameena Ali-Khan Midlands honours of Derby took the Factual at the National Motorcycle and Camera Work prizes Museum in Solihull. with A Girl’s Story; and Steve Claire Goose won Best Knight and Shaw George, Ryan Sibanda, Joshua Acting Performance for her LA Baggott and LJ “Stark” role in BBC Birmingham Guy Martin, best known ITV News Central, which Greenwood from the Univer- drama The Coroner. Best Fic- for Channel 4’s Speed with Guy was named Best News Pro- sity of Wolverhampton won tional Television Programme Martin, which is produced by gramme for Leicester Champi­ the Short Feature prize for Si. went to another BBC drama, North One Television, was ons’ Parade, and BBC East Midlands Vice-chair Father Brown. named Best On-screen Per- Midlands Current Affairs for Dorothy Hobson said the BBC Birmingham’s Jona- sonality. North One also Investigating Sports Direct: An range of awards had high- than Gibson was named picked up the Best Factual Inside Out Special (Best Cur- lighted the richness of both Television Journalist of the Programme award for C4’s rent Affairs Feature). Anita existing talent and that com- Year for the second year Travel Man: 48 hours in .... Ramdharry was named Best ing through from colleges. running. Other winners included New Talent for her work on Matthew Bell Kids masterclass in the North West

n RTS North West back is one key ingredient. event in October – Disney Channel’s The Evermoor “From concept to Chronicles, made by Lime screen” – looked at Pictures, features a different howA the best kids’ shows are “baddie” in each episode. From left: Poyser, Hodgson, Buscombe, Bullough and Wilson

made. The region is a centre Senior drama producer for Claire Harrison of excellence for children’s CBBC independents Amy drama: CBBC is based at Buscombe stressed the heart, the programme is Rebecca Hodgson revealed MediaCity and local produc- importance of the “kid’s about how a boy deals with the origins of the idea for the tions include Hank Zipzer, The eye-line”. She said that she his problems at school. untitled horse show she was Evermoor Chronicles and the receives too many pitches Worst Witch executive pro- making for Netflix. A teacher new version of The Worst Witch. in which the story is not told ducer Marcus Wilson said friend told a writer that she “Relatability”, suggested the from a child’s view. there was a tendency to had overheard her female panel, is crucial to making a Hank Zipzer producer Jim underestimate kids’ ability to students discussing what hit drama because kids want Poyser said that, for comedy stick with a story. From his sounded like their boyfriends, to see their lives reflected on to work, alongside the jokes time on Doctor Who, Wilson but later realised they were screen – even if it is at one there needed to be an emo- recalled a maxim: “Make it talking about their horses. step removed from reality, tional reality and characters simple enough for the adults The panel was chaired by through aliens or witches. that viewers cared about. but complicated enough for head of CBBC production A sense of mystery that CBBC’s Zipzer features a lot the kids.” Helen Bullough. keeps the audience coming of custard pies but, at its Lime Pictures drama chief Usman Mullan

