Commissioning Brief, Spring 2018: Proposals for Specific Ideas

Home , Anuvab Pal, Archive on 4, Classic Serial, Crossing Continents, Dead Ringers (comedy), File on 4

RADIO COMMISSIONING FRAMEWORK

Production of factual, arts, comedy and drama programmes. Commissions are mainly for broadcast from April 2019 to March 2020 but some may be bought ahead for later years. Factual and Arts: Proteus 2019-2020 Round 1

Comedy and Drama:Version 2Proteus 08.02.2018 2019 LL -2020 Round 5 1 of 89

CONTENTS ...... 1 SECTION A: TIMETABLE ...... 3 SECTION B: THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS ...... 4 THE THREE STAGES ...... 5 STAGE 1: SHORT PROPOSAL ...... 5 STAGE 2: FULL PROPOSAL ...... 6 STAGE 3: CONDITIONAL COMMISSION ...... 8 SECTION C: ABOUT RADIO 4 ...... 10 SECTION D: EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITIES ...... 11 FACTUAL ...... 11 ARTS ...... 36 COMEDY ...... 42 DRAMA ...... 55 SECTION E: COMMISSION AWARD ...... 84 SECTION F: KEY CONTRACT TERMS ...... 87 SECTION G: ABOUT BBC COMMISSIONING ...... 89

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 2 of 89 SECTION A: TIMETABLE

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

Stage Dates Activities Commissioning 5th February Publish commissioning brief documentation and briefs published open round in Proteus. Launch briefings 6th February – The Commissioning team brief programme Salford makers 8th February - London DRAMA & COMEDY 1. Short Proposal 12:00 Deadline for Short Proposals submitted in and shortlisting Proteus 7th March

W/c 26th Commissioners shortlist proposals and notify March producers of outcomes. Full Proposals requested from those proceeding to next stage.

2. Full Proposal 4th-25th April Opportunity to discuss re-requested short proposals prior to submitting Full Proposals.

12:00 Deadline for Full Proposals submitted in Proteus. 26th April

FACTUAL & ARTS

1. Short Proposal 12:00 Deadline for Short Proposals submitted in and shortlisting Proteus 13th March nd W/c 2 April Commissioners shortlist proposals and notify producers of outcomes. Full Proposals requested from those proceeding to next stage. th 2. Full Proposal 10th April-25 Opportunity to discuss re-requested short May proposals prior to submitting Full Proposals. 12:00 Deadline for Full Proposals submitted in Proteus. 29th May DRAMA, COMEDY, FACTUAL & ARTS

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

We will assess your proposal(s) according to this timetable. Late submissions cannot be accepted. If you have any questions about this commissioning brief that you need answering before you submit your short proposals, please ensure you send them to the relevant commissioning co-ordinator well before the deadline.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 3 of 89 SECTION B: THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS

Everything in this commissioning round is open to competition. Any department or company with demonstrable suitable expertise may submit ideas for any brief.

For this specific ideas process, there is no formal eligibility questionnaire. If you are registered on the BBC supplier database it is assumed that you satisfy the basic eligibility requirements.

We are taking two distinct approaches to commissioning in this round.

Specific ideas

All briefs listed in this document are being commissioned in the traditional Radio 4 manner, in which we invite you to submit proposals for specific ideas. In Stage 1 you submit brief Short Proposals; we may then invite you to discuss some of those ideas. In Stage 2 you submit Full Proposals.

Batch tenders

In Factual documentaries and in Arts Features much of the programming is being commissioned on the basis of a batch. This is where we contract successful applicants to deliver a set number of programmes per year. Some of these specific programmes are commissioned at the outset; the rest are left unspecified for rolling commissioning through the year.

Each batch proposal will be supported by a number of proposals for specific ideas, which should follow the process set out in this document.

For details of how to apply for a batch commission, read the document entitled Commissioning briefs, Spring 2018: proposals for batches.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 4 of 89 THE THREE STAGES

STAGE 1: SHORT PROPOSAL

Step 1 Complete your Short Proposal – maximum 250 words - in Proteus.

Please do not offer proposals unless you can demonstrate relevant expertise.

Observe the cap on numbers where this has been applied. If the cap says a maximum 10 proposals per supplier, we will only read your first 10.

Fewer, stronger ideas are much more likely to get through. In slots where each commission is for multiple episodes, the number of commissions will be far fewer than the number of individual programmes available.

We welcome proposals from suppliers who wish to group together in some form of partnership, as long as this is made clear in the proposal. Where there is a cap on proposals, the suppliers joining together may combine their cap allowance (e.g. if the cap is 5 and two companies offer in partnership, they may submit 10). Each joint proposal should be entered only once.

All Short Proposals must be entered through Proteus by the stage 1 deadline.

PROPOSALS FOR FACTUAL AND ARTS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IN PROTEUS: 2019-2020 ROUND 1

PROPOSALS FOR COMEDY AND DRAMA SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IN PROTEUS: 2019-2020 ROUND 5

The following must be entered for each Short Proposal:

Title (of your proposal, not the slot)

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

Delivery date: Enter an estimated delivery date e.g. 01/06/2019.

Price per episode: This will default to the bottom of the guide price range. Radio 4 will not expect to pay above guide price range. If, at this stage you think the price will be outside the range, you can enter this in the ‘Price Per Episode £’ field.

Number of episodes

Duration: The total allotted airtime per episode, including continuity

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 5 of 89 announcements, for example 14’ or 28’ (not 15’ or 30’).

Short synopsis: This is where you sell your idea in Stage 1. Max 250 words.

Long synopsis: Do not enter anything in this field at this stage.

Step 2 Short Proposals will be evaluated by the commissioning team who will shortlist those which they wish to see as Full Proposals.

Step 3 We will release the results in Proteus, with proposals showing as either ‘rejected’ or ‘re-requested’. Re-requested means the idea has been shortlisted to go to the next stage. We regret that we are unable to provide feedback on unsuccessful Short Proposals, due to pressure on our time.

STAGE 2: FULL PROPOSAL

Step 1 If you reach the next stage, you will be invited to discuss your short-listed ideas with the commissioning editor. This may by phone rather than face to face. We will not discuss ideas that have not been submitted as Short Proposals.

Step 2

When a proposal is re-requested in Proteus, do not re-create it from scratch; just edit it to reflect the requirements for the Full Proposal.

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

All Full Proposals must be delivered in Proteus by the Stage 2 deadline.

PROPOSALS FOR FACTUAL AND ARTS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IN PROTEUS: 2019-2020 ROUND 1

PROPOSALS FOR COMEDY AND DRAMA SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IN PROTEUS: 2019-2020 ROUND 5

The following must be entered for each Full Proposal:

Title: If your idea is commissioned you must not change this title without the written agreement of the commissioning editor.

Commissioning Brief number: Submit each proposal in one slot only. If we think it suitable for another slot, we will transfer it.

Delivery Date: (linked to anniversary / event dates where relevant). This information is important and will be used when scheduling a commissioned programme.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 6 of 89 Price per episode: For this commissioning round we have decided to issue a guide price range rather than a single guide price. We hope that by doing so we will encourage suppliers to consider the optimum balance between cost, quality and ambition within this range, taking into account the different characteristics of specific commissions. We anticipate that this will result in savings in some cases but accept that in other cases it will not be possible to make savings without jeopardising the editorial proposition of the commission.

We ordinarily would not consider bids above the range unless the editorial proposition clearly justified it and Radio 4 was able to find corresponding savings elsewhere.

If you do not specify a price in your bid, Radio 4 will assume that you are offering your programme at the bottom of the guide price range. Please note that although submitting a lower price may increase your chance of a commission, the editorial proposition is always paramount.

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

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

Number of episodes

Duration: The total allotted airtime per episode, including continuity announcements, for example 14’ or 28’ (not 15’ or 30’).

Short synopsis: For the final proposal this must be under 50 words. Its purpose is to convey the essence of the idea and enable us to find it quickly in our records. Think of it as a fledgling Radio Times billing.

Full synopsis: This is where you sell your idea. It must not exceed 2 x A4 pages of size 11 type.

Key talent: Any intended writer/abridger/performer/presenter etc. should be shown in the long synopsis. You do not have to secure talent agreement before submitting an offer but you should let us know the degree to which named talent has expressed an interest in the project or has intellectual ownership of it.

If you prepare proposals offline to paste into Proteus, keep the format simple: bold, underline and italic only. Proteus will remove other formatting, including bulleted and numbered points, as well as converting your font to the equivalent of Arial size 11.

Supporting material (digital or hard copy) See sections below on Submission of Supporting Material.

Appendices After setting out your idea, please add the following appendices in the full synopsis field (these are in addition to your 2 page allowance):

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 7 of 89 Appendix A – Confirmation of acceptance of the key BBC contract terms (Section F). Appendix B – Risk management: identify any specific risks and the processes or systems that will be put in place to manage these. If you have any questions that you need answered before you submit your Full Proposal please ensure you send them to the relevant commissioning co-ordinator well before the submissions deadline.

Digital commissioning

Beyond the standard metadata and possible clip requirements, we do not require any extra digital deliverables to be offered for these commissions.

Our digital commissioning editor will look at the slate of commissions along with the genre commissioning editors and assess the potential for any additional digital content. The supplier of the programme will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the capacity and ability.

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Step 3 We evaluate all Full Proposals against the editorial brief and commission those which most successfully fulfil the brief and contribute to the most varied, original and balanced schedule for the Radio 4 audience. The following people will evaluate your proposal: Gwyneth Williams, Controller, Radio 4 The relevant Commissioning Editor(s) Step 4 Commissioning decisions will be communicated in Proteus. Brief feedback for rejected proposals will be given there. At any stage of the process, we may need to come back to you to seek clarification. Your answers will be factored into the evaluation process as appropriate.

STAGE 3: CONDITIONAL COMMISSION

Confirmation of all specific programme proposals is conditional on the issues listed below. Radio 4 is not responsible for any costs incurred prior to full agreement. There will be important information included in the feedback field in Proteus which will not be communicated through other means so it is vital that you take time to read this, make notes and disseminate to colleagues where necessary.

Price

Each conditional commission will be made with a fixed price offer that has been judged as value for money by the Commissioning, Finance and Business Affairs

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 8 of 89 teams. Most will be within the published guide price range but we reserve the right to negotiate an alternative price if we believe it appropriate. If our price is accepted in writing by an independent company there will be no need to submit a detailed budget. Contracts will be issued immediately.

If, however, you wish to challenge the offer made, a detailed budget in Proteus will be requested and scrutinised by our Finance and Business Affairs teams with the aim of reaching agreement.

Conditional acceptance may be withdrawn if agreement on price is not reached within a reasonable period.

Rights

Radio 4 requires an appropriate set of rights dependent on the type of programme. This will vary only in exceptional circumstances. The guide price range quoted on the commissioning brief is based on buying the standard set of rights for that programme. If fewer rights are bought, the price may be reduced.

Digital rights

Rights should be cleared for streaming, together with a 30-day “listen again” window and podcast.

Independent suppliers are required to clear the rights for podcast for any of the factual briefs (except the Narrative History brief comprised of 10 or more episodes), unless otherwise agreed between the BBC and the independent producer.

Independent suppliers are not required to clear podcast rights for comedy and drama.

Schedule and delivery dates

Each proposal should include your ideal delivery date although our conditional acceptance will not necessarily be able to reflect this date. We are unlikely to issue precise transmission dates for programmes not pegged to a particular anniversary or season but will give the calendar quarter in which we intend to place them. If you cannot deliver to meet the given transmission quarter, notify Amanda Benson (Schedule Planning Manager) within 14 days of results publication. Precise delivery dates will be confirmed well before the start of each calendar quarter.

Editorial

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

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

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 9 of 89 SECTION C: ABOUT RADIO 4

Radio 4

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

While the average age of its 11 million plus audience is 56, Radio 4 is constantly evolving its schedule and tone to attract the next generation of listeners. It also seeks to continue to build appeal to audiences across the UK and among ethnic minorities.

The latest audience data is available on the commissioning website.

Radio 4 forms part of BBC Radio, whose strategic vision and objectives are here:

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 10 of 89 SECTION D: EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITIES

FACTUAL

Commissioning Editor Mohit Bakaya Commissioning Co-ordinator Jacqueline Clarke jacqueline.clarke@bbc.co.uk

Eligibility

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

The following briefs are open in Proteus Round 1 2019-2020

Brief no. 47209 Brief name: Long Form Documentary – Specific Proposals

Brief no. 47006 Brief name: 14’ Feature

Brief no. 47169 Brief name: Narrative History

Brief no. 47040 Brief name: Wednesday Debate

Brief no. 47004 Brief name: Formats

Brief no. 47088 Brief name: Archive on 4

Brief no. 47144 Brief name: New Saturday Show

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

Brief no. 47052 Brief name: New Science Show

Brief no. 47132 Brief name: Special Events & Seasons

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 11 of 89 Factual Audio – a very modern medium…

Documentaries - my God, there is so much going on in our country and in the world today that every time you open the newspaper or turn on the radio or watch the news on TV there is another documentary subject. We're getting the headlines for a second, shaped by corporate delivery most of the time, but what's really the story there? Jonathan Demme

Factual documentary is where we take time to explore, understand and report the world; the events and ideas that are shaping our lives. It’s an important mission at a time of uncertainty, misinformation and polarisation. We are in a period of turbulence for traditional media – including many news organisations – and Factual documentary and storytelling is essential to help the audience navigate the choppy waters that surround them.

Radio 4 is, and must remain, a place where anyone who chooses to listen will find clear, intelligent, fair and uncompromising reporting. We also need you to find new ways to serve our audiences better than we ever have before – because doing so is more important than ever. Not just the audience that knows and loves Radio 4 but also the potential audience out there, curious about the world and demanding clear and authoritative analysis.

Reality changes; in order to represent it, modes of representation must change. Bertolt Brecht

The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction. Rachel Carson

Audio storytelling has been re-energised by innovations in podcasting. Radio 4 has been responsible for some of the best radio in the world for many decades. But now we need to go even further. We need your help to reach new and younger audiences with original ideas and trailblazing linear and podcast storytelling.

