Contestants on UKTV channel Dave’s hit show Taskmaster have to think laterally and creatively as a series of challenges are thrown at them. Much like the BBC had to in 2017 when Discovery’s acquisition of UKTV’s co-owner Scripps triggered a clause that gave BBC Studios the option to buy out Discovery. The problem was that it lacked the cash to do so.
On the eve of the 2016 US presidential election, when Donald Trump was getting his first inkling that he would be elected to the world’s highest political office, Russell T Davies was texting the controller of BBC drama about an idea they had long been discussing. “I wrote to Piers Wenger and said, ‘If he wins tomorrow, it’s time I write this show now’ – and he said yes,” recalls Davies.
“When you’re young, you’re going to do your best work – you’re fearless and you take risks that you wouldn’t take when you’re older,” said David Henshaw, a former BBC reporter and producer who has run his own indie, Hardcash Productions, for almost three decades.
"It’s always going to be risky and you only get the really good stuff by taking risks"
Henshaw was speaking at an RTS Futures event on investigative journalism in London. The multi-award-wining film-maker received an RTS Fellowship in 2009.
It seems only a few short years ago that the BBC and ITV were thought of as the titans of British media. But all of us in the UK’s traditional media solar system are getting smaller and smaller in the Apple, Amazon and Netflix universe.” Thus said Lord Hall, Director-General of the BBC, in March, as he unveiled the corporation’s plans for its new financial year.
“We need to find new ways to adapt to the changing needs of our audiences, and we need to be able to do it in real time to keep pace with our global competitors,” he continued.
Chris Packham brought his passion and knowledge to two RTS Southern events at Bournemouth University in early March, highlighting the need for greater environmental sustainability in programme production.
In the afternoon, the TV presenter and naturalist spoke to media students about sustainable TV production. In the evening, he talked candidly about his life and TV career – and how he copes with the effects of Asperger syndrome.
When I ask the BBC’s director of news, Fran Unsworth, if the first year in her new role has lived up to her expectations, she gives a hollow laugh.
“I always knew it was going to be a challenging job, let’s put it like that,” she admits. “But quite how challenging it turned out to be – pretty quickly into it – I possibly hadn’t anticipated.
The announcement comes just days after the US premiere of series two, which aired on BBC America and AMC on Sunday 7th April.
Killing Eve, which follows MI5 agent Eve (Sandra Oh ) on the hunt for assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer), was a break out hit in 2018, with BBC iPlayer receiving over 46 million requests for series one of the drama so far.
The broadcasting company is offering six training placements for talented TV professionals with a disability, and those from black, Asian, and minority backgrounds, to develop their commissioning skills.
Now in it’s third year, the six-month programme will place applicants into one of the BBC’s commissioning teams, including BBC Two, Arts, Drama, Entertainment, Popular Factual and Specialist Factual.
David Nath – the co-founder of Story Films – picked up the Director award, while Joe Carey won the Editing prize. Nath’s script for the programme was taken verbatim from the police interview recordings of Tony Martin, the Norfolk farmer who shot a fleeing burglar dead in 1999. The judges described it as a “truly exciting piece of television, so well done technically and very well cast”.
As TV producers, we’re facing more global competition than ever before. Whenever they wish, viewers can watch one of many programmes from around the world on Netflix or Amazon, rather than one of our shows. Or they can stream or download dozens of feature films available via their TV sets.
I genuinely believe that the best response to this difficult situation is to embrace the creativity of the whole country, and not just rely on Londonbased programme-makers.
