factual

Andrew Billen wonders if BBC head of factual Alison Kirkham can fly higher still and compete against the US giants

Why a career in TV is for everyone

“It’s important to demystify television and make you realise that TV is a great place to work…

“As a second generation British-born Indian no one in my family had ever worked in the media before. Of my siblings two are lawyers and one is an environmental scientist.

“Ideally my folks would have liked me to be a good Asian doctor but I’m afraid I wasn’t bright enough. I was quite musical but my parents didn’t want me to do anything that was to do with the creative businesses.  

Shamed (w/t), which stars Game of Thrones actress Faye Marsay, centres around the cool and calm Sarah Ivy, whose world collapsed around her 10 years previously.

With the help of her brother she kidnaps two men, Nathan (Nick Blood - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) and Mani. The duo claim not to know Sarah or what she would want with them, however a connection is soon revealed...

Documentary

Catching a Killer: The Wind in the Willows Murder

Monday: 9pm, Channel 4

The true crime documentary explores the curious murder case of Adrian Greenwood, an antiquarian book dealer who was stabbed to death on the doorstep of his Oxford home in April 2016.

Head of Specialist Factual, John Hay said, “[Channel 4 is] naturally focused on what’s happening now and what’s happening next. I’m excited by ideas that start by asking ‘What’s going on in the world?’”

BBC Two's Channel Editor Patrick Holland expressed his vision for BBC Two, which will focus on themes of reasserting the role of authorship, engaging with and becoming more relevant to the audience, and embracing all the specialisms on the channel from science, history and arts to current affairs, history, documentaries.

The new titles include a series of new documentary titles including an exploration of families living on the poverty line, a behind the headlines look at the sequence of events that caused Brexit, and the story of the horrific murder of Jo Cox MP.

Describing it as having, “nail-biting twists and powerful emotional pull”, the Daily Telegraph said BBC Two’s recent timely medical documentary series Hospital “could pass as a top-drawer medical drama”.

The fledgling production company Label1 that made the stylish, six-part series has its own twist. Unusually, the firm was set up in 2015 as a “quasi-­indie” within ITV Studios. The two people behind the venture were experienced programme-makers Simon Dickson and Lorraine Charker-Phillips.

There are many people wanting to see the back of 2016, and what better way to start the beginning of the year than getting stuck into a new television series. 

Here are some of the best picks for the new year.

The schedule includes BBC One's Attenborough And The Giant Sea Dragon, a one-off special exploring Britain's Jurassic Coast and the recent discovery of gigantic fossils embedded in a cliff face.

Natural history icon Sir David Attenborough will use the latest scanning techniques and 3D imaging to bring back to life the ichthyosaur, and reveal more about the ocean predator's way of life.