Sci-fi sisters with attitude - Sky's Intergalactic: April 2021 - Royal Television Society
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April 2021
Sky’s Intergalactic:
Sci-fi sisters
with attitude
Television www.rts.org.uk September 2013 1
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Journal of The Royal Television Society
April 2021 l Volume 58/4
From the CEO
It’s been all systems winners were “an incredibly diverse” Finally, I am delighted to announce
go this past month selection. Russell himself received the that this year’s RTS bursary scheme is
thanks to a crowded Outstanding Achievement Award. now open – applications can be made
events calendar, cul- Thanks to Jonathan and to Kenton until 30 September. Thirty-five schol-
minating in the RTS Allen, the juries chair. Congratulations arships will be awarded to individuals
Programme Awards to the winners and nominees, who are studying TV production or journalism,
2021. Hosting a cere- all featured in this issue. The nations and a further 10 bursaries will support
mony in what was, in effect, an empty and regions have been busy with their those interested in working in a wide
room was a big ask for anyone, but own line-up of events, including four range of technology roles.
Jonathan Ross more than rose to the Student Television Awards ceremo-
occasion, and brought a real sense of nies, which are reported in Television.
fun to an outstanding evening. Also inside, Caroline Frost investi-
I am proud to agree with no less a gates how scripted TV is portraying
figure than Russell T Davies that the people suffering mental health issues. Theresa Wise
Contents
Cover: Intergalactic (Sky)
5 Georgia Keetch’s TV Diary
RTS bursary scholar Georgia Keetch’s optimism grows as
she trades WhatsApp voice notes at 2am on a new film 20 The wolf of drama street
Even in a lockdown year, Jane Tranter’s Bad Wolf produced
a healthy litter of hits. Interview by Tim Dams
6
Comfort Classic: Peep Show
Steve Clarke can’t get enough of this missing link
between Men Behaving Badly and Fleabag 22 Drilling down into documentaries
The RTS gains an insight into the commissioning
strategy for YouTube Originals
7 Ear Candy: Obsessed with… Line of Duty
Caitlin Danaher’s go-to podcast for explanations of
baffling police acronyms and the latest fan theories 24 Monkey business
The RTS learns how the influential indie helped reinvent
entertainment genres
8 Working Lives: Head of development
Nathalie Peter-Contesse describes the long and rocky
road from idea to hit show to Matthew Bell 26 Arrested development
An all-star RTS panel discusses the genesis of Channel 4’s
Frank of Ireland, a waster for our times
10 It’s sci-fi but not as we know it
Shilpa Ganatra hails Sky’s mould-breaking space
adventure Intergalactic 28 The UK’s production revolution
A line-up of senior TV industry figures analyses the
streamer-led boom for British talent and facilities
12 A genius in his prime
Matthew Bell discovers how European TV companies
struck new alliances for Amazon’s lavish drama Leonardo 30 At the cutting edge
Vice Studios President Kate Ward explains how her
group built a unique international production business
15 Our Friend in the West
Laura Aviles explains why Bristol’s TV and film community
can play a vital role in the post-Covid economic recovery 32 A lockdown sensation
The RTS hears how the BBC’s Normal People energised
the careers of its two stars
16 The craft of telling a fairytale
How the makers of The Crown painstakingly created
Diana Spencer’s emotional story for an outstanding episode 33 RTS Programme Awards 2021
Hosted by Jonathan Ross, the awards were presented
on 16 March in partnership with Audio Network
18 How TV is tackling our mental health
Across many genres, scripted television is taking mental
distress seriously. Caroline Frost investigates 42 RTS news and events
Reports of the Society’s online sessions and awards
ceremonies from around the UK
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 April 2021 3
Want to cross the finish line in style,
and claim that podium place?
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from the build up to nail-biting finish
with Audio Network.
SEND US YOUR BRIEF DISCOVER MORE
musicsearch@audionetwork.com audionetwork.com/discover
TV diary
RTS bursary scholar Georgia Keetch
senses optimism in the months
ahead – and trades WhatsApp voice
notes at 2:00am on a new film
W
hen I a media and cultural studies MA at ■ Talking of these projects, a fellow
drove to Sussex. So, to the professional world bursary scholar and close friend of
Sussex of TV, I will see you very soon. mine gave me the opportunity to be
University a researcher on her graduate docu
to start ■ This year has been jam-packed mentary, I Bet You Look Good on the
my BA with things happening that I still Dance Floor.
journal- can’t believe came my way. In early We are halfway through shooting.
ism course in September 2018, in my January, the Society kindly invited The film is a love letter to the indie
mind’s eye I saw a heady montage of me to be a member of the RTS Tele music venues that we risk losing
hypothetical events and experiences vision Journalism Awards jury for the because of the lack of government
that would fill my three years in Brigh- Young Talent of the Year prize. With- funding to see them through the
ton. My imagination did not stretch to out having the bursary scheme or the pandemic.
wondering what it would be like to do Steve Hewlett Scholarship behind Working professionally with Charly
half my degree during a pandemic. me, opportunities such as this would really brought it home that the great-
But, following the government- simply not be there for me. est benefit of the RTS bursary scheme
mandated daily walks and abundant Joining a morning Zoom call with is the friendship and camaraderie that
failed attempts to make satisfactory some of the true powerhouses of TV comes with it. Nothing says more
banana bread (oh, and about 100 Net- – and having them ask for my opin- about friendship in the TV industry
flix shows), there is light at the end of ion – was truly incredible. I was than trading WhatsApp voice notes at
the Covid tunnel. It is now conceiv- given ample advice by everyone 2:00am concerning contributors to a
able that masks and hand sanitiser involved and it was a genuine honour programme.
may one day be routine only for hos- to be on the jury.
pital workers, not the rest of us. ■ Being asked to write a diary
■ The RTS bursary scheme con- doesn’t half make you a feel a bit
■ I must say that, for the second half stantly comes up on my Zoom cal- pensive. After a year full of Covid,
of my degree, I have been one of the endar. These events not only keep it seems to us RTS scholars that the
lucky ones. I’ve been at Sussex Uni- me in the loop and involved in the only way is up.
versity’s newspaper, The Badger, for TV sector, but give me 10 times more I have made friends for life with
three years and I’ve almost com- knowledge about the industry than I people who look set to be trailblazers
pleted my tenure as online produc- had prior to logging on. and “ones to watch” in the near
tion editor. I’m thrilled to say that A recent highlight for me and my future. I really do thank the constella-
I’m applying for the role of editor- fellow bursary students was joining tion of lucky stars that helped me
in-chief for the next academic year. an RTS Board of Trustees meeting. wind up on this page. Whenever the
Wish me luck! There, we were given the time to talk next in-person RTS event happens,
about what we were all up to. As you will see me there, 100%.
