Shondaland's Netflix debut - December 2020 -January 2021 - Royal Television Society
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December 2020
-January 2021
Shondaland’s
Netflix debut
Television www.rts.org.uk September 2013 1
DRAMA
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Journal of The Royal Television Society
December 2020/January 2021 l Volume 58/1
From the CEO
Farewell, then, to 2020, and a more recent remote encounter Do read our report of the recent
a year that we will all with a mystery entrepreneur’s butler. “Can TV save the planet?” event and
find hard to forget. I was delighted by the inspirational this issue’s Our Friend column, writ-
What better guide to and heartfelt message from the RTS’s ten by the new RTS Midlands Chair,
the past 12 months royal patron, HRH The Prince of Wales, Kuljinder Khaila. Both have important
than the always bril- to the TV sector’s production workers, messages for our challenging times.
liant Sir Peter Bazal- delivered at last month’s RTS Craft & Finally, a happy new year to you
gette. His review of 2020 might make Design Awards. all. I hope you get some proper down-
you laugh and cry, as he eloquently HRH’s belief that the TV workforce time after a difficult year. Take care of
sums up the year of Covid-19 and will rebound stronger than ever from yourselves and your families.
Black Lives Matter. these challenging times is one we
Baz also recalls a tense moment on should all take to heart. We carry a full
the Central Line, where he helped list of all the winners and nominees.
create the Changing Rooms format – Congratulations to every one of them. Theresa Wise
Contents
Cover: Bridgerton (Netflix)
5 Kate Ward’s TV Diary
There are no noisy Christmas parties to attend but, for
Kate Ward, working from home is very far from quiet 20 RTS Digital Convention: Culture shock
YouTube’s Cécile Frot-Coutaz describes her journey from
TV creative to Europe’s foremost player in digital video
6 Comfort Classic: Morecambe and Wise
Steve Clarke on why the duo’s Christmas shows remain
unsurpassed 22 The non-fiction Netflix?
Discovery+ is a late entrant to the global streaming
market, says Kate Bulkley. Can it still punch through?
7 Ear Candy: My Life in TV
Kate Holman hears celebrities ‘bin, binge or bring back’
shows that were important to their TV journey 24 PSB: Time for a radical reset
As a Government review of public service broadcasting
starts, Torin Douglas outlines the key issues
8 Working Lives: Visual effects supervisor
Russell Dodgson, the VFX supervisor behind His Dark
Materials, talks to Matthew Bell 26 PSB: In defence of truth and impartiality
A joint RTS and Media Society panel asks if the UK public
service broadcasters are facing a fight for their lives
10 Lace and lust
Shilpa Ganatra explores how Shonda Rhimes has
reinvented period drama in Bridgerton for Netflix 28 PSB: ‘Out with the old thinking’
Media grandees assess how the UK’s public service
broadcasters are responding to the streamers’ success
12 Goodbye to all that
A year of severe challenges has given British TV
its finest hour. Peter Bazalgette looks back on 2020 30 Can TV save the planet?
A stellar panel tells RTS Futures that television companies
have a vital role in combating the climate crisis
15 Our Friend in the Midlands
Kuljinder Khaila urges broadcasters to celebrate
black voices from Birmingham and beyond 32 The political interview unwrapped
An RTS Christmas special event reviews gems of the
genre from the 1950s to the present day
16 Standing up for the marginalised
Matthew Bell discovers there’s a mission behind the
company that brings us RuPaul’s Drag Race UK 34 RTS Craft & Design Awards 2020
The ceremony, presented by Mim Shaikh and
Anne Mensah, was streamed on 23 November
18 RTS Digital Convention: Start with the story
Gary Davey explains Sky Studios’ approach to
commissioning hits such as Chernobyl and I Hate Suzie 42 A tribute to the television workforce
HRH The Prince of Wales praises the commitment and
ingenuity of TV production workers, reports Steve Clarke
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 2020.
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 December 2020/January 2021 3
TV diary
There are no noisy Christmas parties
to attend but, for Kate Ward, working
from home is very far from quiet
T
his week heralds the want to be aware of the whole story. a socially distanced walk with Kelly
final week of lock- Today, I saw some fantastic report- Webb-Lamb from Channel 4 in our
down 2, a week that ing on extreme fans and fan culture local park.
would normally be from the Vice world news team, a I bring along my sleeping baby for
the start of the satanic true-crime documentary a blast of fresh air as we trade tips on
Christmas party series from Vice Studios, and While what we’re watching. The day zips by
season. But this year’s the Rest of Us Die: Secrets of America’s in a flurry of Zoom calls and I reflect
end is eerily quiet. Quiet, assuming Shadow Government from Vice TV. on the fact that this is the longest
you don’t count the dulcet tones of my Drink about 10,000 cups of tea. My period in my career that I haven’t
WFH co-workers: a six-month-old, a toddler asks me if I “made any mov- travelled.
