Comedy on a wide canvas - May 2018 - Royal Television Society
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May 2018 Comedy on a wide canvas
RTS / ATOS YOUNG TECHNOLOGIST OF THE YEAR 2018 Nominations now open Applicants for RTS / Atos Young Technologist of the Year 2018 can be from any sector of the TV and related industries The judges will be looking for an application that demonstrates how: l The applicant has already made an impact in this field l The receipt of the award would enhance the applicant’s understanding of the ever-changing role of technology in television and related fields l The applicant proposes to share this enhanced understanding with others, both within the RTS and beyond The prize is a full conference place at IBC, together with costs of travel to IBC and accommodation for the duration of the conference Application forms and judging criteria are at: rts.org.uk/YoungTechnologist2018 Deadline: Completed forms must be returned to Jo Sampson (JSampson@rts.org.uk) by 5pm on 25 May 2018 Finalists will be interviewed on the afternoon of 4 July 2018
Journal of The Royal Television Society
May 2018 l Volume 55/5
From the CEO
I am thrilled to report pleased that so many women gave up comedy, Shane Allen. His Midas touch
on the success of two their Monday evenings to attend what has given us such great shows as the
recent early-evening was a passionate debate. RTS triple award-winner This Country.
events in London: The Blue Planet II event brought fresh Also, don’t miss a rare interview with
“Mind the gap: Closing insights to one of the best factual Lynn Novick, co-director of that stu-
the gender pay gap in programmes of recent times. The clips pendous documentary The Vietman War.
television” and the were amazing! You can read all about Next month, Esme Wren takes over
latest in our “Anatomy of a hit” strand, the bravery of the Natural History as the new editor of Newsnight. She has
“Diving beneath the waves: The mak- Unit’s team in this issue of Television. done great work at Sky News and I
ing of Blue Planet II”. From Blue Planet II to Sky Ocean have no doubt that she will make a big
Huge thanks to the chair, and all the Rescue, our broadcasters have been success of her new job. Tara Conlan’s
panellists who gave up their time to doing great work in highlighting the profile of Esme is a fascinating read.
make both these events so memorable. impact of single-use plastic products. Finally, this month’s diary is written
And a special thanks to one of our Talking of single-use plastic, you by one of my favourite BBC present-
speakers, Rt Hon Harriet Harman MP, may have noticed an important change ers, Anita Rani. I can’t wait to see her
who started the whole process for in how Television is delivered. I am new programme on Bollywood and
more transparency on gender pay. delighted to say that, from this month what it tells us about modern India.
Despite being delayed at the House onwards, the magazine will be coming
of Commons, where MPs were debat- to you in a paper envelope instead of
ing military action in Syria, Harriet a polythene wrapper.
made such a vital and heartfelt contri- Our cover story is Mark Lawson’s
bution to the pay discussion. I was so interview with the BBC’s head of Theresa Wise
Contents
5 Anita Rani’s TV Diary
Anita Rani, flush from her triumph at the RTS
Programme Awards, makes her Bollywood debut 19 Television as catharsis
Lynn Novick, co-director of The Vietnam War, convinces
Steve Clarke that documentary can be more dynamic
than drama
6 King of comedy
Social media brings a new source of pressures to the
job of being the BBC’s comedy chief, Shane Allen tells
Mark Lawson 22 An editor steeped in politics
Can Newsnight’s new chief, Esme Wren, bring in
Westminster’s big beasts to the BBC Two flagship?
Tara Conlan reports
9 Our Friend in the North West
Jimmy McGovern recalls how writing TV drama set in his
native Liverpool inflamed local sensitivities
24 Trust trumps all
Tim Dams asks when it is legitimate for makers of
unscripted shows to stage scenes in order to heighten
10 Seduced by algorithms a narrative
Richard Sambrook argues that broadcasters need
26
to reset their relationship with social media UKTV ups the stakes in drama
The multichannel broadcaster is raising its game by
12 How to close TV’s gender gap commissioning new dramas. Ed Gove investigates
Matthew Bell hears new strategies to tackle unfair pay
levels in television at an RTS event
28 RTS news
Reports of Society and RTS Futures events from around
16 Dangers in the deep the nations and regions
Steve Clarke reveals the ordeals of the human heroes
who captured the awe-inspiring images of Blue Planet II Cover: BBC/Jamieson
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 2018.
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 May 2018 3
RTS NEWS Your guide to
upcoming events.
Book online at
www.rts.org.uk
RTS EARLY EVENING EVENT
National events
RTS FUTURES
Tuesday 5 June
Making shows great again
It is one of the greatest
Anatomy of a hit:
Monday 21 May
U & VFX
dilemmas in popular TV –
when to persist with a popular
Love Island
Hear from a panel of leading franchise, now long in the
Angela Jain
VFX and motion graphic artists tooth, and when to mothball Managing Director, ITV Studios Entertainment
and producers on how to get it, only to drag it out of the Caroline Flack
a first foot in the door of the store cupboard, to enchant a Presenter, Love Island and Love Island: After Sun
visual-effects industry. 6:45pm whole new generation of TV Kenny England
for 7:00pm viewers. Speakers: Sean Doyle, Senior digital producer, Love Island
Venue: Channel 4, 124 Horseferry commissioning editor, Channel 5, Ella Umansky
Head of format support, ITV Studios
Road, London SW1P 2TX Blind Date; Richard McKerrow,
executive producer, Love Tom Gould
Executive producer, Love Island
RTS EARLY EVENING EVENT Productions, The Great British
Ria Hebden
Wednesday 23 May Bake Off; Clare Pizey, executive (Chair)
Anatomy of a hit: Love Island producer, BBC, Top Gear; and
Speakers include: Angela Jain, Ed Sayer, commissioning 23 May 6:30pm for 6:45pm
Managing Director, ITV Studios editor, Discovery, Wheeler The Auditorium at Foyles, London WC2H 0DT
Entertainment; Caroline Flack, Dealers. Chair: Caroline Frost,
presenter, Love Island and Love entertainment journalist. 6:30pm
Island: After Sun; Kenny England, for 6:45pm REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
senior digital producer, Love Venue: Cavendish Conference Local events ■ Charles Byrne (353) 87251 3092
