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J U N E 2 02 1

B ROA D CA ST NOW.CO.U K

PUNK SPIRIT We Are Lady Parts creator Nida Manzoor on smashing stereotypes with comedy

Screen Scotland is the dedicated partnership for screen in Scotland. With funding from Scottish Government and the National Lottery, Screen Scotland is driving the cultural, social and economic development of all aspects of the sector, through enhanced funding, services and support.

Screen Scotland’s £3million Broadcast Content Fund aims to help the sustainable growth of Scotland’s broadcast production sector, the scaling up of already successful activities and the production of commissioned programmes.

More information on the fund can be found at screen.scot

screen.scot |

@screenscots |

/screenscots | screen@creativescotland.com

Suranne Jones and Shaun Evans in Vigil courtesy of BBC

J U N E // CON T E N T S

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Getting under the skin of Anne Boleyn

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I Can See Your Voice and Game Of Talents are the latest examples of the boom in guessing formats. So is the entertainment trend here to stay?

How Casualty set the 24 bar on deaf representation Four of the team involved in a groundbreaking moment in TV history discuss their experiences working on the special episode of the BBC soap, and what it means for the wider industry.

Channel 5’s ambitious new original drama aims to reset the narrative around Henry VIII's second wife by telling the story from her point of view and challenging audience expectations.

Bringing punk attitude 20 to comedy writing We Are Lady Parts writer and director Nida Manzoor on refusing to be put in a box and how a childhood spent watching Blackadder, Jackie Chan and old Hollywood movies LQćXHQFHG KHU FDUHHU

A NA LYSIS

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30

Anne Boleyn

Netflix

Analysis: making Netflix 30 a better place to work Production HR chief Emma Murphy reveals how the streaming giant has made staff wellbeing a top priority and the steps it is taking to create a better working environment on set.

Restart: Turton and 36 Mahon in conversation C4 and All3Media bosses Alex Mahon and Jane Turton discuss post-pandemic working patterns, disability, bullying and the streaming revolution at Broadcast’s virtual conference.

COLU M N IST

R EGU LA RS

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Upfronts

COV E R STORY

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Interview: Nida Manzoor on her love of sci-fi, guitars and action films

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Columnists Danny Brocklehurst Kate Bulkley

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Focus Group

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Danny Brocklehurst Comment James Burstall

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Creative Review

40

Commissioner Index

45

Glued to the Screen

46

ZeroZeroZero

Ratings

47

End Credits

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Alex Segal

PHOTOGRAPHY: WILDE FRY.COM

Why guessing games are going gangbusters

BE H I N D T H E SC E N E S

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J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

EST: 1959 EDITORIAL Editor-in-chief CHRIS CURTIS ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƉƍ ;r | ;7b|ou ALEX FARBER ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƊƋ mvb]_| ;7b|ou JESSE WHITTOCK ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƉƈ m|;um-ঞom-Ѵ ;7b|ou JOHN ELMES ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƊƊ ";mbou u;rou|;u MAX GOLDBART ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚҙƋ Reporter HANNAH BOWLER ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƎƊ Reporter MELISSA KASULE ƇƉƇ ҚƈƌҚ ƉҚƇƇ om|;m| Ѵ;-7 ALICE REDMAN ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƈƉ ollbvvbom;u m7; u;v;-u1_;u HEATHER FALLON ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚҙƈ ollbvvbom;u m7; u;v;-u1_;u ELIZABETH MCDONALD ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƋƎ $;1_moѴo] ş =-1bѴbঞ;v ;7b|ou JAKE BICKERTON ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƎƋ uo7 1ঞom ;7b|ou DOMINIC NEEDHAM ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƍƈ u| ;7b|ou CHARLOTTE CRIPPS ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƌƊ mѴbm; 1om|;m| l-m-];u PAUL WEATHERLEY ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇƎƋƎ uo r -u| 7bu;1|ouķ PETER GINGELL ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƋƉ Puo7 1ঞom l-m-];uķ I JON COOKE ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƉƌ Contributors ASH ATALLA, PETER BAZALGETTE, DANNY BROCKLEHURST, SCOTT BRYAN, KATE BULKLEY, LORRAINE HEGGESSEY, DUANE JONES, STEPHEN PRICE, FATIMA SALARIA COMMERCIAL oll;u1b-Ѵ 7bu;1|ou TALIA LEVINE ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƌҚ oll;u1b-Ѵ 7bu;1|ouķ vrou| ş |;1_moѴo] RICHARD HEWES ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƌƈ SUBSCRIPTIONS oll;u1b-Ѵ 7bu;1|ouķ I MATT WRIGHT ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇƎƊƋ 11o m| l-m-];u JESSICA ATKINS ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƋҙ ourou-|; -11o m| l-m-];uķ I ALICE ROSE ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇƎƋƊ MARKETING -uh;ঞm] l-m-];uķ I JADE GLOVER ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƊƉ -uh;ঞm] ; ;1 ঞ ;ķ I RORY FREEBORN ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇƎƋƉ BROADCAST AWARDS & EVENTS ;-7 o= ; ;m|vķ I CANDICE DUCKETT ƏƑƏ ѶƐƏƑ ƏѶƒƏ oll;u1b-Ѵ l-m-];uķ I SHANE MURPHY ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇƎƉҙ ;m|v l-uh;ঞm] l-m-];uķ I LOUISE LENZI ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƌƍ MEDIA PRODUCTION & TECHNOLOGY SHOW ;m| 7bu;1|ouķ I CHARLOTTE WHEELER ƇƍƍƇƉ ƊҚƈ ҚƇƎ "-Ѵ;v l-m-];uķ I MARK CHAPMAN ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇҚƎҙ -uh;ঞm] l-m-];uķ I JULIA HEIGHTON ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇƎƌƎ EXECUTIVE TEAM -m-]bm] 7bu;1|ouķ ALISON PITCHFORD ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇƎƈƉ _b;= ; ;1 ঞ ; oL1;uķ CONOR DIGNAM ƇƉƇ ҚƈƇƉ ƇƎƈƇ ! "$ " !$ &" "" " $ $ Ґ ґ -ѴѴ +-u7ķ ƋƋƌ -Ѵ;7omb-m !o-7ķ om7omķ ƍ Ǝ $_; =oul Ѵ- |o ;l-bѴ bm7b b7 -Ѵ v|-@ bvĹ Cuv|m-l;ĺv um-l;Š0uo-71-v|mo ĺ1oĺ h u =ou m-l;v b|_ -[;u |_;bu fo0 ঞ|Ѵ;Ĺ Cuv|m-l;ĺv um-l;Šl0bĺѴom7om $_; r-r;u v;7 |o rubm| |_bv r 0Ѵb1-ঞom _-v 0;;m l-7; =uol " ţ 1;uঞC;7 =ou;v|u vo u1;vķ -m7 ruo7 1;7 bm -11ou7-m1; b|_ u;1o]mbv;7 ;m buoml;m|-Ѵ -m7 t -Ѵb| l-m-];l;m| v|-m7-u7vĺ $_bv r-r;u bv = ѴѴ u;1 1Ѵ-0Ѵ;ĺ

BU L LY I NG // L E A DE R

05

Industry must stand together to stamp out harassment ou; -mঞŊ0 ѴѴ bm] l;-v u;v -m7 - bullying and harassment is, because a |u Ѵ mb|;7 =uom| o Ѵ7 ]b ; ouh;uv key problem is the reluctance to report it.

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he industry talks a lot about partnerships and taking a joined-up approach to issues, and it is time to put this into practice when it comes to bullying and harassment.

The Guardian’s exposé of Noel Clarke, who denies the allegations against him, was a masterful piece of journalism. It built its case methodically, detailing conversations it had had with 20 women who said they had suffered sexual harassment, inappropriate behaviour and bullying at the hands of the actor-producer over a 15-year period.

The result was that a national newspaper knew what the broadcasters and production companies that employed Clarke didn’t – and that the women who spoke to The Guardian had more faith that the newspaper would investigate and act on their testimony than the industry itself.

That lack of trust needs to be addressed across the sector. At present, no one really knows how widespread

will be marked down as troublemakers, endanger their careers, or be fobbed off.

There is often a power imbalance in bullying cases, and many freelancers are worried they will not be believed. They face the prospect of complaining about individuals who have been hired by, or are friends with, the leaders of the companies for which they are working.

That may explain why some feel more comfortable reaching out to Bectu and the Film & TV Charity, rather than an indie or broadcaster, despite the existence of various hotlines to report inappropriate behaviour.

Meriel Beale, a freelance producer and Bectu rep, was behind the open letter earlier this month calling for an end to sexism and sexual harassment, which has attracted more than 1,000 signatories. She is still fielding daily calls from people getting in touch to recount their experiences and ask for advice.

Fortunately, it does feel as though the mood around bullying is changing.

Sky managing director of content Zai Bennett and UKTV director of commissioning Richard Watsham are

leading a working group on the topic for the pan-industry Coalition for Change, and in March the BFI, Bafta and The Film & Television Charity (FTVC) created the Action List for the Film and Television Industries to try to establish industry-wide principles.

“Freelancers face the prospect of complaining about individuals who have been hired by, or are friends with, the leaders of the companies for which they are working” It calls for all productions to designate one or two individuals, separate from the management, to act as bullying point people, and to establish clear and open bullying policies that have buy-in from team leaders and HoDs. Real change will need a twopronged approach: the introduction of more practical measures like those mentioned above, and a concerted, collaborative statement from the whole industry that it is ready to stamp out bad behaviour.

All3Media’s Jane Turton and Channel 4’s Alex Mahon reiterated that their organisations have a zerotolerance approach to bullying and harassment via Broadcast’s Restart virtual conference this month, and every leader in the industry should do the same.

If they can all make that kind of statement together, publicly and loudly, and if the industry demonstrates that it is starting to police itself more effectively, then perhaps faith will be restored and reporting this kind of malpractice will become easier.

Bectu boss Phillipa Childs summed up the need to change very effectively.

“This cannot end with an open letter and social media outrage,” she said.

Everyone needs to do their bit.

J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

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UPFRONTS W H AT’S HOT, W H AT’S NOT A N D W H AT’S COM I NG U P

T H E V E R DIC T BB C M A K E S A STA N D W I T H IS SU E-L E D C E L E B D O C S I N PR I M ET I M E

Ian Wright: Home Truths

Footballer-turned-pundit Ian Wright and Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock fronted BBC1’s latest celebrity confessionals, in which they opened up about their experiences of domestic abuse and racism. +DUG KLWWLQJ ĆOPV JHQHUDOO\ struggle to reel in huge audiences and the former Arsenal star’s Ian Wright: Home Truths delivered an audience of 2.5 million after seven days’ viewing, while Pinnock’s Race, Pop & Power attracted1.1millionovernightviewers. %XW E\ FRYHULQJ GLIĆFXOW LVVXHV LQ SULPHWLPH RQ LWV ćDJVKLS FKDQQHO the corporation is doing its bit to explore some of society’s major SUREOHPV DQG WKHVH SRZHUIXO ĆOPV could pick up more viewers if they do well come awards season.

SOU N D BI T E S

“I want ventilation to be viewed in the same way as fire safety.

It is not sufficient to just have air conditioning.”

Freelance editor Sheryl Sandler vents concerns about staff returning to work in edit suites

bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

“Cutting back something perceived to be a potential success before the completion of the pilot makes no sense. The 25% reduction seems petty-minded and illogical.”

Children’s Media Foundation chair Anna Home slams the DCMS for chopping the kids’ fund

“We are in talks with Netflix about the future of the show in both America and in the UK.”

Studio Lambert chief executive Stephen Lambert hints that The Circle UK may return after Channel 4 calls time

J U N E // U PF RON T S

COM I NG U P BBC GOES TO COURT IN NETFLIX CO-PRO 6QRZHG ,QèV %%& 1HWćL[ FR SUR You Don’t Know Me is a did-hedidn’t-he thriller about a man accused of murder, who sacks his lawyer mid-trial and embarks on a marathon closing speech in the face of overwhelming evidence.

The four-parter’s outstanding cast includes Samuel Adewunmi (The Last Tree, Angela Black) and newcomer Sophie Wilde (both pictured), alongside Bafta Rising Star Award winner Bukky Bakray (Rocks).

Adapted from criminal defence barrister Imran Mahmood’s debut novel, the series is directed by Sarmad Masud (My Pure Land, Bulletproof, Ackley Bridge) and supported 10 trainees from under-represented groups via an HETV training programme.

A ROU N D T H E WOR L D

L I V E IS SU E

ITV STUDIOS CROWNS I’M A CELEB CASTLE SUCC E S S W I T H SA L E

PRO GR A M M E I N DE X // COM M IS SION I NG I N A PR I L *ALL DATA REFERS TO ANNOUNCED COMMISSIONS BY BROADCASTERS AND STREAMERS IN THE UK AND US

155 Total number of shows commissioned – down from 239 in March

11 Sky Arts shows ordered – joint top commissioner alongside Channel 4

Game Of Thrones

The level of innovation from producers as a result of the pandemic continues to reap rewards as ITV Studios sells LWV ĆUVW FDVWOH YHUVLRQ RI I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!.

A lockdown-inspired Eastern European hub was created in Poland in the wake of the success of ITV’s Welsh version of the format, and Greek broadcaster Antenna has been VLJQHG DV LWV ĆUVW FXVWRPHU It will have access to the ‘turnkey’ set – which includes game materials, technical facilities and accommodation, to attract broadcasters without the budget to produce a jungle version of the show.

If Antenna can replicate the type of gangbuster ratings that the original ITV version achieved (13.8 million), then other deals are certain to follow.

SCALE TO THE FORE IN WARNER/DISCOVERY MERGER

07

The industry’s biggest deal of the year came out of the blue in May when AT&T revealed plans to spin out Warner Media and merge it with Discovery.

Although AT&T will control 71% of the business, Discovery chief executive David Zaslav will lead the newly formed giant, which will house the likes of Game Of Thrones, Succession and the Olympics.

The plan is for the business to generate income of £37bn by 2023,

SURYLGLQJ LW ZLWK WKH ĆUHSRZHU WR RXWPXVFOH 1HWćL[ ZKLFK JHQHUDWHG £17bn in 2020, and Disney+, which shot to 100 million subscribers within 18 months of launch.

The deal is set to be approved early next year, and £2bn in cost VDYLQJV KDV DOUHDG\ EHHQ LGHQWLĆHG In an environment in which the UK’s PSBs are characterised as KDYLQJ LQVXIĆFLHQW VFDOH WR FRPSHWH in a global marketplace, their challenge is set to get even tougher.

8 Property shows ordered – accounting for 5% of total commissions

J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

08

TAKING A GUESS AT THE FUTURE

Guessing formats are everywhere following the success of The Masked Singer. Is this a shortlived copycat phase, or a more profound shift in commissioning strategy? Steven D Wright reports

G

uess what? For once, the usually indecipherable smoke signals coming from the broadcasters are crystal clear.

They want guessing-game formats: as many as you can come up with, as soon as possible, thank you very much.

Some 18 months after the launch of ITV’s The Masked Singer and its ridiculous-but-addictive question ‘who is behind the mask?’, channels are splurging on guessing formats, including BBC1’s I Can See Your Voice and ITV’s Game Of Talents.

Across the industry, many indies are trying to insert a guessing element into their pitches, no matter what the genre.

But after two decades of relentless talent and singing shows, why are we all ‘guessing’ now?

Broadcast quizzed some of the biggest names in entertainment to discover what is driving the popularity of this format and what it means for the industry at large.

Playalong appeal “It’s a simple turn of the entertainment wheel,” says Derek McLean, managing director of Scottish indie Bandicoot, and the man who snapped up the rights to The Masked Singer four years ago. “Everyone has realised playalong is great for viewers at home. It’s old-school interactive.”

An old South Korean format that had languished for five years, The Masked Singer took off after it launched in the US in 2019 with mega ratings – and McLean was suddenly inundated with offers from British broadcasters.

“We were pitching The Masked Singer and getting rejected everywhere because the view was ‘we already have singing competitions’,” he says. “My mantra was always: ‘It’s not singing, it’s guessing’, but it took ages for the penny to drop.”

