Call for pitches - BBC England and BBC Two

We would like to commission a series of 8 x 60 minute films for transmission at 8pm on BBC Two.

Ideas should reflect the need for a popular series suitable for the slot on Two – and have the potential to be returnable. We are primarily looking for observational documentary ideas, contemporary in style and ambitious in scale. We will also look at talent-led pitches that take us into local lives (think of the tone of Remarkable Places to Eat or Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby).

We are looking for ideas that celebrate the lives of ‘everyday heroes’ based in local communities. BBC Two has enjoyed success with strands like Cornwall: This Fishing Life and Saving Lives at Sea. This is an opportunity for us to build on this area of programme making, an area that explores the work and activities of people in England today.

Stories should be warm, inviting and life-affirming. Humour that comes from great characters and situations, always helps. We can include ‘gritty’ issues but we don’t want stories that are grim and offer little hope.

Ideas can be based in different locations within England. However, it may be more productive to give the series a strong sense of local identity; we would like to see ideas rooted in a particular community or area/region. The series doesn’t necessarily have to be countryside based – but enjoying the outdoors and appreciating English landscapes/locations may well appeal in this slot. We like ideas with a strong sense of place.

The audience will want to return to our places and characters each week – where they know they will enjoy a new chapter but also appreciate a bigger dynamic that means they will want to come back for more. We are looking for ideas that have scale to reach 8 episodes and return – and to potentially become an established strand on the channel.

Examples of titles that have worked well in this slot:

• This Fishing Life • This Farming Life • Saving Lives at Sea • Mountain Vets

Shared elements of those titles: Strong sense of local identity. Importance of family and community. Great engines for stories. Strong outdoor element. Offers distraction and escape. Feels authentic and positive portrayal. Real life drama that ends well. Celebrates hard work, everyday heroes, seeing people help others. Not only is there a churn of stories but also a layer of content which feels useful or enlightening.

Checklist: • Reflect contemporary life with a real sense of place. • Ideas of scale to sustain 8 parts and have potential to return. • Tonally positive. Helps audience to relax and celebrates shared values of hard work and helping each other, looking after family and community. • Feels useful. That extra layer of content. A bigger dynamic.

The basics

• Guide tariff – 80-100k per episode. • Sizzle/taster films are not a ‘must’ – but video material to support your idea is often helpful. • We anticipate productions commencing (and cash flowed) from April 2021. Delivery is TBC. • Volume is 8 x 60mins for BBC Two. We do not want ideas based on a shorter run. • The programmes will TX at 8pm on BBC Two. • We may want 30 minute versions of the programmes for regional transmission.

Submitting ideas - important update

Suppliers must submit their final proposals (including links to any taster material) to the BBC Pitch submission system and not via email as originally stated.

The deadline for ideas is midnight on 21 December

When accessing Pitch select ‘Nations’, and then ‘England’. Ideas can then be submitted to the ‘England BBC Two Co Commission’ area.

For information about accessing Pitch, please see the How to submit ideas page of the Commissioning website.

For further information please contact Tony Parker, Head of Development for BBC England, or Emily Smith, Commissioning Editor in Documentaries.

Thoughts from BBC England

We are keen to promote a diverse range of programmes that reflect contemporary life in England – this is one of several series we are commissioning for 2021/22.

We are particularly keen to present fresh, surprising and thought-provoking stories from England – stories that are often overlooked.

Diversity sits at the heart of our mission – diversity in all senses, including making sure our portfolio offers a wide variety of programmes. We are particularly keen to feature programmes from geographical areas where the BBC wants to offer a greater range of content. We also prioritise stories from outside London.

Please see the Commissioning website for more information on BBC England.

What we don’t want

Shorter runs – ideas must be ambitious for 8 x 60 minutes.

Stories that are niche and don’t offer that wide appeal.

‘State of the nation’ subject areas covered in series like Hospital, Murder 24/7 or Surgeons: At the Edge of Life. We are well served with ‘blue light’ material right now.

Specialist factual/history/current affairs.

Eligibility

This opportunity is open to production companies with an existing substantive base in England outside the M25. Any resulting commissions will need to qualify as ‘Made outside London’ productions under Ofcom criteria.