Island; Ella Umansky, head of Centre, 22 Duchess Mews, ■ byrnecd@iol.ie
format support, ITV Studios; London W1G 9DT BRISTOL
Tom Gould, executive producer, ■ Belinda Biggam SCOTLAND
Love Island. Hosted by TV pre- RTS AWARDS ■ belindabiggam@hotmail.com ■ Jane Muirhead
senter Ria Hebden. Friday 22 June ■ scotlandchair@rts.org.uk
This event will dissect the RTS Student Television DEVON AND CORNWALL
different elements of the show Awards 2018 ■ Jane Hudson SOUTHERN
that delivered ‘must-watch’ TV. Venue: BFI Southbank, Belvedere ■ RTSDevonandCornwall@rts. ■ Stephanie Farmer
The session will also look at the Road, London SE1 8XT org.uk ■ SFarmer@bournemouth.ac.uk
importance of casting, promo-
tion, product placement and RTS CONFERENCE EAST THAMES VALLEY
global distribution, as well as Tuesday 18 September ■ Nikki O’Donnell Friday 23 November
the extensive digital and online RTS London Conference 2018 ■ nikki.odonnell@bbc.co.uk 2018 Winter Ball
presence, which contributed to Sponsored by Viacom 7:00pm
its high profile and record view- Venue: Kings Place, 90 York Way, LONDON Venue: De Vere Wokefield Estate,
ing figures. London N1 9AG ■ Daniel Cherowbrier Goodboys Lane Reading RG7
Love Island is an ITV Studios ■ daniel@cherowbrier.co.uk 3AE
and Motion Content Group RTS MASTERCLASSES ■ Tony Orme
co-production for ITV2. 6:30pm Tuesday 13 Novermber MIDLANDS ■ RTSThamesValley@rts.org.uk
for 6:45pm start RTS Student Programme ■ Jayne Greene 07792 776585
Venue: The Auditorium at Foyles Masterclasses ■ RTSMidlands@rts.org.uk WALES
Level 6, 107 Charing Cross Road, Venue: IET London, 2 Savoy ■ Hywel Wiliam 07980 007841
London WC2H 0DT Place, London WC2R 0BL NORTH EAST AND THE BORDER ■ hywel@aim.uk.com
■ Jill Graham
Tuesday 29 May Wednesday 14 Novermber ■ jill.graham@blueyonder.co.uk YORKSHIRE
RTS AGM RTS Craft Skills Masterclasses Friday 6 July
All RTS members are invited to Venue: IET London, 2 Savoy NORTH WEST Annual Awards
attend this important meeting Place, London WC2R 0BL ■ Rachel Pinkney 07966 230639 Venue: TBC
which will help shape the year ■ RPinkney@rts.org.uk ■ Lisa Holdsworth 07790 145280
ahead at the Society. 6pm RTS AWARDS ■ lisa@allonewordproductions.
Venue: RTS, 7th floor, Dorset Rise, Monday 26 November NORTHERN IRELAND co.uk
London EC4Y 8EN RTS Craft & Design Awards 2018 ■ John Mitchell
London Hilton on Park Lane ■ mitch.mvbroadcast@
22 Park Lane, London W1K 1BE btinternet.com
4
TV diary
Anita Rani, flush from her triumph at the
RTS Programme Awards, makes
her Bollywood debut
W
ell, I only to move to London to pursue men, ern Indians, who want their stories
went and money and a career in TV – though told, and old, conservative India.
won an not in that order. I get to make my acting debut in an
RTS! What I remember discussing moving Indian film. There was no audition,
a wonder- south with other students on my they just stuck me in it, along with a
ful, unex- course. For quite a few, London just few other British extras who were
pected wasn’t an option. They had no sup- sitting in a backpackers’ café earlier
bonus after making the most impor- port network there and had no idea that day.
tant piece of TV I’ve ever made. My how they could afford to live while
Family, Partition and Me told the story of working as runners. ■ In and around my life for the past
the Partition of India, the brutal end Luckily for me, my life back then two weeks I’ve been catching up
of the Raj. was simple. I sublet a flat for £50 a with all things Poldark. I’m hosting a
Not only my story, the story of week and survived on the cheapest panel following the screening of the
millions. My motivation for making instant noodles, chilli sauce and a pint. first episode of series 4 at the BFI.
it was realising, based on the reaction I watched it in a packed NFT1 with
to my Who Do You Think You Are?, how ■ We want to hear authentic voices, around 200 (mostly female) Poldark
little people know about this and we need more diversity in our fans. It was just like going to the mov-
momentous period in history. industry. We want to generate wealth ies in India. There was cheering, sigh-
We talk about empire and railways, in parts of Britain that aren’t the ing, applause, muttering, tutting and
but what happened at the end is not South East. We want to bridge the gasping.
discussed. Terrifyingly few British so-called North-South divide but, A totally satisfying hour of TV, per-
Asians are aware of what their own most importantly, we need to reflect fect for a Sunday night after an epi-
grandparents lived through. the entire country. sode of Countryfile. On the panel were
The public reaction to the show has So, it stands to reason that TV needs the exec producer Karen Thrussell,
been immense. So many people have to spread the love. Plus, we live on a the brilliant writer Debbie Horsfield
told me that they’ve now spoken with tiny island and Leeds is only two and and Aidan Turner.
their families for the first time about a half hours away by train. I’m fascinated by the historical
what happened. backdrop. We talk about the class
People want to share their own ■ I am in a voice-over booth. It’s a struggle of the time, but the late 18th
stories with me. Grown white men comforting little soundproof box and early 19th centuries were also a
have cried in mid-conversation, where the outside world doesn’t exist. time of slavery and colonialism. Brit-
thinking about it. On a personal and I am putting the final touches to Bolly ain was a major player in both. Deb-
professional level, I’m so proud that wood: The World’s Biggest Film Industry. bie said that, in adapting the original
this programme was made. So, thank Fortuitously, no one has made a pro- books, she was going a bit rogue with
you again to the RTS jury who gramme about Bollywood for a while. parts of the story. Maybe there’s room
thought me worthy. We think we know what it’s all for a visiting Indian dignitary? It
about - singing, yes, dancing, yes, could be a maharaja or, possibly even,
■ I’m in Leeds to attend the Crea- melodrama, ramped up to 11. a Rani… Well, I have just got back
tive Cities Convention. I grew up in There are also wonderfully surpris- from Bollywood!
Bradford and went to Leeds Uni- ing elements that reflect India’s rap-
versity, so this is very much my old idly growing economy and the battle Anita Rani presents Countryfile and
manor. After uni, I made the decision between a young generation of mod- other BBC programmes.
