Channel 5's Boleyn girl - March 2021 - Royal Television Society
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March 2021
Channel 5’s
Boleyn girl
Television www.rts.org.uk September 2013 1
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Journal of The Royal Television Society
March 2021 l Volume 58/3
From the CEO
We are all still stuck Thanks, too, to the always upbeat Spiral have become global blockbusters.
in lockdown, but I am Ore Oduba for hosting the nomina- A recent Creative Diversity Network
delighted to say that tions for the RTS Programme Awards. report makes hard reading for all of us
the industry turned Since you’ve asked, we’ll be announc- who want British TV to be genuinely
up in virtual droves ing the winners on 16 March, when inclusive. Please read Rosie Jones and
to celebrate the nomi- our host will be that doyen of the TV Deborah Williams’s passionate pleas to
nees and winners of talk show, Jonathan Ross. Don’t miss the industry to recruit more disabled
this year’s RTS Television Journalism the live stream on the RTS website. people on both sides of the camera.
Awards. A huge thanks to the evening’s Our cover story is Channel 5’s inno- Finally, if wild swimming intrigues
hosts, Mishal Husain and Simon Bucks, vative approach to drama. The station’s you, turn to Katy Boulton’s Our Friend
for doing such a great job, and to all the gripping thriller The Drowning was a column – though some of us might
juries. Congratulations to the winners. genuine treat. I can’t wait to see its wait until it feels more like spring to
Not even the lack of a physical scripted take on Anne Boleyn, starring take the plunge.
audience could stop the irrepressible Jodie Turner-Smith as the ill-fated
Sky News editor, John Ryley, from Tudor queen.
giving an emotional acceptance speech French TV drama is enjoying a pur-
as Sky News was once again voted ple patch: Stuart Kemp explains why
News Channel of the Year. the likes of Netflix’s Call My Agent! and Theresa Wise
Contents
Cover: Anne Boleyn (Channel 5)
5 Ricky Boleto’s TV Diary
Newsround’s Ricky Boleto regularly makes sense of
tough stories for CBBC but is shocked that his garden
shed has gone viral
18 At the Sharp end
Richard Sharp is the BBC’s new Chair. Steve Clarke
profiles the former Goldman Sachs banker helping
to steer the BBC through challenging times
6
Comfort Classic: Friends
The US sitcom both defined and transcended an era.
Caroline Frost discovers why audiences remain addicted 20 Where are all the disabled people?
Rosie Jones and Deborah Williams discuss television’s
failure to hire more disabled people
7 Ear Candy: In Writing with Hattie Crisell
Harry Bennett is inspired by the creative journeys
of Hattie Crisell’s guests 22 Working to new rules
As Covid-19 supervisors become commonplace on
set, Tim Dams learns how producers are keeping the
cameras rolling
8 Working Lives: Director
Sheree Folkson talks to Matthew Bell about the huge
range of productions she has directed
25 Our Friend in Yorkshire
Katy Boulton shares her new obsession and invites
a commissioner to dip their toe in very cold water
10 Channel 5’s drive for drama
Shilpa Ganatra speaks to Sebastian Cardwell, the man
spearheading the station’s innovative approach to TV’s
dominant genre 26 Sleuthing by the sea
Could Grace, starring John Simm, become ITV’s new
Inspector Morse? Matthew Bell investigates
12 Why French shows are so in vogue
Stuart Kemp explores why the UK is not alone
in enjoying an affaire du coeur with French TV 28 How to cut TV’s carbon footprint
An RTS panel examines how TV producers can play
their part in combating global warming
15 A cagey game for rights
As cricket returns to free-to-air TV, Matthew Bell checks
out the bidders eyeing other top sports rights 30 RTS Television Journalism Awards 2021
Mishal Husain and Simon Bucks presented the awards
at a ceremony streamed on 24 February
Editor Production, design, advertising Royal Television Society Subscription rates Printing Legal notice
Steve Clarke Gordon Jamieson 3 Dorset Rise UK £115 ISSN 0308-454X © Royal Television Society 2021.
smclarke_333@hotmail.com gordon.jamieson.01@gmail.com London EC4Y 8EN Overseas (surface) £146.11 Printer: FE Burman The views expressed in Television
News editor and writer Sub-editor T: 020 7822 2810 Overseas (airmail) £172.22 20 Crimscott Street are not necessarily those of the RTS.
Matthew Bell Sarah Bancroft E: info@rts.org.uk Enquiries: publication@rts.org.uk London SE1 5TP Registered Charity 313 728
bell127@btinternet.com smbancroft@me.com W: www.rts.org.uk
Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 3
AMBIENCE
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TV diary
Newsround’s Ricky Boleto regularly makes
sense of tough stories for CBBC but is
shocked that his garden shed has gone viral
I
think it’s fair to say that shed. I shared a picture of the reno- The next day, I’m heading out to
reporting for Newsround is a vations on social media and it’s gone try and film a piece to camera for a
job like no other in journal- viral. I’ve had messages from shed report about cladding. We’re featur-
ism. I know John Craven and lovers all over the world… it has also ing two young children who live in
all those who’ve followed in made it on to the BBC News home- flats that need to have it removed.
his footsteps would agree. page – this is ridiculous. Stories like this can be a challenge,
This week alone, I’ve gone I suppose we’ve all had to adapt especially when we have to refer to
from explaining the situation in Myan- one way or another over the past year the Grenfell Tower tragedy, where
mar to revealing which celebrity was when it comes to how we work, and 72 people lost their lives.
behind the sausage costume on ITV’s it seems my shed has caught every- Newsround never shies away from
The Masked Singer. In case you were one’s imagination. reporting these kinds of stories, but
wondering, it was Joss Stone… all in a we are mindful about the way we
day’s work for a Newsround presenter. ■ The BBC’s brilliant tech corre- tell them.
spondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, has
■ The week starts with a short walk been in touch and asked me if I can ■ Back on the box and back in the
to the end of the garden. I’m cur- sort out his working from home shed, this time for BBC Breakfast to
rently working from home and, like set-up, which is covered in wires talk about children’s mental health
so many of us, I’ve become accus- and extension leads. I’ll be over as during the Covid-19 pandemic.