three-year-old and my wonderful (but ies today”. No pressure…
very loud) husband. So far, so 2020. ■ Strategic planning for next year is
The day begins with a catch-up with ■ A call with our distribution team wrapping, and I’m presenting to my
our team in India. I first got to know and final sign-off on the renewal colleagues on the Vice leadership
the Indian TV market over a decade of our partnership with SBS in team. I present a deck that could
ago, when I helped launch MasterChef Australia. We have been working do with some design magic (one
there. Today, it is a big priority for the together successfully for two years, of those “I made it myself” affairs)
world’s streamers, as they compete for but this allows us to expand and but which contains some exciting
the attention and subscriptions of an deepen our relationship. thoughts on how we begin to drive
audience of over 1 billion. It’s a big commitment. Today, we deeper collaboration across the
I joined Vice Media Group in spend an equal amount of time on whole Vice Media Group and capi-
November 2019 and was in India the operations and workflows as we talise on our IP.
before the end of that year. We have do on the content pipeline. Early on We start every meeting talking
an incredible team there, with several in my career in TV sales, I was told: about what Vice content has inspired
big, ambitious shows in production. it’s not just what you do, but how you us this week. It is a great reminder of
do it. That’s so true. the breadth of what we do, from our
■ Today is entirely blocked off for advertising agency, Virtue, through to
the pleasure of viewing. This is ■ Over lunch, I read the inevitable our digital brands.
something I try to do monthly. I article about the best high-street I pick out i-D’s 40th anniversary
catch up on all the latest episodes Christmas sandwich and fleetingly issue, which I’ve been reading. We are
that Vice Studios is distributing or consider Deliveroo-ing Pret to my developing a show with its editorial
producing globally. I am still a total house. Come to my senses and team. It has been an incredible expe-
TV addict, so this is the part of my decide against it. But only just. rience, because they really are at the
job where I have to pinch myself cutting edge of culture and taste form-
that I’m paid for the pleasure. ■ Lockdown is over and the first ing – i-D’s motto is: “Fan, not critic”. I
It’s very time consuming but it’s Covid vaccine is approved for use. think that’s a great rule to live by.
important to watch multiple epi- Feels like a huge moment and an
sodes, not just episode 1 or a teaser. opportunity to fleetingly dream Kate Ward is President of Vice Studios at
When I speak to one of our teams, I about a return to normal. Meet for Vice Media Group.
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2020/January 2021 5
COMFORT CLASSIC
Steve Clarke on why
Morecambe and Wise
remain unsurpassed as
popular entertainers
I
n those far-off days, when colour
TV was still something of a nov-
elty and viewers were restricted
to a trio of TV channels, the two
funniest people on the box were,
without question, Eric Morecambe
and Ernie Wise.
Not for nothing was Morecambe voted
the funniest person of the 20th century,
ahead of such other greats as Tommy
Cooper and John Cleese, in an internet
poll taken in 1999.
Morecambe’s double act with Wise
began when the two were teenagers, in
1941. Their quick-fire routines sought to
“imitate the smart cross-talk and rapid
one-liners of US double acts such as
Abbott and Costello,” observed Simon
The Morecambe
Blackwell, whose credits include Peep
Show, The Thick of It and Veep.
Thirty years later, the pair had become
the pre-eminent TV entertainers of the
and Wise
era and, on Christmas Day, half the
nation would gather round the TV set
to laugh out loud at their TV special.
By this time, Eric and Ernie had
Christmas Show
developed something that was unique
– albeit much imitated by other, lesser
double acts – by reinventing the style
of comedy that had inspired them.
They had honed their act in the
decidedly unglamorous and unforgiv-
ing world of British post-war variety
theatre. When TV emerged in the 1950s,
this style of entertainment was put on
BBC
notice by the magic box.
Unlike many of their peers, the duo
had the good fortune to find a writer and Wise’s celebrated Christmas shows, man to Eric’s tomfoolery and fast talk-
who could bring out the best of them in including the 1977 edition, watched by ing, but their shtick transcended the
the very different setting of the TV stu- almost 28 million viewers, a record- normal parameters of comedy duos.
dio – Eddie Braben, a workaholic per- breaking audience. There was sexual innuendo and
fectionist who understood the deadly These Christmas spectaculars were debunking aplenty as some of the big-
serious business of scripting comedy. a mix of sketches, musical routines, gest stars of screen and stage queued
The idea of pairing Eric and Ernie quick visual gags and usually a play up to join in the fun. But there was
with Braben came from BBC enter- apparently written by Wise and featur- nothing to offend granny or that you
tainment chief Bill Cotton, who put ing a TV star. would feel uncomfortable watching
them together after they joined the Wise once described their style with a six-year-old.
corporation in 1968 from ITV. of comedy as “naughty schoolboy Glenda Jackson, not someone appar-
It was Braben who wrote Morecambe humour”. Yes, Ernie was the straight ently given to suffering fools, appeared
6
in not one but two Morecambe and
Ear candy Alison Hammond
Wise Christmas specials and happily
agreed to be gently humiliated by
the comedians.
A regular on the show was the late
Des O’Connor, at the time widely
regarded as British TV’s “Mr Nice Guy”.
The ubiquitous and always dapper Des
appeared completely comfortable as
the foil for Eric’s teasing.