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2018 5
Interview
Social media brings
a new source of
pressures to the job of
being the BBC’s comedy
chief, Shane Allen
tells Mark Lawson
B
oth Monty Python’s Flying
Circus and W1A – shows
produced by the BBC
Comedy department five
decades apart – featured
a gag in which the BBC
head of comedy is revealed to be a
dour, humourless figure on the brink
of clinical depression.
“Yes. And Episodes did a bit of that, as
well,” laughs Shane Allen, when the
long-running gag about his job is men-
tioned, thereby establishing that it could
not apply to him. The tape of our con-
versation is fittingly – though, given
some of his predecessors, not inevitably
– punctuated with his deep laugh.
The exact title on Allen’s business
cards is, in line with current BBC corpo-
rate structures: controller, comedy
King of
commissioning. Six years after he
arrived from the equivalent post at
Channel 4, the burly Northern Irishman
can smile at 14 nominations in the 2018
Virgin TV British Academy Television
comedy
and Television Craft Awards, for shows
including This Country, Detectorists,
Famalam, Motherland, Inside No 9, Peter
Kay’s Car Share, and Pls Like. This Country
was also the stand-out success at
March’s RTS Programme Awards, win-
ning in three categories.
“I’m a nerdy fan of comedy,” says
Allen, “so this is the perfect job for me.
The only downside is when you tell
people what you do for a living. and, at the start, Father Ted “wasn’t fully of bawdy populism: Brendan O’Carroll’s
Because comedy excites such strong formed”, while Only Fools and Horses Mrs Brown’s Boys.
passions. Every week, my mother- “really caught fire on the third series”. He stresses that the latter enthusiasm
in-law has a conversation about Mrs You wouldn’t get that time now? “I is not a case of being forced to support
Brown’s Boys and why it shouldn’t be on think the learning curve is truncated. a hit he inherited at the BBC: “It started
TV. And I threaten that I’ll put her in a Maybe 10 years ago, you got a chance when I was at Channel 4, and I looked
home where she will have to watch it at a second series. Which is why I’m a on jealously.”
until she likes it.” big fan of pilots – iron out the kinks, O’Carroll has said that he targeted
In common with those in other areas come to air fully formed.” “the audience that television forgot”.
of programming, he worries that multi- Allen is helped in serving a range Allen agrees: “I think it was – as it
channel competition and social media audiences by having notably broad often is – a case of the secret public
opinion-leading create a need to suc- tastes. He worked on Chris Morris’s committee who apparently decide
ceed immediately. But the history of darkly subversive series, Brass Eye, but what’s funny and what isn’t. And, post-
comedy demonstrates that the first is also, defying his wife’s mother, a fan The Office, they decided that the studio
series of Blackadder “wasn’t quite right”, of a show from an antithetical tradition sitcom was dead, not realising that
6
there is a huge number of sub-genres examples, but Allen, when asked, dominant genre of docu-com (This
and schools.” immediately replies: “White Gold, first Country, Detectorists, People Just Do Nothing),
Growing up, the first TV comedy he series. I got them to tone it down a bit. Allen has increasingly come to the view
loved was The Two Ronnies: “I remem- Later, the programme-makers told me that, for successful comedy, heart is as
ber all the generations watching they thought I was right.” important as smart one-liners.
together. And loving hearing my gran- Another consequence of social “That moment in Mum where the
dad laugh. There’s a physical reaction media is personal abuse of writers and guy suddenly says his mum’s died. It’s
with comedy that you don’t get with performers. Allen thinks that “there’s like the death of Nan in The Royle Fam-
other forms.” a duty of care with talent, especially ily, or when Cassandra has the miscar-
Much work from the 1960s to the younger talent”. Before transmission of riage in Only Fools and Horses. I’m trying
1980s has proved astonishingly durable. This Country, his team contacted its to find pieces with that kind of truth.
The Two Ronnies and Morecambe & Wise creators, Daisy May Cooper and Charlie “The shows that have done quite
still feature in the Christmas schedules, Cooper: “We said, ‘You will be tempted well for us recently – Mum, This Country,
and repeats of Dad’s Army and Fawlty to look at social media for affirmation. People Just Do Nothing, The Young Offenders
Towers can still top the BBC Two ratings. – they come from a real place. Stefan
“A lot of the stuff from that period is Golaszewski, in Mum, is writing about
timeless because it’s character com- AS LONG all sorts of people he has known in his
edy,” says Allen. “They last for ever,
and new generations discover them. AS YOU ARE life. This Country is so autobiographical,
it’s unbelievable. I’m more nervous of
Of more recent work, I think Alan
Partridge is getting there.”
FORENSIC IN high-concept things that can burn
themselves out quite quickly.”
The obverse of such longevity is that YOUR PROCESSES Fleabag and The Young Offenders
some pieces from that period are now
considered unfit for broadcast because
ABOUT WHY also clearly feel very personal. So,
is “sit-memoir” the prevailing BBC
of racist or sexist language and attitudes. YOU ARE DOING trend? “Yes. It’s very prevalent, writing
One of Allen’s first decisions at the BBC
involved making cuts to the racist rhet- SOMETHING – about your own world. You can sniff
the truth.”
oric of the major in Fawlty Towers. He
makes clear that, ultimately, “it was John
THEN I DON’T With the BBC publicly committed to
increasing diversity of race, gender,
Cleese’s decision to take it out”. THINK ANYTHING class and age, the comedy department
In a time when offence is so easily
taken – and then rapidly inflamed on
IS OFF LIMITS has less to worry about than some
parts of the corporation.
social media – does comedy become “When Victoria Wood and Caroline
harder to make? “Yeah. I think there Aherne died in the same year [2016],”
are more organised lobby groups these Don’t do it! If you do it, it’s your own Allen remembers, “there was a panic
days because of social media. But, in a fault if you get upset. Because it’s not a about where the next funny women
perverse way, it makes you more reso- happy place.’” were coming from. But now, if you
lute. I see a lot of [the objections] as Do comedy makers even get death draw up a list of the talent you’d really
white noise. threats? “Yeah. It’s horrific. ‘Whoever want to work with – Phoebe Waller-
“Social media can be a playground for commissioned this should be shot in Bridge, Holly Walsh, Sharon Horgan
arseholes and cowards and bullies. I the face’.” So does Allen follow social – they’re all women. And I think that’s
think – as long as you are forensic in media? “No. It gets digested and the result of a deliberate shift in �
your processes about why you are reported to me. But, hand on heart, I’d � commissioning and having more
doing something – then I don’t think never follow the reaction live. Because women commissioning editors.”
anything is off limits. So we do Frankie it’s a self-appointed elite and cabal. At Nor does there seem to be a retire-
Boyle, and Inside No 9 goes into some the BBC, we’re often trying to find ment age for comedy writers. Eighty-
quite dark and challenging places: a populist pieces and, the more populist year-old Dick Clement and Ian La
BBC
snuff movie at Christmas, for instance. I a piece is, the bigger the backlash Frenais, 82, revived Porridge last year,
think, in the past, where things have seems to be, paradoxically. and Roy Clarke is writing a series of
come unstuck, it’s been a lack of scru- “When I was at Channel 4, the big Still Open All Hours for screening in his
tiny and lack of referral. With Frankie shows – The IT Crowd, Black Books – were 90th year: “It’s astonishing. Roy has
Boyle, we work through the script, test- the studio shows. And that [genre] is written more half-hour comedy than
ing the editorial justification.” shrinking now, and writers are often anyone in the history of television.”