■ Alongside this aspect of my aca- always, we were welcomed with open
demic world, I’m putting the finish- arms and showered with compliments Georgia Keetch is RTS bursary scholar
ing touches to my application for about our projects. studying journalism at Sussex University.
Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 5
COMFORT CLASSIC
Peep Show
BBC
T
o create a successful sitcom
is one of the most difficult
Steve Clarke can’t Peep Show: it won the Rose d’Or at the
Lucerne Television Festival 2004 in the
tasks in the TV firmament. get enough of this Sitcom category; Best TV Comedy at
To create a successful Brit- both the 2006 and 2007 British Com-
ish sitcom that survives for missing link between edy Awards; and the 2008 Bafta for TV
12 years, nine series and
54 episodes is staggering.
Men Behaving Badly Sitcom. In 2019, Radio Times voted it the
13th best sitcom of all time.
Unlike in the US, producers rarely and Fleabag At its heart, Peep Show is a buddy
have writers rooms on this side of the show: Mark (played by David Mitchell)
Atlantic, where teams of wordsmiths When Peep Show first stepped out, it and Jez (played by Robert Webb) have a
endlessly hone scripts to keep a show would have been impossible to imagine love-hate relationship that skews more
up and running. Remember, Fawlty another UK network taking such a risk towards hate.
Towers closed its doors after just two on a programme that smashed so many These pairings are part of a TV com-
six-part series. taboos and which was filmed in such a edy tradition that goes back at least to
That remarkable longevity is one startlingly original way. the ever-bickering Steptoe and Son.
of the achievements of Peep Show, Not that Channel 4 didn’t occasion- Mark and Jez are the proverbial chalk
unquestionably a defining show for ally get cold feet and consider axing it. and cheese, but they are utterly
Channel 4. The programme ran from Peep Show never struck ratings gold, and dependent on one another.
2003 to 2015, and has the broadcaster’s audiences hovered around the 1 million Mark is Captain Sensible, a man who
original DNA running through it – an mark. But its status as a comedy classic wears brogues with his pyjamas, is
edgy, sweary adult comedy that puts now makes it perfect for binge viewing. sexually gauche and socially repressed.
sex and recreational drugs stage centre. From the start, awards juries loved His slightly dodgy obsession with the
6
Ear candy
Second World War and wage-slave
values are about as far as you can get
from his bong-smoking, laid-back
flatmate.
Jez is an uncompromising waster,
self-deluded into thinking he’s a great
musician, sexually supercharged and
overconfident – superficially, at least.
Like so many of their comedy fore-
bears, Mitchell and Webb first acted
together at the Cambridge Footlights.
Their double act performance is a joy
to watch. The writing, too, by Jesse
Armstrong and Sam Bain, is usually
pitch-perfect.
The use of Mark and Jez’s interior
monologues, inspired by a scene in
Woody Allen’s Annie Hall, coupled with
the close-up-and-personal camera
work enable us to see the odd couple
from their own perspectives; for
series 1 and part of series 2 the actors
wore head cameras. These insights are
often painful. Make no mistake, this is
black comedy at its most unhinged.
Peep Show’s supporting cast are
inspired. Olivia Colman, then virtually
unknown, as Mark’s original love
interest, and his prosaic and knowing
work colleague, Sophie, sometimes Obsessed with…
Line of Duty
steals the scenes.
Matt King as Jez’s bandmate, the
hapless, hedonistic and unreliable
Super Hans, is priceless. As the years
take their toll, and his drug use esca-
BBC
S
lates, his eyes appear to sink further
back into their sockets. It is not until
series 6 that we learn that Hans, a o much telly spoon They discuss their initial suspicions, air
one-time crack addict, is father to feeds you, and it’s really wild theories and attempt to decrypt
seven-year-old twins. nice when there’s not what on earth all the police jargon
Does Peep Show ever go too far? Are even a spoon… you can’t actually means.
the endless excruciating situations too even get in the packet of With a seven-episode bumper series,
cringeworthy? Perhaps, but many of food,” comments come- Line of Duty couldn’t have returned at a
them are laugh-out-loud if you can dian Sarah Millican. She better time. The drama is sure to keep
stomach the embarrassment and is, of course, praising the thrillingly us all rapt as we attempt to crack the
heightened reality. There’s the time impenetrable Line of Duty. case. Superintendent Ted Hastings has
Mark pees in a desk drawer at his Everything is cryptic; minor charac- managed to elude the slammer and is
office to get his own back on a col- ters from three series ago suddenly back in AC-12 with DS (now DI) Steve
league – or when Jez wets himself in pop up on screen; and half of the dia- Arnott, but the band isn’t quite back
church at Mark’s wedding. Or when logue is in acronyms. Yet viewers still together. Having left AC-12, DI Kate
Jez sleeps with Sophie’s mum. can’t get enough of Jed Mercurio’s Fleming is now working on the Hill
There is, of course, pathos aplenty in perplexing police procedural. with a new murder investigation team,
Peep Show. Ultimately, this no-holds- The series delights in plunging view- led by her inscrutable adversary, DCI
barred gem is mined from similar ers into the darkness as they fumble Joanne Davidson, played by Kelly Mac-
material to Men Behaving Badly. It took to their own (often wrong) conclusions. donald. They are looking into the mur-
male relationship comedy to a blister- Luckily for us, BBC Sounds’ compan- der of investigative journalist Gail Vella
ing new place. ion podcast Obsessed with… Line of Duty in Operation Lighthouse.