tomed to this ultra-short commute. soon as I can Rory! It’s clear that each lockdown has
Over Christmas, I converted a brought different challenges for
garden shed into a “state of the art” ■ Back to the day job now, and it’s young people and I’ve been hearing
home studio. It’s got lights, a TV internet safety day, all beamed live about their struggles with home
monitor, various tripods, cameras… on the CBBC channel from the CBBC schooling and feelings around
the works. Getting reliable internet to studio – and with me in the infa- loneliness.
the back of the garden was tricky and mous shed. As restrictions start to ease, one
it is ice cold first thing in the morning. In the CBBC studio today is Hacker thing that this lockdown has taught
It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make, T Dog, Wigan’s answer to Edd the me is just how brilliant all my col-
because having this home studio Duck and way funnier, too. Phil leagues are. They’ve continued to get
means I can continue to work for Fletcher is CBBC’s resident puppeteer. Newsround on air and online through-
Newsround without having to travel to He has me in stitches whenever I get out the past year.
the studio in MediaCity UK in Salford. to work with him. It’s heart-warming to get messages
It has also brightened up all those from our viewers, who say that we’ve
Zoom meetings where, instead of ■ It’s still a bit mind boggling to see been there for them and part of their
sitting in front of yet another book- my shed on TV. My three-year-old is daily routine, even when everything
shelf, I’m sat in my shed. watching in our living room while else has changed.
I’m at the back of the garden. He
■ I’m a bit overwhelmed by the gives me a massive hug when I Ricky Boleto is a presenter on
amount of interest there is in my return indoors. Newsround.
Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 5
COMFORT CLASSIC
Friends
Netflix
I
t’s a sign of a true TV phenome-
non when any one of a handful
The US sitcom Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry
and David Schwimmer.
of catchphrases, a haircut, a song both defined and The show was originally devised by
about a malodorous puss or just producers David Crane and Marta
a single word – “Pivot!” - can transcended an era. Kauffman around a simple premise,
instantly propel you back to the
turn of the millennium and six people
Caroline Frost discovers that of “six people in their twenties
making their way in Manhattan”. For
gathered in a West Village apartment, why audiences remain a decade, the show never strayed far
always strangely affordable, or on their from that single idea – and that,
local coffee shop sofa, always strangely addicted to it throughout the trials, triumphs and
available. tribulations of early adult life, your
Friends was that phenomenon and so friends become the family you choose.
it continues to be. It is one of Netflix’s Rewatching Friends now, what’s
biggest global titles. The show’s depar- freshly impressive is how fully formed
ture from the streaming giant’s US each of the characters is from the off.
service ignited a fresh surge in DVD There are comprehensive back stories
sales – 17 years after Friends signed off of family dysfunction as well as distinc
at NBC. tive individual traits to each member
The show’s final episode aired to a of the group: Joey’s small brain but
US audience of more than 50 million, big heart, Monica’s incessant control-
making it the fourth most-watched freakery, Rachel’s challenges with finan-
series finale in history. cial independence, Ross’s comfort with
By then, Friends had run for 10 sea- dinosaurs over people, Phoebe’s other-
sons, an astonishing 236 episodes, and worldly quirkiness and Chandler’s good
made superstars of its lead actors - looks belying his sarcastic awkwardness.
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa It’s all there, as well as the group’s
6
bottomless comradeship. Nobody
Ear candy
misses a first night of Joey’s new play,
and everyone, of course, attends the
wedding of Ross’s ex-wife.
These six people may be competitive,
cheeky and fall out with each other at
regular intervals but, ultimately, this is
a tight band whose bonds are fast and
true. Knowing this makes for a very
relaxing viewing experience.
Of course, this could all have
become unbearably mawkish, but it is
saved by the scripts. “The Friends writ-
ers room was simultaneously a party
room and a prison cell,” according to
Saul Austerlitz, author of Generation
Friends: An Inside Look at the Show That
Defined a Television Era.
Each 22-minute episode is packed
with one-liners and running jokes that
play to everything we already know,
In Writing with
plus, most crucially of all, the stars’
great chemistry.
Only when guest stars such as Helen
Hunt, George Clooney and Noah Wyle
Hattie Crisell
(as ER doctors, no less), Julia Roberts
and Brad Pitt turn up to do a turn does
it become clear just how special the
Hattie Crisell
interaction between our leading six
really is. Their effortless timing and
W
understanding of one another make
them hard for even those talented
co-stars to keep up with. riting is his filled with photos, music and books
This strength in numbers was some- so often for “subliminal inspiration”.
thing the stars enjoyed off-screen as a solitary The writers then retrace their roads
well, where their unity became a and ardu- to success and share the lessons they
superpower when it came to salary ous pursuit learned along the way. This is at once
renegotiation. By seasons 9 and 10, that pod- reassuring and inspiring. Especially
they were each earning $1m an epi- casts such those, like Jon Ronson, whose roads
sode, as well as pocketing syndication as In Writing with Hattie Crisell are a wel- were paved with rejection letters.
royalties from 2000 onwards. come refuge. Now an award-winning screen-
Some of the storylines in Friends are In each episode of In Writing, journal- writer, Ronson admits to receiving a
more likely than others for a bunch of ist Hattie Crisell seeks solidarity and particularly humiliating response to
Manhattan twentysomethings, but we insight from one of the best of any and the first script he sent on spec to the
go with it, and them, through 10 sea- all genres. Among the 27 to date are BBC: “Usually, when we reject submis-
sons of births, deaths, secret romances, playwright and screenwriter Lucy sions, we like to offer some encour-
accidental weddings and judgemental Prebble, novelist David Nicholls and agement but, in your case, we don’t see
parents. writer and performer Robert Webb. any point in you continuing.”