Let’s make our audience – however they come to us – the most informed listeners in the world. But let’s also transport them far from the news cycle; factual documentary must be a place of wonder, surprise and delight – as well as a place of truth, depth and clarity.

New Slots

We are introducing two new slots to help us innovate and compete digitally. To find out more, read on ...

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 12 of 89

To batch or not to batch?

We will award a smallish number of batches for long form Factual Documentaries (28’ and 37’ slots) to enable us to work more closely with a number of suppliers so that we can think and react better to a fast-changing world. The batch relationship is a great way to work more collaboratively on certain ideas and types of programmes; it helps us meet the audience’s needs more dynamically.

These documentaries will cover the full range of Factual genres – History, Politics, Science, Current Affairs, Religion, Big Ideas & Trends, and Natural History.

Batches will be awarded for 12 months, with an option to renew for a second year. We will not be able to confirm price or number for year two at this stage.

For information on how to bid for a batch, see the separate document Commissioning briefs, Spring 2018: proposals for batches.

However, a batch is only one means of getting Factual business on Radio 4.

The long form documentaries brief is also open for specific proposals (i.e. non- batched).

There are many factual briefs open to specific ideas and not batched.

We are taking the short form documentary series brief out of the batch process.

We will continue to commission Archive on 4, big Narrative History series, Formats and Debates in the standard way to ensure that there is still opportunity and a diversity of supply.

For 2019/20, we are adding to this list New Saturday Formats, New Science Formats and Multi-part Series. To make space for these new briefs we are taking out some long form 28’ docs that were previously in the batch. These briefs will be priced differently to long form docs.

Ideas for non-batched slots are subject to the usual short proposals process with pitch meetings for the ones shortlisted. A maximum of 250 words at short proposals will apply.

There may be a cap on the number of ideas you can submit.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 13 of 89

ALL FACTUAL SLOTS: EDITORIAL GUIDANCE

 Be the first to explain emerging thinking and trends to our audience.  Introduce the audience to people and places they might not otherwise encounter.  Untangle contemporary events with clarity and a fresh, clever treatment.  Tell historical stories which have new contemporary relevance.  Return and revise history when new thinking and facts come to light.  Offer deeper understanding of everyday experience.  Bring voices that we rarely hear to the audience’s attention.  Ask (and maybe answer) so-far unaired questions through counter-factual thinking or polemic.  Grip the audience with compelling narratives; perhaps with no other purpose than to delight or surprise. We want more wonder.  Hold the powerful to account – taking a broad view of where power lies (not just politics).  Reveal what others would prefer to hide through investigative journalism.  You might think of something we should be doing which we haven’t listed here, in which case, persuade us.

Treatment, Treatment, Treatment

We are as interested in treatment as we are in purpose. In fact, we feel some of our great documentaries can be let down by being too densely packed, too conventional and didactic, not told imaginatively enough. Journalism, sound, music, craft and storytelling can be fine bedfellows.

Success comes when you have thought about how you will tell your story as well as the story you want to tell. Here are the routes to success:

 Fresh thinking and treatment about the most important issues facing the audience.

 When your idea is about the “hardy factual perennials”, territory that is important to understanding the modern world and, as a result, often pitched – eg refugees, homelessness, death, housing, inequality, Brexit, abuse, social injustice, immigration – the key factor will be how you cover the story; the clever conceit or treatment that makes your idea stand out from the pack and engages the audience in new and interesting ways. Another factor, of course, will be the person telling us the story or embarking on the project of enquiry. Please indicate whether they’ve been approached.

 Stories that start from a brilliant and surprising place. So: seeing a classified ad for a missing person; or a jog around a golf course leading to an enquiry into how golf clubs can afford the rent. Be more curious and let that curiosity seek out stories and doc ideas NO ONE else will get to.

 Find true wonder in the world and bring it to us.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 14 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47209 Brief name: Long Form Documentary – Specific Proposals

Duration (including announcements) 28’ and 37’

Schedule slot Various days, 1602, 1330, 1102, 2002

Number of programmes available 150 in the batch commissions approx 50 outside the batch commissions

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £8,200-£8,500 for a 28’ programme and £10,100 to £10,400 for a 37’ programme

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 1

NON-BATCH CAP Maximum FIVE ideas, if you are not bidding for a batch.

BATCH CAP Suppliers bidding for a batch, see Commissioning briefs, Spring 2018: proposals for batches

Editorial Opportunity

We will primarily take single doc ideas here, though some series may be included. Most multi-part docs series should be submitted separately under BRIEF 47194. o The genres we expect to cover here are:

CURRENT/SOCIAL AFFAIRS HISTORY SCIENCE RELIGION BIG IDEAS & TRENDS NATURAL HISTORY POLITICS

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 15 of 89

IMPORTANT: See ALL FACTUAL SLOTS: EDITORIAL GUIDANCE, page 14.

Some further guidance o Most importantly, think why this story should be told in long form documentary and would not be best covered as an item or series of items on a regular Radio 4 strand. Listen to the other single topic strands that sit on the network like Analysis, In Business, Crossing Continents and File on 4. But also magazine shows like Woman’s Hour, Week in Westminster and the science strands. o If you are pitching an access doc, consider the editorial challenges proximity might throw up and address how you will meet them. Also, access needs to have a strong editorial purpose. And think hard about how you establish character and engagement when access is to a number of people in an institution. o We want more women and people from ethnic communities presenting in this slot. We particularly want to hear more Black British voices. o Where your story is very specifically located please explain how you will make your documentary of interest to a national audience. o Revisionism is welcomed here - documentaries that uncover new evidence about the past or feature new arguments challenging received wisdom regarding a historical event or period. o Where the subject matter is especially complex, proposals should suggest ways in which actuality and texture will be used to give the audience time to absorb and reflect. o More polemic and thesis-driven programmes would be welcome. o If pitching a science idea, do consider the various science strands and ask yourself why your idea is more than a 7 minute report on a magazine show. Think documentary storytelling! o Beware anniversary pegs. They are rarely sufficient in their own right. o Please indicate whether a named presenter has brought the idea to you o Radio 4 reserves the right to commission some of the individual ideas and schedule these along with work from other suppliers.

Digital

We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year. Our digital commissioning editor and factual commissioning editor will together assess the potential for any additional digital content. The supplier of the programme will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the capacity and ability. We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 16 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47006 Brief Name: 14’ Feature

Duration (including announcements) 14’

Schedule slot Various days, 09.30, 12:04, 13:45, 20.45

Number of programmes available Approx 200

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £3,000-£3,200

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 1

Editorial Opportunity

We invite applications from suppliers, BBC and independent, to supply short form feature series to Radio 4. These 14’ programmes will be placed in various slots in the schedule. We will commission all short form docs under this brief. Subjects can be anything that falls under ‘Factual’

IMPORTANT: See ALL FACTUAL SLOTS: EDITORIAL GUIDANCE, page 14.

Some further guidance

 The short features open up opportunities for audiences to engage with storytelling with a different rhythm and pace. They are a great place to tell episodic stories, programmes that naturally divide into a series of smaller explorations or journeys.

 Do not submit big multi-part (10 or more) Narrative History ideas here. They are being commissioned separately.

 Examples of successful new types of storytelling here are The Boy Who Gave His Heart Away, Whodunnit, and Intrigue.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 17 of 89

 The 14’ programmes are placed in high profile parts of the schedule, often between well known Radio 4 strands.

 They provide a bridge between The World at One and The Archers, for example, when there are breaks in the narrative history commissions at 13.45. Features that change theme and texture are particularly welcome. Please do not offer too many history ideas so that we can vary the range of ideas at lunchtime.

 Set out clearly why you want to make this programme for the Radio 4 audience.

 How the episodes break down and lend themselves to multi-part treatment is crucial to this form.

 We will commission programmes in blocks of 5, very occasionally we may take a one off 14’ idea.

Craft

 We are keen to encourage more crafted feature making in these slots and more imaginative treatments. So please think long and hard about how your series will break down into single episodes and how they will join up to be greater than the sum of their parts.

 We are also keen to commission more series that work digitally. Think how your story might work as a “box set” with all the attendant storytelling devices.

Digital

The supplier of the programme will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the capacity and ability.

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 18 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47169 Brief name: Narrative History

Duration (including announcements) 14’

Schedule slot Mon – Fri 13.45 Approx number of programmes 90

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £3,000-£3,200

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 1

Editorial Opportunity

Narrative History has established itself as a high impact slot on Radio 4. It is where we tell some of our biggest history stories, from Living with the Gods to Our Man in the Middle East. In 2018/19, we have big historical takes on China, education, health and innovation planned.

We are only inviting BIG Narrative History ideas here. Other shorter bursts of 14’ programmes will be considered under the SHORT FORM SERIES.

IMPORTANT: See ALL FACTUAL SLOTS: EDITORIAL GUIDANCE, page 14.

Some further guidance

 First and foremost, voice is the thing that matters here. This year we really want you to think about who are the best storytellers, the most interesting minds who have compelling ways to make their expertise come alive. Too many people who are pitched here are very knowledgeable, but make for slightly dull narrators. Who is the next Neil MacGregor? They have to be jump-out-of-the-radio compelling, engaging voices!

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

 Narrative History commissions are one of the key ways the station defines

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 19 of 89 its ambition for the year. So ideas here need to be big, bold, imaginative and agenda setting.

 The combination of expertise and original authorship with dynamic and imaginative use of audio offers huge potential for creative and intellectual ambition. These are also programmes that work well as digital downloads, with short episodes building over a number of weeks.

 Not all the series in this slot are of the same length; one or two will be broadcast over 4 to 6 weeks. Other commissions will be around 10 episodes. Commissions of 10+ episodes will normally include a weekly 58’ omnibus version.

 An offer in this slot should explain why you want to introduce or reintroduce the Radio 4 audience to the history you are passionate about. Are there new things to say about it? How is it relevant to today? Does it challenge received wisdom?

 We would expect to know who will write and present the series – this is key to understanding how the editorial authority of the project will be guaranteed and how it will sound on air. Let us know if you are using an adviser or consultant.

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

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

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

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

 This is not the place for one-off or 5 x 14’ ideas. Those will be commissioned as part of the SHORT FORM SERIES.

 Given the size of some narrative history commissions, we are keen to commission a few ideas that achieve economies of scale and are offered at lower than guide price.

Digital

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 20 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47040 Brief name: Wednesday Debate

Duration (including announcements) 43’

Schedule slot Wed 20.02 (rpt Sat 22.15)

Number of programmes available Approx 20

The number of programmes open to competition in this slot is small so please be realistic in the number of offers you submit.

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £7,900-£8,100

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 1

Editorial Opportunity

This slot is home to The Moral Maze for 26 weeks of the year and has been home to the series exploring the future – Futureproofing. We also have The Fix – solutions based journalism – and over the next 12 months a new series about sport and ideas and Across the Red Line, which deals with listening to opposing political views.

Proposals should also be aware of the Any Questions? format on Friday evenings.

IMPORTANT: See ALL FACTUAL SLOTS: EDITORIAL GUIDANCE, page 14.

Some further guidance

o A debate at this time should lift the tone of the evening schedule and inject some energy.

o This is a chance to develop fresh formats which could turn into returning strands on the network.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 21 of 89

o One-off debates are possible, though these need to command their place in this slot in particular rather than being a special edition of a specialist or magazine programme.

o Where a format is proposed and it is not possible to look forward to issues for 2019/20, it would be useful to include an indication of the subjects that would be covered were this series about to be transmitted now.

o Think about bringing together people who do not always see eye to eye or share space in our increasingly fragmented universe.

o Think about how you can use this space to challenge deeply held opinions and narratives. Bring down the echo chamber! Burst the social media bubble!

Presenter

 The right presenter who is able to hold the ring with authority and wit is essential to these programmes.

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

 The ability to create a sense of occasion and manage a complex, often audience- based format, is important.

Digital

The supplier of the programme will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the capacity and ability.

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 22 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47004 Brief name: Formats

Duration (including announcements) 28' or 42’

Schedule slot various

Number of programmes available TBC

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £6,900-£7,100 (interview and studio formats)

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 1

Editorial Opportunity

CAP: No more than TWO ideas per supplier please

IMPORTANT: Also see ALL FACTUAL SLOT GUIDANCE on page 14

Radio 4 has a number of established formats, many of which have been running for a long time. These include Desert Island Discs, Start the Week, In Our Time, and many others.

We are very keen to develop new format ideas, some of which we will place in the high profile 9am slot.

With an eye on the digital landscape we are also keen to encourage ideas for new conversation or panel formats here.

We expect proposals to be editorially ambitious with high profile presentation and, where appropriate, a digital dimension. They can sit anywhere within the factual landscape, though do be aware of what formats already exist on the Network.

Also, keep in mind that some of these programmes will sit at 9am and will follow the Today programme.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 23 of 89 How you will hold the attention of the audience at this key junction should be highlighted in your proposal. The style of production, potential power of the material, strength of the contributors and the promise of revelation will be essential ingredients.

Please do not enter documentary ideas under this brief as we will consider some of the offers submitted for other slots for placing here. This brief is specifically focused on new format ideas.

Given the scale of the ideas required, we do not expect more than TWO proposals from any company or department for formats at short proposals.

Please check the full range of strands and series that Radio 4 already broadcasts to avoid duplication of programmes already commissioned.

Depending on the idea, we might commission a pilot rather than going straight into production.

Further guidance

 Choose presenters who know how to handle programmes like this – it is unlikely they will be new to presenting – and remember 9am is our biggest commissioned slot audience.  This is a place for strong, confident voices. Sometimes an established Radio 4 voice will be right here, but we’d also be interested to see some new (non rookie) presenter ideas. It would also be great to increase the range of voices in this high-profile slot.  We are keen to develop digital savvy conversation or panel formats.  Think clever conceits. 21st century formats that could potentially run and run.  Don’t be derivative!  Think about how we might find people beyond our limited contact book and social circle  Be careful not to over complicate the format.  However, be clear that what you are proposing is, indeed, a replicable format (Desert Island Discs is always 8 discs, never 9!)  Think about ways to burst the social media bubble. How can we help the audience engage with ideas and views that challenge their thinking?