Without Peep Show, it’s hard to imagine is on hand to offer illumination. It is AC-12’s highest-profile investi-
Phoebe Waller-Bridge creating the far Hosted by actor Craig Parkinson, aka gation to date and, as expected,
slicker Fleabag – perhaps as a contem- Line of Duty’s “baddie caddy” DI Matthew Mercurio won’t be hand-holding any
porary riposte to Mark and Jez’s macho “Dot” Cottan, each episode interrogates viewers. Mercifully, the brainboxes
excesses. n the latest instalment of the series. behind Obsessed with… Line of Duty will
Parkinson is joined weekly by a new have us all sucking on diesel. n
Peep Show is available on All 4 and Netflix. celebrity super-fan, such as Millican. Caitlin Danaher
Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 7
WORKING LIVES
Head of development Britannia
Sky
Nathalie Peter-Contesse you have to let go of projects along the an amazing first experience. In film,
started her career in development way, but Vertigo has a very good devel- and especially in LA, the odds on any-
with a bang in LA, working on the opment-to-production ratio. thing getting to screen are against you.
successful action movie 300. Now I was working on many other projects
based in London, at Vertigo Films, Can you bring good ideas back? at the same time as 300, but that was
she continues to develop high-octane Sometimes. A show needs so many the first one that went into production.
drama for TV and film. stars to align. Timing is crucial for com-
missioners – there’s not much you can What got it green-lit?
What does your job involve? do if every broadcaster has something The brilliance of Frank Miller’s graphic
Development starts with finding an in that same space, even if the show is novel and Zack Snyder’s vision and
idea and generally finishes when the great. You then have to wait or move on. determination.
drama goes into production – that’s a
bittersweet moment, because that’s How did you get into drama Who do you work with daily when
when I have to say goodbye to a show. development? developing dramas?
I oversee a slate of projects in devel- I always liked stories, books and films, The writers, first. Without a writer,
opment at Vertigo, supporting the pro- but I initially qualified as a lawyer in there’s no show. And then the fantastic
cess of taking them towards their goal of Switzerland; my mother is Italian, my team at Vertigo: the producers – Allan
being commissioned. This means find- father is Swiss. I moved to Los Angeles Niblo and James Richardson – and the
ing ideas or IP, such as books, working and I was lucky enough to get a job as two development executives. You can’t
with writers and talent, and talking to an assistant at Gianni Nunnari’s Holly- read and manage everything, so having
commissioners. You need to have pro- wood Gang Productions, which had a team you trust and whose tastes and
jects in the pipeline to make sure you made the vampire movie From Dusk Till opinions you respect, especially when
have things ready to go when a show Dawn and Se7en, among many other different to yours, is very important.
gets commissioned or falls through. things. I grew in that company and
became head of development. What makes a good development
How many ideas make it to the screen? producer?
You have a lot of runners at the begin- What was the first film you developed? First, you have to be able to recognise
ning of the race, but few reach the The first movie I worked on in my the material that has the potential to
finishing line. It’s part of the job that development role was 300, which was become a show, no matter what form it
8
comes in. You can fix a script, but a great the UK landscape at the moment. All your role is primarily to support the
idea is invaluable. Then, you have to of Vertigo’s dramas have a certain spirit writer and the process. Usually, it’s the
know how to read a script or adapt that – they are entertaining, innovative and writer who has the vision for the show
material and make it better. You also also have a rebellious spirit that is and it needs to shine through – you
need to know where your project sits unafraid to challenge the status quo. A are not the writer. If something is not
in the market – what’s getting com- Costa del Sol-set gangster series, titled working in the script, ask questions.
missioned and what the audience A Town Called Malice and developed by Let the writer have the opportunity to
trends are. If you want to be original and Bulletproof co-creator Nick Love, is come up with a way to address the
distinctive, you need to know what else currently in development for Sky. concern rather than rush to provide
is out there and who your audience is. Another project in development is suggestions.
Bulletproof
Sky
How do you find stories and writers? based on the 2011 documentary You’ve What advice would you give to some-
We read a lot: books, unpublished Been Trumped. It is the story of the soon- one wanting work in development?
manuscripts, scripts and articles; and to-be President’s attempt to build a Watch TV shows and films – and read
watch TV shows and films and listen golf course in Scotland and the tight all the scripts and books you can.
to podcasts. Agents send us samples Scottish community who opposed him. When you’ve read thousands of scripts,
of their writers; there are writing pro- it becomes second nature to under-
grammes and competitions; at Vertigo, What do you bring to work with you? stand why a story or characters are
we are also very keen to champion new Since I started at Vertigo a year ago, or aren’t working.
talent, to give a platform to emerging I’ve had just two days in the office,
voices from all backgrounds, so we are thanks to Covid. In development, the Has the job changed over time?
always looking for under-represented most important thing you need to bring When I started, there was a big divide
voices; and people we’ve worked with in with you is an open mind, because you between developing a project for TV or
the past always send us scripts or ideas. never know what you’re looking for film. Now, there’s not much difference
until you see it and you never know – with all the streaming platforms, the
How do you pitch to a broadcaster? where ideas will come from. boundaries between TV and film have
If you can’t say what your show is and blurred.
why it’s special in a sentence or two, What are the best and worst parts of It is a time when we can choose
then you shouldn’t pitch it. That means the job? what is the best format and way to tell
that the core concept is not clear The best is when a script or voice a story and then find a home for it,
enough and there’s still work to do. really excites and you feel its huge rather than the other way around.