In the 1977 Christmas special, Elton
John, one of the world’s biggest stars,
gets lost in the labyrinth that is Tele
vision Centre. At one point he bumps
into Dad’s Army’s Captain Mainwaring
– who calls him a “stupid boy” – and
only gets to perform “after the show
has finished”. His audience consists of
two cleaning ladies – played, of course,
by Eric and Ernie, like two dejected
dames from the panto. Despite being
a rock star used to playing to audiences
Des O’Connor
My Life in TV
with Eric and Ernie
BBC
ITV
B
of tens of thousands, John is delighted efore Alison Ham- hilarious interviews with Hollywood
to be sent up by Morecambe and Wise. mond starts her new stars such as Harrison Ford and Ryan
In the show’s big production number, gig on This Morning in Gosling, and her enthusiastic (though
a pastiche of There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame, January, the presenter, unsuccessful) attempt to get Meghan
Eric and Ernie’s supporting cast is stud- reporter and actor is Markle’s attention on her first official
ded with TV personalities from the era taking listeners on a outing with Prince Harry. This later
– Barry Norman, Michael Parkinson trip down memory went viral.
and Eddie Waring, to name three. lane with some famous faces for ITV’s Emily Atack shares memories of
“Broad is usually the term for bawdy, first branded podcast, My Life in TV. The staying up late to watch female come-
basic humour, which theirs certainly weekly pod invites celebrity guests to dians such as Kathy Burke and Victoria
wasn’t,” Rowan Atkinson once said. discuss their own lives on television, Wood. There’s also her career-changing
“But they had broad appeal… something from favourite TV moments to their stint in the jungle. While Olivia Attwood,
which all the family, from the age of six childhood on-screen inspirations. another guest, talks about the reality TV
to 60, could enjoy and identify with.” The likes of Mo Gilligan, Emily Atack shows that inspired Olivia Meets Her
In our more divided age, it is hard to and AJ Odudu choose the shows they Match, and Joel Dommett discusses
imagine TV comedy that can unite the would “bin, binge or bring back” and learning on the job and his disastrous
nation during the stresses and strains share their personal career journeys in audition for The Inbetweeners.
of a family Christmas. Morecambe and television. Hammond’s own path to Hammond’s infectiously positive
Wise did that and so much more. n success started with a much-loved outlook on life and comforting TV
stint in the Big Brother house, after anecdotes deliver the perfect nostalgia-
The Morecambe and Wise Christmas which she established herself as a fest to lift your spirits on a dreary Mon-
Show 1975 is on BBC Two on Christmas permanent fixture on daytime TV. day morning. n
Day. The entire series is available on DVD. The ITV regular is known for Kate Holman
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2020/January 2021 7
WORKING LIVES
His Dark Materials
BBC
Visual effects supervisor
R
ussell Dodgson won both 18 months to two years of my time – for architectural developments in the
an RTS Craft & Design it’s a big investment, so you have to Middle East. I directed the lifestyle and
Award and a Craft Bafta love your job and the project. visual-effects parts, and supervised the
this year for the special effects in post-production.
effects in BBC One’s His How did you get into VFX? I then landed a job at Framestore in
Dark Materials. By trade, he I studied editing at university – my London to build a department based
is a VFX supervisor, but is also creative cousin is a natural history and docu- around the VFX software Nuke.
director of television at the visual effects mentary editor, and I was amazed at
and animation studio Framestore. how he pieced together stories from What was the first big project you
animal footage. I also loved movies as worked on?
What do you do as a VFX supervisor? a kid. I then took a detour and became At Framestore, I worked on commer-
I’m responsible for all the visual effects a breakdancer for five years – I’ve cials for a long time. My first big
in a show, which comes down to two always been fascinated by physical non-commercials job was as one of
main things: helping the production movement and also spent most of my two compositors on the storybook
get the best creative use of their money youth doing martial arts. sequence, “The Tale of the Three
on screen; and, during filming, ensuring Then, I saw a DVD extra on the visual Brothers”, for Harry Potter and the Deathly
the correct material is acquired to allow effects in Black Hawk Down. That seemed Hallows. Commercials, because of the
all the brilliant VFX artists to do their job. more my thing than editing, because of range of work they offer, are such a
its connection to movement and ani- great training ground – you have to
When are you brought on board a mation. So, I went to Bournemouth make the effects look as good as they
production? University and took a master’s in VFX. can, often without the resources you
Increasingly, we start right at the begin- ideally need.
ning with the script, and work through What were the first effects you Eventually, I found myself wanting
production and post-production. produced? to move towards longer narratives and,
I took another detour, and started a at the time, TV drama was really com-
That sounds like a long job? company with a friend who is a director ing of age. I became creative director
One series of His Dark Materials takes of photography (DoP) to shoot movies of Framestore’s new TV division and
8
my first show was Mars, Ron Howard’s Brothers” for Harry Potter and the Deathly paper can fall apart when it’s used in
docu-drama for National Geographic. Hallows, and the animation on His Dark anger: when filming, not everyone has
I then worked on the “USS Callister” Materials. The latter has film-level crea- the desire to be bogged down by tech-
episode of Black Mirror. tures throughout, performing alongside nology. It’s why we use puppets rather
actors, delivering plot and emotion. than more technical ways to represent
Which other people and departments His Dark Materials is a grounded fan- creatures on set – puppets offer some-
do you work with closely? tasy and the visual effects have to serve thing for the actors to perform with.
VFX talks to everyone. We start with the story – your job is not to upstage
the script team, advising them where the actors. What advice would you give to some-
to be brave with effects and where to This means getting the movement one wanting to work in VFX?
hold back. On His Dark Materials, we put and performance of the creatures to sit You have to love creating art. Watch
a lot of resources into animating the well with the actors’ performances, films actively, not passively, and think
Warner Bros Pictures
‘The Tale of the Three Brothers’ in
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
polar bear, Iorek Byrnison, who appears
throughout the series – you wouldn’t ‘YOUR JOB IS NOT about why a particular shot affects
your emotions. Buy a camera, take
throw in a high-value creature asset
for just one sequence.