Digital

We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year.

Our digital commissioning editor and factual commissioning editor will together assess the potential for any additional digital content. The supplier of the programme will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the capacity and ability.

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 24 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47088 Brief name: Archive on 4

Duration (including announcements) 57’

Schedule slot Sat 20.02

Number of programmes available Approx 40

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £7,900-£8,100

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 1

CAP: No more than FIVE ideas per supplier please

Editorial Opportunity

“…the Archive on 4 strand, which, for reasons I've yet to fathom, rarely puts a foot wrong. I've tried to find fault, because no series can be this perfect, but so far to no avail….these hour-long, socio-political programmes are rigorously researched, beautifully produced and mesmerising in their detail”

Fiona Sturges, The Independent

Archive on 4 has become an important part of the Radio 4 schedule. It has evolved into a classy storytelling hour using the archive, rather than a simple showcase for broadcast material.

We are looking for ideas that maintain the quality and range of subjects in this Saturday night slot.

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

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 25 of 89

IMPORTANT: See ALL FACTUAL SLOTS: EDITORIAL GUIDANCE, page 14.

Some further guidance

 This strand should include a wide variety of ideas: individual life stories or biographies, cultural, scientific, social, political, sporting or entertainment history.  The authority, charisma and energy of the presenter are all vital to the success of programmes in this slot. The presenter needs to actively engage with the archive and do more than simply link clip A to clip B.  One of the challenges for those making programmes in the Archive on 4 slot is to tell stories that can sustain for an hour. Proposals should set out how the idea justifies a 57 minute origination, with enough twists and turns to keep the listener engaged.  Don’t forget this goes out on Saturday night. Programmes should seek to entertain and engage, as well as inform and educate.  Programmes can include new interviews, where appropriate, but the slot is not funded or designed to feature a large amount of new material. You are also allowed out of the studio on occasion!

 Too many offers come in where the bulk of archive available is written, rather than broadcast archive.

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

 Archive sources beyond the BBC’s have worked well. Indeed, some of these are better suited to providing longer inserts than much of the BBC News material.  There will always be a place for simpler programmes that just make use of fantastic archive without much else besides, but the archive needs to be just that – fantastic!  In the past, we have had too many anniversary pegged programmes that move gently, but rather predictably, through their story, offering few new insights. If you are submitting an anniversary pegged proposal, do say how you might introduce surprise and challenge expectations.  When choosing the presenter, do think carefully about how his/her voice would contrast with the type of archive that will dominate the hour.  Be mindful of the cumulative effect of an hour of very old archive. It can make listening hard work!  We could do with more women presenters in this slot. And more ethnic diversity too. We particularly want to hear Black and Asian Britain better represented.  Please indicate whether the presenter has been involved in development of the proposal.

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

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 26 of 89

Digital

We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year.

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 27 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47144 Brief name: New Saturday Show

Duration (including announcements) 28’

Schedule slot Sat 10.30

Number of programmes available 26

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £5,300-£5,500

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 1

Cap: No more than THREE format ideas per supplier please

Editorial Opportunity

IMPORTANT: See also ALL FACTUAL SLOTS: EDITORIAL GUIDANCE, page 14.

We can guess what you’re thinking: “I can’t make the kind of factual documentary half-hour that Radio 4 expects for under £6,000.

You’re probably right. But in this slot we want you to make something unlike anything you’ve made for us before.

We are looking for loveable, witty, clever and, yes, inexpensive formats for Saturday mornings at 10.30. These programmes must be aimed squarely at replenisher audiences and designed to work brilliantly as podcasts. They should not be science- based as these will be commissioned in a different new slot.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 28 of 89 They should probably be talent-led. We are likely to try out short runs of several formats in the hope we find something truly dazzling – a future fixture or two for our Saturday schedule.

Be mindful of existing Radio 4 returning series, to ensure you are proposing something distinctive, original and surprising in this new slot.

So please think hard about the people you want to bring to our attention here and whether their participation is realistic.

Most of all, please push the boundaries of what’s possible, create the next big thing, don’t give us something derivative of the last big thing.

And it would be great if these were programmes that left the audience with a smile on its face. No misery here please!

Digital

We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year.

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 29 of 89

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

Duration (including announcements) 28’

Schedule slot 11:02

Number of programmes available 15 - 20

Transmission period July 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £6,900-7,100

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 1

Cap: No more than FIVE series per supplier please

Editorial Opportunity

IMPORTANT: See ALL FACTUAL SLOTS: EDITORIAL GUIDANCE, page 14.

We are changing one of the factual long form slots to make it a place for short series (three or four episodes, occasionally more) which explore contemporary themes and ideas or historical stories with analytical rigour and journalistic ambition.

Tell us about the forces shaping our future before they reach the news agenda. Tell us in a manner which is compelling, digestible and definitive. Tell us how you will use the space to make a real statement. This is a place for big ideas and big talent.

This is not a reactive slot. By the time these stories are on the front pages it’s too late. Think about it the other way round: give listeners to these series the context they need to understand and evaluate the significance of headlines they encounter in the future.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 30 of 89 We are looking for original, but not investigative, journalism. This is an opportunity to step back and ask a big question. Maybe about something that pops up in the news everyday, but goes unexamined in depth.

Examples that have worked for us in multi-part docs include Englishness, confidence, elements in the periodic table, The Invention of… (Germany, France, America etc), tax, death, sleep, the new world order, as well as big history stories best explored in long form documentary.

If you are pitching a history idea, be clear why this is best told as a long form series and not through the 14’ Narrative History brief.

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

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

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

We will expect a clear breakdown of each episode.

Digital

We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year.

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 31 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47052 Brief name: New Science Show

Duration (including announcements) 28’

Schedule slot 11.02 and 21.02

Number of programmes available 20

Transmission period July 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £5,300-£5,500

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 1

Cap: No more than THREE format ideas per supplier please

Editorial Opportunity

IMPORTANT: See ALL FACTUAL SLOTS: EDITORIAL GUIDANCE, page 14

We are looking to develop a few clever science formats to help us win over the global, digital savvy audience who are currently not consuming BBC science.

We want to try out a few formats in 2019/20 with a view to establishing some longer term commissions so please hit us with your best ideas and most exciting presenters.

These formats are being priced at a lower rate to the science documentaries that will be commissioned as part of long form; we are not expecting documentary-type ideas here. Rather, these will be simpler, but clever, format ideas, probably with runs of 4 to 6, that we will experiment with in 2019/20.

But remember these programmes will need to work on air as well as on demand.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 32 of 89 You should be aware of what we do in science that already seeks to serve this audience (Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry, The Digital Human, The Infinite Monkey Cage, FutureProofing) and look across the broader scientific digital landscape to identify gaps.

Science is a genre that can help us build a global digital presence, please think about this as well when coming up with your ideas.

Digital

We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year.

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 33 of 89

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

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

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 1

Editorial Opportunity

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

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

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

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

An anniversary might be marked on several stations. Your proposal for Radio 4 must be utterly distinctive and clearly shaped for our audience. We can be over-reliant on anniversaries. The Mars season in 2017 did not mark an anniversary. It was just a wonderfully evocative and multi-faceted theme which found expression in documentaries, features, drama and readings across the schedule and in special digital moments online.

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

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 34 of 89 schedule of complementary archive programming on Radio 4 Extra.

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

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

Some of our Special Events are contained within one day, such as Lord of Misrule and War and Peace. Others have been spread more widely, in terms of programme style and timetable. Recently these include World War I, The Russian Revolution, The Cold War, Mars Season, Gay Britannia, Reading Europe.

The following series, clusters and seasons are already planned for 2018/19: Brexit Day, Health and the birth of the NHS, Armistice, Dangerous Visions, Suffrage for Women, Loneliness, Henry James, Riot Girls and Morality in the 21st Century.

So, we are looking for:

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

Digital

We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year.

Our digital commissioning editor and genre commissioning editors will together assess the potential for any additional digital content. The supplier of the programme will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the capacity and ability.

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Do not enter a budget estimate for any digital element of your proposal. This will be considered once we decide to take an idea forward.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 35 of 89 ARTS

Commission Editor James Runcie Commissioning Co-ordinator Sharon Terry [email protected]

Radio 4 provides its listeners with extensive and unrivalled arts coverage every day of the week, combining criticism and review with celebration and discovery. From Front Row and Opening Night to Behind the Scenes, from The Film Programme to Open Book, and from Only Artists to Soul Music, this is the network that brings you the art that matters from across the country and around the world. We tell our stories in music, prose and poetry (we even have a poet in residence) in the passionate belief that art has the power to enhance and transform lives.

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

The following briefs are open in Proteus Round 1 2019-2020

Brief no. 47165 Brief name: Arts Features – specific ideas

Brief no. 47114 Brief name: Poetry

To batch or not to batch?

We will award a smallish number of batches to enable us to work more closely with a number of suppliers so that we can think and react better to a fast-changing world. The batch relationship is a great way to work more collaboratively on certain ideas and types of programmes; it helps us meet the audience’s needs more dynamically.

Batches will be awarded for 12 months, with an option to renew for a second year. We will not be able to confirm price or number for year two at this stage.

For how to submit a batch proposal for Arts Features, see the document entitled Commissioning briefs, Spring 2018: proposals for batches.

However, the batch is only one means of getting Arts business on Radio 4.

The Arts Features brief is also open for specific proposals (i.e. non-batched). The number available here is low so we are putting a cap on ideas submitted.

The Poetry brief is open for specific proposals and is not batched.

Additional bids for arts programmes, outside this round, can be made for Wednesdays at 09.02 (the slot where we schedule Only Artists and Soul Music). The guide price is in the region of £8000. If you have ideas for this slot, write to the commissioning editor.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 36 of 89

Commissioning Brief no.47165 Brief Name: Arts Features – specific ideas

Duration (including announcements) 28’

Schedule slot Various days and times ?

Number of programmes available 100 in the batch commissions 40 outside the batch commissions

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £6,100-£6,300

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 1

NON-BATCH CAP No more than FIVE ideas please, if you are not bidding for a batch.

BATCH CAP Suppliers bidding for a batch, please see Commissioning briefs, Spring 2018: proposals for batches

Editorial Opportunity

Radio 4 has a plethora of arts programmes: Front Row, Saturday Review, Opening Night, Only Artists, Open Book, The Film Programme, Word of Mouth – one might even call Desert Island Discs an arts programme.

Any new commission has to extend the range and depth of our existing provision; to embrace risk, take on new challenges, and ‘boldly go’ where no one has gone before.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 37 of 89 We are looking for new ideas for both series and individual programmes that reflect the artist’s take on our world.

Ask yourself: why do we need to tell this story now? Is it vital? Is it urgent?

To provide an idea of the kind of thing we are looking for, we have recently grouped individual ideas from a variety of suppliers into collections of programmes. So some single ideas might go into these strands:

The Art of Now

Our cutting edge collection that connects art with politics; whether it is protest art in Latin America, the ban on dancing in Sudan (No Singing No Movement), Black Arts Matter, or Art from Dangerous Places.

The Art of Living

This strand is about art and health (both physical and mental), music therapy, and special needs. Recent programmes include: Songwriting with Soldiers, Frank Ormsby’s Parkinson’s, Listening without Ears and Words Fail, Music Speaks.

The Pursuit of Beauty

This is a celebration of crafted radio, slow radio, beauty, music and meditative programme making. This will be a new collection but recent programmes that would have been included are: Little Shop of Colours, Art in Miniature, Russian Bells, Death Masks, Exploring the Doppler Effect.

Your individual or series ideas can contribute to this strategy or enhance it by providing something totally different.

Other areas that might prove fruitful are:

Wit

An arts programme is allowed to be funny e.g. Natalie Haynes Stands up for the Classics, The Trainspotters Guide to Dracula, I Was Johnny Cash’s Tailor, Ian Sansom is Falling, Music to Strip To.

Argument

An arts programme can also be an essay or a provocation e.g. Kit de Waal’s Where Are All The Working Class Writers? Doon Mackichan’ s Body Count Rising or even The Gamble, a three part series narrated by Noma Dumezweni about the importance of risk in art.

Music

We had an enormous success recently with A Choral History of Britain, presented by Roderick Williams, probably because it was personal, thoughtful, analytical and

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 38 of 89 inclusive. It wasn’t so much broadcast as shared. People felt they were a part of it; that the series spoke to their passions.

How can we develop this kind of programming?

How can we cover music – classical, popular, folk, jazz, world, rap, grime, indie - in a way that is different from the other networks and isn’t trendy vicar/embarrassing Dad?

Tales from the United Kingdom

In 2017-2018 we will have broadcast ten arts documentaries from Hull City of Culture, a series of twelve theatre programmes from all over the United Kingdom, a series on street art from Manchester, and given new opportunities to programme makers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We would like to extend and develop our arts programming outside London and the south-east.

What would you suggest?

Travel

Programmes requiring international travel may request additional funding. We may therefore need to fund some cheaper UK based programmes in order to finance this.

In short:

Don’t repeat what is already on Radio 4 or in the arts coverage of the broadsheet newspapers.

Bring us new stories, told in surprising ways.

Bring us art from different places – either extremely local or ambitiously international.

Disrupt. Be bold.

Digital

We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year.

Our digital commissioning editor and arts commissioning editor will together assess the potential for any additional digital content. The supplier of the programme will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the capacity and ability.

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 39 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47114 Brief name: Poetry

Duration (including announcements) 28’

Schedule slot Sunday 16.30

Number of programmes available 40

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £6,100-£6,300

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 1

CAP No more than FIVE ideas please

Editorial Opportunity

good morning to you, first faint breeze of unrest

no louder than the sound of the ear unzipping…

Alice Oswald, Sz

Radio 4 is well known for its coverage of poetry through strands such as Poetry Please, The Echo Chamber and With Great Pleasure. Now the task is not only to put poetry on the network but to make Radio 4 as a whole more poetic.

