1 Number of Broadcast Hours Big Talk's Contribution to Our Screens
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Number of broadcast hours Big Talk’s contribution to our screens this year has racked up an impressive 40 hours of television. Number of new commissions 1. Raised By Wolves S1: 6x30min episodes / Channel 4 2. Raised By Wolves S2: 6x30min episodes / Channel 4 3. Houdini and Doyle: 10x60min episodes / distributed by Sony and aired in UK on ITV Encore (UK), Shaw Media (Canada) and Fox (USA) 4. The Job Lot S3: 6x30min episodes / ITV2 / repeats ITV1 5. Crashing: 6x30min episodes / Channel 4 6. Brotherhood: 8x30mins episodes / Comedy Central **Number of new commissions which were ordered in the eligible time frame but air outside of it** 1. Mum S1 and S2: 6x30min episodes / BBC2 2. Friday Night Dinner S4: 6x30mins episodes / Channel 4 3. Cold Feet S6: 8 x 60mins episodes / ITV 4. Blackwards (pilot) 1x30min episode 5. Back (pilot) 1x30min episode 6. Trying (pilot) 1x30min episode Success of new and existing series - please provide evidence of ratings (peak and average viewing figures, as well as cultural impact/critical acclaim. No more than 5) Raised By Wolves S1 showed audiences something they hadn’t really seen on TV before - literate, culturally-aware, didactic working-class characters having lives full of joy and power, along with the chaos and worry. It also champions a fierce bunch of particularly kickass, extremely well-developed female characters - the Telegraph called it a ‘Feminist Shameless’. The narrative revolves around a razor-sharp, single-parent family stuffed with intelligent, eccentric and bright characters, and it was an instant hit. The show was broadcast at the 10pm slot on C4 and it easily outperformed the 692,000 series average secured by Catastrophe, with a brilliant 1,289,000,000 and a peak of 1,849,000! Big Talk and Channel 4 also collaborated in a rich social media strategy targeting audiences who watch the show whilst simultaneously tweeting. And the outpouring of love for the characters was palpable with girls on Twitter going, “I’m a Germaine!” “I’m an Aretha!” Raised By Wolves S2 The family from ‘Wolvo’ quickly returned to screens in March 2016 1 with a second series and received an avalanche of even more stunning reviews. The Telegraph called it ‘fizzingly funny’; The TV Times remarked that it had ‘Cleverly crafted jokes, witty dialogue … the most original comedy we’ve seen’; The Guardian called it an ‘Excellent and highly quotable comedy’; and The Radio Times said it was ‘relentlessly funny’. It was not only critically well received, audiences adore this ingenious comedy, which is reflected in its excellent ratings. The second series had a series average of 1,208,000 and a peak of 1,349,000. Crashing is a critically acclaimed new comedy about six twenty-somethings living in a disused hospital as property guardians and captures that time in our lives when the reality of being an adult truly kicks in. Not easy when you’re living in an enormous, crumbling hospital with people you don’t like. As well as drawing attention to the dire housing situation facing young people in the UK today, Crashing was greeted with widespread critical acclaim. The Times labeled it “just the right mix of acerbic and witty”, The Guardian called it “foul mouthed, frank and funny…generation rent finds its comic voice” and The Daily Mail commented that “Crashing tackles the issues facing young adults with a brilliance all of its own”. The Independent, Daily Express, Heat, Evening Standard and many more all gave the show rave reviews, while audiences fell rapidly for the lives and loves of the Crashing gang. The series attracted a younger more upmarket audience than the slot average. The series peak was 883K with an average of 628K. Houdini and Doyle comes from House creator David Shore, his long-time collaborator David Hoselton and leading Canadian screenwriter David Titcher, and its lead director is the British director, Stephen Hopkins (Californication, 24). This supernatural crime series stars Stephen Mangan and Michael Weston, and is an Anglo Canadian co-production for ITV, Fox (USA) and Shaw (Canada). The show has been a massive undertaking. The intention was to realise very ambitious stories about hugely iconic characters. Because of this, there would have been no way to achieve it without a significant budget, and the only way to get that was through international co-production. The series peaked at 912,000 with a series average of 28,000. The Job Lot S3 Brownall Job Centre opened its doors for a third series of this half-hour comedy. Once again, we follow highly-strung centre manager Trish (Sarah Hadland) who is on a mission to find a man, we watch as Karl (Russell Tovey) and Natalie (Laura Aikman) navigate the ups and downs that having a relationship with a work colleague brings, and new team member Ash (Nick Mohammed) is always on hand to dish out words of wisdom while Angela (Jo Enright) is as delightful in her work as ever. The Job Lot is a charming and witty comedy that has a unique way of addressing the often negative perceptions people have of unemployment and job centres. The series averaged 349k when it went out on ITV2 with the best episode getting 392k. There were narrative repeats on ITV as well though and they averaged 570k with the best episode hitting 833k. 2 Business expansion Big Talk’s focused strategy has continued to deliver excellent results throughout 2015/16. 