Why? Because, just as for the gang The interviews feel less like formal Each episode offers a similar com-
on-screen, there’s a great comfort in conversations than intimate visits. forting reminder that failure and self-
knowing that we can always come Crisell starts each one by asking the doubt are universal. So why do we do
back to that kitchen table or that coffee writer to describe their writing room. it, asks Crisell. Ronson recalls Randy
shop sofa, and revel in the company of The answers set the scene and give Newman’s answer to the same ques-
those friends who, in the face of triumph the first insight, with the working envi- tion: “It’s how I judge myself and how I
or disaster, always have your back. n ronment usually informing the process. feel better.” Listen to In Writing and
Prebble’s bare room is designed to you’ll feel better about writing. n
Friends is on Comedy Central and Netflix. avoid distraction, while Nicholls likes Harry Bennett
Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 7
WORKING LIVES
Director
Netflix
Bridgerton
Sheree Folkson is one of the completely different, although not all you a great buzz of adrenaline, which
directors on Netflix’s biggest ever US shows I make are shot that quickly. you don’t get in the edit.
series, the period drama Bridgerton. It depends on the budget.
During a long career spanning TV and How did you become a director?
film, she has worked with some of the Who do you work with most closely I was obsessed by old movies – I loved
best actors and writers in the business. on a production? Hitchcock and William Wyler as direc-
The producer, director of photography tors, and watching Bette Davis, Barbara
What does the job involve? (DoP), production designer, first assis- Stanwyck and Hollywood musicals.
We take a script and turn it into a living, tant director, the cast, the editor and The directors were always men and I
breathing thing. [with the US way of working] the writ- never thought about becoming one, but
ers and showrunner. it was the female stars who often car-
That sounds simple, but surely it takes If I start a show, I also work closely ried the movies. So, I went to drama
time to make a show? with the writer, costume, make-up and school but then struggled to find much
I start work, as sole director, on a four- hair and casting departments. With the work, though I did play a Munchkin in
part drama in the UK at the end of April. British system, you don’t work so much The Wizard of Oz at Newcastle Playhouse!
Sole directors are involved in the early with the writers on set, but on Bridger- I gave up acting and went to univer-
creative decisions and also have to cast ton, which was shot in the UK but using sity and did a politics degree. Then I
and crew a series, so I’m already look- the US system, the writer or showrunner decided I needed to do something
ing at actors and crew with the produc- was on set every day. creative and was accepted by the BBC
ers and writer. It will be shooting until on its graduate trainee scheme.
September and editing until November. Do you enjoy sitting in the editing
suite? That sounds like great training?
Is it done differently in the US? I do enjoy the edit. There’s less time It was amazing – I spent two years
I work a lot in the US, where I can pressure and you haven’t got 100 peo- working in different departments,
finish a one-hour episode in just three ple looking at you, thinking, “What working out where I fitted in. There
weeks – that’s maybe seven days’ now?” It’s just you and the editor in a was an eclectic mix of people – future
prep, shooting for 10 and an edit in just room. The hardest bit of the job is BBC political editor Nick Robinson was
four days. The American system is being on set filming. But it also gives in my year.
8
How does it feel to be involved with
a runaway success like Bridgerton?
Obviously, it feels great. I have always
loved period drama – both watching
and making it – particularly those with
a more modern/irreverent eye. I knew
we were making something special,
but I had no idea it would appeal to
such an amazingly large audience. It’s
very fulfilling to think that so many
people have watched your work.
Television or film?
I think they’ve always been indistin-
guishable. You need the same skills and
creativity as a director to tell stories,
whether they are for TV or film – I really
can’t see what the difference is from a
creative point of view. From a skill-set
angle, you have less time to shoot TV, so
it can be more challenging in that way.
What are the best and worst parts of
the job?
The best is being able to use your crea-
tivity and imagination, and working
with a large group of talented people
who bring their own creativity and
imagination to the table. Making tele-
vision and film is a communal experi-
ence. The worst is when time is short
– when I’m filming, I’m frequently
David Tennant in Casanova
BBC
fighting the clock, which is hugely
frustrating. And getting up early.
What was the first TV programme water bottle and, when I’m filming,
you directed? loads of warm clothing and water- What advice would you give to some-
I started to direct factual programmes proofs – I get really cold. If I’m outside, one wanting to direct?
for the BBC One religious and ethical I’ve been known to bring my hot-water Watch as much as you can. Go back
series Heart of the Matter and BBC Two bottle, too. to the old movies as well as watching
arts programme The Late Show. My first contemporary film and TV – there are
drama was a factual piece, The Trials of What makes a good director? so many things you can draw on.
Oz, based on the transcripts from the Understanding the script and the writ-
1971 obscenity trial of the alternative er’s intentions is key, as is having a So, is it a golden age for TV directors?
Oz magazine. It was a hilarious con- point of view and vision of your own. There are so many more outlets for
trast between the counter-culture and Clear communication with cast and content than when I first started
the old guard. I had the most amazing crew, imagination and understanding directing, when there were just four
cast: Alfred Molina, Nigel Hawthorne, the craft of the actor are also important. TV channels making drama in the UK.
Hugh Grant, who wasn’t yet famous, That’s good for TV directors.
and Leslie Phillips as the judge. Do you need technical knowledge?
I know what I want something to look Has the job changed over time?
What came next? like – I’m very strong on the visual look. There’s less sexism and many more
An episode of The Bill, but I found it But I trust my DoP and camera operator female directors. Considering that
creatively uninteresting – it was a for- on how to achieve it technically. we’re 50% of the population, though,
mula and I couldn’t bring anything to it. we’re still way behind.
I returned to docs for a while, but then Which work are you most proud of?
I got the chance to direct and produce Casanova – the script from Russell T Is there any genre you’d love to direct?
A Royal Scandal about the terrible mar- Davies was just fantastic. He’s like a I want to do a musical more than any-
riage of George IV, starring Richard E poet; his words sing and have such wit. thing. n
Grant. I loved it and stuck with drama. It was inspiring and it inspired me to
make something bold. We had David Sheree Folkson was interviewed by
What do you bring with you to work? Tennant and Peter O’Toole in the cast Matthew Bell. The director is represented
My iPad, which has the script on it, a – it was a wonderful experience. by Casarotto Ramsay.
Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 9
Channel 5
The Drowning
Channel 5’s
drive for drama
Shilpa Ganatra speaks to Sebastian Cardwell, the man spearheading
the station’s innovative approach to TV’s dominant genre
T
here must be something following year, Channel 5 gave us Cold was acquisitions-heavy.” Cardwell
in the water at Chan- Call (seen by 2.6 million viewers), and began his career at the BBC before
nel 5. In 2020, it won in 2020, a year which also saw it air moving to Channel 5.
Channel of the Year at Penance and the second series of Blood, He switched from acquisitions to
both the RTS Pro- The Deceived, written by Lisa McGee become commissioning editor, then
gramme Awards and the and Tobias Beer, attracted an audience controller of digital channels, taking up
Broadcast Awards. The RTS’s judges of 3.3 million. Later still, the reboot of his current position in February 2020.
remarked that it was “a confident All Creatures Great and Small did even “I know the ins and outs of the channels
broadcaster reaping the rewards of better, with the first episode delivering and who does what and what works
years of steady growth and develop- a consolidated audience of 5 million. and what doesn’t work – although every
ment – a channel that increasingly But is the best to come? day you learn new things,” he says.
now both surprises and delights”. The man who commissions the The idea to move into original dramas
That momentum careered into 2021, broadcaster’s drama is Sebastian Card- stemmed from conversations with
as The Drowning – the four-parter about well, deputy director of programmes for director of programmes Ben Frow.
a mother who befriends a child she Channel 5’s parent company, Viacom- Despite the risk, they felt it was worth
believes is her missing son – became its CBS Networks UK. He says: “Each pro- a shot, especially once their first steps
most-watched drama to date. A record gramme has grown the audience more, into the area were successful (or at
5.1 million tuned in for the first episode. so people are starting to equate Chan- least, like 2019’s four-parter 15 Days,
The Drowning’s success is no fluke. nel 5 with drama, which they wouldn’t showed the genre’s potential).
The channel has been dabbling in have done a couple of years ago. “We’ve seen that the dramas have
drama since its flagship show, Big “It’s certainly more upmarket than punched above their weight compared
Brother, was cancelled in 2018. The when I joined the channel, when it with the other content,” he says.
10“Dramas are more expensive to make, us look forward-thinking and it’s good in a way that appeals to heartland
but they score highly in terms of view- for press – which is important in drama. audiences.”
ers, they get talked about, and they “And we can’t just keep doing mys- As with most of the shows that he is
drive viewers to My5 as well, which, in tery thrillers. There’s nothing worse working on, it’s still in development
this changing landscape of TV, is than dramas becoming homogenised and at the mercy of the book-balancers.
important to us.” and a bit boring. It’s about finding Though the amount that the channel
The move is bold, not only because areas in scripted that we can move spends per hour has changed little since
of the cost but also because competi- into, where we take those viewers and Channel 5 was bought by Viacom in
tion in this area is so stiff. Across 2020, nudge them into another world.” 2014, clearly more is being diverted
eight of BBC iPlayer’s most-watched To that end, Channel 5 is keeping an into drama.
10 programmes were dramas. eye out for more family sagas, literary The broadcaster has had to become
This January, ITV outdid itself as The adaptations and, given the knock-on more creative to make that money go
Pembrokeshire Murders became its biggest effect of the pandemic, rags-to-riches further, says Cardwell: “We use tax
drama in six years, and, in October, Sky
Atlantic’s The Undoing launched to more
viewers that the first season of Game of
Thrones. It’s a tense battle, with as much
jeopardy as the genre suggests.
Yet the devil is in the detail. Ask
Cardwell what the biggest challenge of
entering the market is, and he says it’s
finding slots within the melee; he sug-
gests one reason for The Drowning’s
success was being scheduled on an
otherwise-quiet Monday evening.
“The worst thing would be to spend
all that time and money making a series,
and then go up against an absolute beast
of a show, a mega hit from one of our
better-funded competitors,” he says.
“That would be really disappointing.
“We’re a counter-scheduling channel.
We know that there are certain com-
Channel 5
petitors we can take on, and certain
competitors we’ll be silly to take on.”
All Creatures Great and Small
It helps that part of the strategy at
Channel 5 is to set itself apart from the
other UK public service broadcasters. stories. “There are also stories of yes credits where we can – we’re currently
This makes it easier to sign up the teryear, like Lynda La Plante’s Widows filming Teacher [about a schoolteacher
shows that are right for it. and Hitchcock suspenses, to take accused of having sex with one of her
Cardwell explains that the channel inspiration from.” pupils] in Hungary because the credits
aims to work nimbly with production One much-anticipated curveball are double those of the UK.
companies and so keep the process series is Jodie Turner-Smith, of Queen & “We’ve buddied up with Acorn [the
efficient. When needed, it shapes the Slim fame, playing the lead in Anne British content streamer owned by
show to make it exactly right for its Boleyn, a thriller about the ill-fated AMC] for Dalgliesh [a new adaptation of
heartland audience. queen. Though the casting is uncon- PD James’s bestselling books], and All
“Ben always talks about the audience ventional, Cardwell notes that it’s not a Creatures Great and Small was shown as
as being a mother and daughter sitting particularly risky move as the star part of PBS’s Masterpiece slot in the US.
on a couch in Middlesbrough who carries her own profile, and Anne “We’re very good at being economi-
watch TV together,” says Cardwell. “I Boleyn has proven a popular subject cal, and we’re very successful at it in all
kind of agree with that. We know that for the channel. the genres, because that’s just life at
we’re not metropolitan, we’re not cool, “Inclusion and diversity is something Channel 5.
we’re not London. we talk about a lot, not just in front of the “We don’t have the big budgets of our
“Our strategy from the start was to camera, but behind the camera,” he says. competitors, but we still make shows
move into the domestic thriller space. “We have all sorts of initiatives going that compete and beat them. That’s
Then, we have the returnables, the All on at Channel 5. We’re encouraged, as what we do day in, day out.”