TO UPSTAGE THE photos and work out what you like. If
you are coming from a science back-
We also work with: the camera crew, ACTORS’ ground, make sure the televisual or
DoP and director; the riggers, who put filmic output of your work justifies
up the green screens, and the gaffers, your science knowledge.
who light them; costume; the stunt rather than feeling like a stuck-on
teams; the production design and art visual effect. That’s the kind of work Art or science?
departments; and the actors – they I’m proud of, not making big things VFX is such a broad area, so you can be
have to know how to interact with the explode. entirely artistic and not worry about
digital creatures. the science. You can also be entirely
But when there’s a need for explosions science-driven and write VFX software.
What do you bring to work with you? – do you prefer real or digital? I come more from an arts back-
The script and boxing gloves – at Wolf A real explosion, always, unless it’s ground, other colleagues at Framestore
Studios in Cardiff, where we shoot His unrealistic or unsafe. are pure physicists. Personally, I love
Dark Materials, there’s a gym next door. storytelling and VFX offers me a way
What are the best and worst parts of of telling stories.
What makes a good visual effects the job?
supervisor? The best is being around people who What would you love to work on?
Soft skills – you have to know how to are brilliant at what they do; the worst Before His Dark Materials, I would have
work with people, how to read a room, is that it takes me away from my family. said that, because I loved the books.
and when to hold back and when to Now, it’s enough for me to work with
jump in. Are there any tricks of the trade you talented people. n
can share with us?
Which work are you most proud of? Technical solutions aren’t necessarily Visual effects supervisor Russell Dodgson
Artistically, “The Tale of the Three best – what sounds bulletproof on was interviewed by Matthew Bell.
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2020/January 2021 9
Lace and lust
Netflix
Bridgerton
A
s television’s great dis- genre, but the show delves deeper to
ruptor, if Netflix is to Shilpa Ganatra uncover relatable stories: the frustra-
take on a Regency
period drama, expect it
explores how Netflix tion of illicit love, family tensions and
the constraint of circumstance are all
to try and reinvent the has reinvented period unpicked.
form. Enter Bridgerton,
the streaming service’s Christmas
drama in Bridgerton, the That’s a forte of production company
Shondaland, set up by Shonda Rhimes
big-hitter and a fresh take on the dec- first fruit of its tie-up (the mastermind behind Grey’s Anatomy,
ades-old style. Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder).
For all the show’s traditional draws, with Shonda Rhimes Bridgerton is the first production to
such as the opulence of the debutante emerge from Shondaland’s reported
season, high-society scandal and Bridgerton is inspired by Julia Quinn’s $150m (£112m) deal with Netflix.
growls of “I demand satisfaction”, a best-selling novels, which follow the “With Bridgerton, you get a daring
modern-day sensibility has been courtship fortunes of eight well-to-do take on love and relationships in
smartly woven throughout. siblings. This series focuses on Daphne 19th-century London, but you also get
“I love a good period piece, but Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), who is everything that comes along with being
they’re often considered a little con- singled out as Queen Charlotte’s (Golda a Shondaland show,” says Van Dusen.
servative. So, from the beginning, I Rosheuvel) pick of the debutantes. “These are smart, funny, tortured char-
wanted to make the period show I’ve When that doesn’t have the intended acters figuring out who they are.”
always wanted to see,” says the series effect on her desirability, Daphne forms Much about the show stays true to
showrunner Chris Van Dusen. “The a pact with a steadfast bachelor, the Regency history. An etiquette advisor
themes we’re exploring are set in the Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page), in was on set to get the details right, and
19th century, but the stories and the the hope it will attract other suitors, location shooting included Bath, Lon-
characters are universal, which is how including Prince Friederich (Freddie don, Hatfield House and Wilton House.
we get to explore some modern, relat- Stroma). But things don’t go to plan. But the tone and pace are atypical.
able issues on the show.” The set-up might sound true to its There are tongue-in-cheek one-liners,
10and the series shows off a reimagined
wardrobe (every piece was made
specifically for the show, with Ellen
Mirojnick leading the costume depart
ment). The soundtrack includes classi-
cal versions of hit songs from Ariana
Grande and Shawn Mendes, among
others, because, “when Daphne Bridg-
erton walks into a big ballroom and
hears a song and is filled with excite-
ment and spirit, I wanted whoever’s
watching to feel the very same thing”.
A key update to the genre is the
diversity of the cast, most visually in
its ethnic make-up. Following on from
films such as The Personal History of
David Copperfield, Bridgerton has pro-
gressed from the idea that period
pieces require an all-white cast.
“We knew we wanted to make the
Netflix
show reflect the world that we live in
Bridgerton
today,” says Van Dusen. “We wanted
modern audiences to see themselves
reflected on screen, no matter who it. We worked with Lizzy Talbot, an glamorous ballrooms imaginable until
they are. incredible intimacy coordinator, and the early-morning hours.