To this end, we have appointed Alice Oswald as our Poet in Residence and will continue to schedule quarterly editions of Four Seasons. At each equinox and solstice, poems are placed in existing programmes and sprinkled through the schedule from Farming Today to The Shipping Forecast.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 40 of 89 We want Radio 4 to be a home for both established and emerging talent and to commission bold and radical work, made for the ear, which cannot exist elsewhere.

How can we push at the boundaries of the aural imagination?

How can we change the pace of the schedule and represent the range and vision of contemporary poetry?

Recent examples include The Odyssey Project, a re-telling of The Odyssey by ten poets, all of whom are either migrants or the children of migrants: Andrew McMillan’s Conversations on a Bench, made in the aftermath of the Manchester bombing: Power Lines, a three part series on the Spoken Word presented by Inua Ellams and Sabrina Mahfouz; Blast, a new late night poetry programme presented By Daljit Nagra and Mair Bosworth, and Mother Tongue, a series on International Poetry in Translation presented by Helen Mort.

We are looking for single ideas or series proposals of up to four programmes.

We’d like them to be imaginative and fearless, arresting and beautiful.

Digital

We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year.

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 41 of 89 COMEDY

Commission Editor Sioned Wiliam Commissioning Co-ordinator Jacqueline Clarke [email protected]

Radio 4 comedy features an eclectic mix of old favourites and brand new voices from around the United Kingdom and beyond. Just a Minute, Ed Reardon's Week and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue rub shoulders with shows from Tez Ilyas, Mae Martin, Alexei Sayle and Damien Slash. We make panel games, stand up shows, sitcoms, comedy dramas, satires, comic lectures, dramatic monologues and sketch shows in all shapes and sizes.

We love to work with great writers from Michel Frayn and John Finnemore to Jenny Éclair and Katherine Jakeways. And there is a warm welcome at Radio 4 for all kinds of comic voices including Sophie Willan, Victoria Coren, Mark Steel, The Pin, Angela Barnes and Tudur Owen.

Eligibility

Your company or department will need to be able to demonstrate considerable experience in radio and/or television comedy at both producer and executive producer level. If you have not produced programmes for Radio 4, you should include your track record in the long synopsis of your final offer.

The following briefs are open in Proteus Round 5 2019-2020

Brief no. 47013 Brief name: 1130 Comedy

Brief no. 47031 Brief name: 1830 Comedy

Brief no. 47058 Brief name: 2302 Comedy

Please note that the year will not be fully commissioned, as we are keen to leave slots open for reactive programming.

IMPORTANT NOTES ON ALL COMEDY BRIEFS

PRICE

Although editorial excellence will be the major deciding factor in securing any commission, price will also be a factor. We will look favourably on offers with competitive prices in this round. If you can deliver a programme below the guide price range, you can enter this figure in the ‘Price Per Episode’ field in your proposal.

DO NOT OVER-OFFER!

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 42 of 89

Please familiarise yourself with the schedule to avoid bringing us something we've already got on air.

Space is at a premium. The last two rounds have seen a period of expansion with many new commissions. This round will therefore include some consolidation as shows are allowed to return and grow on the network. It's doubly important therefore that you only offer the ideas that you feel are truly ready. In the last round, some companies were still offering over 20 ideas for a single slot. While we really don't want to impose a cap on the hugely creative community of programme makers who submit to us at Radio 4, we'd be very grateful if you would think hard before submitting ideas that are undercooked.

PILOTS

We often pilot new ideas to explore the comic tone of the writing, production and performance. Pilots are usually transmitted, (although rarely and in exceptional circumstances we will commission a non-transmittable pilot), and are an important part of the development process. Any series which follows should build on the lessons learnt in the pilot.

DIVERSITY

We are determined to continue broadcasting comedy that reflects the rich diversity of modern Britain. So, please consider how your programme can help us achieve that. I'm also looking for a range of voices and stories, writers and performers from all over the UK. We’re also keen to know how you’re addressing diversity issues in your production teams.

SHORT PROPOSALS

In Phase 1 of the round we'll be making a judgement based on the 250 word Short Proposal and talent details submitted to us. Please do not exceed this word count - expressing the essence of the idea in these few paragraphs is a useful exercise and helps focus on what is central and most important about the idea.

Please do not resubmit ideas that have been rejected in an earlier round unless you've been expressly asked to do so. We are happy to look at ideas that have been previously offered to television companies but please make this clear in your pitch.

If you have an idea that has previously been shortlisted, you do not need to reoffer this. It will still be on our list and will not be forgotten.

The talent involved in a proposal is hugely important - particularly the writers who must be available and committed to the project. Casting ideas are hugely useful too, and please let us know if you have a particular relationship with a performer. A major advantage of radio, of course, is that some of the biggest names in comedy and entertainment are happy to take a few days out to do a recording. However, we do appreciate that actors and performers mooted in the offers round may not always be available when it comes to the recording.

Please confirm whether you want your show performed in front of an audience. The tone and pace will be very different and it's important to note in your Short Proposal.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 43 of 89

MEETINGS

If your idea gets through the Short Proposal stage you will be invited in to discuss it in more depth. Usually we'll discuss the talent involved and what material you might submit in support of the idea.

It may be that a new writer will need to submit a whole script in order to convince, but more established writers can send in a treatment with sample scenes. In both cases, a strong sense of where an idea might go next as well as character breakdowns are needed. Please bring your writers along with you to the meeting if at all possible.

Snippets of performance, taster tapes or any new incarnation of the interweb that allows us to get a clear picture of the talent involved are always useful! Do offer up examples of previous work that feel relevant - anything that helps argue your case.

While invitations to live shows can be useful, it is important to remember that theatrical shows don't always effectively convey how the performer might work on the radio. A Full Proposal must give a clear idea of how any radio incarnation might work.

RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS

It is pointless to clear rights ahead of commission. This wastes your time and money. It is not the end of the world if an offer falls over later because rights are not available. However, where we know there are historical difficulties with the rights holders, we may ask you to clear them. We will agree this at the Short Proposals meeting.

FINAL OFFERS

Please remember to enter a Full Proposal on Proteus. If you don't, I won't see it.

Remember to submit all the supporting material that was agreed in the Short Proposals meeting. It is useful ammunition with which to pitch this project to the station on your behalf.

CO-PRODUCTION

Radio 4 will formally explore co-production opportunities for comedy projects in this next commissioning period. We expect around 10 hours of comedy content to fall into this category in 2019/20, which may result in this level of commissioning being held back until funding partners have been finalised.

We will explain more over the coming months. In the meantime, we welcome programme offers that have potential co-financing already attached. If this is something that interests you, please include details in your offer.

WHAT I DON’T WANT

I haven't changed my mind yet about Improv. I’m more than happy to be proved wrong in this but it’s not top of my list at the moment.

We have several shows about siblings and families and we also have at least two shows featuring impressionists and won’t be looking for any more.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 44 of 89

Don’t offer any programmes about the media or creative industries; spoofs or parodies of broadcast shows. I’m not looking for literary parodies at the moment either.

As in the last round, I'm not looking for any more chat shows at the moment. There are several on the comedy slate and plenty generally on Radio 4.

A SHOPPING LIST FOR THIS ROUND

I am keen to see ideas for the following:

 A new, sharply written, audience sit-com. Think Frasier or Seinfeld – intelligent, strong and rounded characters and with a contemporary feel. I’m looking to pilot several new sit-coms in a Comedy Playhouse event. Great writing will be at the heart of this idea but strong casting ideas are also important. As the great David Renwick points out, there is a curious alchemy between the writing of a great character on the page and the performer who helps bring it to life.

 A new satirical offering, younger and with a different sound to our more established Friday night shows.

 Ideas for our Sunday night Stand Up series. As you will see later in this brief, we have a number of slots available for single 28’ shows to play on Sundays at 1915.

 Something new and different that I haven’t yet begun to imagine. A new format, with new talent that takes us to a new place.

DIGITAL

Ideas in this area will be welcome and these ideas should be emailed directly to me or discussed in a face to face meeting.

We’re also keen to know details of how any conventional broadcast offers might have a digital life, so do make them part of your idea. But bear in mind that money for digital enhancement is tight, so we have to target it very carefully.

I will work with our digital commissioning editor to assess the potential for any additional digital content. The supplier of the programme will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the capacity and ability.

We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast, followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 45 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47013 Brief name: 11.30 Comedy

Duration (including announcements) 28’

Schedule slot Mon/Wed/Fri 11.30

Number of programmes available 70

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £11,100-£11,500

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 5

Editorial Opportunity

This remains a slot in which sophisticated, expertly produced, high-end pieces play well. Last year saw it dominated by Narrative Comedy, Stand Up/Lectures and Adaptations.

A COLD SWEDISH WINTER drew a vivid picture of life in contemporary Sweden, and struck a darker note this time round, exploring the tension between liberalism and the worrying repercussions of the refugee crisis in Europe. Contemporary in feel and challenging in content, it added texture to this mid morning slot. As did Mae Martin’s brave and very personal take on addiction, which managed to be both extremely funny and thought provoking.

Morwenna Banks and Rebecca Front’s SHUSH!, Ed Harris’s DOT; Sue Limb’s GLOOMSBURY and the evergreen FAGS, MAGS AND BAGS by Donald McCleary and Sanjeev Kohli brought great jokes, bags of energy and memorable characters to the slot, as well as a fantastic array of brilliant performers.

Comedy detectives were well served by the return of the louche thespian CHARLES PARIS, and by a new arrival, MRS SIDDHU INVESTIGATES. Both were adapted by

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 46 of 89 top writers with a proven comedy track record (Jeremy Front and Suk Pannu) and featured bravura performances by eminent actors (Bill Nighy and Meera Syal). Similarly Katharine Whitehorn’s delightful COOKING IN A BEDSITTER was also given a delicious new life by another highly experienced comedy writer Sue Teddern.

Richard Herring's RELATIVITY was a subtle and nuanced piece about family life as was Katherine Jakeways’s ALL THOSE WOMEN.

A MONTH OF MAUREEN in which the great Maureen Lipman shone in plays by Gary Brown, Tracy Ann Oberman and Ivor Baddiel was a real mid-morning treat for our listeners and it was good to have another comedy giant, Richard Wilson, back on the station in BELIEVE IT.

There was satire too in the bitingly topical NHS comedy POLYOAKS and a new show THE WILSONS SAVE THE WORLD, a painfully funny look at middle class guilt and the joys of bacon by Marcus Brigstocke and Sarah Morgan..

New commissions for 18/19 include a return for Josh Howie’s smart and angst ridden sit-com LOSING IT, a new piece from Michael Chaplin, LEO’S LADIES about love and loss; PREPPER by Caroline and James Moran about two women preparing for the end of times and ALEXEI’S MYSTERY THEATRE, a series of brilliant short stories by Alexei Sayle. There will be new work too from Michael Frayn, John O’Farrell and Lemn Sissay. And Alfie Moore will make a welcome return with IT’S A FAIR COP. Rebecca and Jeremy Front have written the pensioner sit-com JACK AND MILLIE in which they will also star and Rob Grant and Andrew Marshall will introduce us to the crazy world of the QUANDERHORN EXPERIMENTATION, starring James Fleet and John Sessions. PLUM HOUSE with Simon Callow and Jane Horrocks will also return.

Sue Limb will bring the vibrant and witty world of GLOOMSBURY to an end in its final series.

The tone of the slot therefore remains the same – with first rate writers and performers at the top of their game.

Please be aware there will be fewer originations in this slot (by about 10 hours) for this commissioning round. It is therefore even more important that you do not over offer in this slot.

We are developing plans to bring the BBC’s great audio content to a wider, online audience as part of our focus on reinventing BBC Radio for a new generation. Comedy will play a key part in this.

Later this year, there will be commissioning opportunities for Comedy in the digital space. The detail of these opportunities will be made known in due course, but we are keen for you to start thinking about it now.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 47 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47031 Brief name: 1830 Comedy

Duration (including announcements) 28’

Schedule slot Tues/Wed/Thurs 18.30

Number of programmes available 80

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £11,100-£11,500

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 5

Editorial Opportunity

Audience expectations are particularly high in this slot which accommodates Narrative Comedies, Sketch Shows, Panel Shows, Stand Ups and Comedy Lectures.

The brief for this slot remains the same as last year. Shows broadcast at this time must cut through and connect with a large audience. Therefore, strongly defined characters, great comic performances and top notch jokes are paramount in this slot. Audience laughter can do much to give a show pace and energy but ,increasingly, audiences are used to comedy shows that don't have this sound, and it's important for Radio 4 to produce a range of comic experiences for our audiences at 18.30, both with and without an audience.

18.30 shows need to have a real energy about them and sketch shows or sitcoms performed in front of an audience work very well here. But great writing and strong performances remain at the heart of any show in this slot. The range of genres is broad here but book adaptations and quieter, more introspective pieces don’t feel right.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 48 of 89 It's important that the performers featured in this slot be as varied as possible. Producers are asked to extend the range of talent they book. For all Radio 4 comedy programmes transmitting Monday to Friday at 18:30 and comedy panel shows at any time, panellists must be cleared before they are booked. This clash-checking ensures that we don’t have the same contributors on more than once a week (excluding narrative rpts) in the highest profile slots. Details about how to manage this will be sent to suppliers once a commission is confirmed.

John Finnemore’s DOUBLE ACTS (which moved here from 11:30) continued to delight. The second series maintained the impossibly high standards of the first and attracted top talent to the network. Funny, often deeply moving and always gripping, each dialogue was a little gem.