So there has to be a right to offend frightened of BBC One because of the British comedy was also often seen
people? “God, yes. There has to be. seemingly inevitable backlash. But we in the past as an exclusive club for
Different people will get offended by are doggedly persisting in looking for those of certain backgrounds. In the
different things. You can’t legislate for populist, studio-based shows.” days of Monty Python and Beyond the
potential offence, or you end up with Allen’s only regret about studio com- Fringe, a search for new comedy talent
the most homogenously bland comedy.” edy is its historical effect on budgets: often consisted of a BBC producer
He admits to having read one sitcom “Comedy was one tariff because it was going to see that year’s Oxbridge
where the language was so relentlessly studio-based, and drama was a higher revues, perhaps even staying over on
strong that he felt it might put people tariff because it was shot on location. his own old college staircase.
off. Traditionally, BBC executives are And that equation persists to this day.” But, says Allen, “When we started
nervous about specifying negative Whether in a studio or the currently Famalam, the question we asked was: �
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2018 7
Motherland
BBC
� how would you now do a ‘gang- Channel 4 – Peter Kay, Charlie overnight and then a million more on
show’, such as Monty Python or Not the Brooker – seemed to trust me enough iPlayer. I think iPlayer’s a pretty
Nine O’Clock News? And we decided to want to come across.” potent force for making sure that
that it would be young black people Now that talent has so many other people can connect with a range of
talking about their experience of life.” places to go, isn’t there a risk that the stuff. Comedy is the genre that per-
The 20-minute Famalam is a good BBC could become a showcase for forms best on catch-up and box sets.
example of how newer distribution Netflix and Amazon to choose who So, we can give talent eyeballs and
methods (it originated on the online- they want to recruit? “I think that is relevance.”
only BBC Three) allow the creation of already happening, with Charlie What have been his first mistakes
unconventional formats, impossible Brooker and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. as controller, comedy commission-
in a standard, clock-watching sched- And that’s why we double down on ing? “Oh, fucking hell. Where do you
ule. “Yes, it’s quite liberating that you new talent. Netflix tends to want the want to start? Tons. Mainly where
can just say that a show will be as famous talent and proven thing. But, in we’ve rushed things to air, before
long as it’s funny for.” This Country, we took a punt on they were fully formed – I think
The most common private gripe unknown people who had never been we’ve failed them.”
from TV comedy writers and per- on TV before. And that has to be our Will he give examples? “Nah. It
formers is being told by executives thing: pipelining the next generation.” would be mean on the talent.”
what is and isn’t funny. Allen recog- The BBC’s best selling point, Allen On his production slate for 2018-19
nises this problem: “That creative believes, is large and verifiable audi- are second series of Motherland, Flea-
freedom element is crucial. I think, ences or, as he puts it: “It’s about bag and Hold the Sunset (with the long-
with people at the start of their eyeballs. Netflix doesn’t publish audi- run-averse John Cleese committed to
careers, you want to give advice and ence figures. And there was a gold return), third runs of Mum and This
warn against some mistakes, without rush towards Sky a while ago. But, Country, and a fifth season of Inside
being dictatorial. then, people realise that no one’s No 9. People Just Do Nothing will be pro-
“But, in a TV world where there are really watching the show and say: can moted from BBC Three to BBC Two.
so many more places to sell your stuff we come back? Steve Coogan got “It’s a good patch at the minute,”
and have a career, why is anyone annoyed that people didn’t know says Allen. “But it’s like being a mid-
going to come back to the BBC if you what he was doing. wife – you’re just worried about
are heavy-handed and restrictive? I “Things such as This Country and whether the next one will come out
was pleased that a lot of talent from Cunk on Britain, they get a million the right way round.” n
8
OUR FRIEND IN THE
NORTH WEST
Jimmy McGovern
recalls how writing
W
hen we TV drama set in his is poverty here, and the way to beat
were
making
native Liverpool poverty and crime is to put money
into people’s pockets.
Accused, inflamed local “And the way to put money into
Danny people’s pockets is to give them well-
Brockle- sensitivities paid jobs, the sort of jobs that come
hurst with television production.”
wanted to include a story about a I’d like to say that letters poured in
taxi driver who takes a woman to the in response and that they were over-
airport and then goes back and bur- whelmingly supportive but, sadly,
gles her house. It was the stuff of that wasn’t the case. Nothing hap-
urban nightmare. pened. Nothing changed.
We knew Jodie Whittaker (the new To this day, if you set a drama in
Doctor Who) should play the woman, Liverpool, there’s a very good chance
and the driver’s part, we all agreed, you’ll be criticised in the letters page
was perfect for the Liverpudlian Ste- of the Liverpool Echo, a paper that
phen Graham. But there was no way claims to be the voice of the city but
we could offer it to him, not with all which gets printed in Oldham, Greater
those Scouser jokes ringing in our Manchester.
Richard Kendal
ears: “What do you call a Scouser in a So what do I do? How do I recog-
suit? The accused.” “What do you call nise my city’s sensitivity and yet still
a Scouser in a big house? A burglar.” produce television drama from here?