The format of The Masked Singer includes all the usual Saturday night TV elements – music, big studio performances and a panel of celebrities – but the guessing element is the point of difference, explains McLean, who is gearing up to produce spin-off The Masked Dancer. “That’s what drove broadc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

GU E S S I NG - GA M E FOR M AT S // A NA LYS I S

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HOW T H E SHOWS R AT E D The Masked Singer (Bandicoot/ITV)

10m

Highest audience VHULHV WZR ĆQDO

8m

Series two average 2020 slot average: 5m

Game Of Talents (ITV/Thames)

4.5m

“Not one of these shows takes itself seriously.

They are a bit of muchneeded fun”

Series high to date 2020 slot average: 5m

I Can See Your Voice (BBC1/Thames/Naked)

3.9m

Series high to date 2020 slot average: 4.8m

This Is My House (BBC1/Expectation)

3m

Mirella Breda Two Rivers

Series high 2020 slot average: 5m

the Korean audiences wild,” he says. “We knew how well the contestants sang would be secondary and the guessing game would be front and centre.

We called the panel ‘celebrity detectives’ from the very start.”

Guessing is actually one of TV’s oldest tropes .

“It has always been a staple of entertainment,” says Rob Clark, director of global entertainment at Fremantle and the distributor of several such formats. “All the original gameshows are guessing games, from What’s My Line? and The Price Is Right to Family Fortunes. The difference is The Masked Singer has blended the guessing gameshow with the talent show, so it feels new – and what could be more 2020 than a show in a mask?”

Ah yes, the pandemic – and being stuck in with nothing to do except watch TV. Is Covid-19 the real reason guessing has become so hot?

“Our need to connect with others has been heightened by the pandemic, so TV that brings us

together at the same moment is really appealing right now,” says Two Rivers head of entertainment Mirella Breda. “Communal viewing is key – whether it’s trying to work out who is behind the mask or who is H in Line Of Duty. It’s all playalong.”

BBC controller of entertainment Kate Phillips agrees: “People are engaging with shows much more and, as a result, a lot of viewing has become more immersive,” she says. “When you aren’t seeing your friends, you can go on social media and talk to them about what you’re watching.”

Phillips is behind BBC1’s I Can See Your Voice – a show in which a celebrity panel try to guess who can sing and who can’t. “The reveal is such a good moment and you’re laughing so much,” she says.

I Can See Your Voice, produced in the UK by Thames and Naked, is another South Korean format that celebrates fun and silliness. Phillips snapped it up because it reminded her of the terrible auditions she saw in the early days of Pop Idol.

28-day consolidated data from overnights.tv

Left: Korean format I Can See Your Voice was remade by Thames/ Naked for BBC1; above: Thames’ Game Of Talents for ITV adds a guessing element to the traditional talent show format J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

10

A NA LYS I S // GU E S S I NG - GA M E FOR M AT S

“The Masked Singer has blended the guessing gameshow with the talent show, so it feels new” Rob Clark Fremantle

Above: Bandicoot’s The Masked Singer has been a huge hit for ITV bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

“The key difference is that this time they revel in the fact that they are terrible and are out to win money, so the power is with them.”

Another change from the Simon Cowell talent show era is that those who take part in these formats have no aspirations of success. There are no crushed dreams, ruined ambitions or wannabes trying to become famous. It’s just fun.

“Not one of these shows takes itself seriously,” explains Breda. “They are a bit of much-needed fun in the schedule.”

Broadening the trend And it’s not only entertainment that’s adopting the guessing element. The features genre has also embraced the trend. BBC1’s This Is My House – an original idea dreamed up by Richard Bacon rather than in Korea – is a key example. The Expectation format tasks a celebrity panel with guessing the real owner of a house.

A direct result of Phillips’ recent tenure as the temporary boss of BBC1, This Is My House is a multi-layered interiors show that uses body

language and pop psychology – and demonstrates that guessing games can play across the schedules.

It’s not just the UK that is seeing a rise in demand – as Clark reveals, a lot of Fremantle’s old-school guessing formats, such as Family Fortunes and To Tell The Truth, are back on air in France, Spain and Holland after decades-long absences.

But is it churlish to suggest that these shows could be seen as a sign of weak commissioning? And will we suffer numerous derivative imitations for the next few years – as we did with singing shows?

Fi Cotter-Craig, a multi-Bafta award-winning entertainment producer, says that broadcasters must not stop casting their net wide.

“Any innovation in TV is a good idea.” she says.

“The problem is that ersatz versions are the inevitable result – and they cheapen the concept.

It’s a bit like the Netflix algorithm and its offering of ‘things I might like’.

“Channels should always try to innovate original ideas – it’s not as if there aren’t plenty around.”

Breda, a former BBC entertainment commissioner, agrees. “There’s always the danger of too much of a good thing and accusations of copycat commissioning,” she says. “But as long as these formats find ways to work on multiple levels and are not just a binary who’s who, then there is room for more.

“There is a difference between copycat ideas and multiple formats in the same genre. Nobody thought the BBC needed another competitive cookery format until Bake Off came along.”

Phillips is certainly being pitched a lot of guessing games. “We can see how much people enjoy them and we’d always be open to new ideas in the area,” she says. “But they’ve got to feel distinctive and different.”

Given the cyclical nature of commissioning, some would argue the moment has passed. David Sankey, an international-focused development producer, has already moved on because “everyone in Hollywood wants big physical gameshows – the bigger the better”.

But whatever their staying power, guessing games are here – for the moment – and you can bet the farm there will be another couple of clever twists to come in the next pitching rounds.

Back at Bandicoot, McLean isn’t resting on his laurels. He is busy looking for the next big thing to sell around the world and doesn’t care where he finds it.

“Entertainment producers are scavengers at heart,” he says. “We will steal anyone’s great ideas, so we should always be looking for new tricks.

Format points, mechanics within shows or tech from elsewhere – who knows what the next twist will be.”

Industry

expertise you can bank on

We’ve been supporting the content sector for 35 years. Discover how our industry specialists can help you achieve your ambitions.

Call Lorraine Ruckstuhl, Head of Content, on +44 (0)7917 503 442* or go to broadcastnow.co.uk/futureofcontent Connecting you to possibility

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DA N N Y B RO C K L E H U R S ST // COLU M N I ST

13

John From Cincinnati, Fear The Walking Dead and Stalker? Like any creative endeavour, perhaps it’s not so much the process that matters as the strength of the idea and the personnel involved.

The received wisdom is that the British don’t do writers’ rooms. People say it is a question of money, time or lack of desire from the channels. But as far back as 2003, Paul Abbott was a doing a version of the US writers’ room system when he created Shameless for Channel 4. I should know, I was in it.

“I recently developed a drama this way and the experience was thrilling, thoughtprovoking and creatively rich”

The UK should open up to the thrills of a writers’ room There’s always a place for the singular vision but US approach suits longer runs, says Danny Brocklehurst

I

“

Below: Danny Brocklehurst was in the writers’ room on Paul Abbott’s Shameless

f they spent as much time thinking about story as they do their lunch order, they might make a decent show.” This is a British writer friend telling me about his experience of the writers’ room on a moderately successful US cable drama – weeks and weeks stuck in an airless environment with people you may or may not like,

trying to crack the story but mainly piling on the pounds from the endlessly refilled snack table. He hated it. But this is the system over there. And it works.

Look at their classic shows produced via a writers’ room: Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Wire, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under. They were all led by a showrunner with vision, but created in the collective swirl of idea-sharing.

But hang on. Didn’t the writers’ room also create Painkiller Jane, Cop Rock and Vinyl? Didn’t it produce

While it was less structured, less well remunerated and more boozy than most US rooms, it had an outrageous energy that matched the chaos of the show we were creating. Though loosely based on Paul’s family, the Gallagher antics and the world of the Chatsworth estate were given an eccentric vibrance by the sharing of laughter and ideas.

Over the years, other shows have done their own mini rooms – be they Doctor Who, Spooks or Skins – but they have always been seen as the exception rather than the rule.

Finally, the mood seems to be changing. I’m hearing about more UK shows being created in this collaborative way, so I decided to dip my toe back in and use a writers’ room to develop a drama. The result was exhilarating.

Maybe it was the mix of people, maybe it was the challenging subject matter, or maybe I was just glad to be spending time in the company of, you know, actual people, but whatever the case, the room experience was a thrilling, thought-provoking, creatively-rich one.

It wouldn’t work for everything. The singular vision will always best drive a mini-series or passion piece. But as we sweep towards a world of longer runs and more serialised television, the room offers a way forward that the UK should embrace. Because although you might get Cop Rock, there is always half a chance you’ll get Mad Men. Danny Brocklehurst is the writer of The Stranger and Brassic J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

A N N E B OL EY N / / B E H I N D T H E S C E N E S

BRINGING HISTORY UP TO DATE With Jodie Turner-Smith 1-v| bm |_; ঞ |Ѵ; uoѴ; o= mm; oѴ ;mķ _-mm;Ѵ ƌĽv Ѵ-|;v| oub]bm-Ѵ 7u-l- -blv |o 1_-ѴѴ;m]; - 7b;m1; ; r;1|-ঞ omv -0o | ;mu ( Ľv v;1om7 b=;ĺ Ann-Marie Corvin reports

B

en Frow says his Anne Boleyn obsession began aged nine after watching the BBC’s 1970 classic The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, which starred Dorothy Tutin as the ill-fated queen.

And while royals continue to play an intrinsic role in Channel 5’s strategy, the chief content officer for ViacomCBS Networks UK maintains that the downfall of Henry VIII’s second wife in particular “never fails to fascinate” audiences.

Tudor history rates well for the channel and C5 has aired several Anne Boleyn-focused shows under Frow, but the ambition has been raised with its latest scripted drama.

The aim of the three-part, primetime mini-series Anne Boleyn is a resetting of the queen’s narrative that tells the story from her point of view as a wife, mother and woman, says Frow.

When Fable Pictures’ Faye Ward and Hannah Farrell heard through historian Dan Jones that C5 was looking for a fresh take on the queen, they were keen to challenge audience expectations about who she was and what had actually happened to her.

“There’s so much written about Anne’s downfall – how she was a temptress and a witch – when in fact, she was an incredibly heroic politician who was murdered by her husband,” says Ward.

Woman of influence

“The brief was to find someone who had a regal quality, who would make you realise, from the moment you saw them, that this was a different retelling of Anne” Faye Ward Executive producer

Once C5 put the drama into commissioned development in October 2019, writer Eve Hedderwick Turner was charged with getting under Boleyn’s skin across the three episodes.

Hedderwick Turner says one of the main challenges was staying focused on Boleyn’s point of view and not getting lost in the rooms where Thomas Cromwell and Henry were plotting – “territory that’s been covered very well elsewhere”.

Through her research, and with the support of Jones, who came armed with a tote bag full of books on Tudor history, the writer began to uncover not a power-hungry master manipulator but a woman of influence and a champion of political change.

“It was really interesting how many people went through her to get to Henry, yet in the space of five months, she went from being a woman at the top of her game and pregnant with an heir to the throne, to losing her baby and being executed.”

Hedderwick Turner chose to focus on the period when Anne’s position and support unravelled, which makes the series feel more like a psychological thriller than a period drama, she says.

There are nods to the period genre, such as a slightly elevated dialogue that Hedderwick Turner describes as “easy on the ear” Tudor. The writer worked with Jones to choose language that would place the dialogue in its time without alienating modern audiences.

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bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

A N N E B OL EY N // B E H I N D T H E S C E N E S

As well as selecting a writer to give modernity to Anne’s voice, Fable was keen to find an actor who would be the “living embodiment” of Boleyn – and Queen & Slim actor Jodie Turner-Smith was top of the wishlist. “The brief was to find someone who had a regal quality, who would make you realise, from the moment you saw them, that this was a different retelling of Anne,” says Ward.

“We read an article about Jodie giving birth in lockdown and her views on the politics of the medical system in the US. We felt she had those elements of Anne Boleyn – she’d not long become a mother and she was thinking politically.”

The one caveat to having Turner-Smith on board was the timing: the actor only had a six-week window in her schedule across the last two months of 2020 as the pandemic-stricken UK was pivoting between lockdowns and tier systems.

During a six-week shoot on location in north and west Yorkshire (Bolton Castle in Leyburn was the primary site), Farrell had to make some key production decisions that were shaped not only around Turner-Smith’s availability but also the Covid-19 guidelines.

“You normally do your location shots at the beginning of a shoot, but we decided to flip things so that we stayed in one place for four weeks and went on the road for the last two,” says Farrell.

“That felt really counter-intuitive: we were shooting outside in December, in the snow, with hardly any light, and it was freezing. But we wanted to contain ourselves in the castle so that we could keep control, and manage what was going on in the outside world as best we could.”

Farrell admits it was a challenge to produce a period drama on a budget that she will only confirm did not align with a BBC or Netflix-sized equivalent, and which did not stretch to removal of elements such as moss and snow in post-production.

Yet many of these rougher edges were embraced and accommodated into production designer Lucy Spink and director Lynsey Miller’s vision of creating a grungy medieval Tudor world. Farrell says: “At that time, the Tudors weren’t at their richest and Lucy wanted to convey how tough life must have been – how smelly, wet and dank it must have been to live in those big castles.

“They wanted to see dead animals and moss on the walls and in the water, so while there is beauty – elaborate tapestries and Lynsey Moore’s vibrant costumes – you’ve also got this stark reality, which also serves to represent what’s going on behind closed doors. What seemingly felt like a luxurious life was actually quite brutal behind the scenes.”

The budget also meant that the production team was kept to a minimum: executive producers Ward

A N N E B OL EY N PRODUCTION COMPANY -0Ѵ; b1| u;v COMMISSIONERS ";0-vঞ-m -u7 ;ѴѴĸ ;m uo LENGTH $_u;; r-u|v ŐƉ ҙƇ lbm |;vķ ƈ ƍƌ lbm |;vő TX Ǝrlķ $ ;v7- ƈ m;ķ _-mm;Ѵ ƌ EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS - ; )-u7ĸ -mm-_ -uu;ѴѴĸ -m om;v DIRECTOR mv; bѴѴ;u WRITER ; ;77;u b1h $ um;u DoP b1h ooh; PRODUCTION DESIGN 1 "rbmh COSTUME DESIGN mv; oou; ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Hannah Price CASTING DIRECTOR _-ul;Ѵ o1_u-m; POST HOUSE The Farm

“Production designer Lucy Spink wanted to convey how smelly, wet and dank it must have been to live in those castles” Hannah Farrell Executive producer

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and Farrell and head of development Hannah Price also worked as producers on the series, while the head of production also worked as the line producer.

Fable was keen to give the director and DoP Nick Cooke as much rehearsal time as possible – meetings with the intimacy coach, for example, were done prior to the shoot. “It meant that everyone had their thinking time before the cameras started rolling so we could be pretty nimble on our feet,” says Farrell.

Landing in the heart of C5’s schedule, at 9pm on Tuesday 1 June, Ward hopes that Fable has delivered a period piece audiences can relate to, in which “the costumes are not wearing the actors”.

“Ultimately, it’s a human story about a wife and mother who left an amazing legacy with her daughter Elizabeth I, and who simply wanted to be in an equal partnership with her husband.”