Stand-up shows from Alexei Sayle, Rob Newman, Andy Hamilton, Mark Steel all played brilliantly in this slot and connected with a large and appreciative audience. ANKLE TAG, a new sit-com written by Gareth Gwynn and Ben Partridge and starring Elis James and Katy Wix also did well here, as did the perennial favourite ED REARDON’S WEEK by Andrew Nickolds and Chris Douglas. And Ed Rowett’s THE RELUCTANT PERSUADERS offered up a witty and satirical take on the world of advertising.

The PIN made the most of their move to 18:30 as did the comedy drama LOVE IN RECOVERY by Pete Jackson which had a star studded cast including John Hannah, Eddie Marsan, Rebecca Front and Sue Johnston.

Victoria Coren's star studded WOMEN TALKING ABOUT CARS made a triumphant return and helped redress the balance of this rather male dominated slot. This is something I’ve tried to address with new shows from Sara Pascoe, Susan Calman, , Shappi Korsandi and Bridget Christie.

We will continue with Neil Pearson’s project to restore THE MISSING HANCOCKS in 18/19 and we will also visit THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY for the last time in a wonderful new dramatization by Dirk Maggs of the last book in the series, THE HEXAGONAL PHASE, with John Lloyd as the Voice of the Book and the brilliant Simon Jones as Arthur Dent.

New commissions for this slot include a narrative piece, PHIL ELLIS IS TRYING; ALONE, a new sitcom with Angus Deayton, Kate Isitt and Abigail Cruttenden which is written by Moray Hunter; more great storytelling from David Sedaris, Alex Edelman, and Sarah Kendall; a new sketch show from Jake Yapp and a cinema quiz show with Gaby Roslin, Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona.

Ross Noble will also be returning to Radio 4 with WHAT A COUNTRY, a show that takes us back to the heady days of BBC One’s NATIONWIDE, there will be thought provoking stand up from Daliso Chaponda and an exploration of EMPIRE by Andy Zaltzman and Anuvab Pal.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 49 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47058 Brief name: 2302 Comedy

Duration (including announcements) In general 28’ ; some programmes at 14’

Number of programmes available 50 half hours equivalents

Schedule slot Tues/Wed/Thurs 23.02

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £11,100-£11,500 £5,500 - £5,700 for 14’

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 1

Editorial Opportunity

This brief remains the same – I’m looking for shows that bridge the gap between the workaday world and late night. Taking the audience on imaginative flights of fancy and giving them a late night dose of sharply written comedy. This slot often houses comedy that may need a late night placing either because of form or content. But it’s also a place to develop new talent that could eventually transfer to 11.30 or 18.30. A place for Narrative Comedies, Immersive pieces, Stand Up and late night storytelling

Although the audience is smaller there is still a vibrant and often wildly original comic feel to this slot. And it's worth noting that many of our younger listeners download these shows at their own convenience.

Narrative pieces and sketch shows can be offered here. It's a great space to develop new writing and performing talents in those genres as well as a safe space in which to explore darker comic themes, as in Liam Williams's brilliant LADHOOD which returned for a second series this year.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 50 of 89 Late night storytelling works particularly well at 23:02. There is room also for those indefinable shows that aren't really much like anything else - such as Patrick Marber and Peter Curran talking nonsense in their BUNK BEDS, to brilliant comic effect with, in the last series, their special guest Kathy Burke.

FRED AT THE STAND, broadcast every week from Edinburgh, brought a great range of comedians to late night and gave the slot a less London-centric feel.

New commissions for this slot include the deeply original AGENDUM by Joel Morris and Jason Hazeley will take us to places we’ve never quite been before; APPISODES, Felicity Ward’s exploration of the world of self help apps, new stand up vehicles for Sindhu Vee, Ken Cheng, Nick Revell and Sophie Willan.

Tudur Owen, who made a great impact when he appeared on THE NOW SHOW in Llandudno, brings his one man show PUTTING ANGLESEY ON THE MAP to Radio 4 . Simon Rich’s caustic and highly literate short stories make a welcome return as do John Moloney, Chris Neill, Damien Slash and Jenny Éclair’s LITTLE LIFETIMES. DON’T START with Frank Skinner and Katherine Parkinson will also be back for another series.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 51 of 89

19.15 COMEDY SUNDAYS This brief is not open in this round.

We have a limited number of commissions for this slot. The gleeful return of ABSOLUTELY worked very well here and it’s a good place to put specials,such as Henry Normal’s funny and moving A NORMAL LIFE and Martin Jarvis’s joyful renditions of JUST WILLIAM and JEEVES. This slot is also home to one of the UK’s great eccentrics, the irrepressible POD.

STAND UP ON SUNDAY, a new series commissioned in the last round, will continue and I will be looking for ideas for this slot. Current commissions include single pieces from Ruby Wax, Pippa Evans, Tom Allen, Ashley Blaker, Bilal Zafar, Lucy Porter and Geoff Norcott.

This slot is one that we will fill ourselves when we have seen the full range of offers.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 52 of 89 SUPPORTING MATERIAL FOR COMEDY

Supporting material is only required for Full Proposals.

All supporting material must be delivered by 17:00 on the day of the deadline.

A complete inventory of materials supplied must be included, using the form below.

If you are suggesting a dramatisation of a book the offer must be supported by a hard copy of that book. If you don’t the offer will be rejected.

 Audio, in mp3 format only, must be sent to the commissioning co-ordinator Jacqueline Clarke [email protected] via a file-sharing service. Identify which proposal it is for in the filename.

 Do not include audio for returning series as we have access to the archive.

 Video, on DVD, must be sent to the commissioning co-ordinator at the address below. Downloads or streaming links will not be accepted.

 eBooks (PDFs, Kindle books etc) are not accepted. You must send hard copies.

 Unpublished written material (CVs, sample dialogue or scripts etc) must be sent in hard copy to the address below. It should not be put in Proteus.

 Examples of work of presenters and other talent: if they have work online (YouTube, podcasts etc.) please include a link in your proposal rather than send downloads etc.

 All supporting material (published books, DVDs etc.) must be delivered by the submissions deadline to: o Commissioning Co-ordinator, BBC Radio 4, Room 4028, Broadcasting House, London W1A 1AA

 Label each item with your name, department / company, the title and the commissioning brief number of the offer.  State in the long synopsis that you are supplying supporting material.

 With the exception of published books and videos, we cannot return supporting material to you.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 53 of 89 INVENTORY OF SUPPORTING MATERIAL

A complete inventory of materials supplied must be included, using this form.

BBC DEPARTMENT / INDIE COMPANY

COMMISSIONING BRIEF TITLE SUPPORTING MATERIAL NUMBER

e.g. 47031 18.30 Comedy e.g. Marcel Marceau’s e.g. DVD: The best of Greatest Gags Marcel Marceau

CONTACT NAME …………………………………………..

EMAIL ………………………………………………………..

TEL ………………………………………...…………………

DATE…………………………………………………………..

SIGNATURE…………………………………………………

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 54 of 89 DRAMA

Commission Editor Jeremy Howe Commissioning Co-ordinator Sharon Terry [email protected]

If you want a drama commission you must read these guidelines.

The BBC is a world leader as a producer and broadcaster of audio drama, most of which is commissioned and transmitted on Radio 4. This ranges from The Archers to singles by first time writers, from a five hour dramatisation of Midnight’s Children broadcast over a day to a play following the final few minutes of a cosmonaut’s life. Every drama we put out plays to an audience around a million people. In its range of subject matter, in its volume and in the number of singles the drama on Radio 4 is unrivalled.

What we are looking for is drama that will make an impact.

Eligibility

We invite proposals from BBC departments and independent companies who can clearly demonstrate considerable experience in drama production at both producer and exec producer level. If you have not made programmes for Radio 4, you should include your track record in the long synopsis of your final offer.

The following briefs are open in Proteus Round 5 2019-2020

44’ Drama (Weekdays 14.15) Brief number 47019

57’ Drama (Saturday 14.30; Sunday 15.02) Brief number 47112

14’ Drama (Weekdays 10.45 & 19.45) Brief number 47010

In this round we are not inviting proposals for 87’ Dramas, as we do not yet have clarity on our 2019/20 budget. Also, we cannot yet confirm the total number of 57’ Dramas that we will commission (52 of which will be for Sunday afternoons and others for Saturdays as usual). But we still want you to be developing and pitching your best 57’ ideas in this round and we will have more clarity on the total level of commissioning over the next few months.

We are developing plans to bring the BBC’s great audio content to a wider, online audience as part of our focus on reinventing BBC Radio for a new generation. Drama will play a key part in this. Later this year, there will be commissioning opportunities for innovative dramatic storytelling in the digital space. The detail of these opportunities will be made known in due course, but we are keen for you to start thinking about it now.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 55 of 89 In this round we will not manage rolling commissioning of 44’ Drama (Afternoon Drama) batches. Suppliers with batches should liaise with the commissioning co-ordinator on this.

However, in this round we will commission a small number of 44’ Dramas outside of the batches, both singles and series. See below for details.

SHORT PROPOSALS

In the initial stage, we invite 250 word short proposals. These are very important.

What is a short proposal? Think of it as the distillation of the idea, the Radio Times billing, the words you would use to sell the idea to the audience. It should include an exceedingly brief summary of the plot, one sentence on why you are passionate to make this, and another about the creative team and why they are fired up by the idea.

Short proposals help sort out the wheat from the not so wheat. From the short listing of short proposals onwards Radio 4 is already planning what the drama schedule will be for the following year.

When it comes to submitting full proposals, if your idea is not supported by a shortlisted short proposal it will not be considered by Radio 4 unless you have been asked to submit it by the Commissioning Editor for Drama.

Capping

We are not capping the number of short proposals you may submit, but:

Be warned, there is no such thing as strength in numbers of short proposals. In the last round one supplier put in nearly sixty offers for a slot with fifteen commissions on offer. They failed to land a commission. Two suppliers each put in one short proposal for that round and both got a commission.

Only offer your strongest ideas.

If any one supplier swamps us with offers, they will not be doing themselves any favours; it probably shows two things. Either it is a lot of wasted development effort on your part (and development = your money), or it shows us that you haven’t done any development at all, that you haven’t made the editorial choices you need to make in order to define yourself as a distinctive and strong supplier. Neither is likely to make you prosper.

By and large the most successful producers have offered a few select and choice ideas, ideas they are passionate about. This could be why they are successful in getting commissions.

The number of proposals you submit should be proportionate to the number of episodes available and the number of commissions you can reasonably expect to win. You need to be editorially focused and also realistic about your ability to deliver these offers should they all be commissioned.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 56 of 89

If we feel any supplier is abusing the preoffers system we reserve the right to consider reading only selected offers from that supplier.

PRICE & CO-PRODUCTION

Drama is an expensive genre and we are looking for ways to increase its value for money.

Price

Although editorial excellence will be the major deciding factor in securing any commission, price is also a factor. We will look favourably on offers with competitive prices in this round. If you can deliver a programme below the guide price range, enter this figure in the ‘Price Per Episode ’ field in your proposal.

The prices shown at the top of each commissioning brief are guide prices.

For every programme that we commission over the guide price we will need to commission a programme under the guide price in order to balance the Radio 4 budget.

If you think that the budget for a programme you are offering will be above the guide price range you must let us know. Please state this in the ‘Price per Episode’ field in Proteus.

Likewise, should you propose a programme which can be made for under the guide price please let us know.

If you don’t mention price, Radio 4 will assume that you are offering the programme at guide price. We may want to negotiate this price down; it is exceedingly unlikely that we will negotiate it up.

Co-production

Radio 4 will formally explore co-production opportunities for drama projects in this next commissioning period. We expect around 10 hours of drama content to fall into this category in 2019/20, which may result in this level of commissioning being held back until funding partners have been finalised.

We will explain more over the coming months.

In the meantime, we welcome programme offers that have potential co-financing already attached. If this is something that interests you, please include details in your offer.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The above is largely about process, which only takes you so far. What the commissioning round is really about is brilliant programme ideas that will excite us and excite our audience.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 57 of 89 DIVERSITY

In its drama output Radio 4 wants to reflect the way we live now, the way the United Kingdom is now and the way the world is now in all its diversity. The representation of the full diversity of ethnicity, race, region, gender, sexual orientation, class, religious and political beliefs, disability, age and socio economic living conditions should be an important part of what drama does on the network. Please give thought to offers and to writers and producers who will increase the diversity of drama on Radio 4.

DIGITAL

Digital First Drama

We are interested in trying new things, in shaking up the way we broadcast the output in order for Radio 4 drama to reach out to new audiences, especially the under 45s – and digital is one very important way of doing this.

The latest series of Tracks was released digitally 6 weeks before transmission on Radio 4.

We have commissioned two titles for 2018 – a drama doc called How to Burn a Million Quid and HP Lovecraft’s The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward – which we will only broadcast digitally. We hope that they will sound different to our regular drama output.

Shows like Tumanbay and Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys and our very successful Fright Night and Dangerous Visions franchises both appeal to a digitally savvy audience as well as to the core Radio 4 listener.

Radio 4 is looking for bold, ambitious, innovative, projects that will work on digital platforms.

If you have a sufficiently striking and large scale idea that you think would work as a digital-first drama we would be interested in you offering it. These ideas should be for original dramas, not dramatisations with underlying rights issues.

All offers for this should be entered into the 57’ brief (regardless of their duration) and your digital aspirations for it made very clear in the opening lines of the pre-offer/final offer.

What we are looking for is set out in the 57’ brief below.

The digital presence of Drama on Radio 4

Beyond the standard metadata (which should include a striking eye and ear catching title that describes the programme, as in Blood Sex and Money by Emile Zola), a succinct billing that lures the audience in, good photographs of the recording (where

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 58 of 89 feasible) and possible clip requirements, we are not expecting any extra digital deliverables to be offered for these commissions.

At the point of commission our digital commissioning editor will look at the slate and assess the potential for any additional digital content. The supplier of the programme will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if you have the capacity and ability.

WHAT DRAMA CUT THROUGH ON RADIO 4 IN THE LAST YEAR?

Midnight’s Children stripped across the day from midnight to midnight was the exuberant centrepiece to Radio 4’s programmes marking the anniversary of Partition. It made impact.