We offered it instead to Andy Serkis, Well, right now, I’m doing it by work-
and he played him to perfection. ing with LA Productions in Kirkdale,
This negative stereotyping of Liver- the abuse poured down: “So, we’re all north Liverpool, one of the poorest
pool – and Liverpool’s sensitivity to smack heads now, are we, Jimmy?” communities in western Europe.
it – have haunted me ever since I In 1993, I wrote Cracker. It was full of We base our production there (thus
started writing. lunatics and psychopaths and I didn’t ensuring we get those well-paid jobs)
It was there in Brookside in the 1980s dare set it in Liverpool. Instead, I set it but we set our stories in a vague
and, when one of its most popular in Manchester and not one Mancunian North West, somewhere between
characters (Billy Corkhill) turned to voice was heard in protest. Why? Liverpool and Lancaster.
crime out of sheer desperation, that Because they didn’t have to overcome It’s not an ideal solution, of course,
abuse poured down upon us: the negative stereotype, that’s why. and it leaves us wide open to another
“So we’re all robbers, then, are we?” They were able to see television accusation: that of denying Liver-
It was even stronger in the 1990s, drama production as the source of pool-born actors the chance to act in
when I wrote a drama about the nee- highly paid jobs and as a welcome Liverpool-set dramas, but it’s a com-
dle exchange scheme, an initiative boost to the local economy. promise of sorts and it will have to do
that had saved thousands of lives by I went back to Liverpool to argue me for now. n
giving heroin users clean needles, my case in a free Liverpool newspa-
something that was being universally per. “There is crime in Liverpool,” I Jimmy McGovern is a screenwriter and
praised at the time. said. “Less than in Manchester, yes, recently received the Lifetime Achieve-
Unfortunately, I’d set this film in but there is crime here and that’s ment award at the RTS Programme
my native Liverpool and, once again, largely down to the fact that there Awards 2018.
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2018 9
M
y name is Richard
and I used to be a
social media
evangelist. Yes, I
know, it’s shame-
ful and hard to
believe. But, back in the 2000s, the
infant social media held such promise
for broadcasters and audiences alike.
In those sun-dappled days, we used
to talk about the promise of interactiv-
ity, empowering the audience, real
connection and insight into their
thoughts and ideas. All this and free
distribution!
Such innocence. As Noah Kulwin
recently wrote in New York magazine, we
failed to foresee “how the Silicon Valley
dream of building a networked utopia
would turn into a globalised, strip-mall
casino overrun by pop-up ads and
cyberbullies and Vladimir Putin”.
It’s an age-old story. It started simply
enough with a few likes and shares,
which provided a harmless buzz of
connection to the audience. But, soon,
that wasn’t enough. We started to crave
more complex analytics and greater
reach; we heard people talk of
“engagement” – a state of deep, mean-
ingful connection with our viewers
– and, before we knew it, we were
strung out, sweating in fear of an unan-
nounced overnight tweak in the news-
feed algorithm.
Those who cared about us started to
worry about the company we kept,
saying that they could no longer tell the
Seduced by
difference between us and the clickbait
and lies we hung around with…
And, all this time, while we spent
more and more money to provide free
content to the platforms, they, in
algorithms
return, seemed to play fast and loose
with data and metrics.
As one leading TV commissioner
recently told yet another fake-news
seminar: “I feel like a woman who has
been mugged for her handbag by a
man in a Rolls-Royce.”
OK, perhaps that’s taking it a bit far,
but we do need a serious conversation
Online
about broadcasting and social media.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear Richard Sambrook argues that broadcasters
that the promise of reach, access to the
elusive younger demographic and need to reset their relationship with social media
granular feedback through user data
seduced broadcasters into allowing
intermediaries to come between them
10‘I FEEL LIKE A
WOMAN WHO
and the audience. We can’t even say it HAS BEEN control of data, seem more fruitful
was a strategic mistake. Where was the
alternative? The platforms grew so MUGGED FOR areas to consider for intervention, but
is anyone really going to break up the
rapidly on the back of extraordinary HER HANDBAG likes of Google or Facebook?
technology, and offered services that,
inevitably, had broader, customised
BY A MAN IN A The Germans are regulating against
hate speech, the French against “fake
appeal than anything a single broad- ROLLS-ROYCE’ news” during election campaigns (but
caster could offer. The elusive under- who decides?). The European Com-
30s audience was hanging out online, mission is looking at what can be done
not in front of TVs. metric online. His and other sites are short of regulation.
There have been three core strategies designed to encourage and enable Meanwhile, the UK has proposed a
for broadcasters on social media: sharing as much as possible. sensible if, so far, broad-brush digital
n Direct – based on the hope that users Sharing may be a good indicator of charter to encourage best practice,
will click through to a broadcasters’ own consumer interest, but it is no indica- with codes of conduct and more. But
site, thus providing direct user value; tion of citizen value (a crucial respon- politicians have a weak understanding
n Distributed – based on the reach sibility for regulated media). of the issues (as anyone watching the
value of those who serendipitously Social media encourages opinion recent congressional committees can
encounter the broadcasters’ content over fact, and it is increasingly fed by testify) and motivations that may not
in their news feed; outrage and emotion. Consequently, always be pure.
n Pure marketing – in effect, a variant this feeds division. Emotional triggers The social-media companies can be
of the distributed approach. encourage greater use, more data, encouraged to self-regulate or reform,
An executive at one major UK and bigger profits. and are doing so. Where once Face-
broadcaster tells me that they see no Broadcasting, on the other hand, is book believed artificial intelligence
direct increase in TV viewing when committed to bringing audiences could manage all content, it is now
they invest more in social media. Hard together for common experiences, a committed to employing 20,000 mod-
figures, of course, are closely guarded constructive public debate and build- erators to do what an algorithm can’t.
and difficult to find. ing, rather than dividing communities. AI will develop and help further. It
We took comfort from the big tech- Social media has been driven by has largely removed pornography from
nology platforms saying that they brilliant technology and engineers, the major platforms and can, doubtless,
weren’t publishers – just distributors with little experience or interest in address hate speech and violence, too.