Creatures stuff that we think is populist commissioners, to work closely with With Intruder earmarked as the next
and will appeal to the Channel 5 viewer, our production companies to ensure Channel 5 thriller to hit our screens
and possibly beyond.” we have diversity in all of our shows. – the story of a couple whose lives are
Of the 10 or 11 original series it hopes “Within drama, there’s one project in turned upside down after a break-in,
to air each year (coronavirus willing, of particular that I’m hoping to get off the starring Elaine Cassidy (No Offence,
course), a couple will be options “that ground in the next six months that Fingersmith) and Tom Meeten (The
push us into a slightly more differenti- could be a big leap forward, and an Ghoul) – the high drama at Channel 5
ated direction”, he suggests. “It makes interesting way of looking at diversity shows no sign of easing. n
Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 11Why French shows
are so in vogue
T
hrough the comedy-
Spiral (Engrenages)
drama chic of Call My
Agent! (Dix Pour Cent),
the down and dirty
cop-show grit of Spiral
(Engrenages), the adven-
tures of gentleman thief Assane Diop
in Lupin or the political thrills and spills
of The Bureau, international viewers
are devouring subtitled French sass
with gusto.
But this current crop of French hits
does not share a formula or any com-
monality of genre or theme. “What the
successful international French shows
have in common is that they have
nothing in common,” says Frédéric
Pittoors d’Haveskercke, a Paris-based
executive producer and go-to fixer,
who helps European producers develop
their international slates and develop-
ment projects.
What they all share is being “abso-
lutely, quintessentially French”, says
Walter Iuzzolino of Walter Presents,
the international TV drama partnership
between Channel 4 and the acquisi-
tions and distribution company Global
Series Network. “The shows all have a
funny, blasé, raucous sense of humour.
And they don’t mind stabbing a ciga-
rette in your hand if you irritate them,”
he suggests.
Dominic Schreiber, SVP for co-
productions and acquisitions at Newen
Connect (the distribution arm of TF1
Group-owned Newen), agrees: “Even
with the sound down and the subtitles
off, you could look at a show such as
Call My Agent! and know that it is
French.” Vive la différence, then.
Sometimes, efforts to capture
Frenchness have caused Gallic shrugs
among subjects and audiences alike:
Emily in Paris, a comedy-drama stream- Stuart Kemp explores
ing series created by Darren Star,
debuted on Netflix in October 2020. why the UK is not alone
The show stars Lily Collins as an
American who moves to Paris to work
in enjoying an affaire du
for a French marketing firm, and it was coeur with French TV
criticised for its stereotypical view of
BBC
all things French.
12“The berets. The croissants. The
baguettes. The hostile waiters. The
irascible concierges. The inveterate
philanderers. The lovers and the mis-
tresses. Name a cliché about France and
the French, you’ll find it in Emily in Paris,”
said French newspaper 20 Minutes.
French television has come into its
own as locked-down viewers across
the globe have turned to their TVs in
search of escapism. Many have latched
on to French content across traditional
broadcast channels, pay-TV and sub-
scription streaming platforms.
Call My Agent! has been around for five
years but the show’s fourth season is
trending on Netflix, attracting plaudits
and fresh attention in equal measure.
“The success is a combination of
lockdown and being on Netflix. Word
of mouth has just snowballed,” Schrei-
ber notes. “One of the great things
about these [online streaming] plat-
forms is that audiences can stumble
across these shows.”
Coupled with a growing comfort
with subtitles, French shows are flour-
ishing abroad. Long gone are the days
when the French Alpine mystery
drama The Returned (Les Revenants),
produced by Haut et Court TV, was
craftily marketed to Channel 4 audi-
ences with images and no dialogue
for its prime-time 9:00pm drama slot.
Tim Mutimer, EVP for sales and
acquisitions, EMEA, at global distribu-
tor Banijay Rights, says the advent of
Netflix, Amazon and Apple TV+ as
co-production partners and distribu-
tors has bolstered the profile of French
output. “Such platforms have taken
non-English-language [content] to
Torn (Soupçons)
audiences around the world, so there All 4
is more of an appetite than there used
to be. “It has not been as easy for Netflix to My Agent! to Pierre Salvadori behind the
“When you see the success of Lupin invest in the French market as it has camera for En thérapie, TV series have
on Netflix… the fact is that something been for the company in other Euro- earned a nobility and prestige they
that isn’t filmed in English is not the pean markets.” lacked before. For actors, the appeal is
barrier that, once upon a time, it would Indeed, the slower migration to the that the shows are often character-
have been.” small screen in France by the country’s driven and therefore dramatically
Mutimer is promoting Banijay Studios producers is partly down to its pro- interesting, plus, on a purely practical
France’s adaptation of Émile Zola’s tected cinema industry model, which level, the work is more stable than
novel Germinal, which could deliver subsidises independent film but does cinema.”
a Peaky Blinders twist for France 2. not assist TV. Iuzzolino adds: “French film-makers
The arrival of the deep-pocketed But a combination of broadcasters clocked it early – sometimes it is
streamers in France has opened up and pay-TV operators raising their exciting to have a canvas where, instead
new possibilities for young writers, game to attract viewers and a growing of having to condense your story into
including those from diverse back- demand from younger audiences for 90 minutes, you can actually tell a story
grounds, to develop their own projects, quality programmes delivered online over several seasons.
notes d’Haveskercke. is driving a cultural shift in attitudes. “French creative talent is not glib
“Netflix and Amazon operate a little “French film talent is flocking to TV,” about television – they are making art.
more carefully in the French market, argues Paris-based journalist, writer They take their mission as writers,
because there are very specific ways and broadcaster Agnes C Poirier. actors and DoPs very seriously and
of working [in France],” he explains. “From Cédric Klapisch directing Call it shows.” �
Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 13‘FRENCH
CREATIVE
TALENT IS NOT
GLIB ABOUT
TELEVISION
– THEY ARE
MAKING ART’
� French television political drama
series Spin, starring film star Nathalie
Baye and Grégory Fitoussi (of Spiral
and Mr Selfridge fame) began life on
France 2 before crossing la Manche,
with three seasons rolling out on
More4 between 2015 and 2017.
