� kicks in and it feels like society is shifting on its axis and moving towards a far better place. But it is going to be a very painful process. As a diversion from the daily tsunami of horrific revelations, I check in on Prue Leith’s Twitter feed. She’s in Bhutan and… Jesus Christ, Prue! Not now! I stop following Prue as I hear she’s a big fan of Stranger Things and I don’t want any more spoilers after Bhutangate. Meanwhile, those Ian Katz rumours are true! Channel 4 News is strangely quiet on the subject. Goodness knows why. Those other Jay Hunt rumours are eventually proved to be true, as it is revealed that she is to be Apple’s new European content head. I ponder emailing Jay about getting a new iPhone X before anyone else, but decide against this. I write to Zack Van Amburg, instead. Andy Harries manages to piss off the entire industry in the US and UK by getting the first major UK drama commission from YouTube Red. Origin is a sci-fi series that will cost $20m an episode – just for Left Bank’s fees and Andy’s hairdresser. God knows what the actual show will cost but, next time I see Andy Harries, he’s buying me a small country.
November Monday morning. Amazon announces that it is spending $250m on the rights
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Channel 4
The Handmaid’s Tale: some male TV executives confused their ‘rights’ with those exercised by the rulers of Gilead to Lord of the Rings. These tech guys are crazy, I think, while perusing the overnights. Three terrestrial shows get more than 10 million viewers on Sunday night – I’m a Celebrity…, Blue Planet and Strictly. Those linear-TV guys have still got some moves, I muse, as I scan the web, expecting to discover that Netflix has signed David Attenborough and a shoal of yellow fin tuna on exclusive deals to join Shonda Rhimes.
I PONDER EMAILING JAY ABOUT GETTING A NEW IPHONE X BEFORE ANYONE ELSE But, sadly, this is not true. What is true is that the sexual harassment scandal has gained further traction, with almost daily stories of unforgivable behaviour from those that should know better from all walks of life. Netflix is not immune. Those Kevin Spacey rumours surface and Netflix subsequently halts production on House of Cards and removes him from the show. I don’t like Kevin Spacey.
December Expensive bits of California are on fire. And the news of the landmark acquisition of Fox by Disney creates an earthquake. Everyone says this is Murdoch getting out of the entertainment business, until it’s revealed that the Murdochs will be the largest shareholders in Disney. The Canny Old Fox has entered the Mouse House. We’re now at Peak Sexual Harassment Scandal. Every time I get an email alert, I expect it to be a revelation that another “star” has been exposed for inappropriate behaviour. It can’t be long before Homer Simpson’s time is up. In a parallel universe, the BBC wakes up and announces exciting plans to launch an SVoD service. Only 10 years and 100 million Netflix subscribers too late. But, hey ho. I doubt the BBC could have commissioned The Crown, watching the storylines in season two, which has just “dropped”, as young people say. Also “dropped” are Mindhunter, The Grand Tour season two and, for the love of DHL, an avalanche of Bafta DVDs. I’ve worked out that, if I don’t sleep at all over Christmas, I’ve just about time to catch up on all my 2017 viewing before 3 January. See you on the other side. n Kenton Allen is Chief Executive of Big Talk Productions.