Ricky Gervais

What happened in series one?

Series one introduced journalist Tony (Ricky Gervais), a man whose life is turned upside down when his wife Lisa (Kerry Godliman) dies from breast cancer.

Overtaken by grief and unable to move on, Tony considers suicide but instead decides to live a life doing and saying whatever he wants, regardless of who he offends.

Talking to his therapist, he remarks that a good day for him is "when he doesn’t want to shoot random strangers and then turn the gun on himself”.

Set 15 years on from the events of the original BBC smash The Office, Life on the Road follows the floundering music career of Brent's group Foregone Conclusion.

The economic arguments for diversity came under the microscope at a lively joint RTS/BBC session held at New Broadcasting House last month. The panellists agreed that, following years of inaction, broadcasters are finally making an effort to boost black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) represen­tation in television.

Everyone knows that BBC drama is either near or at the top of its game. But what of BBC Films, the broadcaster's infinitely poorer and sometimes neglected cousin?

For the past six years, BBC Films has been led by Christine Langan, a one-time Granada script editor who went on to win acclaim within ITV and beyond.