– before realising that the algorithms social or political policy, or anything Some argue that Facebook and
determining who saw what were not qualitative that can’t be measured and Google should be paying more money
neutral or transparent. coded. A mix of naivety and hubris has to content providers. But beware the
Someone was making decisions about meant that, until recently, the software handout trap. A couple of hundred mil-
who saw our content without much engineers have been dismissive of lion in a fund may feel good but it does
discussion, agreement or openness. But social science or editorial judgement. little to address structural problems. A
those potentially huge reach numbers As a consequence, a series of scandals better solution might be proper pay-
still seemed to justify us being there. and misjudgements has left them in ment for the content the platforms offer
The problem has been that the plat- what Noah Kulwin describes as their their users, or perhaps licensing of some
forms sacrificed quality for scale and current “profitable crisis state”. form, as we have for music use or under
sales – and broadcasters have not Because, for all the inquiries, com- the Newspaper Licensing Agency.
gained sufficiently from either. mittee hearings, campaigning and The digital environment means that,
Research from the Reuters Institute debate, they remain hugely profitable, whatever our reservations, social
at Oxford University shows that many with ever-expanding user bases, while media will be a key part of the future
users fail to recognise media brands in traditional media audiences continue for broadcasters. But now is the
their social feeds. Broadcasters face a to decline. moment to reset the relationship.
huge challenge in trying to differenti- None of this is to deny the many Broadcasters may not have the
ate their content online or on mobile. benefits and extraordinary achieve- global scale or resources of Facebook
A square video, played silently for ments of social media. But we can no or Google, but they have strong brands
perhaps 10 seconds, may register as a longer pretend that there is a healthy and are loved by audiences. They also
metric, but it does not provide a qual- relationship between traditional media benefit trust, accountability, experi-
ity experience and, all too rarely, and the newer tech behemoths. So, ence, judgement and, above all, great
attracts loyalty back to the provider. how might things be reset? content. The Faangs may need us more
At heart, there is a conflict between There is currently much talk of regu- than they realise. n
iStockPhoto.com
the purposes of a regulated public lation but less clarity about what form
broadcaster in the UK and the pur- this should take. Content regulation Richard Sambrook is a professor of
poses and methods of social media. online would be hugely complex and journalism and director of the Centre for
Jonah Peretti, founder of BuzzFeed, has likely to have damaging collateral con- Journalism at Cardiff School of Journalism,
explained how “sharing” is the key sequences. Questions of scale, and Media and Cultural Studies.
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2018 11How to close
TV’s gender
pay gap
T
he huge disparity at the BBC. Radio 4’s Today provided
between the salaries of Pay one of the more egregious examples:
male and female on-air John Humphrys’ salary was quoted as
talent at the BBC has being between £600,000 and £650,000,
attracted widespread and Matthew Bell hears compared with the £200,000-250,000
much-deserved criti-
cism. But recently released figures on
new strategies to tackle paid to fellow presenter Mishal Husain.
Another Today presenter, Sarah Mon-
the gender pay gap reveal that discrimi- unfair pay levels in tague, failed to make the list of
nation exists across television, from the £150,000-plus earners, despite serving
top to the bottom of the industry.
television at an 16 years on the programme. Montague,
Channel 4 recorded the worst (mean) RTS event who left Today at the end of March to
average pay gap – of 28.6% – of the host Radio 4’s World at One, recently
major UK broadcasters, followed by: Last month, an RTS early-evening revealed that she was “incandescent
UKTV at 17.9%; ITV, 16.4%; the BBC, event in central London – boasting a with rage” when she discovered the
10.7%; Sky: 5.2%; and Channel 5, where panel that included the architect of the pay of her co-hosts.
women are, in fact, paid 2.9% more gender pay-gap legislation, Rt Hon “These are big sums; we are talking
than men. Harriet Harman MP, – asked television about very well-paid women and men,
Employers with more than 250 staff some tough questions about its treat- and that needs saying, especially when
were legally required to report for the ment of women. you’re talking to a wider public outside
first time their gender pay gaps by The panel also included BBC current the media. These are stupendous sums
4 April (30 March for public bodies) affairs journalist Jane Corbin, who is of money, but, still, there is an equal-
this year. one of the 170 members of the BBC pay principle here,” argued Corbin.
Television is doing no worse than Women group, which campaigns for The pay list revealed “a huge differ-
other UK businesses, but also no bet- an “equal, fair and transparent pay ence at the BBC between the top male
ter. Analysis of the figures provided by structure” at the corporation. on-air earners and the top women,
15 broadcasters and producers by BBC Women, which includes much and that was genuinely shocking”, she
industry magazine Broadcast revealed of the BBC’s big-name female talent added.
a mean pay gap of 14.8%. such as Jane Garvey, Clare Balding and The BBC’s median gender pay gap of
This almost mirrors the 14.5% national Sarah Montague, was set up in the 9.3%, she suggested, “presented a
mean across more than 10,000 organi- wake of the publication last July of the much better picture for the BBC, a
sations that published pay-gap reports. list of presenters and journalists paid lower-than-national-average gender
However, the mean bonus gap of 43.7% more than £150,000 by the BBC. pay gap”. Despite this, she said, the
in the TV industry is three times the The list caused a furore, revealing corporation “still had not addressed
national mean gap, according to the massive discrepancies in pay between those shocking discrepancies in pay”.
magazine. men and women doing the same jobs Turning away from the BBC, Corbin
12Paul Hampartsoumian
Rt Hon Harriet Harman MP
The time for discussion is over
said she was also “shocked to see the Harriet Harman was a latecomer at the new] figures and see who’s had a
Channel 4 pay gap of nearly 30% – RTS early-evening event, having been wake-up call and really changed things,
that from an organisation that is fond detained at the House of Commons and who’s just coasted along.’
of telling us about its credentials on for the retrospective debate on the UK The MP raised the 89% bonus gap
equality and diversity”. Government’s decision to participate in between men and women reported by
TV’s gender pay gap came as no sur- Syrian air strikes. When she did arrive, the bank JP Morgan in one of its units
prise to Sian Kevill, the founder of fac- the Labour MP brought knowledge and as an example of the extreme discrim-
tual indie Make Productions, as well as energy to the discussion. ination that exists in UK business. ‘You
a former director of BBC World News The former Minister for Women and shouldn’t dignify that with a discussion,’
and editor of BBC Two’s Newsnight. Equalities was the key architect of the she said.
“Having been in the industry for many Equality Act 2010, which introduced the ‘It can’t be that the men at JP Mor-
years, I’ve seen a number of reasons requirement to report gender pay gaps. gan are so crackingly better than the
why you can end up with that kind of ‘The point about the gender pay-gap women; it’s just pay discrimination.’
disparity,” she said, but admitted that information is to keep it really simple, so She explained that the focus of the
seeing it “revealed in black and white that everyone in their own place of work gender pay-gap legislation on hourly
was a real jolt to the system”. – management, men and women – can earnings of men and women was sig-
And the evidence of systemic pay see what the picture is,’ she explained. nificant: ‘We don’t believe that an hour
discrimination continues to grow. ‘It [establishes] a baseline that reveals, of a woman’s work is worth less than
Jane Corbin’s report for BBC One’s for the first time, what is actually going an hour of a man’s work because she
Panorama in March revealed that Mar- on. Year on year, we need to see progress works fewer hours or part-time.
tina Navratilova was paid 10 times less and we need to have stretching targets. ‘When I first started out in the House
by the BBC than another ex-player, ‘These gaps are not there for us to of Commons, it was 97% men and only
John McEnroe, to commentate at be gnashing our teeth at, or for admir- 3% women. The men used to say that
Wimbledon. ing those [organisations] that have the no women want to be MPs – there’s a
Equality adviser Charlotte Sweeney, lower gaps. They are there for us to supply-side problem. We changed the
who completed the RTS panel, pointed make progress towards equal pay. rules, so that 50% of [winnable] seats
out that television’s pay gaps were “not ‘We’re beyond discussing why there had to be women and, of course, the
as bad as I’ve seen in many sectors”. might be a pay gap. We are no longer supply was there.