Commissioners hear pitches all day potential – those moments are few Television has also taken a lot of the
long and are able to spot immediately and far between, and they can give you space that independent cinema used to
something that could be of interest to goosebumps. The worst is the sheer have, in terms of complex storytelling
them. If they like the concept, they will amount of material you have to go and also of less-represented voices. Like
ask for more details and read the script. through to find those magical projects. film, TV has become very exciting. n
What is the secret of Britannia and Are there any tricks of the trade you Nathalie Peter-Contesse, head of develop-
Bulletproof’s success? can share with us? ment at Vertigo Films, was interviewed by
There are no other shows like them in Leave your ego at the door, because Matthew Bell.
Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 9
Sharon Duncan-Brewster
(right) in Intergalactic
Sky
It’s sci-fi but not
as we know it
Shilpa Ganatra hails Sky’s mould-breaking space adventure Intergalactic
G
oing boldly where adrenaline-driven, about emotion and leader Tula. “I love that it doesn’t try to
no woman has gone character, and with a thrilling ride, is be anything else but British, and you
before, Sky’s new drama something we could see working for find that in the humour, pace and
Intergalactic follows the Sky One.” dialogue,” she says. “It shows we can do
exploits of a group of Intergalactic’s genesis came from pro space, too. We can do futuristic, too.”
female prisoners who ducer Matthew Read. Sky approached Duncan-Brewster made her mark in
commandeer their penal transport to Cuffs and Prisoners’ Wives writer Julie revered British productions such as
escape to the free world of Arcadia. Gearey to flesh it out into a compelling Years and Years, Top Boy and Sex Education
But their journey is made trickier series. “They knew my big passion is but is no stranger to big-budget sci-fi,
as one of the convicts is Ash Harper writing female gang shows,” says Gearey. having appeared in Rogue One and been
(played by Savannah Steyn), the “And I’d already been talking about cast in the latest adaptation of Frank
daughter of a high-ranking member wanting to work in a science-fiction Herbert’s Dune, alongside Jason Momoa
of the Commonworld’s establishment. genre. I was a child at exactly the right and Zendaya, due out later this year.
With Ash imprisoned for a crime she age for Star Wars. I was the kid who used “I try to take on varied projects and,
didn’t commit, her own quest is the to put the dressing gown on and the ear nowadays, I don’t take on roles that
search for the truth. Imagine Orange Is muffs and pretend to be Princess Leia.” aren’t appealing to me,” she says. “And,
the New Black, but set in space. Of its many novel aspects, it is par- while this is a piece that is set in the
“That sums it up perfectly when you ticularly refreshing that Intergalactic has future and we are in space a lot, at its
see it. For me, it’s a relationship drama “an American scale of ambition while heart, it is about people and relation-
in sci-fi clothes,” says Paul Gilbert, retaining a British identity at its heart”, ships. You meet these characters and
executive producer for Sky Studios. Gilbert notes. Indeed, the unhackneyed can make so many assumptions about
“It felt like we hadn’t seen a bold, accents, subtle humour and the down- them. Then, slowly, as the episodes
British sci-fi for a long time,” adds to-earthness (pardon the pun) mark the progress, we get further under the skin
Serena Thompson, also an executive show as born in contemporary Britain. of each individual, and you see that
producer for Sky Studios. “The idea That was what drew Sharon Duncan- they are complex human beings.”
of doing something female-driven, Brewster to play the role of rebel gang For Gearey, the show’s invitation for
10empathy was a key factor when creating with the fact that they have to address episodes into post-production after
the dynamics of the prison gang and all it,” she says. “It makes me happy that March 2020, which, happily, allowed
whom they encounter. at least people are asking questions. for a natural ending.
“The underlying premise was taking “People are actively seeking affirma- “It’s the biggest show I’ve worked on,
characters with opposing viewpoints tion and I think that’s the promising and it’s been the show where the most
and putting them in a tense situation start. Before, people were just making work was done in post-production,”
where they were forced to work assumptions or not even realising.” says Gearey. “It will be quite odd to go
together,” she says. “That is so resonant When it came to bringing the show back to doing something with people
now, when everyone is in their ideo- to life, Sky understood that there was in a kitchen.”
logical silos. no doing sci-fi in half measures. “It Now that the space series in nearly
“But we don’t learn anything unless was a top-level budget, as there’s an ready to launch, who do the makers
we come together. That’s how we grow expectation from audiences who are feel their audience will be? “The show
and change and listen to each other. used to seeing sci-fi films,” says places the female experience at the
Sky
That issue has become more prevalent Thompson. “It does require a certain heart of the storytelling, but we hope
since we first started working on it level of budget – otherwise you end to bring everyone along on the jour-
four years ago.” up with ‘wobbly set’ syndrome.” ney,” says Gearey. “Good, emotional
In order to tease out the interplay The scale of the production meant storytelling doesn’t have to be defined
between the characters, a breadth of that the operation had to be carefully by gender.”
acting talent was called for, and that thought through. Filming began in Nor is it just for sci-fi fans or prison
came down to casting director September 2019, partly in Valencia, drama fans, adds Brewster-Duncan:
Kharmel Cochrane. Spain, but the main set was in the aptly “I’m interested to see what audiences
In addition to big-draw actors such named Space Studios in Manchester, make of it, but I suspect that we’re
as Duncan-Brewster and Thomas Tur- where the spaceship was constructed. going to gather a following that is not
goose (of This is England fame), new- “We had Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock [just] the stereotypical sci-fi audience.”
comers have been added to the fold. as our space advisor,” says Gearey. That is certainly the hope at Sky,
All in all, there is a range of shapes, “I’ve got an arts background and I got which has purposefully entered new
sizes and colours. “I can’t remember thrown out of my physics class, so I territory and accepted the risk that
the last time I was on set with more don’t understand any of it. She helped goes with it. “We haven’t seen anything
than one other black female on a TV us understand, so the physics of the like it before on TV, but that’s our remit,”
show,” says Duncan-Brewster. “Our spaceship is based on real physics.” says Gilbert. “We want to challenge
characters are so different, age-wise, With lead director Kieron Hawkes at orthodoxy wherever possible, and the
background-wise. the helm, Duncan-Brewster recalls that results speak for themselves.”