The seeds of love for French televi-
sion, certainly for UK viewers, were
planted by Spiral, which first aired on
BBC Four in 2006. Created by Alexan-
dra Clert and Guy-Patrick Sainderichin
and produced by Son et Lumière, it
garnered critical acclaim and a loyal
audience of around 200,000 for the
corporation long before Scandi noir
became a genre phenomenon.
All eight series and 86 episodes
of Spiral are available on BBC iPlayer.
The show became Netflix’s first sub
titled show when the streamer snapped
up non-exclusive rights to it in 2012;
Braquo, distributed by Banijay, was
another early runner, garnering two
million viewers on Channel 4 in 2009.
There are plenty of other French
gems on offer. Amazon Prime is home
to No Man’s Land, a drama about a man
who travels to Syria, where Kurdish
female soldiers battle Isis, to try and
find his sister, who he believes has
been declared dead in error. Produced
Netflix
by Haut et Court (producer of les
Call My Agent! (Dix pour cent)
Revenants), a second season of the
Hulu co-production is likely.
Walter Presents boasts no fewer same time so fantastically interna- procedural with a twist being made
than 17 French shows. It is readying tional” – are front and centre of Iuz- for TF1, about a police-station clean-
for the return of one of the platform’s zolino’s ambitions to curate a “sexy and ing lady who discovers that she has
big hits, with the third season of The exciting international drama space”. “high intellectual potential” and
Crimson Rivers due this summer. Wal- And there are many more ambitious begins working on police cases.
ter Presents also hosts the glossy, French TV shows flirting with UK and L’Opera is a Paris-set drama about
Provence-set drama Torn, a show that international distribution deals. Fed- the glamorous and merciless world of
The Guardian’s TV guru, Stuart Heritage, eration Entertainment is selling the ballet dancers, produced for OCS, the
described recently as “perfect lock- M6-commissioned They Were Ten, a Orange pay-TV platform, a smaller
down telly”. contemporary adaptation of Agatha rival to Canal+. And buyers are jost
Iuzzolino and co created Philharmo- Christie’s best-selling crime novel of ling to secure the UK broadcast rights
nia, a rollercoaster psychological all time. It is directed by Pascal Laugier, to Federation’s glossy thriller Time is
thriller centering on a classical music best known for hit thrillers The Tall a Killer, set on Corsica and starring
conductor, her Parisian orchestra Man, starring Jessica Biel, and Incident Mathilde Seigner, Caterina Murino,
members and a dark secret she har- in a Ghostland, France’s most success- and Jenifer Bartoli alongside Fitoussi.
bours. It is available on All 4 in the UK. ful film export of 2018. French television is certainly on an
Such shows – “so French but at the Newen is pitching HIP, a police upward spiral. n
14BCCI/Pankaj Nangia
India vs England second Test, 2021
A cagey game
for rights
T
he topsy-turvy Test series
in India is bringing
As cricket returns dominant broadcaster. “A free-to-air
broadcaster got its hands on the rights
much-needed entertain- to free-to-air TV, because pay-TV broadcasters didn’t
ment – though, latterly, think they were that valuable,” he
little cheer for England Matthew Bell checks suggests.
fans – during lockdown.
When time is hard to fill, what could
out the bidders eyeing “Sky has learnt that it isn’t neces-
sary to have everything – it can hang
be better than six hours plus of other top sports rights on to pretty much all its sports sub-
cricket a day shown on free-to-air TV. scribers as long as it has, by some
There were many raised eyebrows oldies: across the five days, 10% were distance, the best sports proposition
when Channel 4 bought the rights to under 16 and 13% aged 16 to 34. It’s a in the market,” says former Sky COO
the four-Test series. Why would a pity for Channel 4 that England Mike Darcey. “If you’re a sports fan,
channel that prides itself on risk- couldn’t drag out their defeat any you get Sky first and then ask if you
taking and a young demographic clear longer than two days in the third Test. need anything else. That’s why Sky is
its morning schedules for a game with But was Channel 4’s coup an iso- quite happy to step away from Eng-
an elderly and declining fan base? lated triumph or are there more land Test matches in India. Is anyone
In fact, restoring live Test cricket to opportunities for terrestrial TV to pick going to churn? No.”
terrestrial TV has proved a ratings hit. up sports rights? Illustrating Darcey’s point, at the end
Nearly 6 million viewers watched “This is a bit of a one-off,” reckons of last month, Sky snapped up the
England’s progress to a thumping win Enders Analysis senior TV analyst rights to the T20 internationals and
in the first Test, with many tuning in, Julian Aquilina. Sky Sports, which the one-day series, which follow the
bleary-eyed, from the very first ball at holds the rights for England’s home Test series. Short-form cricket puts
4:00am. And not all the viewers were Tests until 2024, remains cricket’s more bums on sofas – Sky wasn’t �
Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 15‘BT AND SKY’S
OVERARCHING
STRATEGY… IS
TO CUT BACK ON
THEIR SPORTS-
RIGHTS SPEND’
domestic TV rights fell by almost 5%,
while France’s Ligue 1’s deal with Bar-
celona-based media group Mediapro
collapsed. It has recently signed a stop-
gap deal with Canal+, but it is thought
that the French league will lose close to
50% of its TV income this season.
For the Premier League, UK rights
will probably go down 5% to 8%, “but
it wouldn’t surprise us if it was 10%”,
says Alexios Dimitropoulos, a senior
analyst at Ampere Analysis.
Auctions need aggressive bidders
and, since Sky and BT ended their
long-running dispute over carrying
each other’s channels in 2017, compe-
tition has been lacking. “The only real
competitive pressure there’s been in
the market for some time has been
Sky versus BT and that has gone
Manchester City’s because of the cross-supply deal,” says
Ilkay Gündoğan Darcey. “That’s why the prices went
during the English down last time. They’re both content
Premier League with what they’ve got and they will both
Liverpool vs see an opportunity to bank a saving.”
Manchester City
Aquilina adds: “Sky and BT already
match last month
AFP
have very expensive sports portfolios.