Val McDermid’s Resistance was the ultimate scary Dangerous Vision – in 3 chilling episodes we wiped out most of the population of the world with an untreatable bacterial plague. It made a lot of noise. We like noise.

Love Henry James beautifully explored the vagaries of the human heart through dramatisations of three of the master’s novels and an original play about the writing of The Portrait of a Lady. We will continue with more dramatisations of James across 2018.

Ten Days that Shook the World was a suitably raucous way of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, and a master class in how to dramatise a work of non fiction. As was -

Assata Shakhur: The FBI’s Most Wanted Woman – a visceral account of the life of the American black activist who has spent her life on the run from US justice.

Lucy Catherine’s haunting retelling of the Icelandic sagas in Gudrun is startlingly good. We have commissioned another four week’s worth. Also in the 15’ slot The Citadel has been a compelling way to explore the tensions between private and public healthcare through popular storytelling from the author of Doctor Finlay. It may be set in the 1920s but it resonates with the way we live now, and the way medicine is practised and funded now.

In Crime Down Under three detective thrillers gave fresh and unexpected insight to life in contemporary Australia.

Drama contributed to the Cold War Season in two different ways. In A Perfect Spy Le Carré gives a brilliant account of what it takes to make a master spy, while The Penny Dreadfuls in Le Carré on Spying spoofed the world of espionage.

The body count has continued to rise in GF Newman’s The Corrupted, which is about to move onto the author’s home turf – the 1970s scandals in the Met, which he chronicled in his celebrated Royal Court play Operation Bad Apple.

Radio 4’s Christmas treat for 2017 was Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys starring Jacob Anderson (who plays Greyworm in Game of Thrones) & Lenny Henry.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 59 of 89 Radio 4 likes big drama ideas, dramas that will cut through. We urge you to think big, to think boldly and to challenge us.

Blockbusters do not need to be dramatisations, nor do they need to be period.

You come up with the idea, we will find the right slot or placing.

Easy.

Please note that while both Home Front & Tommies will have finished by the end of 2018, we are not looking for any new ideas relating to the First World War, nor for the Second

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 60 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47019 Brief name: 44’ Drama

Duration (including 44’ announcements)

Number of programmes available 29 (see below)

Schedule slot Weekdays 14.15

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £18,100-£18,600

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 5

Editorial Opportunity

Most of the 160+ 44’ Drama episodes are commissioned in batches.

However we have held back nearly 30 plays outside of the batches, and they will be commissioned through this round.

We are looking for two specific and different kinds of programme, roughly half singles, half series & serials.

(i) Singles that show difference. Listen to singles in the 44’ drama, then come up with something different, unfamiliar, fresh: we want plays that will stand out, singles that are singular.

Any supplier who does not have a batch for the 44’ drama is eligible to put in offers.

If you have a batch you cannot submit offers.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 61 of 89 (ii) New and potentially returning popular series and possibly serials.

All suppliers, with or without a batch, can pitch for these, but we do not want already commissioned and returning series submitted.

We may well commission some potential series as pilots out of this pot.

If Radio 4 has commissioned you to make a pilot for a potential series please discuss it with the Commissioning Editor. We will probably expect you to offer the full series here.

If you do not have a batch you are eligible to pitch for both types of drama, i.e. singles and series/serials.

Please mark clearly in the first line of the short and full proposals whether it is a series/serial or a single you are making a bid for.

If you have a batch please see below re the commissioning of existing returning series. You will not be eligible to submit offers for the singles element of the commissioning round.

We are not looking for dramatisations in either category.

What makes for a good 44’ Drama?

The slot is where good writing meets its audience.

There is nothing in world theatre quite like the 44’ slot. Every weekday afternoon we broadcast drama to an audience of not far short of a million people, largely ABC1s, smart, educated and curious about the world.

The key to the slot is STORY.

Singles

Tell us a good story, clearly and simply. Beyond that the world is your oyster: the slot has a breadth and variety of subject matter and style that is unique in broadcast drama. Your play can be feel-good or challenging, it can be middle of the road or cutting edge. It can be contemporary, period, comedy, tragedy, crime, thriller, domestic, drama documentary, biographical, fantasy, horror, fiction, non-fiction, poetry or none of these. What it is not – or should ever be – is dull familiar or routine. It follows on from The Archers, so we don’t want soap.

You can do virtually anything in the 44’ drama – as long as you are telling the listener a good story.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 62 of 89

What makes a good single?

 Strong story. Obviously.  Strong characters who you have put in a potentially life changing situation is always a good starting point.  Simplicity: many of the best listens are two and three handers.  Singularity: what makes an idea stand out? What is the hook that will grab the audience, make them want to listen?  Good writing is paramount – on radio there isn’t much between the excellence of the script and what the audience hears.  Your passion and the writers’ passion.  Does it reflect and give emotional insight into the way we live now? Currency and relevance is crucial. At its heart Radio 4 is a news Network.  Is it about someone/something our listeners might be interested in? We would rather do a play about David Bowie (I have heard of him) than James Bowie (who’s he? An American pioneer who invented a knife apparently).  Be obvious not obscure, be current not historical.  Range and diversity. Difference is crucial.  We are Radio 4’s storytellers not social workers.  Our audience doesn’t want us to dumb down. You can be hard hitting, you can be tough and demanding in both subject matter and its treatment. Radio 4 plays to an adult audience.  We like risk-taking, especially in the way you tell stories.  We don’t do soap.  Or cliché.  We do like feel-good and heartwarming.  We don’t do dramatisations in this slot unless they are bold and unusual.  We like stories that are driven by sound. Listen to the wonderful Death of a Cosmonaut. Listen to Tracks series 2.

Above all we are looking for plays that feel different from the rest of the output.

Please bear in mind these are not rules – they are observations. Anyway, all rules are there to be broken, but …

There are three rules you should not break:

Story.

To give you a sense of the kind of thing we are looking for, in the equivalent round last summer we commissioned:

The Beast: a location recorded play about refugees stowed away on the freight train that crosses from Mexico to the US.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 63 of 89 The Bob Who Came to Dinner: the story of Bob Dylan’s one and only performance in a BBC TV drama

Nicked: how the victim becomes the aggressor on the mean streets of London.

The Hartlepool Monkey: Vic and Bob star in a comedy about how Hartlepool put a monkey on trial for treason.

Lena Marshall Live & Shticking: The Incredible Women team do a one woman show about Hollywood’s most reviled star.

The Angel in the Fridge: a docu drama about the cult of angels in modern day Miami.

Dormant in the Fridge: a third new play for radio by auteur film maker Peter Strickland.

Care Inc: a play about what replaces Obamacare in the States.

In the Shadows: a play about illegal immigrants living in the States and about deportation.

Close Both Eyes: a thriller by TV writer Matthew Graham about transatlantic therapy sessions recorded transatlantically.

Getting to Know Albert Speer: a drama doc about making a cinema documentary film about the Nazi architect.

Billy Ruffian: a drama doc about life on board the Royal Navy ship that took the defeated Napoleon into custody.

Series & Serials

We are looking for potentially returning popular drama series and possibly serials.

Tommies will, have finished its run before this commissioning period, and both McLevy and Rumpole have been decommissioned. While we are in no way looking for clones, Radio 4 is very much in the market for programmes in the same ball park. Series (Rumpole is a series, Inspector Morse is a series, as is Friends and Casualty) will take precedence over serials (Tracks and McMafia are serials), and what we are chiefly looking for is drama with a popular appeal.

Tracks is brilliant (and we are continuing with it) but we are not especially in the market for shows like it, or like Tumanbay or Elsinore, etc.

Instead, think popular non genre specific drama (On Mardle Fen, Holding Back the Tide & The Ferryhill Philosophers on Radio 4, on TV Missing, Cold Feet and Doctor Foster).

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 64 of 89 We are also interested in crime and the law, but think Broadchurch or The Good Wife rather than Line of Duty.

We are looking for mainstream, classy drama with a wide appeal and a Radio 4 take on life.

In order to be successful you will almost certainly need a track record in drama series/ serial production.

Who is writing, and their track record in writing series and serials, is paramount.

If you have a 44’ drama batch

We will commission the singles associated with your batch through rolling commissioning. Sharon Terry will have the dates.

Please discuss the commissioning of series and serials associated with your batch with the Commissioning Editor. We aim to have these signed off by the summer of 2018. We want to receive your offers (we don’t need short proposals) as per the commissioning round timetable BUT THE OFFERS NEED TO BE SENT AS WORD DOCUMENTS TO Jeremy Howe & Assistant [email protected]. Please do not enter them onto Proteus at this stage.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 65 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47112 Brief name: 57’ Drama

Formerly known as SATURDAY DRAMA & CLASSIC SERIAL

Duration (including 57’ announcements)

Number of programmes available Minimum 52

Schedule slot Saturday 14.30; Sunday 15.02

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £22,000-£22,600

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 5

Editorial opportunity

In this round we are not inviting proposals for 87’ Dramas, as we do not yet have clarity on our 2019/20 budget. Also, we cannot yet confirm the total number of 57’ Dramas that we will commission across the Sunday and Saturday slots. But we still want you to be developing and pitching your best 57’ ideas in this round and we will have more clarity on the total level of commissioning over the next few months.

In this round we will commission a full schedule of 57’ Dramas for Sunday 15.02 and also commission some digital-first dramas (see below).

We have combined the Saturday and Sunday slots into one brief. However, they are editorially distinct:

(i) The Sunday slot will largely be dramatisations of classic fiction, but not exclusively. In all but name it is the Classic Serial.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 66 of 89 (ii) The Saturday slot will largely be attention-grabbing original singles/serials or dramatisations of contemporary novels. Genre fiction plays well in this slot. Unlike the Sunday slot it is not fully originated.

However, there has always been a lot of crossover between the slots. The Forsytes ran on a Saturday, but they could easily have been placed on a Sunday; Blood, Sex and Money by Emile Zola ran across both slots; we have played our Rebus dramatisations in both Saturday and Sunday slots. Mike Walker’s Tsar, scheduled on Sunday, was based on no text so could hardly be called a Classic Serial.

There is a third type of offer we are interested in seeing for this brief:

(iii) Digital First Drama: SEE BELOW for details

What makes for a good dramatisation?

We want B O L D ideas.

WHAT IS THE NEXT Midnight’s Children?

THE NEXT War and Peace?

THE NEXT Blood, Sex and Money by Emile Zola?

Titles that will make a statement is number one on our shopping list.

We want our dramatisations of world literature to shout out.

Do not be frightened of scale.

We like Big.

We like Very Big even more.

We want The Big Title for 2019 and beyond, we want epic listening and landmark productions. These take an age to land – so we are happy to be looking ahead beyond the period covered by the commissioning round.

Coming up:

 Chinatowns: Ten hours of Arnold Bennett. Forget heritage fiction, this is more Peaky Blinders than it is Howards End. We want to tear off the carapace that has smothered Arnold Bennett and show the Darwinian ruthlessness of the characters and lives he depicted in the Potteries in a bold rescoping of half a dozen of his Five Towns novels.  Remembrance of Things Past: Ten hours of Proust. As the pace of our lives gets faster, as multi tasking gets more manic, Radio 4 presents the slowest and most contemplative work of literature ever conceived.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 67 of 89  A Tale of Two Cities: Damascus & London and Graeae presents Amy Dorrit: we have two bold versions of Dickens’ novels with contemporary settings.  Love Henry James continues and concludes with six more titles.  Get Carter – a revaluation of the work of Angela Carter with dramatisations, unmade screenplays & new productions of her best radio plays.

What is the next throw of the dice? Who is the next writer that we can explore radically and uncompromisingly?

By the summer we will have worked our way through the oeuvre of the Brontës, and we are planning to do something similar with both George Eliot and Thomas Hardy. Radio 4 has loved having Graham Greene back on the airwaves, but we think we have run out of titles whose rights are available.

That apart, the world is your oyster.

Where does this leave the single classic title? There is always scope for these, but it is a limited number of titles and we need to have a reason to do them. Some will come under the various umbrella titles that are doing well:

 Crime We are very interested in commissioning a big contemporary series like Inspector Chen, The Havana Quartet, Crime Down Under, etc. You may notice a theme here: exploring different and unfamiliar cultures through crime usually under the tag line Foreign Bodies. We have nothing against UK based crime stories, but we have a fair few home grown British coppers in other slots, so dramatisations of UK crime fiction are not high on our shopping list. Nor are we interested in dramatisations of US crime fiction.

 Fright Night With titles like Ring and The Stone Tape, The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby and The Omen we have successfully set a new benchmark for creepiness. The Network has discovered that no holds barred horror works well on radio.

 Reading Europe We want to continue showcasing contemporary European literature. Although our three year journey across Europe through dramatisations and readings of the best writing from the continent has reached its climax on air, we want to continue to shine a light on the way life is lived and what people are reading in Europe now. We are specifically looking at post 1989 best-selling novels (best-selling in their country of origin) that reflect the way that life is lived in these countries now. We are not necessarily looking for titles of books but a statement as to how you would scope a series and how you would go about sourcing the right titles. For example, the thing that unites Russian and Turkish fiction, which is being featured in the current run of Reading Europe, is how challenging it is to get published because of censorship.

 Dangerous Visions We are keen to continue with our exploration of dystopias. We have broadened this from (but still want) science fiction – dramatisations of Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Koestler’s Darkness at Noon both sat well in the season broadcast last year, one surreal the other political, neither science fiction, but both distinctly dangerously visionary. In 2018 the principal title for Dangerous

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 68 of 89 Visions is First World Problems, a contemporary set serial about a middle class family caught up in a civil war, not in Syria but in Manchester.

 Riot Girls We are keen for our exploration of contemporary feminism to continue. The first season kicked off with fireworks when we dramatised Fear of Flying. How do you follow that?

 To the Ends of the Earth is a compelling way to explore late 19th century adventure yarns from Jules Verne to Conrad via HG Wells, Kipling et al.