“It’s refreshing and it’s promising, the set was “a barrel of laughs. There Overseas sales and a possible second
and it’s about time.” were no egos, just everyone getting on. series (that may or may not include the
Is it a sign that television has moved My phone is pinging now and it’s them lost two episodes) are still under dis-
away from tokenism? “I would say it on the WhatsApp group”. cussion. However it fares, it’s already
does occur still in certain genres, in The curse of Covid struck before successful in reinventing British sci-fi,
certain production companies in par- filming completed, but they had enough bringing the genre up to date, and
ticular, but people are coming to terms in the can to put eight of the 10 planned putting women at its centre. n
Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 11A genius in his prime
Amazon Prime Video
I
t’s a brave film-maker who takes Globe-winning 1971 biopic La Vita di
on the story of the Renaissance Matthew Bell discovers Leonardo Da Vinci; and the BBC’s 2003
master Leonardo da Vinci. Can
their treatment hope to measure
how European semi-dramatised documentary, Leon-
ardo, starring Mark Rylance.
up to the real figure who – for producers and The new eight-part series – made
starters – painted the world’s
most famous canvas, designed flying
broadcasters struck on a hefty ¤30m budget – is a triumph
of European co-operation, involving
machines and was a ground-breaking new alliances for Spotnitz’s company, Big Light Produc-
anatomist and scientist. tions, Italian producers Lux Vide and
“He was such a towering genius, so Amazon’s lavish new RAI Fiction, France Télévisions, Spain’s
good at so many things, it’s actually
hard to believe he was real,” says Frank
drama Leonardo RTVE, Germany’s ZDF and Sony Pic-
tures Television.
Spotnitz, the driving force behind the Despite its pan-European origins,
Amazon Prime drama Leonardo, which Leonardo is anything but a stodgy,
launches in the UK and Ireland this uninspiring “euro pudding”. The series
month. “You have to make him credi- looks beautiful, with cinematographer
ble, but also not trivialise him or make Steve Lawes using the light available to
his genius mundane or silly.” Leonardo – daylight and moonlight
Leonardo has featured in many fic- from outside, candlelight and firelight
tional works, including novels, TV inside – to shoot the series. The per-
shows, video games and movies. Yet, formances are convincing and Poldark
only two major TV series have been hunk Aidan Turner impresses as the
made in half a century: RAI’s Golden obsessive, troubled painter.
12Amazon Prime Video
Spotnitz, who wrote more than doing the second season of Devils ‘Will he or will he not complete his
40 episodes of The X-Files, left Los Ange- [shown by Sky Atlantic] with producer painting?’ How do you make a com-
les to make the BBC drama Hunted in Lux Vide in Rome. pelling drama out of that?”
2010, relocating permanently to Europe “It takes humility, because you have It took the involvement of Steve
when he set up Big Light, with offices to go in and listen, and accept there are Thompson, a writer Spotnitz admired
in London and Paris, a few years later. things you may not understand about from his scripts for Sherlock and Vienna
Leonardo was the first show to be another culture, broadcaster and audi- Blood, to change his mind. The duo
green-lit by the Alliance, a grouping ence. But, also, you don’t agree to constructed an “elaborate puzzle” with
of three European public broadcasters everything just because your partner one of Leonardo’s models, Caterina da
(France Télévisions, RAI and ZDF) aim- says that’s the way it is.” Cremona, at the centre, through which
ing to take on Netflix. “The Alliance Spotnitz has become something of a they tell the story of the artist’s life.
came into being to make larger-scale renaissance man himself, having shot “One drawing of her survives and
shows that can compete,” says Spotnitz. three series of Medici for RAI and Net she sat for his most famous missing
“The streamers present a challenge to flix. Initially, he turned down Leonardo. painting, Leda and the Swan, which
traditional broadcasters because they “I’d done a lot of 15th-century Italian some consider his greatest,” says Spot-
have very deep pockets. The traditional history,” he recalls, “and I thought that nitz. “She is an act of imagination, but
broadcaster can respond in two ways: making a show about an artist would she is based on a real character.
one is to go even more local, into shows be incredibly difficult. The stakes are: “History does not record women as
that serve their own culture; the other is faithfully as it does men and so, if you
to partner for bigger projects.” want to show women and the roles
Spotnitz points to his greying hair as
he chats on Zoom from Formello, a
‘YOU SOMETIMES they obviously played in history, you
sometimes have to rescue them with
short drive north of Rome: “I didn’t HAVE TO RESCUE your imagination.”
have any of these before I started
doing co-productions. I’ve had, [WOMEN’S Leonardo’s muse, Cremona, is played
by Italian actor Matilda De Angelis (The
honestly, nightmarish experiences.
“As these experiences go, this has
HISTORICAL Undoing), with Freddie Highmore (The
Good Doctor) playing Stefano Giraldi,
been extraordinarily successful. We’ve ROLES] WITH YOUR who investigates the murder at the
done three seasons of [historical
drama] Medici, Leonardo and now we’re
IMAGINATION’ heart of the story.
Leonardo was shot in English, �
Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 13‘IF THE SKETCHES
AND PAINTINGS
HAD NOT LOOKED
Amazon Prime Video
LIKE LEONARDO’S,
THE SHOW WOULD
HAVE FAILED’
� although the cast is mostly Italian, discuss Leonardo: “Shooting under devotion to detail,” says Spotnitz. “Art
and the series dubbed into other Covid was challenging at first because is a character in the show and it was
European languages. “It’s designed to we were still working out the rules. so important that we got it just right.
be a big, international show and so Leonardo was one of the first film If the sketches, drawings and paint-
you want big actors who are recogni projects to be back up and running ings hadn’t looked like Leonardo’s,
sable to an international audience. In after the first lockdown, and it was the show would have failed.”
Italy, there aren’t that many actors pretty experimental. Percival adds: “I think that being an
who are known worldwide, so that’s “But the basics – mask, social dis- artist myself helped most in terms of
why shows such as this end up being tance, no physical contact – were getting inside the mind of Leonardo.
cast with English actors and done in there from the beginning. I can hardly As I studied his technique, I started
the English language,” Spotnitz imagine shooting now without a mask to understand more and more about
explains. on my face. It has become as much a how his mind must have worked. His
Filming was a stop-start affair, part of my work equipment as attention to detail is astonishing. His
recalls executive producer and Big headphones.” striving for perfection is palpable.