What surprised her “was the level of interested in the reasons or the justifi- All the things that are put up as
surprise. You only have to walk around cation – it’s just wrong. We should be obstacles will be rubbish One guy said
offices to see what’s going on.” setting targets to close it. to me: “You metropolitan, London,
She argued that employers had a ‘The point is not for us to fume about middle-class women don’t understand.
responsibility to put fair job and pay it, but to use it as a spur for action. In Northern women, they don’t want to
structures in place, but added that it a year’s time, we should look at [the be MPs.’’’
was also up to women to push for pay �
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2018 13Paul Hampartsoumian
From left: Jane Corbin, Charlotte Sweeney and Sian Kevill
QUESTION
was on a fixed-term contract.…
[Subsequently,] getting part-time
work on a production [proved]
& ANSWER nigh-on impossible.
How can [the industry] support
women who want to take a little
bit of time out, then work part-
Q Sunjay Kakar: Is there a
danger that, by focusing
time in broadcast media and still…
go on to provide for their family?
on inequality of pay for women,
other forms of pay inequality
might get forgotten?
A Sian Kevill: If you come back
in and are applying for jobs,
whoever is on that [recruitment]
A Harriet Harman: “What about
other inequalities?” is not a
good question, because it implies
board needs to understand about
your background.
It’s not about [appointing] on a
that, somehow, we’ve got to justify superficial [level] people who’ve
having a session about gender. just come out of a job. They need to � rises and fight their corner. “Both
We don’t have to justify it – it’s a understand, support and take a risk organisations and individuals need to
good thing to be arguing against to bring somebody back who’s challenge [unfairness],” she said.
inequality in relation to gender. been out for a while and who’s got The increasing casualisation of the
The thing we have to avoid all the skills.… The industry needs TV industry “fragments the landscape
like the plague is a hierarchy of to understand that there are lots of and makes it hard for women to know
inequalities; the idea that some people like you out there. if they’re being paid [fairly]”, argued
inequalities are more important Corbin. “We need more women on
than others – that’s a real divide-
and-rule mechanism.… All struggle
against inequality is really an appeal
Q Lucie Ridout, freelance series
producer: How can we close
the gender pay gap that exists [in
interview boards and at management
level,” she continued. “At the BBC,
there are a huge number of women at
to modernity; once one thing the freelance sector]? the lower journalist levels and they
moves, the others move as well.
A Sian Kevill: It’s incredibly
difficult.… Budgets have been
need to be given a chance to progress
to the next level. They will start to earn
Q Louise Ellard-Turnbull: In
2004, I was made redundant
from the BBC’s entertainment
pared back so much that there’s
absolutely no fat.… It really is
down to how corporations pay
more and this is how you will reduce
the gender pay gap.”
The panel were in agreement that
department [she had been working indies.… I’m genuinely really increased transparency – in other
as edit producer on the quiz show worried about the casualisation of words, publishing pay rates and salaries
Weakest Link] on the last day of our industry and what it will mean – was crucial to closing the gender gap.
my maternity leave, citing that I for women. But a Channel 4 HR spokeswoman in
the audience said, “We’re not going to
14WE’RE
BEYOND UK broadcasters’
DISCUSSING gender pay gap
WHY THERE
MIGHT BE A BBC
10.7% mean; 9.3%, median
PAY GAP… IT’S
JUST WRONG. BBC Worldwide
18.9% mean; 16.9% median
WE SHOULD
BE SETTING Channel 4
28.6% mean; 24.2% median
TARGETS TO
CLOSE IT Channel 5
-2.9% mean; 2.1%, median
Endemol Shine
0.1% mean; -4.3% median
FremantleMedia
32% mean; -9% median
ITN
19.6% mean; 18.2% median
ITV
16.4% mean; 11.9% median
Sky (corporate and broadcasting)
5.2% mean; 8% median
Shutterstock
STV
22.8% mean; 17.3% median
UKTV
[reveal] someone’s individual pay, – you said you were going to do this, 17.9% mean; 12.4% median
because that’s confidential; however, I so, what has actually changed?”
can assure you that we are very Sian Kevill called for TV companies The percentages explained: The
focused on [the issue].” to carry out “transparent pay audits”. pay gap is the difference between
She described the requirement on She added: “There shouldn’t be a let- the average hourly earnings of men
employers to publish their gender pay out for any company – let us say that, and women, reported as both a
gap as “the most impactful piece of in five years’ time, there just shouldn’t mean and a median figure. A nega-
legislation I’ve ever seen. It’s certainly be a gap.” tive figure shows a gender pay gap
ensuring that people start paying Corbin warned that, in TV, “where in favour of women.
attention, and putting in systems and there isn’t any money, it will cost to The mean male salary has been
structures to ensure that we don’t have ensure that these [pay] imbalances don’t found by adding up all the men’s
an unequal-pay issue, which would happen. Not all the men are going to salaries in a company and dividing
clearly be illegal.” take pay cuts: it’s not going to happen. by the number of male employees,
“I’ll be interested to see what changes So, the money will have to be found and then doing the same exercise for
over the next two or three years,” said that will be very difficult, particularly women.
Charlotte Sweeney. “We’re focused very for the BBC and Channel 4.” n The median male salary is the
heavily on data, which gives us a view one in the “middle” when all the
about what’s going on in an organisa- The RTS early-evening event “Mind the gap: salaries of men in a company are
tion, but I’m more interested in the closing the gender pay-gap in TV”, was held listed in numerical order.
narrative – what have organisations at The Hospital Club in London on 16 April. Bonus payments are also cov-
said that they are committed to doing? It was chaired by Jane Martinson and pro- ered by the pay-gap legislation.