“Having worked in Shondaland ever her insights were invaluable. I’m so “Also, the power of the written word
since Grey’s Anatomy, it’s what we do glad that this role is becoming more is something we explore through Lady
there. But I don’t refer to the casting as and more commonplace on sets.” Whistledown (the anonymous news-
colour-blind – that would imply that Certainly, the female viewpoint that letter writer, narrated by Julie
colour and race aren’t considered. runs throughout the series is bang up Andrews). She’s our one-woman
They’re a part of the conversation, just to date. Up until now, period pieces Regency tabloid, and we see how she
like class and gender. showed feminism through the creation shifts public opinion and affects peo-
“This is a reimagined world. It’s not of feisty ladies and strong matriarchs. ple with her stories, just like tabloids
a history lesson, and there weren’t any But, more realistically, Bridgerton por- and social media do today.”
actual real Bridgertons in 1813. But I trays the stifled ambition of the women Reinventing the genre didn’t come
became aware of a Queen Charlotte of that era: the ones who are shunned without its challenges, as each tradi-
being England’s first queen of mixed for unfair reasons (such as the Feather- tional element of TV period pieces was
race, and many historians firmly ingtons’ pregnant cousin, Marina singled out, interrogated and reinter-
believe there’s evidence for that today. Thompson), the ones who plainly see preted, if needed, with precision and
“It made me wonder, what could the injustice of their inequality (the subtlety.
that play out like? What could have academic Eloise Bridgerton), and, most It took three years from the moment
happened? Could she have elevated painfully, the ones who try to make the Shonda Rhimes first turned Van Dusen
other people of colour in society and best of the limited parameters that on to Quinn’s stories, to Bridgerton’s
given them titles and lands? The idea society offers them, like Daphne Brid- release, and “there was nothing easy
of the Duke of Hastings was born out gerton and even her rival, Cressida about the show”, he says. But airing it
of that.” Cowper. on Christmas Day makes a bold state-
Another update is an unapologetic “What we’re really exploring here is ment about how much of a disruptor
attitude to sex. While Downton Abbey the female plight, and we’re seeing Netflix is, since the day is normally
was largely a family-friendly watch, how women of all ages have been reserved for failsafe linear shows such
and the 1995 adaptation of Pride and strategising ways to assert themselves as EastEnders, Britain’s Got Talent, Strictly
Prejudice proved steamy as Colin Firth and find their agency for generations,” and, indeed, The Queen’s Christmas
exits a lake in fine style, neither can says Van Dusen. “Women were literally Broadcast.
prepare us for Daphne’s sexual awak- tied into these corsets, but they still “I think it was a very smart move
ening midway through Bridgerton. wanted to bust out of them and find on Netflix’s part,” says Van Dusen.
“With the intimate scenes, we their agency, just as they do today. The Shondaland partnership will
approached them from the female gaze “Underneath all the glamour, there is continue to bear fruit in 2021 with
first and foremost,” says the showrun- a modern commentary about how, in Inventing Anna, a 10-part series about
ner. “Then, it was much like an action the past 200 years, everything has the Russian con artist who duped
sequence: the scenes were heavily changed, but nothing has changed. high-flyers in New York.
choreographed, heavily rehearsed, “I think that goes for both women And while it’s yet to be confirmed,
and involved lots of conversations. and men. We’re exploring things such it’s a sure bet that another of the Bridg-
“It was about making sure actors felt as family, relationships and dating. erton books will turn into a series 2 in
comfortable and leaving it up to them Instead of Tinder and dating apps, they due course. Someone please pass the
with however far they wanted to take just swipe left and right in the most smelling salts. n
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2020/January 2021 11Goodbye to all that
Shutterstock
March: ‘Go home. Stay home’
JANUARY MARCH
“Great fears of the Sicknesse here in
the City, it being said that two or three
Covid-19 and the Things begin to move fast. At ITV,
Carolyn McCall recommends home
houses are already shut up. God pre- murder of George Floyd working on 12 March and makes it
serve us all.” The very first mention of mandatory on 17 March. We’re being
the plague in The Diary of Samuel Pepys, presented the TV sector told advertising may fall by 40% in
on 30 April 1665. Fast forward 355 years
and there’s this on 11 January on the
with severe challenges April (and it does). The worst ever
monthly fall up to then had been 17%,
ITV News site: “Health authorities in the but led to its finest hour. at one point in 2009. This is a national
central Chinese city of Wuhan are shock.
reporting the first death from a new Peter Bazalgette looks But as we work through these
type of coronavirus.”
Pepys had a sense of foreboding,
back on 2020 doomsday scenarios, we have a much
greater concern, along with our PSB
but we’re gloriously blithe about this. colleagues. Can we keep our news and
Another Sars or Ebola, something that Sajid Javid remains as Chancellor, daytime shows on air? Can we ration
happens to folk elsewhere. It’ll be which is a plus since he understands our soap transmissions to maintain
another six weeks before the truth media. But only for five minutes, as them in the schedule for as long as
begins to dawn, even though the virus he refuses to let Dominic Cummings possible? (Yes and yes.)
is already silently among us. choose his Spad. Then, on 23 March, Britain’s total
The greatest disruption to our lives At DCMS, Oliver Dowden is made lockdown is announced. We have to
since the Second World War will Secretary of State. Does he watch promote essential public messages.