Light creative director Emily Feller: Filming wrapped in early August “There is more than a touch of OCD
“We started shooting in December but the shoot had taken longer than in his work, but also perhaps autism.
2019, broke for Christmas, came back anticipated and cost more with “all Someone who can focus so hard for
and then Covid hit. I was in Italy in the testing, having a medic on set and so long with such razor-sharp preci-
the third week of February 2020 and temperatures being taken many times sion and yet be able to switch from
we were aware of what was happen- a day”, recalls Feller. “We also had to concept to concept with such ease,
ing. Northern Italy was already prob- do some rewriting to account for the would have to have had a very noisy
lematic by that point. It was only fact that we couldn’t use locations or mind indeed.”
another few weeks and we shut down.” huge numbers of extras,” adds Spotnitz. Leonardo is “a love story and a mur-
Production resumed in mid-June, The film-makers were determined der mystery”, says Spotnitz, but he’s
but now entirely on an expanded faithfully to recreate 15th-century adamant that viewers will “learn
backlot at Formello, rather than on Italy and the work of Leonardo. They something about art, and in a very
location. “Everyone had a real sense employed restoration specialists to painless way. When you watch this
of determination to do whatever was produce his sketches and paintings show, you start to understand why
needed – it was fantastic to see such using Renaissance techniques and Leonardo da Vinci was a radical, tow-
wonderful collaboration,” says Feller. materials. ering figure, not just in art but in
“I was just so excited to be getting It helped that the director was also civilisation.
rushes again.” an artist. “Dan approached all the “We wanted to entertain, move and
Lead director Daniel Percival took scenes, art, props, and every bit of inspire, and also teach you something
a break from filming in the US to engineering, with such maniacal about why he was such a genius.” n
14OUR FRIEND IN THE
WEST
Laura Aviles explains
A
s Bristol City why Bristol’s TV and Bristol is the gateway to the West of
Council’s new
senior film man-
film community is England – Cornwall, Devon and Dorset
offer a wonderfully varied selection
ager, I have finally poised to play a of landscapes, historic houses and
reached a position
where I can sup-
vital role in the coastlines.
Like everyone else, we had to adapt
port and promote post-Covid quickly to create a safe production
my two main passions – Bristol and environment during the pandemic.
filming in the West Country. economic recovery We have a dedicated Covid-19 safety
My role is to oversee the work of supervisor in place and we published
the Bottle Yard Studios and Bristol our Covid-19 site operating procedures
Film Office, and make sure that Bris- in June to support productions and
tol can build on its past successes and TV/film-related businesses based here.
deliver a single, complete and consis Our recovery in Bristol has been
tent offer encompassing studio and relatively fast. The city was the loca-
location filming. And, despite the tion of choice for some of the first UK
pandemic, there has never been a high-end TV titles to restart filming
better time. after the first lockdown.
Film and TV production is one of These included the BBC and Ama-
Bristol’s fastest growing businesses, zon’s Nancy Mitford adaptation, The
and the studios, which are owned by Pursuit of Love, starring Lily James and
Laura Aviles
Bristol City Council, play an integral Andrew Scott, and series 2 of Fox TV
role in that growth. and StudioCanal’s War of the Worlds.
After 10 years of operations, the Both were up and running again by
studios are now recognised globally late July/early August.
as a thriving centre for production. benefits to being based here: it is less As streaming platforms and broad-
Titles currently shooting include than two hours from London but, as casters ramp up their content, the
Stephen Merchant’s new BBC/Ama- a smaller city, Bristol is far quicker to need for additional stage space and
zon Prime series The Offenders, star- navigate when shooting on location. skills is growing steadily. New studios
ring Oscar-winner Christopher Producers save precious time when are being built throughout the UK,
Walken, Netflix sci-fi series The Last units are in transit. Costs are lower, and Bristol is not missing out. Plans
Bus and Starz’s Becoming Elizabeth. yet you will still find all the world- for a £12m development have recently
The city’s Film Office has consist- class production, post-production been approved, with the Bottle Yard
ently provided support for produc- and facilities companies you could growing from eight to 11 stages. If
tions over the past 15 years. This has possibly need. everything goes to plan, the new stu-
earnt Bristol the reputation of being Bristol Film Office goes above and dios should launch late next spring.
one of the most film-friendly places beyond to assist with recces, permits Bristol is developing a skills agenda
to shoot in the UK. And it contributed and logistics, plus there’s a vast bank to grow a sustainable talent base to
to us winning Unesco City of Film of experienced local crew who are meet increased demand, and the city
status in 2017, and persuading Chan- only too keen to work closer to home. is set to be a key contributor to local
nel 4 to open its creative hub here in Within the city, you’ll find a mixture and national economic recovery. n
early 2020. of architecture, including Regency and
Producers return time and time Georgian terraces, large green spaces Laura Aviles is Bristol City Council’s
again, for good reason. There are many and gritty urban settings. senior film manager.
Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 15The craft of telling
a fairytale
How the makers
of The Crown
painstakingly
created
Diana Spencer’s
emotional story
for an outstanding
episode of the
Netflix series
Netflix
‘W
e think we all one of the most famous women in the slightly cold, bruising, hurtful, lonely,
know Diana’s world, a person about whom everyone locked-up pain. I love focusing on that
story, but I has an opinion”, noted Caron at last uncomfortable stuff, that piece of gravel
always ask the month’s RTS event “Deconstructing in the shoe.
question: what the Fairytale”. “[But,] across the season, we see that
must it have The episode is, arguably, a master- remarkable strength of character which
been like for any person going through class in storytelling, especially when Diana possesses grow, and that power
that experience – what she was thrown the story is world-famous. The script and resilience she has to rise above it all.”
into at such a young age?” said Benja- was one of The Crown’s shortest, at just Joining Caron on the panel were
min Caron, the director of the Fairytale over 30 pages, which allowed a greater production designer Martin Childs and
episode of The Crown. emphasis on the telltale details of this hair and make-up designer Cate Hall,
Therein lies the challenge of the third key moment in royal history. both integral to the episode. Emma
episode of the fourth series of Netflix’s Laden with visual metaphors, it Corrin, who played Diana in the show,
royal drama. A dramatisation loosely leverages every aspect available to a had to pull out of the panel due to a
based on the royal family (and all the director to depict the emotional journey last-minute scheduling conflict, but
more contentious for it), the episode’s behind Diana’s dramatic switch from her casting was the first and biggest
central figure is Diana Spencer, who her old life to the new – and to fore- step in the process.
accepts Prince Charles’s proposal and shadow the already-familiar events of “Casting Diana felt like no easy task
moves from her Earl’s Court flatshare her life as a royal. until we met Emma. Very Diana-like,
to Buckingham Palace in preparation “As a guiding principle, I like to focus she walked into the room and instantly
for her new life as a princess. on the anthropological weirdness of captured everyone’s attention,” said
The Crown’s blurring of fact and fic- these people and this institution,” said Caron. “She had this strength, this
tion becomes trickier with, “arguably, Caron. “It always comes back to the incredible vulnerability, which is a hard
16thing to play without being clichéd.” “We put a bald piece underneath the provided by the royals. “I have a theory
Corrin’s depiction, and the freedom wig so, when she moves, you can see that they only dusted the apartment
that the lean script afforded, combine in skin underneath, and the hair flicking the week before she got there and, in
a revealing scene in which Diana prac- out,” said Cate Hall. “Emma was so the past, they kept it there for brides-
tises ballet alone. Inspired by a similar confident [in the wig] that there was to-be. That was my brief to myself and
scene in Billy Elliot (directed by Stephen never any reticence to do any of the the set decorator.”
Daldry, also an executive producer for moves. She didn’t have to think about Diana’s appearance acts as a visual
The Crown) and soundtracked by a the wig, ever.” device, too. Said Hall: “We had to plot
haunting use of Song for Guy by Elton Although costume designer Amy the journey strategically over 10 indi-
John, Diana begins in a rigid, taught Roberts ensured that the looks always vidual films, and Fairytale is a spring-
fashion. matched the setting, the softness of her board into that journey. She’s full of
But, as the emotions get the better of ballet outfit is noticeably at odds with hope, but we know it can’t end well.
her, “it breaks out into her expression the imposing room. “It’s the only time We almost had to tell the whole story
of her character, her personality, of where the costume and the environ- in one episode.”
her trying to push out against the walls ment didn’t go together, and deliberately To begin with, “we went as minimal
as possible. We kept everything soft,
creamy, really round, to give her that
adolescent vibe. Then, we used beauty
make-up to age her though the series.
So we used those nice 1980s trends
with cool, glittery tones. We used angu-
lar blusher, blue eyeliner – all that stuff.
That helped to underpin the emotional
narrative, and also to give us some-
where to go to tell that whole story.”
But blue eyeliners presented a par-
ticular challenge. Because their colours
change with different lenses and cam-
eras, the crew needed to camera-test
them all. “We turned up with a make-up
shop’s worth of make-up and looked at
every different blue on camera,
because we had to save our punchiest
blues for the end of her story,” said Hall.
Diana’s hairstyle has its own jour-
ney: three wigs were used over this
series. “They’re all essentially the same
haircut – it’s that unique Diana cut.
Netflix
But, as she moves through the series,
the hair gets more processed and
styled, with more highlights. By the
of the palace,” said Caron. “It’s raw, didn’t go together, so she could carry end, it’s a real do.”
it’s emotional, it comes at a really on being a fish out of water,” explained Diana’s fateful storyline will con-
difficult time for her, but it speaks Childs. tinue in the fifth series. As has become
volumes about her incredible ability The metaphors in the set have customary after two series, it is all
to overcome.” underpinned The Crown, especially change for the cast. Imelda Staunton
The scene was shot on a closed set, with the cold formality of Buckingham takes over from Olivia Colman as
with loose direction. “I always talk Palace. Childs revealed that, ahead of Queen Elizabeth; Lesley Manville plays
about giving actors permission to fail, the first series, he went undercover as Princess Margaret, instead of Helena
about allowing them to go further than a tourist to tour the palace. He then Bonham Carter, and Elizabeth Debicki
they might do without the constraints recreated “the house” using a combi- (The Great Gatsby and Widows) will take
of being judged,” said Caron. “It was nation of 11 stately homes and four sets the baton from Corrin to play Diana.
just me and the camera, and we played in Elstree Studios. Both Hall and Childs are working on
Cher’s Believe. It didn’t matter because Look carefully and staircases tell the upcoming series but, unsurpris-
we were going to replace the music their own story. When Diana leaves ingly, are tight-lipped about what’s to
later on, but it was something Emma her flat for the palace, she leaves her come. “I have this pile of scripts with
felt she could throw herself around the friends behind and descends a stair- my name watermarked on them, so I
room to.” case with blood-red walls. “Then, Ben can’t divulge a thing. They’re juicy,
This scene also highlights the role had the brilliant idea of providing a aren’t they, Cate?” teased Childs.
that production plays. For Corrin to be counterpoint [by] doing a much grander We wouldn’t expect anything less. n
able throw herself around the room version of it once she gets to the pal-
without restraint, her wig had to play ace,” said Childs. Report by Shilpa Ganatra. ‘Deconstructing
its part by staying on and adding to the There, the apartment in which Diana the Fairytale’ was an RTS event held on
spectacle of her torment. is kept speaks of the “cold hospitality” 24 March, chaired by presenter Anita Rani.
Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 17Hollyoaks character
Diane Hutchinson
From soaps to
high-end drama
and even comedy,
scripted television
is taking mental
distress seriously.