The overarching strategy at these two
� going to allow these valuable rights Cricket is trying to recalibrate its companies is to cut back on their
to fall into the lap of a free-to-air coverage: Sky will continue to broad- sports-rights spend.”
broadcaster. cast home Tests, but the BBC has high- Will any new bidders enter the auc-
Sports without the mass appeal of lights packages and will show some tion? The consensus is that Amazon
football, such as cricket, face a tricky live T20 internationals. will be content to stick with its current
choice: greater exposure on terrestrial Football is a different matter. Pre- package of 20 live games bookending
TV but less money; or bigger bucks but mier League rights are up for grabs Christmas, which has encouraged
smaller pay-TV audiences. again and, outside the highlights pack- soccer fans to join Amazon Prime.
Sky’s cricket coverage has been age, cash-strapped free-to-air TV again Says Darcey: “It’s a minor package,
exemplary and has filled cricket’s won’t get a look in. The last auction, which happens to work for Amazon
coffers, but it has come at a cost – in 2018, saw domestic rights sell for very well. It’s a very big leap from
the game’s grassroots have withered. £4.5bn over three years – a fall from there to contesting the major packs
Talking at an RTS event late last year, 2015’s peak of £5.1bn – to Sky as the of Sky and BT. There’s not zero chance
Sunset+Vine Chair Jeff Foulser, whose major broadcaster; BT Sport as the of that, but it’s quite a low chance. And
company produced Channel 4’s cover- second player; and Amazon, the the chances of anyone else seem lower
age of the 2005 Ashes – the last time junior partner. still. The likes of Netflix and Apple
live Test cricket aired on terrestrial TV The years of galloping inflation that haven’t shown any signs of getting
before now – said: “This is no criticism saw rights rise from £1.8bn in 2009 to serious about sport.”
of Sky, but not everyone can afford to £3bn in 2012 are over. If recent deals in Aquilina says that even a fall of 10%
have a subscription. Cricket has suf- major European leagues are any guide, to 15% in the price of Premier League
fered in the intervening years because the current bidding for UK rights for rights “would not be surprising”, adding:
it wasn’t available to as many eyeballs the Premier League will not reach the “Sport is not a good fit for most stream-
as possible. All sport needs terrestrial 2018 figure. ers. Netflix and Disney are video enter-
television.” Last year, Germany’s Bundesliga tainment platforms in the UK… sports
16Welsh Rugby Union
England vs Wales, Six Nations
rugby union, last month
rights have limited or even zero shelf
lives – people want to watch the game ‘IF YOU’RE A and that would mean it’s very likely to
go partly behind a paywall. My feeling
live, whereas scripted drama can be
watched over and over again.
SPORTS FAN, YOU is that this will be part paywall, part
free-to-air.”
“Sports rights typically also get sold GET SKY FIRST During CVC’s involvement with
to a domestic market and that doesn’t
play to the advantages of these global AND THEN ASK Formula One, from 2006 to 2017, cov-
erage moved to pay-TV and income
players.” IF YOU NEED was maximised, but many fans felt this
There has been speculation that
fast-rising sports streamer DAZN could ANYTHING ELSE’ was at the expense of the sport’s soul.
Since CVC sold F1 to Liberty Media
bid, but nothing can happen until the for $4.4bn, more than doubling its
Premier League issues its tender docu- investment, it has acquired stakes in
ment which, in years past, would have during lockdown – the England vs two rugby competitions, the English
been released by now. Scotland clash on ITV (which shares Premiership and Celtic Pro14. Football
Premier League CEO Richard Masters coverage with the BBC) recorded a could be next, with CVC currently
recently said: “We are in no rush.… It is peak audience of 8.7 million last negotiating for a stake in Italian league
too early to say whether there will be month, the biggest in more than a Serie A’s media rights.
any material deviation from our his- decade for the Calcutta Cup. Banker and sports specialist Keith
toric packaging strategies.” Unfortunately for union fans, the Harris, speaking at a SportBusiness
Darcey thinks the Premier League Six Nations is not a category-A listed webinar last month, said: “If it could be
could change the packaging structure event. This guarantees that certain done in Formula One, it could be done
to “try to tempt in another player or high-profile sports events, including in another money-spinning sport,
generally disrupt the sale of the rights. the finals of the FA Cup and Wimble- which is obviously football.”
At the every least, you want uncertainty don, are available on free-to-air TV. With football leagues around Europe
– if bidders are uncertain what’s going Worse, to dig itself out of a Covid-19 increasingly anxious about a decline in
on, they sometimes manage their fear financial hole, the Six Nations is set to TV revenues, will they, too, turn to
by putting more money on the table.” sell private equity firm CVC Capital a private equity money to plug the gap?
Rugby union’s Six Nations rights are 14.5% stake in its commercial rights. And will this lead then to even greater
also due for renewal. Never has sport Dimitropoulos reckons that CVC will commercialisation of the people’s
had a more captive audience than want “to push for higher TV revenues game? n
Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 17At the
Sharp
end
The BBC’s new Chair,
Richard Sharp, the
former Goldman Sachs
banker helping to
steer the BBC through
challenging times, is
profiled by Steve Clarke
T
here is already some-
thing of a buzz around
Richard Sharp, the new
BBC Chair, and about
what he and Director-
General Tim Davie
might achieve together as they navi-
gate the corporation towards what we
all hope is a post-Covid world.
Inevitably, not everyone at the BBC
was pleased that another money man
was chosen as successor to Sir David
Clementi – himself a former deputy
governor of the Bank of England. But
many across the TV sector were
relieved that a more controversial
candidate was not appointed.
“I genuinely welcome Richard
Sharp’s appointment,” says Sir Peter
Bazalgette, ITV’s Chair. “It is a very
Richard Sharp
PA
good appointment for the BBC.”