K E E PI NG T H E FO CUS ON A N N E oub]bm-Ѵ bm|;mঞom -v |o v|- om mm;Ľv v_o Ѵ7;uķ vo |_-| ; ;u; ; r;ub;m1bm] lol;m|v -v v_; -vķ 0 | b|_ - v_ou| v_oo| -m7 Ѵblb|;7 ঞl; b|_ o u Ѵ;-7ķ b| -v 1Ѵ;-u |_bv o Ѵ7 0; u;v|ub1ঞ ;ĺ )_-| ; 7bvঞѴѴ;7 bm|o |_; LYNSEY MILLER v_ooঞm] v| Ѵ; -v -Ѵ - v bu;1|ou Ѵoohbm] |o 1-r| u; _o mm; =;Ѵ| bm - r-uঞ1 Ѵ-u vb| -ঞomķ oolbm] bm om _-| -v blrou|-m| |o _;u u-|_;u |_-m 1o ;ubm] ; ;u -m]Ѵ;ĺ [;m ; v|- ;7 0-1h -m7 Ѵ;| |_; v1;m;v m=oѴ7 bm =u-l;ĺ v - ];m;u-Ѵ u Ѵ;ķ _;m; ;u mm; bv bm =u-l;ķ v_; bv |_; =o1-Ѵ robm|ĺ ); v;7 |u-1h -m7 7oѴѴ |o ]b ; v 1om|uoѴѴ;7 lo ;l;m|ĺ o|_bm] bv ; ;u v|-ঞom-u ŋ Ѵbh; mm;Ľv ouѴ7ķ |_bm]v -u; bm r;ur;| -Ѵ loঞomĺ [;m ; rovbঞom;7 mm; bm |_; 1;m|u; ŋ _;m v_;Ľv |-hbm] o m;uv_br o= - vb| -ঞom 7;vb]m;7 |o rѴ- -]-bmv| _;uķ v_; 7olbm-|;v |_; =u-l;ĺ )b|_ vr;1bC1 v1;m;vķ ; v 0 ;u|;7 |_-| 7olbm-m1;ĺ )_;m mm; ]b ;v 0bu|_ķ b|Ľv |_; ro|;mঞ-Ѵ _;bu _o |-h;v rubl-u blrou|-m1;ķ -m7 mm; bv u;7 1;7 |o - ;vv;Ѵĺ ); or|;7 =ou ,;bvv "|-m7-u7 "r;;7 Ѵ;mv;v 0;1- v; o= |_;bu vo[;uķ 1_-u-1|;u= Ѵ =;;Ѵĺ $_; v|-m7-u7 vr;;7v 0ubm] - 1Ѵ-vvb1 CѴl -;v|_;ঞ1 |o lo7;um 7b]b|-Ѵķ -ѴѴo bm] v |o l-uu |_; r-v| b|_ |_; ru;v;m|ĺ -Ѵvo -m|;7 |o rѴ- b|_ Ѵb]_| -m7 r;uvr;1ঞ ; |o |u-1h ;loঞomvĺ v |_; v;ub;v ruo]u;vv;vķ ; ;u |_bm] bv 7bvঞѴѴ;7 7o mķ v 1hbm] |_; -bu o | o= mm;Ľv ; ;uŊv_ubmhbm] ouѴ7ķ |_; ub1_m;vv o= Ѵb]_| -m7 1oѴo u ]om;ĺ

J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

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FO C US G ROU P // N EG OT I AT ION

What’s your go-to negotiation trick?

Michelle Singer Chief operating officer, Rockerdale Studios

Cara Maclean Production manager, Tern Television

bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

MONDAY MORNING. A short, unhelpful email announces itself.

It’s compliance. Or a commissioner.

Or an agent. This email robot wants something already sorted out, done a bit differently. Teeth clenched, you type history’s most pass-agg reply.

You are DCS Patricia Carmicheal. “As per my last email…” Send! Soon, your phone vibrates. It’s the email robot, asking for the same information again. Within seconds, you realise: this is a person and you appear to be taking part in some kind of conversation. They went to the vet’s over the weekend but everything’s okay. You sympathise. Now you’re both chatting, smothering each other with lovely, banal humanity.

The email disagreement, it transpires, was based on a misplaced comma. Pick up the phone and chat. Most people are lovely.

PRODUCTIONS BENEFIT enormously from the talent and H[SHULHQFH WHDP PHPEHUV DQG service providers bring to them.

If everybody understands that spending more money in one area PHDQV PDNLQJ VDFULĆFHV LQ RWKHUV DQG LI \RX DUH SUHSDUHG WR EH ćH[LEOH and take on board suggestions of how to make that work, you can almost always achieve the desired result together. That way, everybody is invested in the production’s success, both HGLWRULDOO\ DQG ĆQDQFLDOO\ It also means that when you get a phone call from a director DVNLQJ IRU DQ H[WUD EDJ of unbudgeted snow on a recreation shoot that is going to make all the difference, you can say “yes” without hesitation.

BE REASONABLE and prepared.

If you consider the other party’s perspective before you do anything, you’ll be in a much better place to make an initial offer that they’ll be willing to discuss with you. If you start with an offer that’s too wide of the mark, then immediately the other party is going to have a bad taste in their mouth and WKH\èUH PXFK OHVV OLNHO\ WR EH ćH[LEOH , ĆQG KRQHVW\ DOVR JRHV D ORQJ ZD\ No one really likes talking about money, so a bit of humour (if appropriate) can really help ease a negotiation. You never know when you might come across this person again, so try to end on a friendly note.

A SUCCESSFUL negotiation is one in which both parties win. It requires market knowledge and persistence, but it’s simple economics – you need to understand the market and negotiate accordingly. It’s important to know what the business needs but also what that’s worth, and you want to ensure it is a win-win situation for both sides. This ensures an ongoing business relationship with economic viability in the long term.

I enjoy negotiating because it requires bringing an element of strategy to the table, but if you come across egocentric personalities, you must be prepared to assert yourself and walk away. The key is ensuring you have other options as having no alternative leaves you in a vulnerable position.

Carrie Pennifer Production executive, Arrow

Malika Keswani Freelance production manager

K AT E BU L K L EY // COLU M N I ST

Roku has the tools to make its mark in the streaming world 7KH 86 ĆUP KDV HYROYHG DQG LWV XVHU UHODWLRQVKLSV DQG DGYHUWLVLQJ H[SHUWLVH SXW LW LQ D VWURQJ SRVLWLRQ VD\V Kate Bulkley

I

f you have only noticed the rise of Roku in the past couple of months, don’t feel bad. In what seems like no time at all, the US company has swapped its image as a mid-range consumer tech brand (all smart TVs and streaming sticks) to something much more ambitious: a multi-media streaming firm with advanced advertising technology tools and an appetite for exclusive and original content.

Roku may have started out selling video-streaming devices and licensing its technology to TV set manufacturers, but the Californiabased company now pulls in more of its revenue from selling advertising on its channels. It also takes a cut from every streaming service subscription signed up via its devices.

On 20 May, it launched 30 Rokubranded originals in the US, Canada and the UK, taken from the 75 entertainment shows acquired from failed short-form video start-up Quibi.

Roku has benefited from the ongoing shift in both viewers and ad dollars away from linear TV. The shift to streaming has propelled its astonishing growth and its share price is up 138% in the past 12 months. It now has 53.6 million active viewer accounts, up 35% year-on-year, and users streamed more than 18.3 billion hours of content, up 49%.

“Roku has capitalised on its streaming-device competence and market share to become a formidable gatekeeper” Roku will become a bigger player in content, although exactly what it wants is still unclear. In March, it acquired production company This Old House Ventures, which owns US homeimprovement show This Old House. In the same month, The Roku Channel premiered a licensed show for the first time – FBI action series Cypher.

Roku clearly aspires to offer exclusive and original content it can monetise through understanding its users and

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expertise in advertising technology – but that can be an expensive game to play. However, Roku chief executive Anthony Wood has said the firm’s growth means buying high-end content with “more brand-name actors” is achievable because the “cost per streamed hour” falls as users increase.

Roku’s big test is how it can further compete against myriad deep-pocketed streaming rivals. Its sophistication in the AVoD business is seen by analysts as a central differentiator for the company and in March it acquired research firm Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising business. The advertising side of Roku’s business is in a unique position at a time when the online video world is being rocked by privacy concerns about capturing and tracking user data with ‘cookie’ technology. Third-party ‘cookie’ data has been a big driver of online advertising so as it is phased out over the next year, ads on streaming video services – particularly on connected TVs – should benefit greatly.

US linear TV viewing was down 22% in March among 18-24s, according to Nielsen, while ad spend in the first quarter was down 11%, according to Media Radar. Yet Roku doubled its ad impressions in the quarter and chief financial officer Scott Louden declared “the reallocation of TV ad budgets and digital and social budgets towards streaming is here to stay”.

Roku has capitalised on its streaming-device competence and market share to become a formidable streaming-era gatekeeper. But analyst Michael Nathanson at MoffettNathanson posed a question recently that will define its future: is Roku an AOL or a Netflix?

I think Roku wants to be a bit of both. By leveraging the knowledge it has about its user base, it can both help its DTC partners get more viewers and/or subscribers and sell ads that perform better for advertisers.

The move into content could be expensive if Roku tries to ‘do a Netflix’, but that doesn’t seem to be the plan.

Maybe that’s why its stock hasn’t taken as much of a beating as it might have after the Quibi and This Old House purchases.

Kate Bulkley is a print and TV journalist and awards secretary of the Broadcasting Press Guild J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

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“YOU CAN BE A PUNK AND A FEMINIST AND A MUSLIM AND A HIJABI” Writer and director Nida Manzoor talks to Hannah Bowler about taking inspiration from her own life for We Are Lady Parts – her new C4 comedy about a Muslim female punk band

N

ida Manzoor is fed up with being put in a box. “You can be a punk and a feminist and a Muslim and a Hijabi,” says the creator of Channel 4’s forthcoming sitcom We Are Lady Parts. Aged just 31, she has written and directed the six-parter, from NBC Universal International Studios’ Working Title Television, helming it from inception through to delivery.

Manzoor hopes it will help redefine female Muslim representation on television, and says creating it has liberated her to explore aspects of her identity she didn’t think would be possible: action film director, guitarist, sci-fi geek and Jackie Chan fan. Her ambition is to bring all that to screen.

She has risen rapidly through the industry, from runner to showrunner, and now has Doctor Who directing credits under her belt and a feature film in development with Working Title.

In 2015, a 25-year-old Manzoor was nominated as a Broadcast Hot Shot by Big Talk founder Nira Park for her action-comedy short film 7.2. At the time, Park described her as bright and ambitious and suggested that “her dynamic, contemporary work will connect to the young audiences of tomorrow”.

C4 will be hopeful that We Are Lady Parts can capture those young audiences – according to its annual report released in October 2020, the channel’s share of 16-34s broadc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

was flat on television at 7.5% (though growth in use of VoD service All 4 offers significant hope of progress).

Manzoor’s family and friends are simultaneously her inspiration, support network and creative partners, and We Are Lady Parts is a true family affair. For the musical elements, Manzoor wrote songs with her sister Sanya, brother Shez and brother-in-law Benni.

A real-life Manzoor family band has Nida on lead guitar, her sister on bass and her brother on any and every instrument going – one reflection of a lively upbringing. “I grew up in a household where there was love for comedy and a lot of silliness,” she recalls.

“My mum and dad are both very funny people – so making each other laugh was a big deal growing up.”

Childhood influences

Manzoor speaks fondly of evenings watching Blackadder with her family, and her dad’s “random” fixation with Jim Carrey. She grew up on Jackie Chan movies – “I was slightly obsessed,” she admits. More high-brow influences came from her love of Coen Brothers films, while Edgar Wright’s features provoked a fascination with camerawork in comedy storytelling.

A dialogue obsessive, Manzoor also soaked up old Hollywood films – “that era of American cinema where the dialogue is so sharp and snappy”.

Manzoor’s TV career began after she realised that a law career forged out of her UCL politics degree wasn’t for her. She spent many days making shorts at the university’s film society and soon began firing off CVs to every post house in Soho, eventually finding a role as a runner.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: WILDE FRY.COM

N I DA M A N ZO OR // I N T E RV I EW

J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

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HOW W E A R E LA DY PA RT S ST RUC K A C HOR D We Are Lady Parts, an anarchic, joyful comedy about an all-girl Muslim punk band, is inspired by Manzoor’s life, her experiences and people she knows and loves. It was a “total privilege” to bring those people to screen, she says.

It was a daunting experience to helm a major six-part comedy but the opportunity to have her voice heard helped keep Manzoor focused on the mission at hand. “It just felt so right,” she says. ê, IHOW OLNH WKH ĆUVW WLPH , ZDV DOORZHG WR OHDQ LQWR what I wanted to say, and explore aspects of my identity I didn’t think I could.”

7KH VKRZ ZDV DOVR RQH RI WKH ĆUVW VFULSWHG SURMHFWV WR ĆOP GXULQJ WKH SDQGHPLF DQG Manzoor praises the Working Title production team and crew for creating Covid-safe solutions that meant she didn’t have to compromise her vision for the show: “They enabled me to create exactly what I wanted to create.”

Manzoor was pleasantly surprised that US streamer Peacock, which like Working Title is part of NBC Universal, joined C4 as a co-pro partner –“Because I really feel like I write ‘British comedy’,” she says. But she was even more pleasantly surprised when the on-demand service did not demand tonal or stylistic changes – perhaps another sign of how British television comedy is growing in stature in the US. She had feared the worst but is quick to report otherwise. “I was wrong in my assumption,” she says. “Peacock has been very supportive, thoughtful and respectful and felt very in tune with C4. I feel lucky that I didn’t have to choose the US over the UK.”

bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

“I’m in a position now where I’m able to pitch original ideas with more confidence. I’m getting really interesting offers” Nida Manzoor

She soon secured Film London funding for a project – “That was the calling card for me” – and before long, she gained experience as a director’s assistant before landing a writing gig at CBBC. “Being in a writers’ room with a bunch of kids’ writers thinking up fantastical things was where I realised writing could be really fun,” she says.

Then came the Broadcast Hot Shot selection, which helped her win comedy writing work, before she got her first directing role on Kayode Ewumi’s BBC3 comedy Enterprice. She credits Ewumi for expanding her understanding of what comedy could be. “He is much more physical in his comedy, whereas I always thought it had to be all about the dialogue,” she says.

Support came from the likes of Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall, who Manzoor thanks for “creating a nurturing environment” around the BBC juggernaut, adding: “Everyone was so open to my ideas.”

Perhaps that support fuelled Manzoor’s belief that progress on diversity is beginning to be made at industry level. When asked about the opportunities for both women and people of colour in comedy, she replies simply: “I’m hopeful.”

She references the rise of fellow writers Michaela Coel, Issa Rae, Rose Matafeo and former creative partner Ewumi, and says: “It’s exciting to be part of this new wave of artists coming through.”

N I DA M A N ZO OR // I N T E RV I EW

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SU R I A N F L ETC H E R-JON E S: N U RT U R I NG A V I V I D V ISION

These young creatives are building a support network together. Manzoor calls Starstruck writer Matafeo “immensely charming” and describes Coel – whose 2018 MacTaggart lecture jolted the industry – as an inspiration who has been “incredibly supportive”.

She is hopeful their growing influence on the UK’s comedy commissioners will encourage more voices into the space. As such, she’d like We Are Lady Parts to play a role and “add to what it means to be a person of colour, a brown woman and a Muslim woman”.

Reaching for the stars For Manzoor, getting We Are Lady Parts away on a terrestrial broadcaster has freed her from the potential shackles of being pigeon-holed into writing stories about race or religion. “I’m in a position now where I’m able to pitch original ideas with more confidence,” she says. “I’ve felt a shift – I’m getting really cool and interesting offers.”

She is currently working on a feminist actioncomedy feature film with Working Title and is getting offers to direct projects in her beloved sci-fi space.

Her ambition is to use these genres to showcase narratives of under-represented groups.

And setting her sights beyond the stratosphere, she has an ultimate ambition: “I want to go into space,” she says. With the start she’s made, few would bet against that wish coming true.

“I’ve worked in TV for nearly 20 years and it’s the first time I’ve made a show with a person who is the same colour as me” Surian Fletcher-Jones Working Title TV

Above (l-r): Anjana Vasan (Amina), Juliette Motamed (Ayesha), Sarah Kameela Impey (Saira), Faith Omole (Bisma); Anjana Vasan; Lucie Shorthouse (Momtaz)

Surian Fletcher-Jones immediately saw the potential of We Are Lady Parts when Manzoor pitched it to Working Title Television. “It was so visceral, extraordinarily vivid and beautiful,” says the indie’s head of development.

With Manzoor screenwriting’s skills still developing, ex-Channel 4 drama development head Fletcher-Jones “incubated” the project to give it its best shot, and scripts were bounced back and forth for a couple of years as the show found its feet.

During this period, Manzoor worked on other programmes, learning from others and honing her craft. “She would disappear for a couple of months and come back to the show with all this newfound knowledge,” says Fletcher-Jones.

By the time We Are Lady Parts was ready to take to market, Manzoor was already hot property.