severely challenge the broadcast sec- Emmerdale, Fleabag, Gogglebox, The York- We must continue to scrutinise an, at
tor. But also give rise to our finest hour. shire Vet and Chernobyl? We have no times, faltering government perfor-
idea, but many politicians only watch mance. And perhaps most important
FEBRUARY the news… when they’re on it. of all, we need to give the nation the
The Government conducts its post- The interesting appointment is shot in the arm it is expecting from our
election reshuffle. The Kremlinologists Whitto, back as media minister. A man drama and entertainment. We manage
seek clues as to future policy direction. who really does watch TV and under- all of this. And Clap for Carers starts on
Nicky Morgan retires from DCMS (a stands PSB. 26 March, becoming a recurring live
loss) and, alarmingly, gives the reason They say he has a pipe dream of event for TV.
that female politicians are trolled so privatising Channel 4 and taking away Memo to Westminster: programmes
viciously online that they fear for the BBC’s exclusive use of the licence made by us, about us and for us. It’s
their families. fee. What can it all mean? called public service broadcasting
12and it turns out that it’s a distinctly
21st-century concept.
APRIL
Everyone’s at home and the gentle
erosion of live viewing speeds up in
a matter of days. Good for Netflix but
also for iPlayer, ITV Hub and All 4. For
instance, it’s in April that the BBC’s
Normal People is streamed 22 million
times in a week. But “live” also shows
some resilience: ITV gets almost 5 mil-
lion viewers for a Virtual Grand National.
And we learn Zoom one-upmanship.
A cacophony of cats, dogs, Hoovers
and kids are paraded. Some folk, it is
said, are suddenly buying books by the
yard to furnish their intellectual cre-
dentials. But my prize for effortless
insouciance goes to the entrepreneur
I’m on a video call with, whose butler
silently prepares his lunch in the back-
ground, entirely unacknowledged.
We’re all front-of-camera now.
MAY
Britain Get Talking is one of ITV’s
May: Black Lives Matter in the UK
PA
social-action campaigns, aimed at
promoting mental health. We’ve long
been planning a drive to coincide with bottom of our organisations? We know a day per person. Yet this could take
Mental Health Awareness Week. the answer is no. ITV shortly responds more than £250m out of TV advertis-
But our special advertisements, by being the first FTSE 100 company to ing. This is money that ITV and others
spearheaded by Ant and Dec, encour- put someone on the management invest in news and entertainment.
aging us all to reach out to people board specifically charged with access We have campaigns for healthy eat-
outside our inner circles, take on a and diversity policy. And all broadcast- ing, we promote the message in our
whole new significance. Britain is ers will celebrate Black History Month daytime shows and soaps. We believe
locked down. Will you overcome your imaginatively later in the year. But we we’re part of the answer, not part of
natural reserve and talk to that neigh- have a long way to go. the problem. Sigh.
bour who lives on their own? Has that
pensioner, too frightened to go to the JULY AUGUST
shops, got anyone delivering food for The death toll from Covid rises, month This is the month that the BBC bites
them? Britain does indeed get talking. by month. It becomes clear that people the bullet and ends free TV licences for
And then, on 25 May, in a far away who are obese are particularly vulner- the over-75s. There’s a chorus of disap-
American town, a man is killed by the able. The Prime Minister’s prior admis- proval from politicians, though they
police. The death of George Floyd in sion to St Thomas’s underlines this. know full well that George Osborne,
Minneapolis turns out to be the second He’s emerged admirably determined then Chancellor, specifically gave the
unheralded event of the year that to increase Government efforts to BBC the latitude to decide this. It
affects us all… combat obesity. becomes open season on the BBC’s
Unfortunately, this soon descends to funding generally, a full seven years
JUNE gesture politics and the Government before the current Charter expires.
Black Lives Matter protests take off in announces its intention to ban so-called It may be that the licence-fee system
the UK. There are flashpoints, such as HFSS ads (for food and drink high in fat, is out of place in the streaming digi-
the pulling down of Edward Colston’s salt or sugar) from TV before 9:00pm. sphere. Other possibilities are a house-
statue in Bristol. But something more Multiple studies, some carried out by hold media levy or monies directly
profound occurs in all workplaces. Ofcom, have demonstrated that banning from taxation.
People of colour are empowered to ads won’t move the dial (lengthy and But, whatever we finally settle on,
say how they feel about years of casual determined intervention with deprived let’s ensure that the BBC receives
discrimination. And perhaps we listen families is the answer, but has always hypothecated funding: voluntary
properly for the first time. been on the too-difficult shelf). subscription will diminish it. Surely,
This is more acute for broadcasters. The Government’s own “evidence”, it would be a positive thing for our
We say our programmes reflect the such as it is, suggests that a ban will only society to commit to such a confident
nation. But do we really, from top to deliver a reduction of about 1.7 calories investment in critical social content? �
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2020/January 2021 13Reuters
Thursday evenings: clapping for carers
SEPTEMBER If we want to find more new for- to hitherto obscure cable channels
� I learn about an augmented-reality mats we need shrewd briefs from Newsmax and One America News
app for children being developed by commissioners, willing creative Network. There, Trump has always
the Natural History Museum and the teams and scary deadlines. In 1995, “won” the election. And they also
Science Museum, which they plan to Michael Jackson (the controller of desert Twitter and Facebook where,
launch the following month. The kids BBC Two) challenged me to do for albeit belatedly and ineffectively, they
can care for dinosaurs, and even cre- interiors what we’d done for food are qualifying Trump’s baseless asser-
ate their own robots to do the work. with Ready Steady Cook. tions of electoral fraud. They find a
The museums are continuing to serve I and Ann Booth-Clibborn then got home at Parler and Rumble, sites
their audiences, even as they’re forced on the Tube with an idea to pitch at the with no such scruples.