This kind of enthusiasm for Sharp,
who started his new job last month, is what was the one thing stopping pro- needs to think quite profoundly about
not difficult to find within TV, not least duction restarting? I said insurance. it’s future.”
because the new Chair was pivotal in We’ve got everything ready to go but Others, too, draw attention to Sharp’s
helping to secure the Treasury’s crea- we can’t switch on the cameras again intellect, a lightning-quick mind, and a
tive industries relief package, the because no one will insure us. staccato way of speaking that resembles
£1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund, so “Because we can’t get insurance, no machine-gun fire.
important to helping at least some TV one will invest. He doesn’t understand Following his encounter with McVay,
freelancers keep their heads above how production works, but he got it Sharp then opened the door for Pact
water during the past year. and took me to task with some very to Rishi Sunak – the Chancellor had
Pact CEO John McVay, who was tough questioning.” worked for Sharp at Goldman Sachs
fundamental to brokering the deal, McVay adds: “He’s very acute, and brought him in as an adviser to
says: “Excuse the pun but Sharp by inquiring and will bring a powerful the Treasury last spring during the
name, sharp by nature. He asked me intellect to the BBC at a time when it first lockdown.
18“At the time, several broadcasters The BBC needs to take urgent action Jean Seaton, author of a volume of
contacted him to ask his advice about to make more than £400m-worth of the official history of the BBC, says:
things such as bank loans,” says an old cuts that are due within a year. Simul- “He has a background, and a real and
friend. “This was long before anyone taneously, it also needs to deflect any vivid interest, in music, and must have
mentioned him as a potential BBC blowback as it extracts itself from a demonstrated during the interview
Chair. He was more than willing to former commitment to pay the TV process a real hunger for a whole vari-
offer his help.” licences of all over-75s. In this context, ety of content. To me, that’s the key.”
This praise for Sharp is not shared Sharp’s commercial acumen should During the select committee hearing,
by the Labour Party. Alastair Campbell, prove useful. the new Chair said he “inhales” BBC
Tony Blair’s former spin doctor, has When Sharp was grilled by the drama, highlighting Fleabag and Roadkill.
tweeted: “So the march to the moneyed Commons’ Digital, Culture, Media and On the sensitive topic of diversity,
right goes on apace. New BBC Chair there are those who think that having
super-wealthy ex-Goldman Sachs boss two Oxbridge-educated white men
of, and lately assistant to, Sunak. The ‘I THINK I WON over 50 once again running the BBC is
anti-public service contingent really are
getting all their people in on the inside THE LOTTERY deeply anachronistic. Seaton, however,
thinks Sharp and Davie have an oppor-
now.” However, Blair’s Government IN LIFE TO BE tunity to redress the balance by intro-
appointed millionaire economist Gavyn
Davies, another Goldman Sachs high- BRITISH AND, IF ducing some fresh, diverse talent to
strengthen the BBC Board.
flyer, as BBC Chair. I CAN MAKE A “Six members of the board are about
On paper, Sharp’s establishment
credentials are abundant: the son of a
CONTRIBUTION, to be replaced,” she says. “Provided
he’s wise, he will be very active in
successful businessman who was later I COULDN’T BE composing the board so that it genu-
elevated to the House of Lords, pri-
vately educated and who, after reading
HAPPIER TO’ inely represents the variety of modern
Britain. If you look at Davie’s targets on
PPE at Oxford, spent more than 30 diversity, they’re both ambitious and
years in investment banking. He sat on realistic.”
Boris Johnson’s board of economic Sport Committee in January, he said Another BBC watcher says: “I think
advisors when Johnson was London that the licence fee was “the least worst” he’s going to shake up the board and
mayor. way of funding the BBC. He said he hire some media gurus.”
Sharp has reportedly donated more had an “open mind” about how the What, then, of the critical question
than £400,000 to the Conservative corporation should be funded in the of how Davie and Sharp are likely to
Party since 2001 and was on the board future, and that it “may be worth reas- work together? Both possess keen
of the Centre for Policy Studies, a sessing” the current system. “At 43p a commercial brains and will think crea-
centre-right think tank. He has said day, the BBC represents terrific value,” tively and imaginatively about future
that he will donate his £160,000 BBC Sharp told MPs. international initiatives beyond the
salary to charity. “Judged by his performance at the BBC’s core UK public service activities.
However, this background doesn’t select committee, Richard clearly More partnerships and clever ideas
tell the whole story. “Richard’s got believes in the BBC, although it will may well be on the horizon.
quite a lot of non-establishment have many reforms made to it in the “Sharp will be a good fit with Tim,”
instincts. That makes him very differ- next five to 10 years,” opines Bazalgette. says a former BBC DG. “They have a lot
ent to David Clementi, who is estab- “We’re all a product of our upbring- in common.”
lishment through and through,” says ing and I was very fortunate with the “They are both straight-talking guys,”
someone who knows him well. “He parents I have; my great-grandparents says McVay. “I imagine they’ll have
will be much more difficult for the came to this country escaping tyranny,” some robust conversations. That’s a
great leviathan that is the BBC to cap- Sharp recalled at the select committee good thing. For the BBC to survive,
ture than some of his predecessors. hearing. “I think I won the lottery in life some profound, robust conversations
Richard can be quite a handful.” to be British and, if I can make a contri- are needed.”
Nevertheless, Sharp brings to the bution, I couldn’t be happier to. As for the inevitable BBC crises that
BBC a direct route into the heart of the “The BBC is part of all our identities, will involve Sharp in his new role, Sea-
Government. “The Government has of all our national identities and offers ton thinks it will mostly be water off a
appointed their appointee to run the education and enrichment and is also duck’s back. “Sharp looks like someone
BBC,” says Bazalgette. “He is the best important for our position in the who thinks he’s going to enjoy himself
person to get a reasonable deal on world.… It is a massive privilege to be at the BBC,” she says. “He will be
funding out of the Government.” Chair of the BBC.” unfazed by the BBC scandals that
In the light of the recent shake-up of The new Chair’s cultural hinterland always emerge sooner or later.
personnel at No 10, there is more opti- – he was Chair of the Royal Academy “They won’t bother him. He doesn’t
mism that the BBC can build on its from 2007 to 2012 and co-founded the have that vulnerability that certain
achievements during the pandemic charity London Music Masters – is politicians have. Bankers don’t have
without having to deal with too many another factor that makes him well that kind of personality. He’s a master
hand grenades from Downing Street. qualified for the job. of the universe.” n
Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021 19You can also read