It was initially commissioned as a Channel 4 Blap titled Lady Parts, which Fletcher-Jones says acted as a freeing experience for Manzoor, allowing her to sign up those she wanted to work with most. This empowered her to hire women – and women of colour.

“It’s been a really happy experience,” says Fletcher-Jones, who like Manzoor is BritishAsian. “I’ve worked in TV for nearly 20 years and LWèV WKH ĆUVW WLPH ,èYH PDGH D VKRZ ZLWK D SHUVRQ who is the same colour as me.”

J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

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HOW CASUALTY TOOK THE LEAD ON REPRESENTATION The team behind a groundbreaking episode with a deaf director, writers and actors discuss how it came about and what it means for the industry. ;vv; )_b o1h reports

John Maidens A profoundly deaf, award-winning director with credits on shows such as Father Brown and Holby City, and co-chair of Directors’ UK’s Disability Working Group

Charlie Swinbourne Screenwriter with credits on series such as EastEnders and Moving On, and an RTS Yorkshire Writer award recipient for ƉƇƈҚ vh;|1_ v;ub;v Deaf Funny

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ong-running BBC soap Casualty made history on 11 July 2020, when the 36th episode of its 34th series aired. It was the drama’s first episode after a pandemic-enforced six-week break and the first in British television history to be written and directed by deaf people, with a largely deaf cast.

The storyline, which featured nurse Jade (Gabriella Leon) meeting her birth mother for the first time since she was three, was groundbreaking and demonstrated what the deaf community can deliver on and off screen. The team behind the episode, which was nominated for a Rose D’Or, reunited at the recent online Creative Cities Convention to discuss its production and impact, as well as the future of disability representation in television.

CHARLIE SWINBOURNE The last time we all spoke was about six months ago, so it’s really nice to see the three of you again and to be reunited to talk about the episode, which is very dear to all of us. It was pretty special episode on several fronts, and the night that it went out and the reaction to it were special too.

GABRIELLA LEON One of the reasons it’s so special is the authentic experience of Jade, this loveable character – who is not only a deaf woman but a nurse – on the most important day of her life: meeting her birth mother again after years

bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

apart. It was about sharing that experience with the audience. It is a beautiful story that feels so intimate and it’s still one of my proudest achievements on Casualty.

CS The first time I met Loretta Preece, who is the story producer on Casualty, she was working on Doctors and I was part of the BBC Writersroom access group. Later, she had moved to Casualty in Cardiff and emailed me to say Gaby had suggested something around Jade’s character and to ask if I could help, which is how I came to co-write the episode with the very talented Sophie Woolley, another deaf writer.

We met with the team in Cardiff and talked about stories and ideas – what if Jade’s birth mother was also deaf? What if she used sign language and they couldn’t just communicate straight away with one another?

JOHN MAIDENS For me, receiving such a strong story of a genuine human experience was a gift. The challenge was how to tell that story.

Technically, you have the visual and audio elements, and Dafydd and Loretta were open to pushing boundaries and giving the viewers a sense of what it’s like to be Jade – and so we coined the phrase ‘Jade’s World’.

CS Loretta’s vision of having an episode with deaf people involved at the highest level on a deaf storyline made it so authentic.

That’s why this episode got so much attention from people.

DAFYDD LLEWELYN One of most the interesting elements and discussions was over whether or not we were going to be bold enough to take the audience into Jade’s World, whether it would make certain members of the

“Just being in a room full of deaf creatives and people with disabilities gave me this new level of confidence.

I’d never felt more myself” Gabriella Leon Actor

CA SUA LT Y // ROU N DTA B L E

25

Gabriella Leon Actor with moderate/ sever hearing loss who plays Casualty’s Cuv| u;] Ѵ-u 7;-= character, Jade Lovall

Dafydd Llewleyn Writer and producer working on BBC shows such as Pobol y Cwm and Casualty

audience uncomfortable, and whether it would make people switch off. But Loretta was determined from the outset that she wanted it to be real.

Working as a team

GL Look what you can achieve if you give people with disabilities the opportunity to tell their own stories. Let’s see more of people’s individual experiences. Just being in a room full of deaf creatives and people with disabilities gave me this new level of confidence. I’d never felt more myself.

CS When you work together, you feel more secure – “I’m not the only one who’s different and we’re all doing this together”. It felt like a real bond between us and we had so much support to tell the story our way. Going forward, that’s what the industry should be looking at, when it’s thinking

“When you’re a deaf person involved with a deaf storyline, you feel responsible.

That community is very aware of how it’s portrayed” Charlie Swinbourne Writer

about diversity generally; it’s not about just parachuting in one person. Let’s get teams of people working together to create something that’s more than the sum of its parts.

DL Did you feel more of a pressure or responsibility because of the nature of the storyline that we were telling?

CS Yeah, for sure. My parents are deaf, my wife’s deaf and I’ve got lots of deaf friends. When you’re a deaf person involved with a deaf storyline, you feel responsible because you know that almost everyone you are close to will watch it and let you know what they think. That community can be quite sensitive because it is marginalised and is very aware of how it’s portrayed.

DL John, moving onto the more technical side of the episode, would you like to elaborate on how you went about ensuring Jade’s story

Above: the episode centred on the reunion of Jade (Gabriella Leon, right) with her mother (Sophie Leigh Stone, centre)

J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

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CA SUA LT Y // ROU N DTA B L E

Above: Casualty crew use sign language

was conveyed in an effective and true manner?

JM This was a process of trial and error. We did some camera tests and tried different things, but I knew from the off that I wanted to be as close to Jade as possible visually. Going wider and in close with the lens really puts you in the character’s bubble, but you’re still able to see the world around them. It meant Gaby being literally a few inches away from the camera lens – walking and acting – and that’s no mean feat.

The result is that you never quite leave the character and every flicker of a thought, every little look, every little dip in confidence comes through the camera. Gaby controlled that fantastically – it’s so easy to get wrong.

We used Cooke lenses, which many directors and cinematographers around the world adore for various reasons. Daf and Loretta sanctioned us to spend extra on specific ones, which give a shallow, soft-focus feel.

DL What about the audio?

“From a purely selfish point of view, I wanted it to be an experience that showed what people with disability can actually achieve” Dafydd Llewleyn Producer

27

JM It was slightly more complicated.

Normally, it is recorded clean and then you lay it up in the dub and mix it. We wanted to create a more 3D, 360-degree sound – left and right, front and back, present and far.

We work closely with a specialist at BBC Research and Development, who recommend using a binaural head, which is basically a dummy head with microphones in the ears. Your ears are anatomically designed to capture sound but because it deflects off your head, or through your hair, or from a certain angle, those sounds change and this binaural head was meant to capture that.

When we tested it for the first time, the sound supervisor said they couldn’t record it, because it was so wild and you could hear people everywhere. We took it to the post-production department, which ran tests and confirmed it could clean up what we didn’t want to hear and keep everything else.

Then, of course, the sound would get rerecorded through hearing aids to replicate that sound.

Impact and aspirations

DL When I was told that I was working on this block and what the theme and the storyline would be, I was super excited – it was a challenge in the sense that I was keen to ensure authenticity. From a purely selfish point of view, I wanted it to be an experience that showed what people with disability can actually achieve.

Within the industry at the moment, there is perhaps more of a recognition that people with disability have roles to play, but it’s still a big challenge because there are barriers, such as people thinking that hiring people with a disability is an additional financial cost and being unsure whether it’s going to be practical. That is partly born out of fear, a lack of education and a lack of ambition as well. In fairness to Loretta, she gave us all the opportunity to disprove all those myths from day one.

J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

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CA SUA LT Y // ROU N DTA B L E

Above: John Maidens and sign-language interpreter Tracey Arrowsmith on set

The show is a symbol of what we can achieve when we work together and it hopefully shows the general public that disability is nothing to fear – you should embrace it, as it’s just part of life.

One of the nicest experiences I had on this block was during the camera test days. The actors and director all had their interpreters with them and, at one stage, I was the only one on the studio floor in complete silence, because everyone was communicating with one another via sign language.

I was just looking in, thinking to myself: “This is so brilliant.” I didn’t understand a word that was going on, but it was such a beautiful image.

CS This episode was a big breakthrough for my career. I’m now hoping to develop series or longer-form pieces of drama and comedy that go deeper into expressing part of the deaf world I’ve grown up in. I’m also working on non-deaf projects as well, and I really hope that people can see what I can do.

Those doors are opening up and episodes like this are showing people

“In drama you always want a character who is flawed, and often people make the mistake of thinking that the disability is the flaw. It’s not, it’s our strength John Maidens Director

29

the evidence of it – we were probably waiting for the opportunity. I just hope we can push forward and be seen as equals within the industry – seen for what we can do, what we can give and what we can bring.

GL For me, on the acting side, it’s about being put up for roles that don’t orbit around the fact that I’m deaf and wear hearing aids – classic, nondisabled roles. Charlie is right that the doors are opening but that’s only because we’re kicking them down.

There is more understanding now and people are more open to hiring people with disabilities. We all have to remember that we aren’t people who are disabled, but that the world disables us. If disability was really treated equally and we had true equity among people in the industry, it wouldn’t even be a thing. It’d just be so normal and we would have been championing these stories years ago.

That’s what we need.

Give us the platform to tell our own stories, but also exist in a world that doesn’t revolve around what our access needs are, or our personal experience and how we’re affected by it. This is just life for us.

JM Charlie and Gaby have put it so eloquently, I couldn’t really say more.

We are human beings, but our stories are so different, unique and enriching, challenging and moving in ways you cannot possibly imagine. They need to be heard.

In the way that the brilliant Russell T Davies has really pushed the boundaries since Queer As Folk and made huge audiences understand what it’s like to be gay, there’s that scope now for people who are deaf.

It doesn’t have to exist in a kind of microcosm or be ghettoised as a curio thing that you commission every once in a while – it should be mainstream.

It’s about the human being, and the disability is just part of them, not the object of the fascination.

In drama, you always want a character who is flawed, and often people make the mistake of thinking that the disability is the flaw. It’s not, it’s our strength.

J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

30

HOW NETFLIX IS LOOKING AFTER CAST AND CREW

broadc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

N ET F L I X // A NA LYS I S

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nterviews are often cancelled at short notice due to wider events in the industry, so Broadcast half expects Netflix to pull the plug on our conversation about production staff wellbeing, which takes place days after allegations emerge about Noel Clarke.

While the SVoD giant is not implicated in the claims, which Clarke denies, the level of scrutiny surrounding the welfare of staff has never been higher. But rather than shy away from addressing what remains a super-sensitive topic, Netflix director of production HR Emma Murphy is happy to tackle it head on. She says such incidents can shine a light on the worst extremes of on-set behaviour and help ensure history does not repeat itself.

“When high-profile issues like this come up, it really reminds everybody that there is still so much work to do,” she says. “As an industry, we have moved in the right direction since the issues that kicked off the #MeToo movement, but we still constantly ask ourselves what we should be doing to ensure that people feel safe on set.”

She highlights an anonymous hotline that Netflix has set up, so staff working on its shows can raise any problems. “We need to know about the issues so we can deal with them. It helps us to see what is happening on productions where people feel like they can’t name themselves.”

Confronting workplace issues That is just one tool in Murphy’s arsenal to help her build a better working environment for external staff on Netflix shows. Inspired by the #MeToo movement, activity in the corporate world and Netflix’s international efforts, Murphy is building a London-based team as the SVoD’s push into UK originals gathers pace. “We are at the beginning of a journey to make sure we have people on the ground looking at issues as they come up,” she says.

The ambition is to head off problems through a combination of messaging, open discussions and clearly communicated protocols – but such tactics are not fail-safe and no production or broadcaster is immune. So what are the issues that can crop up?

“Productions can be quite intense environments, with a lot of different personalities operating in quite a hierarchical way. Sometimes abuse of power comes with that,” she says. “In the past, people have talked about bullying and harassment issues. We also want to ensure that people are treated fairly in terms of inclusivity and diversity.”

“We have to try to change the whole environment and culture on set” Emma Murphy Netflix

;[Ĺ 1_-ub| "|om; -ѴѴ helped to educate the crew on LGBTQ+ drama Heartstopper

31

The impact on staff’s mental health as they return to work post-lockdown has also been a recent consideration (see box below).

While Murphy considers the production sector to be a “microcosm” of society that is similar to other work environments, she does identify one crucial difference: the volume of freelance staff employed.

“Freelancers are particularly vulnerable,” she says.

“One challenge is that they worry whether they will find another job if they raise an issue. We have to try to change the whole environment and culture on set to encourage people to come forward – but sometimes they just want to get on with it and move onto the next job. Things won’t get better unless we address them.”

Dismissive of the existence of a silver bullet to solve such wide-ranging issues, Murphy says that establishing more production HR-focused teams across the industry would be one way to start tackling the problem.

“Time spent educating and talking about issues is also important,” she adds. “We need to make it clear that when they come up, they are dealt with and not just swept under the carpet for the sake of getting a show to screen. It’s about changing culture and having dedicated people on set who are equipped with the tools to deal with these things.”

She highlights that, in common with many industries, staff are promoted to senior roles because of their ability and may not necessarily receive wider training around leadership and staff welfare.

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J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

32

A NA LYS I S // N ET F L I X

DR K NA PI K’S TOP T I PS • uboubঞv; v;Ѵ=Ŋ1-u;Ĺ -h; |_bv - l-m7-|ou r-u| o= o u 7-bѴ uo ঞm;ĺ $_bv 1o Ѵ7 0; ‘mindful moments’ during a 0u;-h ou v;মm] -vb7; ঞl; |_-| bv f v| =ou o uv;Ѵ=ĺ • "Ѵo 7o mĹ [;u 0;bm] bvoѴ-|;7 =ou vol; ঞl;ķ |_;u; bv - m-| u-Ѵ 7ub ; |o ]o -v =-v| -v rovvb0Ѵ;ĺ 7f vঞm] |o |_;v; m; ;m buoml;m|v bѴѴ |-h; ঞl;ķ -m7 o l v| -ѴѴo |_bv ঞl; =ou o uv;Ѵ=ĺ • ";Ѵ=Ŋ1olr-vvbomĹ Be kind |o o uv;Ѵ=ĺ = |_bm]v -u; lou; 1_-ѴѴ;m]bm] |_-m o ; r;1|;7 -m7 o 0;1ol; =u v|u-|;7ķ u;lbm7 o uv;Ѵ= |_-| |_bv bv -ѴѴ vঞѴѴ ;u m; ĺ

“The best work is done when people are able to show up to work as their true, authentic self” Emma Murphy Netflix

0o ;Ĺ ; Ѵb _;Ѵr;7 the cast of Top Boy with handling their social media presence bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

“We try to equip them with the skills and the right tools to deal with issues as they come up,” she says.

Production HR manager Dave Botell is among the six UK members of Murphy’s team who work with indies following a Netflix commission. He will gauge the level of input required at the start of the production and set out the resources available – often this will include a preliminary, bespoke Respect At… session, in which the major topics, storylines and potential issues will be discussed – before acting as an on-set sounding board for all staff.

A good example is See Saw Films’ adaptation of Alice Oseman’s graphic novel Heartstopper, about a romance between two boys who meet at school, for which Netflix drafted in charity Stonewall to help educate crew on the LGBTQ+ environment in schools.

“There is a lot of intersectionality that goes into the characters on that show, so we want to ensure it is made in an inclusive environment,” says Botell. “It is important that the crew understand the background of the stories that are being told, and we create an allyship mentality on set to ensure that people are respectful with things like their use of pronouns.”

The ambition is to make the set a ‘safe space’ for all involved.

Murphy says broadcasters (she is including Netflix in that catch-all term) cannot simply assume that everyone working on a show is au fait with the latest terminology. “Freelancers go from production to production and work in lots of different environments.

It isn’t necessarily the case that everyone has had these conversations and is talking about these things, so how can we make sure that everyone on this show feels respected? The best work is done when people are able to show up to work as their true, authentic self.”

Other areas for consideration include ensuring on-screen talent is given the support to prepare them for when they go from “unknown to famous” overnight. That was a key issue for co-producer Tina Pawlik, who worked on the fourth series of Cowboy Films’ Top Boy. Pawlik says she worked with Netflix to help the cast consider how to handle their social media presence. “For every individual that tells them they are amazing, another will say the opposite,” she says. “That really affects people’s mental health.”