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 37 OFF M E SSAGE

ist shows may be out Remember, back in the 1980s, ITV that BBC TV was at its most serious of fashion, but few of beat the BBC at its own game. The and genuinely entertaining in the us can resist a list, commercial network won huge praise 1960s and 1970s. Needless to say, especially when the and numerous awards for those two Sandbrook’s conclusion was that, list in question enu- brilliant Granada shows. compared with former triumphs, merates the greatest In the wake of The Crown, expect Auntie has lost its way. TV shows of all time. still more scripted collaborations This is not exactly an original view Rolling Stone magazine recently between British broadcasters and and doesn’t really bear scrutiny. In publishedL its verdict on the top 100 TV American producers. the past three months alone, the BBC programmes ever. No surprise that it has given us shows as original and was almost entirely taken up by US ■ At The Crown launch, the man who challenging as the waspish comedy shows. Nevertheless, a handful of wrote the series, Peter Morgan, sug- Fleabag and Adam Curtis’s near- British TV gems made the cut. gested that, in terms of rocketing TV three-hour documentary, Hyper­ Yes, you guessed correctly that Monty drama budgets, we ain’t seen noth- Normalisation. Not, of course, forgetting Python and Fawlty Towers featured. So, ing yet. the most successful season yet of The too, did Doctor Who and Downton Abbey. “Think back 10 years to where we Great British Bake Off. But the highest-placed British show? were in terms of broadcasters and It is interesting, however, that Take a bow, David Brent: the original the way we consumed programmes. two of these three shows started version of The Office took 21st place. If you look 10 years ahead [from out online. Are commissioners now And the number-one show? HBO’s now], I think we’ll be talking about ­happier to experiment digitally than matchless The Sopranos. No complaints TV shows being made for £300m to within the confines of a linear line-up? about that. £500m,” opined the screenwriter. “I think that the Bonds, the Star Wars, ■ Since leaving ITV almost a year ■ Talking of high-end TV drama – will all have TV versions of them- ago, little’s been heard of the net- and, these days, is there any other selves. That’s not to say that the work’s erstwhile director of televi- kind? – in case you hadn’t noticed, theatrical experience is dead, but sion Peter Fincham. Netflix’s costume saga The Crown is I do think the appetite for storytelling Could the man who famously finally available for streaming. [is growing].” green-lit Downton Abbey be about to Off Message was privileged to It’s hard to disagree. re-emerge and return to his roots in attend a London premiere of the first independent production? two episodes of this über-expensive ■ Congratulations to BBC TV, which Fincham and Tim Hincks occa- royal TV marathon. earlier this month celebrated the sionally tread the boards together in For once, the hype was justified; on 80th anniversary of the world’s first No Expectations, a band that, for the basis of episodes 1 and 2, The regular, domestic television service. some unknown reason, is absent Crown appears to set a new bench- Glad to see The Daily Mail entering from Spotify. mark for television period drama. into the spirit of the occasion by pub- But are the duo about to form a lishing a double-page spread reflect- professional alliance along the lines ■ The series could turn out to be a ing on programme schedules since, of Alex Graham and Michael Jack- Brideshead Revisited/ Jewel in the Crown gulp, 1936. son’s Two Cities Television? moment for Netflix’s poor relations In an accompanying essay, cultural Just don’t call the company No over at New Broadcasting House. historian Dominic Sandbrook argued Expectations.

38 November 2016 www.rts.org.uk Television RTS PATRONS RTS Principal BBC Channel 4 ITV Sky Patrons

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

RTS Accenture Enders Analysis IBM S4C Major Amazon Video EY IMG Studios Sargent-Disc Patrons Audio Network FremantleMedia ITN STV Group BT FTI Consulting KPMG UKTV Channel 5 Fujitsu McKinsey and Co Virgin Media Deloitte Huawei Pinewood Studios YouView

RTS Alvarez & Marsal LLP ITV Granada ITV West Quantel Patrons Autocue ITV London ITV Yorkshire Raidió Teilifís Éireann Blackmagic Design ITV Meridian Lumina Search UTV Television Digital Television Group ITV Tyne Tees PricewaterhouseCoopers Vinten Broadcast ITV Anglia ITV Wales

Who’s who Patron President CENTRES COUNCIL History at the RTS HRH The Prince of Wales TBA Lynn Barlow Don McLean Charles Byrne Vice-Presidents Chair of RTS Trustees Steve Carson IBC Conference Liaison David Abraham Tom Mockridge Dan Cherowbrier Terry Marsh Dawn Airey Isabel Clarke Sir David Attenborough OM Honorary Secretary Alex Connock RTS Legends CH CVO CBE FRS David Lowen Gordon Cooper TBC Baroness Floella Tim Hartley Benjamin OBE Honorary Treasurer Kingsley Marshall RTS Technology Bursaries Dame Colette Bowe OBE Mike Green Nikki O’Donnell Simon Pitts Lord Bragg of Wigton Fiona Thompson John Cresswell BOARD OF TRUSTEES Graeme Thompson AWARDS COMMITTEE Adam Crozier Tim Davie Penny Westlake CHAIRS Mike Darcey Mike Green James Wilson Awards & Fellowship Greg Dyke David Lowen Policy Lord Hall of Birkenhead Graham McWilliam SPECIALIST GROUP David Lowen Lorraine Heggessey Tom Mockridge CHAIRS Ashley Highfield Simon Pitts Archives Craft & Design Awards Armando Iannucci OBE Jane Turton Steve Bryant Cheryl Taylor Ian Jones Rob Woodward Baroness Lawrence of Diversity Television Journalism Clarendon OBE EXECUTIVE Marcus Ryder Awards Rt Hon Baroness Jowell Chief Executive Stewart Purvis CBE of Brixton DBE PC Theresa Wise Early Evening Events David Lynn Dan Brooke Programme Awards Sir Trevor McDonald OBE Alex Mahon Ken MacQuarrie Education Gavin Patterson Graeme Thompson Student Television Trevor Phillips OBE Awards Stewart Purvis CBE RTS Futures Phil Edgar-Jones Sir Howard Stringer Donna Taberer

Television www.rts.org.uk November 2016 39 RTS Craft & Design Awards 2016 In partnership with

Monday 28 November at the London Hilton Booking: Alice Turner 020 7822 2822 [email protected]