to remain closed. BBC. I asked: “Does this format suck?” Welcome to confirmation bias in
The project has funding from UK She said, “Er, actually, yes.” I said: “We the internet age. Trusted and reliable
Research and Innovation (on whose have eight stops to think of something public service news, anyone? The
board I sit), overseen by Andrew Chitty, else.” At Holland Park, out of sheer next front is anti-vaxxers…
formerly of Granada and the BBC. And panic, I asked her, “What would it
the app is produced by Factory 42, run be like if we got neighbours to swap DECEMBER
by John Cassy, late of Sky. Thus two houses to do up a room next door?” And so we come to the end of this
expats from tellyland are helping the I wonder whether I’ve imagined plague year. Charmingly, the House
screen industries define their future. all this. But Ann and I are still in of Commons holds an adjournment
The funding comes from the Creative touch and she tells me those febrile debate to mark the 60th anniversary
Industries Sector Deal. It’s good to be exchanges on the Central Line really of Coronation Street. So they do watch
reminded that the reimagining of our did happen. the soaps!
wider sector is full of rich possibilities. Production of drama and other
NOVEMBER location-based shows had completely
OCTOBER I love a general election (I’ll even ceased for many months. But 85% are
Channel 4 announces that it is reviv- watch reruns of the 1955 election now back shooting. Advertisers return,
ing Changing Rooms. This is not my in black and white on iPlayer… all too – the soothsayers in the City and
first “drowning-man-flashback” expe- 12 hours of it). So I’m glued to Ameri- media gulch are currently predicting a
rience, as formats that I had a hand in can media on 3 November. It’s dis- decline of around 10% to 12% for the
long ago, in the pre-Covid 1990s, get tressing how the crooked enterprise year. Unprecedented, but a recovery
pulled out of cold storage. Ready Steady that is the Trump presidency, ably from that 40% figure in the spring.
Cook and Food & Drink have already amplified by Fox News, has lured CNN A happy Christmas bubble to you all.
risen from the grave. and The New York Times into being just And let’s hope for a post-vaccination
It’s more and more difficult to launch as polemical against Donald Trump. economy in 2021. n
new formats (hats off to The Repair Then, when Fox tries to go straight
Shop, a notable exception). So, recog- by calling Arizona (correctly) for Peter Bazalgette is Chair of ITV and a
nised brands are much in demand. Biden, Trump’s cult followers peel off UKRI board member.
14OUR FRIEND IN THE
MIDLANDS
B
Kuljinder Khaila
arring an unexpec The BBC wants a better representa
ted – but probably urges broadcasters tion of diversity in its productions.
unsurprising – large
asteroid impact, the
to celebrate The Midlands can offer meaningful
solutions. Steve McQueen’s Small Axe
most tumultuous black voices from was partly filmed in Wolverhampton.
year in living mem Tiger Aspect’s Man Like Mobeen was
ory is finally limping
Birmingham and shot in Birmingham.
to its end. At this time of year, we beyond Both benefited from initiatives to
would normally compile a review or find diverse crews, but much more
two but who wants to relive 2020? work in this area is necessary. Forging
It seems the biblical equestrian partnerships between the production
quartet has been riding roughshod sector and broadcasters around oppor
for months; countless losses and the tunities for greater diversity will begin
unending upheaval of the pandemic; in early 2021.
acts of violent racism; raging wild Throughout the past year, the Mid
fires, floods and even a locust plague lands screen sector has been stub
in East Africa. As a result, we’ve all bornly growing. RTS Midlands will
changed this past year. renew its support for fledgling, but
In our impatience to get back to ambitious, new independent produc
the world we left, we shouldn’t forget tion companies such as Leicester
those events that forced us to rethink, shire-based Matriarch Productions,
Kuljinder Khaila
re-evaluate and, at times, reset. founded by Hannah Walters and Ste
I was fortunate enough to be able phen Graham; or Adil Ray’s new pro
to make time during lockdowns to duction outfit in Birmingham that
explore how we work, the missed will be working on new perspectives
opportunities and note which impor in unexpected genres.
tant issues have been overlooked. The team has already begun work Like many independents in the
As the incoming Chair of RTS Mid on a new-entrants-to-the-screen region, they want to tell stories that
lands, I have a renewed sense of pur initiative. The aim is to help young are often overlooked and made by
pose. My inbox already has pressing people navigate a much-changed talent who need a spotlight to shine.
questions to answer: landscape. Their ambitions define the Midlands.
n How do we help the generation We are fortunate to have a sister And I haven’t even mentioned two
of future storytellers who have seen school to Birmingham Ormiston of the most impactful recent develop
their opportunities washed away Academy, the BOA Stage & Screen, ments in the Midlands: Create Central,
while singing happy birthday twice? opening in 2021. It will be the latest the collective voice of the screen sec
n How do we ensure black voices of several measures addressing the tor, which aims to drive investment
from the region are not only heard region’s screen-skills gap. in the region, and the exciting, Steven
but highlighted and celebrated? Building bridges with tomorrow’s Knight-led studio development that
n Why are working-class stories in talent via regional colleges, universi could prove to be a game changer.