Pandemic productions

Pawlik also cites Covid-19 as a huge factor in the production. Filming on location around London under lockdown caused tensions as staff fears about returning to work were exacerbated by the reaction of some locals. “People were nervous, so we made a conscious effort to create a safe space,” she says.

She was grateful that Murphy’s team was on hand to help share the burden. This included a talk from a psychologist and up to six counselling sessions for staff, some of whom had suffered bereavements due to the pandemic.

At a time when staff welfare is being widely reappraised, perhaps the best chance of achieving lasting change is the business case underpinning it. Netflix is not merely acting altruistically but believes it is building a stronger company as a result of its investment.

Murphy sets out her underlying motives. “We want to be the studio of choice for the most talented people so when they work with us they can create stuff in a way that makes them feel good,” she says.

“It’s the right thing to do, but there is also a business driver behind it too.”

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DELIVERING MARKET LEADING MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT DEALS & ŝƐ ƚŚĞ ůĞĂĚŝŶŐ /ŶƚĞƌŶĂƟŽŶĂů /ŶǀĞƐƚŵĞŶƚ ĂŶŬ͕ ƐƉĞĐŝĂůŝƐĞĚ ŝŶ ƐĞůůŝŶŐ͕ ďƵLJŝŶŐ͕ ĨƵŶĚƌĂŝƐŝŶŐ and ƉŽƐƚ ĚĞĂů ƐĞƌǀŝĐĞƐ ĨŽƌ ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐĞƐ ŝŶ ŵĞĚŝĂ ĂŶĚ ĞŶƚĞƌƚĂŝŶŵĞŶƚ͘ A SELECTION OF OUR DEALS Broke & Bones

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FIVE ‘TO DOS’ FOR RECRUITING IN A POST-COVID WORLD

aking a targeted approach to recruitment, reaching out to new generations and promoting a positive working culture HYL HSS RL` [V ÄUKPUN [OL YPNO[ candidates, says recruitment expert Arnaud Doggett (pictured).

While a surge in broadcast hires over recent months demonstrates the resilience of the television sector, Covid-19 has also accelerated several industry trends that employees need to accommodate into their recruitment criteria.

Remote content creation, efforts to improve diversity and inclusion (D&I), the rise of the Z[YLHTLYZ HUK H UL^ PUÅ\_ VM Millennial and Gen Z employees are just some factors to consider, according to Doggett.

Doggett, who has worked in broadcast recruitment for more than a decade, says employers now have a responsibility to reset their recruitment messaging and the way they communicate their brand to potential candidates.

Here, Doggett outlines his [VW Ä]L º[V KVZ» MVY YLJY\P[PUN PU H post-Covid world:

Update and promote your D&I initiatives. More than 40% of candidates registered with Broadcastjobs.com in 2021 identify as being from under-represented NYV\WZ +VNNL[[ ZH`Z [OH[ P[»Z [PTL for companies to build on existing good practices and to advertise any D&I initiatives. “Make your job adverts do the talking and ensure they are centred on this policy rather than a list of required experience,” he advises.

Recruitment ads must be [HYNL[LK [V ZWLJPÄJ YLSL]HU[ audiences and pushed out and promoted through other platforms, Z\JO HZ [OL YLJY\P[TLU[ JVTWHU`»Z UL^ZSL[[LYZ HUK ISVNZ HUK HMÄSPH[LK social media outlets. /PNOSPNO[ ÅL_PISL ^VYRPUN Working from home has gone from being a senior staff perk to a necessity for all and this will likely become an expectation in the future. ¸>OPSL P[»Z UV[ WVZZPISL [V VMMLY YLTV[L working in all roles, job specs containing an element of remote content creation or hybrid working practices should be highlighted, with the messaging for both onsite and

YLTV[L YLX\PYLTLU[Z JSLHYS` KLÄULK ¹ says Doggett.

Firms should also put changes in policy or investments in remote work-enabling tech front and centre.

A quality-over-quantity approach. >OPSL [OLYL»Z T\JO pent-up demand for staff right now, NLULYPJ QVI ZP[LZ VM[LU HYLU»[ [OL most effective approach for broadcastZWLJPÄJ QVI VWWVY[\UP[PLZ ZH`Z +VNNL[[ ;OL ILULÄ[ VM \ZPUN HU industry-focused recruitment platform and targeted advertising is that “employers are assured applicants will have broadcast-relevant skills, ^OPSL JHUKPKH[LZ HYL JVUÄKLU[ [OL`»YL HWWS`PUN MVY \W [V KH[L YVSLZ with trusted brands”.

Doggett says trends such as streaming platform growth and intermixing of content production and content distribution create new job roles and skills requirements that are best handled by sites aligned with the sector, which can offer up relevant candidates and subscribers. ,TIYHJL 4PSSLUUPHSZ HUK Gen-Z. 0[»Z [PTL [V Z[HY[ [HRPUN action and ensuring that your

company culture welcomes new generations of talent, says Doggett.

“Millennials and their younger siblings in Gen-Z are already dominating the workplace and when I interview candidates from these demographics, a high-priority question is where their potential employer stands on key social issues such as sustainability or employee wellbeing. ¸0[ JHU»[ Q\Z[ IL Å\MM MVY [OLZL guys. Any recruitment campaign reaching out to this tech-savvy demographic must communicate OV^ ^VYR WYVJLZZLZ VMÄJL culture and revenue generation align with their perspectives and experiences.”

Nail and promote your USP HZ HU LTWSV`LY IYHUK Large platforms such as LinkedIn often Z[Y\NNSL [V WYVTV[L `V\Y JVTWHU`»Z ILULÄ[Z HSVUNZPKL [OVZL VM O\NL budget employers, says Doggett.

However, posting positive data and reviews about your reputation as an employer to targeted candidates will always trump a free breakfast or a ILHUIHN ÄSSLK IYLHRV\[ YVVT According to a Glassdoor Harris poll, 83% of employees research company reviews and ratings before deciding to HWWS` MVY QVIZ ZV P[»Z YLHSS` [PTL [V ZPUN about your Return to Work training programme or that Broadcast Best Place to Work in TV rating.

Arnaud Doggett is the owner of recruitment site Broadcastjobs.com (formerly Broadcastjobs.co.uk)

JA M E S BU R STA L L // COM M E N T

Be nimble and open-minded to thrive in changing times Argonon will adapt to new platforms, content providers and shifts in consumer behaviour as it enters its second decade, says James Burstall

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Below: Leopard Pictures’ Worzel Gummidge

rgonon was launched 10 years ago this month, with the ambition of growing from a small independent – a lone wolf battling in the wilderness – to something more substantial and collegiate. The twin pillars on which the group has been built are long-running returning series - the bedrock of any production business and signature pieces, critical to creative reputation. They remain important today but the next decade will bring opportunities across a booming, burgeoning and broadening entertainment ecology.

Ironically, the roots for future growth and opportunity were sown in last year’s March lockdown, when the industry faced an existential threat. The pandemic forced us to take a new perspective, as the industry shifted forward 10 years in the snap of a clapperboard.

With businesses and individuals plunged headlong into a new virtual world, communication was simplified,

literally overnight. Want to direct a series in 12 countries around the world from your apartment? Grab 15 minutes to speak to a commissioner in LA later that day? Edit an entire series from home? No problem.

The years ahead will bring unprecedented disruption, with shifts in consumer behaviour, the integration of platforms and new content players entering the market – so what does that mean for production companies? And what do we need to do now to set ourselves up for success?

For a business of our size (eight labels, circa £60m turnover), we faced a sliding-doors moment. Should we hunker down and survive the storm, or adjust our sails and plot a new course?

We chose the latter.

Our first strategic decision was to invest. Not just in talent (Studio Leo’s Claire Collinson-Jones; Leopard USA’s Lindsay Schwartz), but also providing our indies with the resources and support to take them to the next level.

In scripted, Leopard Pictures has demonstrated its huge potential with the critically acclaimed Worzel Gummidge and other soon-to-be-announced projects. But in an incredibly competitive

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market, in which rivals have very deep pockets, we need to create the right environment – one where A-list writers can see their work go straight into funded development or even to script.

They can bring their work to us, or one of the major international studios where the wheels turn more slowly.

The second pillar is diversification.

As UK commercial channels struggle with long-term budget declines, collaborations with brands can help fund their creative aspirations.

“The pandemic forced us to take a new perspective, as the industry shifted forward 10 years in the snap of a clapperboard” Brands are looking to move into long-form and we can offer worldbeating narrative storytellers with access to all the networks. The addition of branded content firm Nemorin creates a multi-faceted group that can make any content across any platform, on any budget, for any length, anywhere in the world. We have just secured a multimillion, multi-year contract with a major international company that will unleash Argonon’s creative talent in this space. Branded content sits alongside our other genres with equal standing.

Our third key focus is international growth. We aim to acquire a new US business and grow our LA hub, aligning with the big content players’ HQs. We will keep our base and operation in New York, but LA will become the heartland of our US business.

The obstacles? Ever-increasing competition for ideas, commissions and talent. The good news? There are more platforms and players than ever that want to commission content, in both the entertainment and branded spaces.

And what can we expect to see? A shift to very high-end, premium content at one end of the scale and longerrunning, lower-cost content at the other – much of which will be branded.

Indies will need to be nimble to adapt to an ever-changing marketplace and open to new ways of working.

James Burstall is chief executive of Argonon J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

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NAVIGATING PAST THE PANDEMIC The chief executives of Channel 4 and All3Media kicked off Broadcast/ Screen’s Restart virtual conference with a discussion about the postCovid future. Max Goldbart reports

bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

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lex Mahon and Jane Turton spoke at the Restart conference in May about Covid-induced working patterns and their impact on staff wellbeing, along with other prominent topics such as bullying, harassment and the need to make disability a far greater priority. They also considered the impact of the streaming giants and mulled how broadcasters and indies can share creative and commercial risk.

How has the past 15 months changed Channel 4 and All3Media, what will the organisations do differently post-pandemic, and what might revert back?

ALEX MAHON We’ve come forward about a decade, and we did it all in a snap. We have learned how to manage

people better – rather than just checking they’re at their desk, we actually set objectives and work out how they can be more active. That is probably a big piece of progress we needed to make in TV anyway.

Channel 4 has been more accessible so there has been this geo-levelling effect of being able to have meetings and making sure they start and finish on time. In our latest accessibility survey, we found we have become faster and more accessible, which has been particularly pronounced for out-of-London indies. People feel there is no longer some special London club. We were going that way anyway, but Zoom culture has sped it up.

JANE TURTON Globally, access is easier – you don’t have to get a flight and land at LAX and pitch in someone’s office.

We’ve also learned to be a bit more

A L E X M A HON & JA N E T U RT ON // I N CON V E R SAT ION

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compassionate – and I hope that’s permanent. We have seen people’s lives on screen, their puppies, kids and partners, giving us a sense of what is going on behind the scenes, which I hope has made us more understanding.

But there are negative things, too.

I question the industry’s productivity and some of the statements about it.

Plus, we’ve probably made the odd mistake that would have been picked up if we were all in the same room – but with 15 iterations of a deck whizzing back and forth on PowerPoint, you just miss it.

What about your offices? Has the pandemic altered C4’s attitude towards Horseferry Road?

AM I don’t want to make decisions too fast. What we’ve seen in staff surveys is people really wanted to come to the office, then they didn’t want to, and now they kind of want to again. As soon as we understand what people want, then we can go from there. [Our Leeds HQ] the Majestic is opening in the next few months and we’ve massively reduced the desk ratio [in favour of communal, collaborative work space].

How has the pandemic altered appetites for content? Is there going to be a polarisation between super-premium content and lower-tariff shows, or a move to produce shows quicker?

JT Just because something is expensive doesn’t mean it’s popular.

Some of our stuff in the digital space is relatively low budget but incredibly popular, and the soaps are so much cheaper than, say, The Crown.

What we have seen is the blurring of genre edges. We’re doing a lot more drama-doc hybrids, a lot more feature docs and more scripted reality. Some of those boundaries are no longer there. Maybe because indies have had more time to develop during Covid, they are experimenting more.

AM The reason we ended up growing share last year was because we were more reactive to what was going on in the country. We did people

cooking at home, crafting and cleaning their homes. It was fresh and cheap, but mainly it was reactive to what viewers were actually going through. We’ve been putting viewers at the heart of what we’re doing and thinking about the audience more directly.

We’ve had good feedback about making decisions faster and we’ve learned lessons from introducing commissioning rounds.

The industry has been in the spotlight as a result of sexual harassment and bullying. How challenging is it to ensure C4 and All3’s values translate into the experience of people at the coalface of production?

AM We have an industry with lots of powerful people on set and one

“We ended up growing share last year because we were reactive to what was going on in the country” Alex Mahon Channel 4 Above: Alex Mahon (left) and Jane Turton speak at the virtual Restart conference J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

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that is largely staffed by freelancers, who are the backbone. And if you are a freelancer, you are often worried about your next job. Bad behaviour can easily go under the radar due to that imbalance and the onus is on us to make sure it doesn’t.

One of the big things we’ve done in the past year is create our whistleblowing hotline and make sure it’s on every call sheet. We have to continue to come up with other mechanisms all the time to give people the chance to report in a way that feels protected.

JT Some of the things Meriel Beale at Bectu has exposed are shocking – someone said they would throw themself under a bus just so they had an excuse not to go to work. It’s terrifying it would get to that stage.

It all comes down to leadership.

When people come forward, they need to know they won’t suffer some negative repercussion, because that has been a big problem in the past, and there’s also a commercial imperative to get it right. People who are unhappy and want to leave are not good for business.

We’ve launched Workplace, a Facebook product that ties the group together from a communication perspective. And we’d very much like freelancers to use that as well so there is a sense of belonging.

What can the industry do to put some momentum into improving inclusion around disability?

AM Disability has been left behind [in the diversity debate] and has become a real problem in our industry.

Disabled people make up roughly 17% of the population and the latest stats show they account for just 5.5% of the off-screen workforce, so the evidence shows we’re doing woefully.

The will is there from indies but not necessarily the knowledge, so they often do things that are quite ableist. We at C4 are the changemakers and are meant to be first on these things, so we have hired disability lead Ally Castle, who is doing a bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

brilliant job. We need to think about how we can make people aware and make our industry more inclusive.

JT Do some of our adaptations through Covid show how fast we can change on areas like disability if we have the right emphasis?

AM Yes, completely. What happened with Black Lives Matter showed us how rapidly we can create interventions. There’s a lack of knowledge about things like adapting roles or office set-ups. People make assumptions about wheelchair accessibility and that’s about where they stop thinking about it. There’s a huge group of people working on this and we need to give them a platform.

C4 has unveiled a digital-first strategy. Jane, does that impact how All3 works with it?

JT It does factor into the thinking.

Any conversation you have with a commissioning team you’re discussing editorial but also the way the consumer watches the content – the economics of it. But we don’t develop ideas thinking “this one is designed so that it goes on a scheduled weekly transmission basis”. For us, everything is digital and everything is being viewed across multiple platforms.

AM We now have a set of release patterns and we’ll select which one to use based on how we can best market the show and how the audience might want to watch it.

This year, we’ll have about 70 titles that are released at once [at point of first TX] and at the moment about 20% of total viewing is streaming.

We’re aiming to get that to 30% and if it grows faster, then great.

Who are All3Media’s number one customers or priority partners?

JT Five years ago, the biggest slice of the pie by a long shot would have been C4 but we’re much broader now in terms of coverage of different platforms, and that is a positive. The amount PSBs spend on content won’t really go up, so we rely heavily on money coming in from new entrants.

20% Share of total Channel 4 viewing via streaming

Above: Derry Girls’ distinctiveness has helped it become a big hit internationally

I also think the whole ‘global vs British’ thing is fascinating. How can C4 as a strong British PSB respond to the global nature of this multiplatform world?

AM We did a big piece of research last year because I was fascinated by what people were getting emotionally from Netflix or Amazon compared with the PSBs. We’re looking at the world from the view of a show like Gogglebox.