How to land single title ideas

With more big series and returning seasons these are more difficult to land. The tried and tested formula of going to a bookshop and scanning titles or of blowing off the dust from forgotten classics doesn’t work for us. There has to be a really good reason for doing these.

It may be a producer/writer passion project -

 A Perfect Spy was exactly that, and, possibly thanks to Radio 4’s The Complete Smiley, Le Carré has become zeitgeisty.  Adrian Hodges had been nursing a TV adaptation of John Fowles’ The Magus for years; we gave him the gig on Radio 4. It was brilliant.

It may be an adventurous way of tackling a text –

 Graeae Theatre Company have delivered John Wyndham’s The Midwich Cuckoos through the prism of disability, and are following this up with a contemporary reimagining of Little Dorrit.  We have approached JB Priestley’s The Good Companions as a piece of theatre for radio in a new version by John Retallack.  We think that DH Lawrence has fallen out of fashion but when Dan Allum brought his Roma knowledge to a dramatisation of The Virgin and the Gypsy it became a compelling offer.

Sometimes the title is must-have. We were never going to do anything other than run with Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys.

What you need is a compelling reason to do a title.

Radio 4 is emphatically NOT a museum for dusty old literature that we think the audience ought to be made to endure. We want high-quality serialisations of literature in the widest possible sense that are a good Sunday or Saturday afternoon listen – classics, modern and ancient, literature, poetry, non-fiction etc.

What we want is good storytelling.

In our view -

 Ian Rankin is as much at home here as is Charles Dickens.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 69 of 89  Marathon Man makes for a more enjoyable listen than, say, the works of William Faulkner.

 Nonfiction dramatises well. Hit TV series like Narcos & The Crown, Oscar nominated movies like Hidden Figures and Lion are factually based. Molly’s Game, The Post, The Revenant and Schindler’s List are all based on nonfiction books.

 Some of our most successful titles have been from screenplays – Unmade Movies has been a massive hit for us. The next throw of the dice here is Dennis Potter’s unmade screenplay of DM Thomas’s The White Hotel. We are doing unmade Morse TV stories, Jack Rosenthal’s Eskimo Day and Cold Enough for Snow adapted from screen to radio beautifully.

 Books like The Searchers – an iconic Western and a brilliant piece of popular fiction that gets to the heart of what it means to be American – are higher on our shopping list than titles like Kafka’s differently brilliant but somewhat literary Amerika (except that we have done both).

 Classic plays in two episodes work well. We did a lovely production of Shaw’s Pygmalion in the summer and we have Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People coming up. They are often a much easier listen than a dramatisation of, say, Dr Zhivago as they are not overpopulated with characters.

 We think that the poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning is as dramatisable as the prose of George Eliot.

The most important factors in our choices are likely to be –

 will it be a good weekend afternoon listen?  the passion you as producers and writers bring to the book  your arresting approach to bringing it to the airwaves

As a rule of thumb, classic literature will play out on the Sunday, contemporary and genre fiction on the Saturday. But all rules are there to be broken.

What makes for a good weekend 57’ drama? (original writing)

They are the hardest to land.

Our audience lead busy lives at the weekend - we need to give them a reason to give up an hour of their time to listen. Firstly we need to grab their attention – a must listen to title, key talent - and then we need to tell them a good story.

What constitutes a good title, who is key talent?

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 70 of 89 Try: anything by Alan Bennett for example, or Unmade Movies: Hitchcock’s The Blind Man, or David Tennant in Look Back in Anger. Titles like these help draw in the audience. A 57’ original commission will be fighting for space between titles like these.

Entertainment and comedy are at a premium.

If the idea doesn’t stand up and shout then it probably isn’t for Saturday.

Think showbiz, but Radio 4 showbiz.

We will do singles, series and serials.

Original writing should be about compelling, narrative driven stories with a hook to invite the audience to listen. The Hatton Garden Heist was a smart and pacy account of one of the oddest bank robberies ever. Bach’s The Great Passion was a beautiful Easter retelling of the first performance of The St Matthew Passion starring Simon Russell Beale.

Plot is crucial.

They should not be extended 44 minuters.

This is not the place for new writers.

We are more interested in the way we live now than doing a radio Downton Abbey.

We are looking for must-listen-to-make-a-date-with popular high class entertainment, shows that our audience should be prepared to buy a ticket for.

What has stood out? What is coming up?

 Tsar and The Castle of the Hawk – we did for Russian history what Mike Walker has previously done for The Stuarts, the Plantagenet’s and the Caesars – and turned the past into rollicking good yarns. They make historical drama work for us. Mike is now tackling the story of the ultimate power brokers of Central Europe, the Habsburgs. In The Castle of the Hawk we are charting the rise and fall of the most ruthless and enduring royal family in European history.

 Comedy drama works well on a Saturday. We have The National Theatre of Brent doing The Wonder (but not the Joy) of Sex, Dead Ringers are giving us their take on War of the Worlds in An Alien Has Landed, and the Penny Dreadfuls are revisiting Don Quixote.

 Having explored a political dynasty in The Clintons, Jonathan Myerson is turning his attention to the other side of the political divide in America to try and cast light on the inexorable electoral success of The Republicans.

 We have had new plays by Matthew Graham, Philip Palmer and coming up we have new plays from Frank Cottrell Boyce, Sebastian Baczkiewicz and Robert Forrest.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 71 of 89 Digital First Drama

If you have a strong digital drama idea we would like you to offer it into this slot regardless of its duration, etc. It may or may not play out on Radio 4.

What are we looking for here? Who can tell! It is like the Wild West out there.

Anything goes in digital drama, but a lot of it sinks without trace. All bets are off, and because this is an experiment – go for it: be rock and roll.

The second series of Tracks, which was released digitally before it was transmitted on Radio 4, has been a big success.

Here are some pointers, some thoughts. They are not rules.

 These commissions will be targeted at under-45 listeners.

 Subject wise, genre is king and story is queen. Horror, mystery, fantasy sci fi and crime/thriller are the key genres we should be concentrating on, but should probably take place outside of society’s existing parameters (in Tracks it is Dr Helen Ash against the world; the police are nowhere to be seen; Peaky Blinders is set in an underworld, Dr Foster takes place behind closed doors, as if the family are in a bubble of their own making). The conspiracy thriller works well, although these may now be ubiquitous in podcast land; if it is comedy it should be black comedy and be extreme. How extreme the story-telling gets and how it takes us into unexpected places with unexpected outcomes are very important. Game of Thrones confounds every expectation as it kills off its heroes. No one is safe in Wester Ross.

 Plot is crucial so that it drives the audience from one episode to the next – but not plot as in the fast moving Line of Duty or James Bond sense, but more in the slow burn coming into focus type plotting of Netflix shows like Stranger Things or The OA; or Serial. Game of Thrones is driven by an incredibly simple plot – winter is coming – that has so far worked for over 50 episodes.

 The premise is crucial: an alien has landed, an unusual murder has been committed, etc. An underpinning feeling that this is real, that what you are hearing is a kind of heightened version of actuality, is important. We want to let the audience feel that they are being let into a secret. It needs to be subversive in tone, edgy, outside of the mainstream.

 Recognisable on air talent is not necessarily an important factor. It is the story and the premise that do the talking. Shows like Game of Thrones, Peaky Blinders and Stranger Things are superbly acted, but they don’t depend on stars. In fact they have created their own marquee names. The concept, the world, and sometimes the writer, are the stars.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 72 of 89  Think of it as the audio equivalent of guerrilla film making: made on the hoof, slightly grungy, tonally having a markedly different feel to the mainstream, and probably very un-BBC.

 It will probably be an original drama, and if it is a dramatisation it should not come with rights issues.

 Think outside the box.

Please say in the first line of your Short Proposal that this is a digital-first idea.

NB Refer to the Full List of Published Titles on the commissioning website to find out if we have done a book recently.

This should be your bible – we will probably not commission a title that has been done on Radio 4 or 4 Extra in the last ten years. We will not commission a title that has been done by TV or been made as a feature film in the same period – unless there is a compelling reason to do so.

PROPOSAL TO INCLUDE

If you are proposing a dramatisation we will need a hard copy of any book you are proposing. If you do not submit this with the offer it will be rejected.

The full synopsis in your full proposal must not be longer than two A4 sheets. A plot synopsis must be a part of this offer.

Any supporting material must be submitted in hard copy, not entered in Proteus. See instructions in this document on Submission of Supporting Material for Drama.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 73 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47053 Brief name: 87’ Drama

Schedule slot Saturdays,14.30

This brief is not open in this round.

Please do not submit ideas.

If you have ambitions to do an 87’ Drama, please discuss this with the Commissioning Editor.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 74 of 89

Commissioning Brief no. 47010 Brief name: 14’ Drama

Duration (including 14’ announcements)

Number of programmes available 50 weeks (250 episodes)

Schedule slot Weekdays 10.45

Transmission period April 2019 - March 2020

Guide price range per episode £5,100-£5,300

Commissioning Round 2019/2020 Round 5

NB We will be commissioning a full year’s work

Editorial opportunity

Outside of The Archers this slot gets the biggest audience for drama on the Network.

In the last commissioning round this slot underwent an editorial shift: some returners were commissioned to return more often and we commissioned one big six week long dramatisation. We are looking to continue with this pattern. This means we will commission significantly fewer titles across a year, but with some titles having a higher volume.

It is a hard slot to get right.

In the mix we want about 20 weeks of bold returners.

We want about 15 weeks of stand-out originals.

We are looking for up to 15 weeks of bold dramatisations of contemporary novels, with a smattering of classics. Our aspiration would be to commission one major title which may well take up half of the slots penciled in for dramatisation.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 75 of 89 The Returner and the frequently returning returner

We have some strong returning series, but none of them are sacrosanct. You should not routinely expect a returning series to be recommissioned in this round.

We are looking for new series with the potential to return and we want two or three titles to return more often in order to give them a larger footprint.

In a six week run spread over the year we are running Maya Angelou’s sequence of autobiographies kicking off with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, just as we ran Pepys & The Cazalets in previous years. We are looking for a stand out title with which we can do something similar during 2019/20.

We have also commissioned four week runs – again spread over the year - of Gudrun and Curious Under the Stars, and are looking to continue with this trend. The Citadel, AJ Cronin’s chronicle of medical practice in the Welsh Valleys in the Depression years, is another returner we wish to build on.

The Maya Angelou is a very striking title which we think will chime with our audience. Gudrun is wonderfully edgy. Curious Under the Stars and The Citadel are mainstream popular drama. They are titles that we are excited by. They are perfect returners: great characters, great story and epic on a small scale - and because of their frequency we hope our listeners will become familiar with them, and love them.

This is the direction of travel: we are looking for both dramatisations and original dramas that will keep coming back, programmes that will dominate the schedule. The Angelou is a straightforward dramatisation, whereas Gudrun and The Citadel have used the books they are based on as a jumping off point. Curious Under the Stars was originally developed as a series for the 14.15 slot.

Something contemporary would be number one on our shopping list.

Something that is entertaining would be number two.

By increasing the number of episodes for key returning series it means that fewer returning titles and dramatisation titles will be commissioned.

Characters

We want characters that the audience will fall in love with, or loathe. Samuel and Elizabeth Pepys, the Ladies of Letters, the couple who never quite get it together in Lunch, Darleen Fyles, Skye in D for Dexter, the love hate relationship between the police liaison officer and her boss in Small Town Murders, the losers being counselled in How Does That Make You Feel? They are all great characters.

In this slot character is almost more important than story.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 76 of 89 Simplicity

Simplicity is the key to good 14’ Drama but it is ferociously hard to achieve. Each episode of Shelagh Stephenson’s How Does That Make You Feel? is essentially a brilliant monologue by a patient seeing a therapist, a therapist who interjects less and less with every new series. Nothing could be simpler, nothing more challenging to write well. Elegant simplicity is like defying gravity. It looks easy until you try to do it.

Lunch was about two friends who take lunch together once a month. What we know, and what they don’t know, is that they are in love. But don’t mistake the simplicity of the central idea with undeveloped thinking. The writer, Marcy Kahan, is very experienced, the characters and the simplicity of the format were sharply honed well before it was pitched to us. There is nothing accidental or underdeveloped about Lunch.

Too many offers mistake lack of development with simplicity. High Concept

Delivering five strong 14’ episodes over a week is a tough ask. Often the best series are formatted. They are high concept, but that doesn’t mean complicated. Lunch was as high concept as it was simple: everything is filtered through two characters having lunch, episode after episode; there is nothing else for the series to fall back on. This is very hard to achieve – the writing and the performances have to be of a very high order, but is one of the reasons for its success – the listener quickly understands the set-up, enjoys the variations and the tight parameters of the series. This works well in short form fiction – and the lack of parameters, the lack of a format can make some 14’ series ideas feel baggy. Less than intrepid interviewer Jeremy who introduces us to all of the Incredible Women and Pillow Book with its beguiling lists are examples of strong formatting. Mike Bartlett’s one off The Core explored two people’s careers through five 14 minute interviews over a lifetime in work. I urge you to listen to Al Smith’s multi award winning Lifelines: the format is that nearly everything is mediated through phone calls, that the heroine never really leaves her desk over the five episodes, and yet the drama encompasses a whole world outside; oh, and hearing it might change your life.

It is no coincidence that the writers of these very successful series are experienced. The One-Off

Last week The Truth About Hawaii reached its shattering climax.

Coming up we have Judas, which is the story of the Passion seen from Iscariot’s point of view, and Wolf, about campus rape.

Just over a year ago we broadcast Intensive Care. It was visceral and moving. The kind of radio that makes you stop everything in order to listen to it.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 77 of 89 We want more like these: big bold gut wrenching pieces that get to the emotional heart of the drama around issues that matter to our listeners. Or make us laugh.

We want to up our game here. Really stand-out one-off originals are few and far between but when they work they are like gold.