Caroline Frost
investigates
Channel 4
How TV is tackling
our mental health
‘I
f that storyline wasn’t there, I of a depression storyline featuring two highlighting mental health issues. A
would not be here. That’s the characters Adam and Darren. forthcoming storyline concentrates on
reality of it. You have saved “Adam took his own life, but Darren character Diane Hutchinson’s struggle
my life.” That’s what Hollyoaks didn’t, and you see the fallout of that,” with obsessive compulsive disorder
fan John told one of the soap’s explains Taylor Dawson, who has played (OCD). But it is by no means the only
stars, Ashley Taylor Dawson, Darren for more than two decades. “It TV show to both reflect and help drive
when the pair were brought together was very testing as an actor, but the the UK’s increasing concern with peo-
by BBC Radio 5 Live earlier this year. feedback was humbling and over- ple’s mental welfare.
John, who uses gender neutral pro- whelming, and then I spoke to John. Clive Crump, a mental health worker
nouns, had previously phoned the They told me, ‘I saw the reaction of the at Emotional Wellbeing and Mental
station to share how they had been family, and I saw my own mum in my Health Service, credits modern writers
struggling during the lockdown of 2020, head, and I realised I couldn’t do it.’ with striking a delicate balance between
to the point where they had planned to “Television reaches so many people, compassion and narrative thrills. “On
end their life. Then they happened to sit and if it helps just one person like the one hand, they demonstrate that
down and watch an episode of Hollyoaks, John, it’s invaluable.” mental illness is just part of the tapestry
coincidentally the traumatic conclusion Hollyoaks has been tireless in of normal human life and, on the other,
18need for diligence is Hans Rosenfeldt,
the creator of The Bridge, with its supreme
but socially awkward female detective,
Saga Norén, and, more recently, ITV’s
Marcella, with its equally talented but
troubled crime-fighting protagonist.
“We created Saga almost 15 years
ago, and she was just a character with
no social skills,” he remembers. “We
developed her over four years, until
one director said, for the first time,
‘This woman must be on the autistic
spectrum somewhere’.
“Back then, you could get away
‘FLOWERS with a more vague portrayal, whereas
now you have to be very careful with
IS BOTH research into what she does and doesn’t
BRUTALLY do. We never even thought about it. It
was only when the comments came in,
DARK AND it kind of became the truth. In our uni-
ACHINGLY verse, she was just Saga.”
Rosenfeldt agrees that Marcella is a
FUNNY’ far more up-to-date, diagnosable crea-
Channel 4
tion. Although he jokes that her PTSD,
capacity for blackouts and even even-
Flowers
tual disappearance into another iden-
tity are all “simply plot-devices”, it
they serve ever-more sophisticated to look away. But comedy can be a really becomes clear that the writer has done
demands for drama and entertainment,” helpful tool to process stuff like that.” plenty of his own research into these
he says. TV shows have come a long way conditions.
This new readiness to explore previ- from using mental illness simply as In contrast with Samata, however,
ously hidden aspects of all our psyches a colourful plot device, often to make Rosenfeldt’s equal duty of care comes
is apparent in almost all of the best of fun of a particular character. A crucial out, it seems, in knowing his limita-
today’s TV scripted shows – from aspect of this evolution on screen is tions: “For neither of these characters
soaps to hard-hitting drama and the collective sense of responsibility of did we say this is a true description of
through to comedy. broadcasters, writers, and actors to a diagnosis or syndrome. If anything, I
Crump cites Paul Mescal’s delicate present far more authentic depictions felt responsibility not to give them
depiction of depression and anxiety in of the challenges and feelings of those diagnoses. The moment you claim this
Normal People, as well as Alison Stead- suffering. is the truth, you become limited in the
man’s “remarkable performance” Angela Samata, a suicide prevention stories you can tell, because you have
in Mike Bartlett’s Life. She plays a campaigner for nearly two decades to do it right for that community.’
70-year-old woman suddenly ques- after losing her husband, has served as Despite such different approaches,
tioning her identity, having been a script advisor to Hollyoaks on story it is evident that contemporary writers
mocked into a hollow existence by lines. She credits this increasing atten- delight in the rich texture provided by
her long-time bully of a husband. tion to detail for the impact of storylines characters who are both challenged
One writer clearly willing to on vulnerable viewers such as John. and challenging – what Peter Bowker,
embrace both light and shade is Will “Writers have always reflected the creator of The A Word, about a family
Sharpe, the creator, director and star of mood. What’s different is the diligence living with their child’s autism,
Channel 4’s Flowers, the show he has behind the storylines now,” she explains. describes as “somebody at the centre
described as a “comedy with a mental “We took the actor, Ashley Taylor Daw- of something that doesn’t quite fit.
illness”. Sure enough, it is brutally dark son, and the writers to a house of ther- From a purely selfish dramatist’s point
and achingly funny, as the Flowers apy in Liverpool, where a man who of view, there’s no doubt about it, it’s
family contends with all types of men- had been feeling actively suicidal incredibly rich territory.”
tal challenges, including father Maurice agreed to speak. Ashley was listening Rosenfeldt adds that these characters
(Julian Barratt)’s depression and failed intently to him explaining his feelings in all their complexity are also key to
attempt to end his life in the very first and, later, on screen, I heard those keeping modern viewers fulfilled.
scene of the show. same words reflected in the script. “Audiences are so much bigger, and
Comedy became Sharpe’s tool to “Since then, we’ve had people one crime story is much like another,
break down the walls between his reaching out for support who wouldn’t so you need characters who viewers
characters and their audience. He have done it without that storyline. It will want to return to. That means
revealed: “I felt frustrated by the lack of was beautifully acted, but the words more layers – and one that works well
understanding surrounding mental ill- came from the truth of the situation, and is a kind of flaw, something broken, so
ness. I guess some things can feel so that’s why it was able to touch them.” we can root for it to heal, or at least [for
heavy or painful that it seems safer just One writer able to chart this growing a character to] learn to deal with it.” n
Television www.rts.org.uk April 2021 19You can also read