It’s not about being parochial with British concerns, nor about being nationalistic, but it’s about the perspective and the starting place – it’s why shows like Derry Girls work incredibly well internationally. I do think it’s something that we have to take into account when we think of the distinctiveness that consumers expect from us.

A L E X M A HON & JA N E T U RT ON // I N CON V E R SAT ION

“The amount PSBs spend on content won’t really go up, so we rely heavily on money coming in from new entrants” Jane Turton All3Media

JT It sounds like belonging is part of the answer, isn’t it? Whether it’s belonging to a country or a cohort or community, or whatever.

AM Viewers recognise that. Even when you look at our acquisitions, shows such as The Handmaid’s Tale chime with a British sensibility. We have to be clear with our taste palette and find things that feel ‘C4’, because people need to see why a show would come from us.

Building the indie community and creative exports is a fundamental part of Channel 4’s role. If you pull that apart, you’re not C4 any more.

The terms of trade are so important to the UK creative economy but I do think there are ways broadcasters and indies can work as a bit more of a partnership, which means taking more risk.

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JT I think you can do even more.

If you properly harness the creative community in the UK and get commercially creative brains back into the funding of some of that content, you can take it to the next level. And the fact that you don’t have in-house production is helpful.

AM Making things stand out is difficult. Consumers are overwhelmed by choice and they fear committing to the wrong thing, so they revert to the familiar. Big things get bigger, fresh new things are harder to land – but we all want them.

Restart is a virtual free-to-attend conference for Broadcast subscribers looking at how the future of the screen industries is being reshaped. Visit: broadcastnow.co.uk/restart-conference to view the full video of Alex Mahon and Jane Turton – and many more sessions J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

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BUGS, MEERKATS AND MUSIC ICONS uol 1omf ubm] r 1o1huo-1_;v |o u;lo|; ruo7 1ঞomķ u;1u;-ঞm] (b1|oub-m om7om -m7 ]u-7bm] -u1_b ; =oo|-];ķ Jake Bickerton looks at some of UK post houses’ best recent work

TO O C LOSE

PRODUCTION "mo ;7Ŋ m uo7 1ঞomv VFX Lexhag VFX WATCH IT $( Ѵ- ;u

LEXHAG VFX USED its newly created 1Ѵo 7Ŋ0-v;7 v| 7bo |o 0 bѴ7 u;-Ѵbvঞ1Ŋ looking creatures and generate complex r-uঞ1Ѵ; vbl Ѵ-ঞom u;m7;uv =ou $(Ľv psychological drama Too Close. "mo ;7Ŋ m uo7 1ঞomv 0uo ]_| bm ; _-] 7 ubm] ru;Ŋruo7 1ঞom |o ru;Ŋ bv and create concept images to ensure complicated VFX sequences could be rѴ-mm;7 -m7 1-r| u;7 ;L1b;m|Ѵ ĺ VFX supervisors were also on set to -7 bv; |_; ruo7 1ঞom |;-l -m7 1-r| u; all the data required to complete shots bm rov|Ŋruo7 1ঞomĺ m om; v1;m;ķ ommb; ŐrѴ- ;7 0 ;mbv; Gough) experiences a swarm of bugs

bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

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-m7 lo ;l;m|ĺ | |_;m v;7 - ruo1;vv 1-ѴѴ;7 ļuo|ol-ঞomĽ |o l-|1_ |_; geometry of Connie’s body when viewed through the camera. $_; 0 ]v ;u; -77;7 |o |_; v_o|v to line up with the real legs and arms v;;m bm |_; Cm-Ѵ v_o|vĺ $_bv ruo1;vv involved the bugs being modelled and |_;m _-m7;7 o@ |o |_; -mbl-ঞom 7;r-u|l;m| |o v|-u| -mbl-ঞm] |_; crawl movements on Connie’s legs. )_bѴ; |_; -mbl-ঞomv ;u; 0;bm] ];m;u-|;7ķ |_; 0 ]v ;u; -Ѵvo 0;bm] textured and lit. Reference was taken =uol 1o1huo-1_ vr;1b;v m-ঞ ; |o |_; & and matched with the CG bugs.

P O ST-PRODUC T ION // C R E AT I V E R EV I EW

M E E R K AT M A NOR: R ISE OF T H E DY NAST Y

PRODUCTION =ou7 "1b;mঞC1 Films "$҃ PRODUCTION oѴ ঞomv WATCH IT l;ub1-

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|;-lv 1o Ѵ7 0-1h r l;7b-ķ 1u;-|; ruo b;v -m7 Ѵo] =oo|-]; -| |_; v-l; ঞl;ĺ m1; u v_;v -uub ;7 -| oѴ ঞomv bm om7omķ |_; ;7b| |;-l ;u; -0Ѵ; |o v|-u| 1 মm] v|u-b]_| - - ĺ $_; rov|Ŋruo7 1ঞom Cmbv_bm] -v 1olrѴ;|;7 -| oѴ ঞomvķ b|_ - -v;Ѵb]_| ]u-7; 0 1oѴo ubv| -uѴo - !boĺ mѴbm; was completed by Jonathan Field and a oѴ0 |lov - 7bo lb 0 b1_-;Ѵ )oo7ĺ ou |_; omѴbm;ķ oѴ ঞomv v- v |_; bulk of its work was resizing and further ;m_-m1bm] |_; rb1| u;vķ -v ;ѴѴ -v v|-0bѴbvbm] v_o|v |_-| ;u; CѴl;7 =uol -=-uĺ ou |_; -v;Ѵb]_| ]u-7;ķ oѴ ঞomv ouh;7 b|_ |_; m-| u-Ѵ Ѵb]_ঞm]ķ 7u-l-ঞvbm] loo7 -m7 |_; 7-bѴ r-vv-]; o= ঞl;ĺ J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

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C R E AT I V E R EV I EW // P O ST-PRODUC T ION

A L I F E I N T E N PIC T U R E S

T H E I R R EGU LA RS

PA LOM A FA I T H: AS I A M

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$҃ " ! The Irregulars is set in Victorian London and follows a gang of delinquent teens who help solve 1ubl;v =ou "_;uѴo1h oѴl;v -m7 o1|ou )-|vomĺ Ѵ ; oѴ|ķ Ѵ;7 0 ( * v r;u bvou Kyle Goodsell and VFX producer Sam 0;u ķ ruo b7;7 ƉƋƌ v_o|v =ou |_; v;ub;vķ most of which were large-scale period om7om 1b| v1-r;v -m7 ; |;mvbomvķ -v ;ѴѴ -v 1u;-ঞm] ;m buoml;m|v =ou - v|;-l0o-| -m7 - 0- ;u;7 Ѵ7]-|; &m7;u]uo m7ĺ m; o= |_; lov| 1ubঞ1-Ѵ v;t ;m1;v bv _;m ;- ŐrѴ- ;7 0 $_-77;- u-_-lő -Ѵhv 0 |_; 1h -m7 b ;u r 0ĺ oo7v;ѴѴ v- vĹ ľ$_bv v;t ;m1;ķ _b1_ -v om; o= |_; Ѵ-u];v| om |_; ruof;1|ķ -v h; as we wanted to create a spectacle early on to sell this environment to the audience -m7 7u- |_;l bm|o |_bv ouѴ7ĺ | ruo b7;v - Cuv| Ѵooh -| o u -h;u "|u;;| Ѵo1-ঞom -m7 -m mhmo m -|1_;uĺ $_; 1-l;u- r ѴѴv r |o u; ;-Ѵ |_; 1b| o= om7omķ |_; Cuv| Ѵooh -| our full CG cityscape environment.”

Overall VFX supervisor Richard ubv1o; -77vĹ ľ$_; v1or; -m7 7;|-bѴ o= Ѵ ; oѴ|Ľv 1b| v1-r;v ;u; ;vv;mঞ-Ѵ |o the story and characters.”

$ " ҃ 7o1 =oѴѴo v -Ѵol- -b|_ as she balances the demands of a vital l-h;ŊouŊ0u;-h |o u b|_ ubঞm] - m; -Ѵ0 lķ Ѵ- m1_bm] -m -1ঞm] 1-u;;u -m7 0;bm] - Cuv|Ŋঞl; l lĺ m 1olrѴ;|;7 = ѴѴ rov|Ŋruo7 1ঞom om |_; CѴlĺ $_; 0ub;= =ou m 1oѴo ubv| m7u; Ѵoh; -v |o 1u;-|; - 1o_;vb ;ķ m-| u-ѴѴ Yo bm] rb1| u; b|_ - CѴlb1 -;v|_;ঞ1ĺ | needed to be rich in appearance without becoming oversaturated or hyper-real. $_; CѴl -v v_o| o ;u |_u;; ;-uvķ b|_ 1_-m];v bm ;m buoml;m|ķ ঞl;ķ Ѵb]_ঞm] -m7 ;t brl;m|ķ _b1_ u-m];7 =uol 1-l;u-v |o lo0bѴ; r_om;vĺ m |_; ]u-7;ķ |_bv _-7 |o 0; v;-lѴ;vvѴ ঞ;7 |o];|_;u b|_o | Ѵovbm] the individuality of the material. ;-m _bѴ;ķ |_; 0ub;= =ou m 7 00bm] lb ;u - "hbѴ|om -v |o h;;r |_; - 7bo -v - |_;mঞ1 -v rovvb0Ѵ;ĺ l0b;m| mobv;v =uol _b]_ |u-L1 -u;-vķ 7u;vvbm] uoolv -m7 concerts were neutralised using iZotope’s !* mobv; u;7 1ঞom |o ru; ;m| |_;l 7bv|u-1ঞm] =uol |_; 7b-Ѵo] ;ĺ )b|_ |_bv -rruo-1_ķ -m7 0 u;v|ub1ঞm] |_; v; o= vo m7 ;@;1|vķ |_; b; ;uĽv - ;mঞom bv =o1 v;7 om |_; CѴlĽv bmঞl-|; lol;m|vĺ

bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

OPEN FOR ENTRIES 10 JUNE 2021 CELEBRATING THE BEST IN SPORTS CONTENT This new set of awards honours the best sports content on TV and digital platforms – from sports documentaries and live sport production to social media, advertising and marketing campaigns.

Sponsored by

For event information and updates register here

BroadcastSportAwards.co.uk

FOR MORE INFORMATION & SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES PLEASE CONTACT: RICHARD.HEWES@MBI.LONDON

P OD CA ST S BY

Tech

B ROA D CA ST N EWSW R A P

COM M I S S ION I NG CON V E R SAT IONS

B ROA D CA ST T EC H TA L K S

Broadcast’s weekly analysis of all the biggest stories in TV news.

Interviews with commissioners, producers and other members of the television community on getting the greenlight.

Covering the creative use of technology in production, post-production and broadcast for the TV industry.

Available now via Broadcastnow.co.uk Apple Podcasts, Spotify & all major platfo rms

G ET T I NG T H E G R E E N L IG H T // COM M I S S ION E R I N DE X

Non-scripted receives boost as SVoD giants expand slates

; Ѵb -m7 l- om -u; 0uo-7;mbm] |_;bu o@;ubm]v -v |_; l-| u; 0 | v1ubr|;7 u;l-bmv |_; ruboub| ĺ Alice Redman -m7 Heather Fallon u;rou|

A

mazon and Netflix are notoriously secretive in how they communicate the success (or otherwise) of their programmes – particularly regarding comparable viewing figures. Indies and viewers have been equally mystified.

Commissioners at both SVoD platforms insist they do not favour algorithms over creative decisionmaking processes when greenlighting shows, but creative decisions are inevitably made in part as a result of subscriber satisfaction and viewing figures that are rarely communicated.

However, Broadcast Intelligence has collaborated with TV analytics company Digital-i to lift the lid on how these two streamers reach their commissioning decisions, revealing how a reliance on scripted is morphing towards a more mixed-genre approach. Digital-i has developed a service that reports all viewing from a Netflix or Amazon account at any time and on any device, allowing Broadcast Intelligence to analyse the most successful shows.

Scripted has been dominant in the commissioning space for both Amazon

29% of Netflix and Amazon’s 581 commissions between 2018 and 2020 were drama

19% of Netflix and Amazon’s 581 commissions between 2018 and 2020 were factual

0o ;Ĺ ; Ѵb Ľv American Murder: The Family Next Door

and Netflix, and our analysis shows the genre is proportionally the most prevalent among their top-viewed content.

Looking at Netflix’s original content in 2020, the top 10 most-viewed shows by reach (number of households that began to view a programme) fell under three genres: drama, comedy and factual. Scripted accounted for 70% – with five dramas and two comedies.

This correlates with analysis of Netflix’s longer-term commissioning patterns. Since its first full original commission in March 2011, House Of Cards, the genre has been a major subscription driver.

According to data from Broadcast Intelligence’s Commissioner Index, Netflix ordered 581 programmes from the UK and US between 2018 and 2020.

Of these, 170 (29.3%) were dramas, 155 (26.7%) were comedies and 113 (19.4%) were factual shows. The majority of Amazon’s most successful programmes by reach were also scripted.

This broadly follows the pattern of most SVoD services when pushing into original content – initially attracting subscriptions through noisy drama and scripted comedy shows before moving into non-scripted content when the platform becomes more established.

Overall, Amazon has a slate of about 40 commissions across all genres

45

every year and almost 60% of these are scripted.

However, with their services maturing, the high cost of scripted and new players such as Disney+ and HBO Max launching with more mixed commissioning ecologies, Netflix and Amazon are increasingly ordering non-scripted content to keep their edge.

Three non-scripted programmes appear in the top-10 most viewed Netflix programmes (American Murder: The Family Next Door; Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem And Madness and Unsolved Mysteries). Each falls under the true-crime genre, which has been a key priority for the streamer. For example, the Knickerbockergloryproduced American Murder: The Family Next Door tells the story of a man who murdered his wife and children.

Netflix vice-president of independent film and documentary features Lisa Nishimura has noted she is “fascinated by the human condition” and “nature versus nurture” – a clear signifier of the genre’s importance.

“With their services maturing, the high cost of scripted and new players such as Disney+ and HBO Max, Netflix and Amazon are increasingly ordering non-scripted content to keep their edge” For Amazon, the standout show is factual entertainment series The Grand Tour, with alternative history drama The Man In The High Castle in second – almost 20 million views behind. It should be noted that the Jeremy Clarkson-fronted Grand Tour has run to 40 episodes, inflating its overall streaming number.

Non-scripted series are of more interest than one-offs, as these encourage viewers to spend more time on a service.

As the streaming wars continue to rage, it is clear many of the battles will be fought on non-scripted fields. $_bv -uঞ1Ѵ; bv -7-r|;7 =uol uo-71-v| m|;ѴѴb];m1;Ľv Ѵ-|;v| u;rou|ķ ;মm] |_; u;;mѴb]_|ķ _b1_ v;v 7-|- ruo b7;7 0 $( -m-Ѵ ঞ1v 1olr-m b]b|-ѴŊb |o ruo b7; bmvb]_| bm|o |_; 1ollbvvbombm] v|u-|;]b;v o= ; Ѵb -m7 l- omĺ $_; = ѴѴ u;rou| 1-m 0; =o m7 -| 0uo-71-vঞm|;Ѵĺ1olņu;rou|v J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

46

G LU E D T O T H E S C R E E N // Z E ROZ E ROZ E RO

This ambitious Italian drugs drama is utterly immersive ZeroZeroZero’s simple premise of following a cocaine shipment gives us three brilliantly realised universes in one cohesive story, says Katherine Butler

T

Above: Sky Atlantic’s ZeroZeroZero

he first thing that drew me in to Sky Atlantic’s eight-hour limited series from Gomorrah producer Cattleya was the brilliant simplicity of the premise: tracking a shipment of cocaine from Mexico to Italy and dramatising all those involved in its journey.

It’s one of those ideas that makes you smack your own head in despair: why didn’t I think of that?

Following the drug suppliers in Monterey, Mexico, the buyers in rural Italy and the shipping family middlemen based out of New Orleans, ZeroZeroZero gives us three separate, brilliantly realised universes in one.

Each world is utterly immersive and completely delineated from the others in terms of look, feel, location, language, characters and dramatic tensions, yet the show achieves a cohesive whole, stitched together by

bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

the few characters who travel from one world to another.