One-offs that work well are either

(a) serials over a week that appear to be about nothing, but have enthralling characters at their centre (Subterranean Homesick Blues which is a delicious two hander about love and the over sixties) or

(b) have a very strong agenda: Amicable was about a couple who try to have an amicable divorce, D for Dexter is about young carers, Just A Girl is about how a family cope when their teenage son announces that he wants to become a girl. The last two have transformed into successful returners.

All cut through, partly because they are about issues that matters to our audience – homelessness, divorce, dealing with a gay husband, life-threatening illness, etc.

The 14’ drama slot offers an opportunity to be hard hitting, to deliver drama with a journalistic edge, to be drama about something other than just the story.

Too many of the offers we get pitched feel like thin singles whose lack of a developing storyline means they wouldn’t pass muster as a 45 minuter.

The key to getting commissions is to challenge your very best writers to come up with something akin to a feature film or a TV drama serial that will work in 15 minute episodes. The 15 minuteness is fundamental to the way the story should be told. Dramatisations

We want really stand out books. Because there are so many books read, dramatised and featured on Radio 4, we want to do the unexpected here, the different and the challenging, or find new ways of approaching familiar texts.

Six weeks of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a big and challenging statement. We are looking for an equally big and bold statement for 2018.

Assata Shakur: The FBI’s Most Wanted Woman and Ten Days that Shook the World felt really fresh and proved how non-fiction works here. We want to do more.

Love Henry James: Daisy Miller was beautiful and moving. We have more Henry James planned. What other classics will work in the slot?

Wuthering Heights is the finale of our dramatisations of the Complete Brontës. Running them through this slot has given them real energy and freshness.

Riot Girls gave us the outrageous Fear of Flying, with the more considered The Good Terrorist in the forthcoming run. What is the next contemporary feminist text, outrageous or otherwise, that we should consider exploring?

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 78 of 89 If we do go for a big title it will mean fewer other dramatised titles in the mix.

Output coming up

Returners

How Does That Make You Feel?

Curious Under the stars

Subterranean Homesick Blues

The Citadel

Gudrun

Just a Girl

Pillow Book

44 Scotland Street

Incredible Women

The Pursuits of Darleen Fyles

Life Lines

A Small Town Murder

D for Dexter

Dead Weight

Dramatisations

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, etc

Second Pan Book of Horror Stories

Claudia Roden - A Book of Middle Eastern Food

Wuthering Heights

Love Henry James: The Wings of the Dove & What Maisie Knew

Angela Carter The Bloody Chamber

MR James short stories

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 79 of 89 How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

One-offs

Wolf by Eileen Horne

Matters Arising by Ben Lewis

Ground Control by Colin Bytheway

The Steal by Melissa Murray

Five Days which Changed Everything by Jo Clifford

Contemporary Bible stories by Katie Hims

Curtain Down at her Majesties

PROPOSAL TO INCLUDE

A clear sense of how the style and tone fit into Woman’s Hour and after Front Row.

A synopsis, an outline of potential characters and a sense of the structure, especially if the series is over several weeks. How you want to do it. Why you want to do it: your passion is key!

If it is a dramatisation you must include the book with the proposal, or it will be rejected.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 80 of 89 Checklist for Drama submissions and supporting material

At Short Proposals we need a 250 word pitch in the short synopsis; that is all.

At Full Proposals we need a short synopsis (50 words) plus a full synopsis treatment of up to 2 pages. You might need to separately submit supporting material.

Do not submit the synopsis as supporting material – it is vital to have that on Proteus.

For single plays you need to tell us:

o What the play is about (this is not the same as a synopsis). o The end of the story. o The complete (but succinct) synopsis for plot-driven works where the mechanics of the narrative are important – e.g. thrillers, detective fiction, mysteries. o How the story might be told. o Who the writer is, why they want to tell this story, what their track record is, can they write for radio? o Whether you are submitting a script or sample scenes. If you think the writer is unknown to us you will need to submit a sample of their work.

Additionally, for dramatisations or adaptations of stage plays tell us:

o How the story will be told for radio, why it is right for Radio 4 and for the particular slot you are offering it into. o A hard copy of the text of the book. If you don’t the offer will be rejected.

And for serials or series...

o How will the work be structured? In other words, why is it a serial and not a single play? o Have you given a synopsis which outlines the development of the characters and the plot over the episodes and the plot lines you will be carrying? o Mysteriously many of the drama series pitched to Radio 4 are far less well developed than single play ideas. This is a sure way for it to not get commissioned.

If you submit a proposal in error, please contact Sharon Terry and she can return it to you for editing. Do not create a duplicate proposal.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 81 of 89 SUPPORTING MATERIAL FOR FINAL OFFERS

Supporting material is only required for Full Proposals.

All supporting material must be delivered by 17:00 on the day of the deadline.

A complete inventory of materials supplied must be included, using the form below.

If you are suggesting a dramatisation of a book the offer must be supported by a hard copy of that book. If you don’t the offer will be rejected.

 Audio, in mp3 format only, must be sent to the commissioning co-ordinator Sharon Terry [email protected] via a file-sharing service. Identify which proposal it is for in the filename.

 Do not include audio for returning series as we have access to the archive.

 Video, on DVD, must be sent to the commissioning co-ordinator at the address below. Downloads or streaming links will not be accepted.

 eBooks (PDFs, Kindle books etc) are not accepted. You must send hard copies.

 Unpublished written material (CVs, sample dialogue or scripts etc) must be sent in hard copy to the address below. It should not be put in Proteus.

Examples of work of presenters and other talent: if they have work online (YouTube, podcasts etc.) please include a link in your proposal rather than send downloads etc.

 All supporting material (published books, DVDs etc.) must be delivered by the submissions deadline to: o Commissioning Co-ordinator, BBC Radio 4, Room 4028, Broadcasting House, London W1A 1AA

 Label each item with your name, department / company, the title and the commissioning brief number of the offer.

 State in the long synopsis that you are supplying supporting material.

 With the exception of published books and videos, we cannot return supporting material to you.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 82 of 89 INVENTORY OF SUPPORTING MATERIAL

A complete inventory of materials supplied must be included, using this form.

BBC DEPARTMENT / INDIE COMPANY

COMMISSIONING BRIEF TITLE SUPPORTING MATERIAL NUMBER

e.g. 47112 57’ Drama e.g. The Best Play Ever e.g. Book: The Best Story in the World

CONTACT NAME …………………………………………..

EMAIL ………………………………………………………..

TEL ………………………………………...…………………

DATE…………………………………………………………..

SIGNATURE…………………………………………………

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 83 of 89 SECTION E: COMMISSION AWARD

WHAT WE EXPECT FROM YOU

NOTIFICATION

If you are awarded a commission, we will notify you in Proteus.

KEY CONTRACT TERMS

Any contract resulting from the commissioning brief will be between the BBC and the successful producer and will include the BBC’s key contract terms (see Section F)

DUE DILIGENCE

The commissioner reserves the right to perform appropriate due diligence (including but not limited to financial and health and safety assessments) at any stage of the commissioning process before the award of a final contract to a producer.

MODIFICATIONS

In awarding the commission, we may request additions or modifications to the editorial proposition to incorporate any BBC originated ideas, which may not have been included in your submission, provided that any such requests can be accommodated within the agreed contract price.

ACCEPTANCE AND REJECTION OF COMMISSIONING BRIEFS

The BBC reserves the right at any time prior to the award of a commission, and without incurring any liability to the affected producers, to accept or to reject any proposal, or to annul the commissioning process rejecting all Full Proposals.

COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH OFFERING A PROPOSAL

All costs incurred directly or indirectly in responding to, preparing and submitting the Full Proposals or those costs which arise out of any presentations requested by the commissioner will be borne wholly by the producer.

PUBLICITY

Producers shall not, without the prior consent of the BBC, make any reference to the BBC in any advertising, promotional or published material, nor speak in public about the BBC or its affairs in connection with this commissioning brief.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 84 of 89 USE OF BBC LOGO

Producers must not use or reproduce any BBC logo or otherwise make reference to the BBC without the prior consent of the BBC, other than to the extent required in order to prepare a response to the commissioning brief.

INDUCEMENT

The offering of inducement of any kind in relation to obtaining this or any other contract with the BBC will automatically disqualify a producer and may constitute a criminal offence.

. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM US

NOMINATED REPRESENTATIVE The BBC’s nominated representatives for each of these briefs are the members of the evaluation team. No individual other than the BBC’s nominated representatives (or their delegates as advised by the BBC) is authorised to discuss the contents or the substance of this commissioning brief with you. We’ll let you know of any change or addition to the BBC’s nominated representatives.

RESPONSES TO YOUR QUESTIONS In the interest of fair competition, where we feel it’s appropriate, anonymised questions and responses will be circulated to all producers.

CONFIDENTIALITY Subject to Section 2, paragraph 5, the BBC will keep confidential all commercially sensitive information included in responses to this commissioning brief and will only use this information for the purpose of evaluating your proposal, provided that you have identified the confidential nature of any such information in your documents.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT As a public authority, the BBC is required to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”), which came into force on 1 January 2005. The FOIA is intended to deliver greater accountability for decisions and spending across the whole of the public sector. It requires public authorities to strike a balance between achieving transparency and protecting genuinely confidential or commercially sensitive information. You should be aware that, under an FOIA request, the BBC may be required to disclose information contained within the Full Proposal or future contractual

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 85 of 89 information. Following a request, the BBC may take the views of organisations submitting proposal into account when deciding what information will be disclosed. For more information on the Freedom of Information Act see bbc.co.uk/foi.

A FIXED PRICE DEAL The contract will be offered as a “fixed price” deal, with you being responsible for any overspend and entitled to keep any underspend.

This commissioning brief is not a contract. However, the information contained in it, together with your responses, will form the basis of the final contract between you and the BBC.

The BBC reserves the right to exclude any producer that is found to either: a) have provided information which is untrue, or b) be in breach of any of the terms of a non-disclosure agreement.

Producers wishing to submit a proposal are not permitted to contact BBC production staff, seeking information about programmes in this slot during the commissioning period without prior consent from the commissioner.

Producers are not permitted to contact on-air talent or their producers, unless shortlisted unless shortlisted for a pitching meeting, and with prior approval of the commissioner.

Any producer found to be in breach of this clause will be excluded from the commissioning process. The BBC may modify the commissioning brief (including the timetable) at any time prior to the submission deadline. Any such amendment will be notified in writing to all prospective producers. To allow time for such amendment to be taken into account, the BBC may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for receipt of submissions.

By submitting your proposal, you confirm acceptance of the key contract terms (see below).

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 86 of 89 SECTION F: KEY CONTRACT TERMS

The successful producer will be the producer of the programme (“Producer”). The contract shall be awarded for the programme and shall be contracted as a long-form commissioning agreement, which shall contain the following key contract terms:

1. PRE-CONDITIONS 1.1 The producer must comply with all relevant health and safety legislation for the time being in force and must either have been vetted by the BBC’s Health and Safety department within the previous 36 months, or arrange to be re- vetted and obtain BBC health and safety approval prior to contract. 1.2 In making the programme the producer shall comply with the BBC Guidelines and comply with all applicable law including: child protection legislation, disability discrimination legislation, data protection legislation, anti-bribery legislation, construction design and management regulations and all regulations and orders made under such legislation. 1.3 The producer and the BBC will need to agree the detailed editorial specification, and for the avoidance of doubt, the producer will be required to secure the BBC’s prior written approval of key on-air and off-air talent and production staff including the executive producer. 1.4 Relevant personnel employed or engaged by the producer and working on the programme may be required to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA) with the BBC in connection with access they are granted to any BBC systems in the course of producing and delivering the programme to the BBC.

2. FINANCE

2.1 Financial terms shall reflect the financial guidance in this commissioning brief and the producer’s response as accepted and confirmed by the BBC.

3. CONTRACT RIGHTS AND REVENUE

3.1 Production of the programme is offered on the terms of the BBC’s special terms contract.

4. PRODUCTION

4.1. The producer will comply with any reasonable transitional arrangements as may be required by the commissioner to facilitate a smooth handover of production of the programme from the incumbent production team. 4.2. In the event that any complaints are made in connection with the programme, the producer will be available to prepare and submit evidence in accordance with the relevant BBC complaints procedure.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 87 of 89 5. TERMINATION AND TAKEOVER

5.1 The BBC shall have the right to terminate and/or takeover the contract if it determines in its absolute discretion that the delivery of the programme by the producer over the period of review has undermined the quality and/or integrity of the programme and/or the brand.

5.2 The commissioner shall also be entitled to terminate the contract (without prejudice to any other rights or remedies that the BBC may have) in the event that the commissioner determines (acting reasonably) that one (or more) of the pre- conditions set out above are not being fulfilled. 5.3 The BBC’s standard rights of termination or takeover of production of the programme will apply.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 88 of 89 SECTION G: ABOUT BBC COMMISSIONING

The BBC provides a diverse range of broadcast services under a Royal Charter.

The greater portion of the BBC’s income comes from the licence fee.

In spending this money, the BBC has an obligation to demonstrably secure best value for money for the licence fee payer in all aspects of its day-to-day activities.

The BBC is unique in British broadcasting. Our reputation is built on quality, public service, distinctiveness, objectivity and indigenous programme making.

Recent years have seen fundamental changes in the broadcasting industry, with more competition and a wider range of services.

The BBC now offers major radio networks, a substantial online presence, a number of TV channels, and over 40 local radio stations, as well as a range of other services.

As part of the Charter renewal process in 2016, the BBC has committed to open up more of its output to competition. By 2022 60% of network radio broadcasting will be competed under a commissioning framework based on principles of fairness and transparency.

A key part of demonstrating value for money in delivering the BBC’s services is the continuing need to form effective and strategic supplier relationships and to work with producers to maximise efficiency and innovation to the BBC and work closely together for mutual benefits.

In submitting responses, you should emphasise the ways in which your bid can specifically support delivery of BBC Radio’s vision and objectives (Section C).

For further information on the BBC’s business activities, please visit BBC Radio's commissioning website.

Version 2 08.02.2018 LL 89 of 89