“It’s about holding leaders [to account] duced by Martin Stott and Vicky Fairclough.
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2018 15Blue Planet II
Dangers in the deep
P
rofessional skill, time, a lot of research, so we know what
money and the latest Natural history to expect.
camera technologies are “We were given 50 pages of risk
all vital to making land-
mark natural-history
Steve Clarke reveals assessment, which tell us about
everything that could happen and how
shows. Less well known, the ordeals of the to mitigate any risk. We are totally
when it comes to seeking unique foot- prepared. When you are down there
age of life deep in the world’s oceans, human heroes you are in work mode. You have a job
is how programme-makers put their
health on the line.
who captured the to do. It’s an amazing job, but it is still
us going there to deliver the product
The lengths that these men and awe-inspiring images based on our experience and research.”
women go to in the cause of producing Part of the job involved kneeling on
iconic TV was explained in detail dur- of Blue Planet II the ocean floor for several eight-hour
ing an RTS event, “Diving beneath the shifts, in sub-zero temperatures and
waves – the making of Blue Planet II”. local fixers and divers to make utter darkness, using rebreathers, to
One of the most successful series of jaw-dropping TV. direct cameraman Hugh Miller.
recent times (see box on page 18), the The collateral damage included Her extraordinary patience, not to
seven-parter presented by Sir David several bleeding ears. Sarah Conner, mention stamina, was deployed to get
Attenborough was the result of an assistant producer and “hardcore pictures of a Bobbit worm. These fierce
125 separate filming expeditions diver” on the team, suffered from a creatures eat fish and can grow up to a
undertaken over four years. middle-ear infection and acute nausea. metre long. In common with a lot of
Around 1,000 people across the “I don’t know if what I did was other animals, they often play hard to
globe were involved as the BBC’s Nat- brave,” she told the RTS audience. “We get. Their natural reticence was exac-
ural History Unit corralled oceanogra- all came to Blue Planet II with a lot of erbated in waters chilled by an El Niño
phers, scientists, conservationists and experience. We take to the seas after weather system, rendering them less
16Sarah Conner:
Life underwater
WE ALL CAME BACK
WITH OUR LIMBS
INTACT. THERE WERE
A FEW BLEEDING EARS
active than usual. It wasn’t until vari- with the hardships to do it. Ice diving
ous lighting configurations had been is uncomfortable but you do it because,
tried that the deep-sea monster finally if you want to show that world.… It’s
emerged from the seabed off the coast the professionalism of the crews that
of Indonesia and filming could enables you to work in such a hostile
A Bobbit worm pounces
BBC
commence. environment as the ocean.”
“I was kneeling there in complete Honeyborne, who commissioned
darkness. It was a bit chilly,” Conner Blue Planet II, told the session’s chair, Sarah Conner: ‘My job is to direct
recalled. “Your imagination [plays tricks Torin Douglas, that, in conceptualising the underwater sequences. I’ve
on you] and I did end up with an ear Blue Planet II, the aim had been to bring done a lot of technical rebreather
and sinus infection, and nausea. When new stories to screen that viewers diving.… Different diving skills are
I got back to the boat I threw up.” could connect with emotionally. required for each type of shoot.’
It was Conner’s efforts that made it To find these stories, connections had Torin Douglas: ‘What does directing
possible for viewers to see the Bobbit to be made with the scientific commu- involve? You don’t say to a fish, “Do
worm stalk and capture its prey in nity. He explained: “That relationship that again, please.”’
episode 3. The scene is widely regarded with oceanographic institutes, with Sarah Conner: ‘A lot of it is to do
as one of Blue Planet II’s most terrifying individual scientists and also with dive with team management and the
sequences. communities around the world who are safety of the diving. Often, I would
The audience at the RTS event was out there seeing stuff …That was going be in the water with the camera-
shown a number of clips revealing to be the source of our new stories.” man. We could be on communi-
how the programme was filmed. In He added: “The ocean is an alien, cation devices, so we could talk
one, crew members were seen filming dark world, cold and full of slimy fish, about the shots we wanted to get.
from inside a small submarine as it which is sometimes terrifying. How ‘Sometimes, you can plan shots,
BBC
was attacked by sharks. would people sit at home on a Sunday such as moving through the kelp. If
The predators were distracted by the evening and feel a connection to this it’s whales moving past, you have
presence of the sub from feasting on world? to decide if you are going in with
the decomposing body of a whale, “We realised that would be our big- a lens to get close-ups or a lens
which was lying 700m below the sur- gest challenge. Ultimately, we wanted to get wide shots. This is based on
face, a gruesome sight never filmed at people to care about this world.” what footage you’ve already got.
that depth. After a few minutes, they Putting together the epic series You are directing the cameraman
lost interest and returned to tearing required extensive planning. The first rather than the fish.’
lumps of meat from the whale carcass. task was to divide the programme into Torin Douglas: ‘What are your
“We work with only the best under- separate episodes and ensure that each qualifications for the job?’
water teams, people who’ve been at it a one felt distinctive.“Different habitats Sarah Conner: ‘I’ve directed a lot of
long time and really know what they’re allow you to do that,” said Honeyborne. natural history underwater seg-
doing,” said series producer Mark “One on the green seas, one on the big ments for the BBC and for inde-
Brownlow. “It is their professionalism blue, one on coral reefs.… The series pendent companies.
that enables us to do what looks dan- starts to carve itself up.” ‘James approached me for
gerous and risky. Health and safety is At the beginning of the process, much the development stage [of Blue
fundamental to what we do. There is so of the content was sketchy, to say the Planet II], but I was already work-
much risk analysis and so much vetting. least. “A lot of those stories come to you ing on something else. I did end
“We all came back with our limbs in the second or third year of produc- up applying to work on the series.
intact. There were a few bleeding ears.” tion, when you’ve won people’s trust Mark and James gave me the job.…
Executive producer James Honey- and confidence,” said Honeyborne. For me, it was literally a dream job.
borne added: “Everyone involved has Serendipity played a big part. The story ‘I was a contributor on Blue
a passion for the ocean, that’s what of giant trevally fish, which leap out of Peter and I realised TV was how I
unites the team. For all of us, the health the ocean to grab terns, arose when a could share my passion and expe-
of the oceans is really important. There contact told the production team that riences, climbing and diving and
is a driving passion and a dedication. he’d seen it happen. other things that I’ve done.’
“People put in the hours and put up “We looked into it. There were no �
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2018 17You can also read