The Italian mafia boss Don Minu, who occupies a bunker dug deep in the goat-strewn mountainsides of Calabria, feels as ancient as those hills. He rules the villages around him, and is engaged in a Godfatheresque struggle for succession with his own grandson.

“It’s one of those ideas that makes you smack your own head in despair: why didn’t I think of that?”

In Mexico, we are in a higher-tech world more closely aligned to a film like Sicario, where a young lieutenant takes it upon himself to overthrow an entire cartel. It’s an opera of carnage,

but buried within it is a surprising story of tenderness and regret.

Then in the shiny offices and stunning mansion belonging to the family of an American shipping magnate, we find Gabriel Byrne grooming his daughter (Andrea Riseborough) to take over the family firm – displacing his son, the moral centre of the show, in the process.

Each story is a series-worth of material, with its own aesthetic, and themes of family, betrayal, birth, sex, death and everything in between.

In the end, it’s the tiny, wiry figure of Riseborough who physically traverses all these worlds – the last scene of the show had me open-mouthed at the outrageousness of the bloodbath she finds herself striding through.

At a time when we have been confined to the minutiae of our homes, watching a show that strides across the world with such audacious energy and ambition thrilled and transported me. This show is rich and bloody meat and it won’t be for everyone – it’s as far from Bridgerton and Emily In Paris as is possible. But it took me to my happy place, and all I wanted was more.

Katherine Butler is creative director of The Ink Factory

M A RC H +28 DAYS / A PR I L +7 DAYS DA AYS SIMON WEST/ACTION PLUS/SHUTTERSTOCK

TOP 100 APRIL +7 // 48-50 TOP 50 MARCH +28 // 52-57 SPOTLIGHT // 58-59 GENRE TABLES // 60-61

BACK OF THE NET Ratings for games shown on BBC1 under Project Restart prove that football still has the power to attract younger audiences

48

BBC1 pulls ahead in Saturday night fight I Can See Your Voice takes lead in head-to-head with ITV’s Game Of Talents after getting off to a slower start. Stephen Price reports USUALLY BY April, Britain’s Got Talent is dominating Saturday nights, with its array of gifted contestants, but it’s missing from the ITV schedules this year.

Meanwhile, BBC1 remains without a huge Saturday entertainment show until Strictly returns in the autumn.

With both broadcasters attempting to fill the gap with new shows based around guessing, BBC1 can claim bragging rights after its show moved ahead of its rival.

On Saturday 10 April at 7.30pm, ITV launched the Thames-produced Game Of Talents, while BBC1 unveiled I Can See Your Voice, also from Thames, along with Fremantle stablemate Naked. Starting straight after Celebrity Catchphrase (4.2 million/23%), Game Of Talents reached 4.3 million/22% after seven-day catch-up on TV. BBC1’s I Can See Your Voice, airing straight after The Hit List (3.2 million/18%), reached 3.3 million/17% – 1 million short of its rival.

Game Of Talents won the 16-34 tussle too, pulling in 637,000/27% – 177,000 more than I Can See Your Voice (458,000/20%). But ITV’s lead was short-lived. On 17 April, and with a beefier inheritance from the FA Cup semi-final clash between Chelsea and Manchester City from 5pm (4.5 million/34%), I Can See Your Voice was up more than 500,000 to 3.8 million/ 22%. In a complete reversal from the launch, it was nearly 1 million ahead bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

3.8m Total for second episode of BBC1’s I Can See Your Voice after seven days

2.9m Total for second episode of ITV’s Game Of Talents after seven days

8.7m Total for launch of BBC1’s Call The Midwife series 10 after seven days

Above BBC1’s I Can Hear Your Voice; ITV’s Game Of Talents

of Game Of Talents (2.9 million/17%), which suffered a weekly drop of 1.4 million. The ITV show was preceded by In For A Penny at 7pm, which provided a smaller inheritance (2.7 million/17%) than Mr Chips.

I Can See Your Voice attracted 578,000/32% 16-34s, up 118,000 on its opener and sailing past Game Of Talents, which was down to 379,000/21% for 16-34s – a drop of 258,000.

Both fell in week three, but BBC1 maintained its lead with 3.6 million/ 23% on 24 April, some 950,000 more than its ITV competitor (2.6 million/ 17%). I Can See Your Voice’s 16-34 audience was larger too at 470,000/ 29% – 176,000 more than Game Of Talents (294,000/18%).

With ITV’s new show losing viewers every week, its prospects don’t look rosy. I Can See Your Voice recovered from a poor start to establish its winning credentials, so in the battle of the middling Saturday night

entertainment shows, perhaps it has the better chance of a longer life. Still, both channels will be counting down the days until their big hitters return.

Meanwhile, on the drama front, the tenth series of BBC1’s Call The Midwife opened at 8pm on Sunday 18 April (later than its customary January berth) with 8.7 million/40%, up slightly on the last series launch on 5 January 2020 (8.6 million/34%). Its rating for ABC1 women (3.1 million/52%) was the same as 2020 (3.1 million/44%), but eight share points ahead.

The highest launch of all 10 series remains the series three opener in 2014 (11.4 million/39%; 4.1 million/51% for ABC1 women). No Call The Midwife launch has breached 10 million since 2015 and each year’s launch has been lower than the last – until this year.

While not vintage, the latest launch shows there’s life in the nunnery yet.

Stephen Price is a Broadcast adviser and consultant

T OP 10 0 A PR I L +7 DAYS // R AT I NG S

@broadcastnow

49

*ALL BARB RATINGS SUPPLIED BY ATTENTIONAL

$ ƈ Ƈ Ƈ $ ) ! ! ! " Ґ ƍ҃ + " $ ķ ! Ɖ Ƈ Ɖ ƈ ґ RANK AND PROGRAMME

DAY

DATE

START

GAIN (%)

BROADCASTER/PRODUCER

ƈ

Line Of Duty

Sun

25 Apr

21.00

14.32

SHARE (%)

54.47

GAIN (M)

3.23

29.16

ƈņ)ouѴ7 uo7 1ঞomv

Ɖ

Call The Midwife

Sun

18 Apr

20.00

8.69

40.44

1.41

19.37

ƈņ ;-Ѵ "|u;;| uo7 1ঞomv

Ɗ

Funeral Of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh

"-|

17 Apr

12.30

6.72

55.13

0.08

1.14

Ƌ

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om

26 Apr

19.30

6.42

35.25

0.60

10.39

ƌ

BBC Weekend News

Sun

25 Apr

22.00

6.28

41.03

0.03

0.46

ҙ

Gogglebox

Fri

2 Apr

21.00

6.27

25.87

1.62

34.83

ƈ ITV ƈ Ƌņ"| 7bo -l0;u|

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Viewpoint

om

26 Apr

21.00

6.09

28.33

1.36

28.81

$(ņ$b];u vr;1| uo7 1ঞomv

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"-|

3 Apr

19.00

5.97

30.39

0.59

10.92

$(ņ b|u; uo7 1ঞomv

Ǝ

mࢼt ;v !o-7v_o

Sun

25 Apr

19.00

5.95

34.95

0.17

2.97

ƈƇ

$_; u;-| ubࢼv_ "; bm] ;;

);7

14 Apr

21.00

5.90

23.24

1.64

38.50

ƈ ƈņ o ; uo7 1ঞomv

ƈƈ

Top Gear

Sun

4 Apr

20.00

5.71

25.33

1.40

32.62

ƈ

ƈƉ

Too Close

om

12 Apr

21.00

5.67

26.15

1.52

36.52

$(ņ"mo ;7Ŋ m uo7 1ঞomv

ƈƊ

Emmerdale

Thu

1 Apr

19.00

5.48

30.44

0.45

9.06

ƈƋ

MasterChef

);7

14 Apr

20.00

5.31

24.33

0.70

15.26

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21 Apr

20.00

5.20

24.23

0.58

12.53

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Tue

6 Apr

20.00

5.13

21.50

1.64

47.10

Ƌņ o ; uo7 1ঞomv

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ITV Racing

"-|

10 Apr

16.30

4.92

31.89

0.01

0.13

ƈҚ

Midsomer Murders

Sun

4 Apr

20.00

4.67

18.50

1.07

29.59

ƈƎ

o m|u CѲ;

Sun

11 Apr

18.00

4.64

27.80

0.08

1.81

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Paul O’Grady: For The Love Of Dogs

);7

7 Apr

20.00

4.60

21.00

0.49

11.83

ITV $(ņ ;m|Ѵ; uo7 1ঞomv ƈ $(ņ Ѵঞ"|ou ;7b-

Ɖƈ

EastEnders

Thu

8 Apr

19.30

4.56

25.30

0.84

22.52

ƈ

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The FA Cup

"-|

17 Apr

17.00

4.48

33.63

0.02

0.34

ƈ

ƉƊ

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Tue

6 Apr

21.00

4.41

18.14

1.28

40.91

ƉƋ

Game Of Talents

"-|

10 Apr

19.30

4.29

21.60

0.35

8.81

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Celebrity Catchphrase

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10 Apr

18.30

4.24

23.32

0.06

1.37

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Intruder

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5 Apr

21.00

4.23

15.96

1.72

68.64

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om

5 Apr

18.25

4.23

23.11

0.37

9.69

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Fri

30 Apr

21.00

4.15

17.79

0.94

29.22

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Tue

13 Apr

21.00

3.98

17.17

1.00

33.77

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Alan Carr’s Epic Gameshow

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10 Apr

20.30

3.84

19.79

0.35

10.17

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17 Apr

19.35

3.82

22.31

0.38

10.88

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Casualty

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24 Apr

20.20

3.82

22.11

0.77

25.12

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7 Apr

17.00

3.77

30.32

0.05

1.26

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12 Apr

21.00

3.70

17.04

1.21

48.29

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Royal Wedding: A Day To Remember

Fri

30 Apr

19.30

3.68

20.56

0.24

7.10

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7 Apr

18.30

3.59

21.61

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Dragons’ Den

Thu

22 Apr

20.00

3.55

18.17

0.54

17.92

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Vera

Fri

2 Apr

20.30

3.39

15.70

0.36

11.96

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10 Apr

18.30

3.22

17.64

0.15

4.71

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11 Apr

19.00

3.21

17.96

0.04

1.42

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Holby City

Tue

27 Apr

19.50

3.16

16.80

0.58

22.67

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Ƌƈ

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Thu

8 Apr

19.00

3.16

18.56

0.01

0.25

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Gordon, Gino And Fred: Road Trip

om

19 Apr

21.00

3.06

15.86

0.38

14.11

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Garden Rescue

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5 Apr

19.20

3.06

15.58

0.03

0.96

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Gardeners’ World

Fri

16 Apr

21.00

2.96

13.29

0.85

40.58

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3 Apr

19.30

2.91

15.07

0.11

3.82

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Match Of The Day

"-|

10 Apr

22.30

2.91

23.76

0.47

19.45

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Thu

8 Apr

21.00

2.90

12.50

0.39

15.54

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5 Apr

21.00

2.89

12.34

1.34

86.31

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Keeping Faith

"-|

3 Apr

21.00

2.84

14.66

0.79

38.57

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J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

SOURCE: BARB

VIEWERS (M)

50

T OP 10 0 A PR I L +7 DAYS // R AT I NG S

@broadcastnow

*ALL BARB RATINGS SUPPLIED BY ATTENTIONAL

$ ƈ Ƈ Ƈ $ ) ! ! ! " Ґ ƍ҃ + " $ ķ ! Ɖ Ƈ Ɖ ƈ ґ RANK AND PROGRAMME

DAY

DATE

START

VIEWERS (M)

GAIN (%)

BROADCASTER/PRODUCER

ƌƇ

The Day Will And Kate Got Married

);7

7 Apr

21.00

2.84

12.60

GAIN (M)

0.35

13.96

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26 Apr

20.00

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14.47

0.06

2.32

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Thu

1 Apr

21.00

2.82

13.21

0.46

19.67

ƌƋ

HRH The Duke Of Edinburgh Remembered

Fri

16 Apr

19.00

2.70

16.74

0.04

1.60

ƌƋ

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Thu

22 Apr

21.00

2.70

14.17

0.52

23.64

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In For A Penny

"-|

17 Apr

19.00

2.69

16.87

0.15

5.74

ƌƍ

Pointless

);7

7 Apr

17.15

2.68

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5 Apr

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3 Apr

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22 Apr

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Tonight

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30 Apr

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3.27

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7 Apr

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5 Apr

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Bent Coppers: Crossing The Line Of Duty

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14 Apr

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3 Apr

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SHARE (%)

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*ALL BARB RATINGS SUPPLIED BY ATTENTIONAL

$ ƌ Ƈ ƈ ņ $ ( ! ! " Ґ Ɖ Қ ҃ + " $ ķ ! Ɖ Ƈ Ɖ ƈ ґ RANK AND PROGRAMME

DAY

DATE

START

GAIN (%)

BROADCASTER/PRODUCER

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Line Of Duty

Sun

21 Mar

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14.59

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48.64

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28.48

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7 Mar

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21 Mar

20.00

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20.30

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20.30

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7 Mar

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30 Mar

21.00

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22.50

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4.63

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20 Mar

20.30

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13 Mar

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20.30

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VIEWERS (M)

B B C 1 / I T V M A RC H +28 DAYS // R AT I NG S

Thrillers and royal chat grip the nation Spring boost for BBC1 and ITV as crime dramas and Harry and Meghan interview deliver bumper ratings. "|;r_;m ub1; reports MARCH WAS quite the bumper month for ratings. Viewers had clearly been pining for cold-case thrillers on ITV, while BBC1’s latest Jed Mercurio drama whetted the appetite for the arrival of AC-12. Then, of course, there was that interview and a surprisingly large amount of viewing on devices.

ITV’s fourth series of Unforgotten reappeared after a gap of more than two years on Monday 22 February 2021 at 9pm. The best of the run was the fourth episode on 15 March (9.3 million/32%). This is ITV’s best 9pm weekly drama rating (excluding stripped titles) since Liar on Monday 16 March 2017 (9.5 million/34%).

Over six weeks, Unforgotten averaged 9.1 million/32% – a thumping 2.3 million more than the third series in 2018 (6.6 million/25%). Another 292,000 watched the 2021 series on devices, nudging the total to 9.4 million. The show’s previous best was the series three finale on 19 August 2018 (7.3 million/28%), which also pulled in 4.4 million/33% ABC1s.

That figure was the best for the upmarket demographic until this year’s fourth series, which averaged 5.5 million/36% ABC1s – 1.5 million more than the third series average (4 million/27%). The ABC1 profile of the 2021 series was 60%, Unforgotten’s highest yet and better than any of ITV’s recent stripped true-crime dramas.

(The best of these was Quiz in April 2020, with an ABC1 profile of 56%.)

While more individuals watched Quiz (9.2 million/30%) over its three nights than Unforgotten, its ABC1 average (5.2 million/33%) was

53

60% ABC1 profile of ITV’s Unforgotten, the highest of its recent truecrime dramas

9.4m 28-day average for BBC1’s Bloodlands, including 276k on devices

13.9m 28-day total for ITV’s Oprah With Harry And Meghan interview

Above: ITV’s &m=ou]o ;m; BBC1’s Bloodlands

smaller. The best ABC1 rating for Unforgotten was the 29 March finale (5.7 million/35%). Since 28-day records began in 2014, this is ITV’s best upmarket rating for a weekly drama after the finale of Broadchurch on 17 April 2017 (6.9 million/40%).

Over on BBC1, Jed Mercurio’s Bloodlands concluded on 14 March with 8.7 million/30% after 28 days – very strong, but the lowest of the four episodes in a series that averaged 9.2 million/33%. (Another 267,000 watching on devices nudged that up to 9.4 million.)

In the Mercurio canon, Bloodlands’ average was closest to the first Line Of Duty series shown on BBC1 in 2017 (9.5 million/31%). Bloodlands’ average of 5.6 million/38% ABC1 adults delivered a profile of 61%, again just behind the channel’s first Line Of Duty series (6 million/37%; profile 62%).

Once Bloodlands had finished, the sixth series of Line Of Duty stepped

into the 9pm fray on 21 March with 14.6 million/49% after 28 days – 1.5 million more than its seven-day rating (13.1 million/47%).

