Jenny
Saunders Producer
T
he making of a documentary about the shocking story of Baby P and the media witch-hunt of Haringey social workers that followed was always going to be a challenging one. And yet the result, Baby P: The Untold Story, produced by Jenny Saunders, directed by Henry Singer and broadcast on BBC One in October 2014, was a remarkable and profound work. The Guardian described it as a “lucid, beautifully stitched film, painstakingly researched by Jenny Saunders,” adding it is “probably as near as we will get to a true and fair account of what happened”. Unsurprisingly, the film was nominated for a BAFTA in the Single Documentary category at the 2015 Television Awards. Her previous work includes other high-end, sensitive access documentaries, tackling such diverse subjects as honour crime, child sex abuse and the disappearance of Flight 447. Elsewhere, she also produced an animated series about mental health for children called Troubled Minds, which won a BAFTA at the Children’s Awards in 2009. She is currently developing an original 10-part drama series with screenwriter Jeremy Brock, as well as a film about WB Yeats, intended for theatrical release. “The Baby P film had, in its own way, made a bit of a wave,” says Saunders. “It was a long hard slog and emotional to make. We were juggling so many different needs, because everyone was so terrified of opening up this story again when it had destroyed so many lives. Finally, the film went out and my friend encouraged me to apply for Breakthrough Brits. I didn’t dare dream, but I applied on the basis that you won’t know if you don’t try.”
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