2015 saw the satirical and raucously funny Raised By Wolves premiere on Channel 4. Written by the acclaimed Caitlin Moran and her sister Caroline Moran. It received rapturous reviews and very strong ratings and was quickly re-commissioned for a second series, which returned to screens in March 2016 on Channel 4 - once again capturing the hearts of audiences and critics. A US version is currently being created by Oscar winning writer Diablo Cody. The third series of The Job Lot, starring Sarah Hadland and Russell Tovey, also made a strong return to ITV2, following on from the success of its hilarious and award-nominated second series. The critically acclaimed and multi-award winning comedy Friday Night Dinner, with Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Tom Rosenthal, Simon Bird and Mark Heap was also re-commissioned for a fourth series, and has just completed post-production and will air later in 2016. 2016 has seen Big Talk storm onto screens with Crashing, written by and starring multi- award winning actress and playwright Phoebe Waller-Bridge. It aired on Channel 4 to rave reviews and created a huge buzz on Twitter and other social media. And from Big Talk’s continuing collaboration with Him&Her creator Stefan Golaszewski, came the particularly exciting commission Mum. A new sitcom that recently aired on BBC2 and has been critically lauded. A second series has already been commissioned. Further exciting developments saw Big Talk team up once again with David Mitchell and Robert Webb to film Back, a comedy pilot for Channel 4 written by Emmy-award winning writer Simon Blackwell (Veep, In the Loop, Peep Show) directed by Ben Palmer (The Inbetweeners Movie, Man Up) and produced by Kate Crowther (Cradle to Grave, Raised By Wolves). Another promising addition is the brilliant comedy pilot Blackwards, written by Daniel Lawrence Taylor and featuring a diverse cast of extremely talented young actors. Blackwards is a hilarious, character driven comedy that we are very excited to be bringing to screens soon. Whilst Big Talk have cemented their position as a leading comedy supplier, the business continues to be about much more than a single genre. 2016 saw the launch of the 10 x 60 supernatural detective series Houdini and Doyle from House creator David Shore, his long- time collaborator David Hoselton and leading Canadian screenwriter David Titcher, directed by Stephen Hopkins. The crime series starred Stephen Mangan and Michael Weston, and was an Anglo Canadian co-production for ITV, Fox (USA) and Shaw (Canada). And, perhaps the most hotly anticipated drama on the slate is the much-loved BAFTA award-winning drama series Cold Feet, which Big Talk are bringing back to ITV along with Creator Mike 3 Bullen and the original cast. It is currently in post-production and will broadcast later in 2016. Big Talk maintains a competitive edge by constantly seeking novel and inventive collaborations with previously untapped broadcasters. This approach not only pays dividends in terms of the inherent potential to grow the business – delivering top quality programming on budget has always been a fundamental component of Big Talk’s ethos and attests to the company’s long-term vision and acumen – but in the inspiring artistic partnerships that emerge from such ventures. Each idea is conceived with diligent attention to its future development, in order to maximise both longevity and creativity. Big Talk’s transatlantic strategy also continues to deliver results, with two key areas of activity being (i) format exploitation and (ii) import of US talent into the UK. With multiple formats in active development with various US studios, format exploitation remains central and presents a realistic prospect for significant growth, particularly following CBS’s pilot order of UK format Friday Night Dinner. The UK drama tax credit regime also presents opportunity both in terms of domestic production and in enhancing UK/US co-production opportunities, with numerous co-pro projects in active development, again with US studios. Big Talk continues to represent an attractive UK home for US talent, both on-screen and behind-the-camera, as is reflected in Big Talk’s new commission Truthing, which was written by British comedy writer Mark Chappell, who co-created Will Arnett’s Netflix series, Flaked, and will star US TV legend Courtney Cox (Friends).