That is BBC1’s third-best 28-day rating behind the Mercurio-crafted Bodyguard finale on 23 September 2018 (16.1 million/51%) and Gavin & Stacy’s 2019 Christmas Day special (17.5 million/54%). Another 610,000 watched the Line Of Duty opener via devices to total 15.2 million.

March’s other ratings monster was ITV’s showing of CBS’s Oprah With Meghan And Harry on Monday 8 March (13.9 million/49% after 28 days), second only in the month to AC-12’s finest. A whopping 966,000 on devices took the interview tantalisingly close with a total of 14.9 million. Between seven and 28 days, only another 76,000 watched the interview on TV (and 66,000 on devices) – so it was clearly old hat after a week.

J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

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$ ƌ Ƈ Ɖ ņ Ƌ ņ ƌ ! ! " Ґ Ɖ Қ ҃ + " $ ķ ! Ɖ Ƈ Ɖ ƈ ґ RANK AND PROGRAMME

DAY

DATE

START

VIEWERS (M)

GAIN (%)

BROADCASTER/PRODUCER

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Gogglebox

Fri

12 Mar

21.00

6.85

29.06

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1.74

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bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

SOURCE: BARB

SHARE (%)

B B C 2/C4 /C 5 M A RC H +28 DAYS // R AT I NG S

Celebrity Bake Off dips after strong start Charity series down on last year despite best ever debut, while The Terror tops recent BBC2 acquisitions. "|;r_;m ub1; reports ONE OF THE reported trends of lockdown, at least at the beginning, was a rush for baking – bread, cakes, Alaska. The dash for dough was reflected well in last year’s celebrity baking series for Channel 4, which the 2021 vintage couldn’t quite match, despite beginning well. Meanwhile, a terrifying gothic horror was the pick of BBC2’s recent acquisitions.

The fourth series of Channel 4’s The Great Celebrity Bake Off For Stand Up To Cancer launched at 8pm on Tuesday 9 March 2021 and reached 5.9 million/24% after 28 days, an uplift of 435,000 on its seven-day rating (5.5 million/23%). That was the best ever launch rating for the charity version of the baking show.

Episode two on 16 March grew to 6.2 million/25% – the second best rating for the celebrity version after the 31 March 2020 episode (6.4 million/25%). Despite this promising start, the 2021 series averaged 5.6 million/23% (plus 154,000 on devices) – the third lowest of the four behind the first run in 2018 (5.8 million/22%; device data unavailable) and last year’s run (5.9 million/23%; 150,000 on devices), which played at the beginning of the first lockdown.

The 2021 series averaged 1.1 million/ 35% for 16-34s, the lowest of all for the youth demographic and just behind the 2019 run (1.2 million/ 35%). The first Celebrity Bake Off series in 2018 remains the best for 16-34s (1.6 million/38%). All are better than BBC2’s only charity effort – The Great Sport Relief Bake Off in 2014,

55

5.9m 28-day rating for launch of C4’s The Great Celebrity Bake Off For SUTC

3.7m Total after 28 days for launch episode of BBC2’s aquired drama The Terror

1.1m 16-34 series average for C4’s Celebrity Bake Off, the lowest of the four runs

Above: C4’s The Great ;Ѳ;0ub| -h; @ ou SUTC; BBC2’s The Terror

which averaged 4.9 million/18%, (807,000/16% for 16-34s). The biggest-ever charity edition remains BBC1’s The Great Comic Relief Bake Off in 2015 (8.3 million/31%; 1.7 million/35% for 16-34s).

Debut performance

BBC2’s latest acquired series The Terror, made for AMC by Ridley Scott’s production company for a US launch in 2018, debuted in the UK at 9pm on 3 March and reached 3.7 million/15% after 28 days – a gain of 1.1 million on the seven-day rating (2.6 million/12%).

Episode two at 9.45pm slipped to 3.2 million/16%, but also made a gain of 1.1 million on the seven-day result.

Over its 10 episodes, which were mainly run as double bills, The Terror averaged 1.9 million/9% on TV after 28-day catch up. Another 128,000 from devices nudged the total to more than 2 million (with 28-day data for the 7 April finale still to come).

The Terror did slightly better than two other recent acquired shows on BBC2: Mrs America and Harlots. Mrs America, which launched on 8 July 2020, averaged 1.6 million/ 7% on TV after 28 days, with another 127,000 on devices taking the total to 1.7 million.

Following in the same slot, BBC2 played Harlots, which was originally commissioned for ITV’s now-defunct Encore subscription channel. The first of three series launched on 5 August and averaged 1.8 million/9% over eight episodes.

Another 157,000 on devices took that to just under 2 million. The second series from 2 September averaged 1.2 million/6%, while the third from 21 October averaged 1 million/4%.

The Terror averaged 1.1 million/ 10% ABC1 adults, identical to Mrs America (1.1 million/10%) and a smidge more than the first series of Harlots (1 million/11%).

J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

56

@broadcastnow

*ALL BARB RATINGS SUPPLIED BY ATTENTIONAL

$ ƌ Ƈ ҃$ ! ! " $ ! ! ! " Ґ Ɖ Қ ҃ + " $ ķ ! Ɖ Ƈ Ɖ ƈ ґ RANK AND PROGRAMME

DAY

DATE

START

VIEWERS (M)

SHARE (%)

GAIN (000s)

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Thu

18 Mar

02.00

1.67

53.88

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1.56

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4 Mar

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27 Mar

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29 Mar

20.00

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4 Mar

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bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

SOURCE: BARB

GAIN (%)

NON-T E R R E ST R I A L M A RC H +28 DAYS // R AT I NG S

The Flight Attendant takes off for Sky 1 Comedy thriller soars while Matt Baker delivers More 4’s ĆUVW PLOOLRQ SOXV DXGLHQFH "|;r_;m ub1; UHSRUWV IF YOU EVER fly anywhere again, take a long, hard look at the cabin crew. Anyone who’s seen Sky 1 acquisition The Flight Attendant will certainly be casting nervous glances in their direction. The comedy thriller, originally for international streamer HBO Max and from the Warner Bros and Greg Berlanti partnership that has produced hits such as Riverdale, You and Supergirl, has proved good business.

The series, which launched on Friday 19 March at 2am, achieved a seven-day TV rating of 1.1 million/4%.

Another 332,000/1% for the 9pm showing gave it a total of 1.5 million.

After 28 days, ratings for the 2am showing grew to 1.7 million/54%.

Pre-transmission and device viewing boosted that by 19% to 2 million.

Adding in three repeats, the episode totalled 2.4 million on TV after 28 days, growing 13% to a sizeable 2.7 million when devices and pre-transmissions are factored in.

Episode two on 26 March achieved 677,000/3% on TV after 28 days but including pre-transmission and device viewing, that rose to 1.7 million. Two repeats pushed the TV total to 1.1 million but device and pre-transmission viewing nearly doubled that to 2.1 million.

In comparison, a tonally similar show from the Sky family – Sky Atlantic’s original commission I Hate Suzie – launched at 2am on 27 August 2020 with 405,000/22% after 28 days. With pre-transmission and device viewing included, that more than doubled to 845,000. After three

57

2.7m Total for Sky 1’s The Flight Attendant debut after 28 days, incl devices and repeats

2.0m Total for More 4’s Matt Baker: Our Farm In The Dales after 28 days

1.1m ABC1 adult audience for Our Farm In The Dales launch More 4’s best

Above: The Flight ;m7-m|; - -h;u‫ث‬ u -ul m $_; -Ѳ;v

repeats, it totalled 713,000 on TV, but with devices and pre-transmission viewing, that rose to 1.1 million – a 57% increase.

Episode two at 9.45pm on 27 August gathered 590,000/4% on TV after 28 days, rising to 773,000 including pre-transmission and devices, a 31% increase. After two repeats, it totalled 748,000 on TV, rising 26% to 943,000 with device and pre-transmission viewing included.

C4 challenger More 4’s new four-part series Matt Baker: Our Farm In The Dales launched at 9pm on 31 March with 1.8 million/9% after seven-day catch-up. After 28 days, it was up 176,000 to 2 million/9% – on par with First Dates Hotel on Channel 4 opposite (2 million/9%).

First Dates’ 76,000 on devices took it to 2.1 million – all but a tie with Our

Farm In The Dales, which added 29,000 on devices.

This is More 4’s highest rating since 28-day data began being published in 2014, and the only show to get more than 2 million for the channel. It beat the previous best – The Great Pottery Throw Down (1.7 million/7%) on Wednesday 11 March 2020 – by 329,000.

If farmer Matt ever bales hay with a ballerina, he can always claim bragging rights over More 4 rival Darcey Bussell’s Wild Coasts Of Scotland, which aired at 9pm on 8 February this year and gathered 900,000/3% after 28 days (plus 10,000 on devices).

After two repeats, Our Farm In The Dales rounded up a total of 2.3 million.

Its opening episode attracted 1.1 million/9% ABC1 adults – more than The Great Pottery Throw Down (1 million/8%) and well ahead of Darcey Bussell (514,000/5%).

J U N E 2 02 1 / / broadcastnow.co.uk

58

Football on target with the young

407k Average 16-24 audience for 2018 World Cup on BBC1, up 6% on 2010

Viewing bucks downward trend for TV consumption among 16-24s despite ESL claims. Stephen Price reports ON A SUNDAY evening in the middle of April, 12 football clubs – six in England, three in Spain and three in Italy – announced the creation of a new, exclusive European Super League (ESL), to begin in August. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, one of the prime movers behind the league, justified the breakaway on many grounds, but the 74-year-old was especially keen to press his understanding of teenagers. “Young people”, announced the sage of Bernabéu, “are no longer interested in football.” According to news reports, he claimed that 40% of 16-24s have no interest in the game.

Fans soon made their views clear with vociferous condemnation. The UK government also came out against the idea and, within three days, the league was dead.

14% Rise in Sky Sports ME 16-24 average audience from 2015 to 2021

AV E R AGE 16-24 T V AU DI E NC E (2015-2021*) 0.7m

0.6m

0.5m

0.4m

0.3m

0.2m 2015

2016

2017

*Year to 25 April 2021 bro adc a st now.c o.u k / / J U N E 2021

2018

2019

2020

2021

Among many mistakes, not having a major broadcast partner on board felt like one of the most serious. For if TV companies know anything, it’s that a lot of people – including young people – watch football, often delivering more reliable viewing figures than the biggest of entertainment juggernauts.

So how wrong did Perez have it?

In 2015, total TV viewing between 6am and 2am averaged 10.3 million.

By 2020, it had fallen to 9.5 million – a 7.6% decline, although a 5.6% increase on 2019 (9 million) because of the pandemic. During that time, viewing among 16-24s precipitously declined.

In 2015, 16-24 viewing averaged 650,000, but more than halved to 319,000 in 2020. Even the pandemic didn’t trigger an upswing – at 340,000, it was 6.3% behind 2019.

This familiar tale of declining audiences is grist to Perez’s mill. But

top-level football, for all its vanity and often overblown sense of self-worth, maintains a robust audience amid the general declines. Major tournaments still draw huge audiences.

In 2010, the World Cup was held in South Africa, with no time difference to the UK. BBC1’s coverage of the live matches (excluding highlights) averaged 4.2 million/28% (385,000/29% for 16-24s), while ITV drew 4.7 million/29% (445,000/ 32% for 16-24s).

Four years later, the World Cup was held in Brazil, four hours behind the UK. BBC1’s coverage, excluding highlights, averaged 5.1 million/31% (up 21% in volume on 2010) and 441,000/32% for 16-24s – an increase of 15%. ITV’s 5 million/30% average and 452,000/34% for 16-24s was up 6% and 1.7% respectively.

In 2018, when Russia hosted the tournament (Moscow is two hours

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16-24 audience for BBC1 showing of Bournemouth v Crystal Palace

ahead of the UK), BBC1’s coverage averaged 5.3 million/39 (26% more than 2010) and 407,000/49% for 16-24s, (up 6%). ITV’s coverage, including England’s semi-final match against Croatia, averaged 5.6 million/40% (up 19% on 2010). Its 16-24 average (435,000/53%) was down 2%, just 9,000 shy of 2010.

It is the same for Premier League viewing. As TV viewing among 16-24s

109k BT Sport’s best 16-24 PL rating was Leicester v Man Utd on 26 December

Above left: Bournemouth v Crystal Palace aired on BBC1

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declined over the decade, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League generally bucked the trend. For example, in 2021 to date (25 April), Main Event – which carries other sports too, but football tends to be its biggest – averaged 142,000/1.5% in all time compared with 103,000/1% at the same stage in 2015 – a 38% rise in volume. In 2021 so far, its 8,400/2.8% for 16-24s is up 14% in volume on 2015 (7,400/1.1%). So far this year, Sky Sports Premier League’s average 16-24 audience (3,800/1.3%) is three times what it was in 2015 (1,300/0.2%).

The 2019/20 season was suspended in March 2020 due to the pandemic and did not begin again until 17 June, when Project Restart took shape. Every match, played in an empty stadium, would be on TV, including a handful on the BBC, which gives us a useful direct comparison of the numbers either side of the pay wall.

From the summer 2020 restart to the end of the calendar year, BBC1 showed five matches. On 20 June, Bournemouth v Crystal Palace on BBC1 attracted the second-best football rating (3.3 million/19%), with a 16-24 rating of 189,000/27%. Yet the clubs’ combined average matchday attendance during the 2018/19 season (the most recent data available) was just 36,000.

Sky Sports’ 19 June coverage of Spurs v Manchester Utd on Premier League and Main Event totalled fewer

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(2.6 million; 175,000 for 16-24s) despite a combined average match-day attendance of 129,000.

Manchester City v Arsenal (combined match-day average attendance of 114,000) on 17 June mustered a combined total of 2.5 million but more 16-24s (238,000).

BT’s best Premier League game during this time was Leicester v Manchester Utd (combined average attendance of 127,000) on 26 December (1.2 million/10%). Its best 16-24 rating was Brighton v Liverpool (combined average attendance of 83,000) on 28 November (109,000/32%).

The FA Cup is shared between BBC and BT Sport and the tournament’s highest rating since the beginning of last year was Manchester Utd v Liverpool on BBC1 at 4.30pm on 24 January 2021 (7.4 million/38%; 403,000/58%). BT Sport’s best was Wolves v Man Utd on 4 January 2021 (1.1 million/6%). Its best for 16-24s was Everton v Spurs on 10 February 2021 (90,000/13%).

Clearly, the audience for football is robust and its ability to attract young audiences is in stark contrast to overall TV – contrary to Perez’s claims. This is surely part of the motivation behind ITV’s rumoured interest in acquiring a piece of BT Sport.

The ESL was many things, but despite Perez’s justifications and talk of ‘future fans’ v ‘legacy fans’, in the end it was just about securing more certainty – and therefore money – for a few indebted clubs. If he was serious about football losing young viewers, the way to reach more of them would be to take less money from pay TV operators with gated services and ensure more football is played free-to-air.

That young audiences don’t watch football any more is proved false by the ratings for games such as Bournemouth v Crystal Palace, which attracted more young people than the game between putative Super League members Manchester Utd and Spurs.

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Early bird rate £250 – from 18 June 2021 the price goes up to £395 Buy it today at uo-71-vঞ m|;Ѵĺ1olņ ;ম m]|_;]u;;mѴb]_| u 1om|-1| v |o C m7 o | lou; ƳƓƓ ŐƏőƑƏ ѶƐƏƑ ƏƖƐѶ Ň l- _; ĺ ub]_|Šl0bĺѴom7om

E X T ENDED EN T RY DE A D L IN E 11 June 2021

The Broadcast Digital Awards celebrate the lov| bmmo -ঞ ; 7b]b|-Ѵ 1om|;m| =uol -1uovv |_; & ĺ Recognising and rewarding dynamic digital channels and ruo]u-ll;vķ ;@;1ঞ ; -m7 u;Ѵ; -m| v;1om7Ŋv1u;;m 1om|;m|ķ l ѴঞrѴ- oul ruof;1|v -m7 oub]bm-Ѵ 1om|;m| ruo7 1;7 omѴbm;ĺ

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uo-71-v| b]b|-Ѵ -u7vĺ1oĺ h For sponsorship enquiries please contact Richard.Hewes@mbi.london + 44 (0) 208 102 0851