the Midlands passed by as we march ties and – just as importantly – youth As we bid a profanity-laden farewell
towards the old red wall in the North? groups, has become an RTS priority. to the past year, we begin to look
n How can we become more robust, It is pointless to collectively embrace forward with an invigorating level
so that our good intentions are not rhetoric concerning race and class of optimism. Bring on 2021. n
lost in talk? without a plan to make a real differ
The RTS Midlands Committee is ence. Working with the BBC’s director Kuljinder Khaila is executive producer
an erudite and vibrant bunch, which of creative diversity, June Sarpong, is of the BBC Young Reporter journalism
reflects a wide range of views from a the first step towards addressing the and media project and incoming Chair
very diverse region. concerns raised in the region. of RTS Midlands.
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2020/January 2021 15Standing up for
the marginalised
Matthew Bell discovers
there’s a mission behind
the company that
brings us RuPaul’s
Drag Race UK
T
elevision glitter should
lift many spirits brought
low by this year’s Christ
mas comedown as
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK
returns for a second
series in January. Good news for fans of
the raucous and rude BBC Three show
– and for the people that make it.
Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey
met at NYU film school in the mid-
1980s, performed as a gloriously camp
electro-pop duo, The Fantastic Pop
Tarts, and went on to found World of
Wonder Productions in 1991.
Many of its early productions, such
as Channel 4’s fondly remembered The
Adam and Joe Show, were made from its
offices in Brixton, south London. But
World of Wonder began to focus on the
American market and its success has
been built on the back of the phenom
enal – and multiple Emmy Award-
winning – RuPaul’s Drag Race in the US.
Are TV and drag the perfect match?
Bailey thinks so. At an RTS event in
London late last year, he persuasively
argued that drag queens and the telly
go together “like peanut butter and
jelly”.
A year later, from his Los Angeles
base, he says: “The thing about the
small screen is that you want to make
a big impact. That is definitional to drag;
it is about walking into a crowded room
and turning heads. It is about compel
ling people to watch you.”
Judged by the longevity of RuPaul’s
Drag Race, which completed its 12th
series in the US earlier this year and is
growing overseas, Bailey is clearly on
to something. The reality competition
RuPaul
VH1
show has brought glam and glitter to
16Thailand, Canada and the Netherlands, cruel indifference to the Aids epidemic,” “We try to make what we want to
and will shortly add Spain. says Barbato. “Now that we [have watch in the hope that enough people
RuPaul’s Drag Race began life on a US been] in the same situation again with will want to watch it. And, because of
gay pay-channel, before graduating to Trump and Covid, Wojnarowicz’s voice that, we are freed of the nightmarish
entertainment channel VH1 – and then and work deserves amplification.” pursuit of trying to be all things to
to other mainstream channels world Despite the success of its SVoD plat all people.”
wide. “While you can never predict form, World of Wonder remains com WOW Presents Plus, he continues,
what will connect with an audience, mitted to linear-TV. “We love that we “is our way of creating an extended
we always hoped it would, because we can work with broadcasters alongside family of like-minded souls. It’s also
firmly believe that the appeal of drag is our own offering – with many viewers been a place where we can experiment
universal – young and old, gay and finding their way to WOW Presents Plus and incubate things.”
straight,” says Barbato. through discovering our shows on their As befits a company whose origins
“We have been thrilled to see lie in managing Bailey and Barba
the [show] grow both in the US to’s 1980s band, World of Won
and internationally, and shine a der’s portfolio extends beyond TV.
light on the culture of drag that Earlier this year, it launched a
exists in every country.” theatrical extravaganza, RuPaul’s
But there is much more to World Drag Race Live! Las Vegas, at the
of Wonder than RuPaul’s Drag Race. city’s Flamingo hotel and casino;
The SVoD service WOW Presents this month, it releases the first
Plus, which launched in November album from The Frock Destroyers,
2017, offers Drag Race and its spin- who are Divina de Campo, Blu
off shows, UNHhhh, Fashion Photo Hydrangea and Baga Chipz from
Movi/World of Wonder
RuView, Werq the World and God the first series
Shave the Queens. The latter, a doc of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. “We like
umentary series about the tour to experiment,” says Barbato.
that followed the first outing of “There’s always the chance of
Randy Barbato (left)
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, began its first falling flat on our faces, but it
and Fenton Bailey
run on BBC Three last month. does make life interesting.”
WOW Presents Plus, which Next up, after a coronavirus-in
claims to be the world’s leading regular, go-to broadcasters in their duced delay, is the return of RuPaul’s
LGBTQ+ streaming platform, “is going respective countries, and then expand Drag Race UK. With the same team of
gangbusters”, says Bailey. “We have ing their World of Wonder journey regular judges, Michelle Visage, Alan
doubled our subscribers year on year. through the platform,” says Bailey. Carr and Graham Norton – and more
[It] enables us to have a creative space, If they were prepared to sell, World queens and episodes – World of Won
as well as housing all our shows in of Wonder would presumably make der is hoping to repeat the runaway
one place.” Bailey and Barbato a heap of dollars, critical and ratings success of the first
Beyond its drag output, World of but the duo are not tempted to cash in. series. The BBC is clearly optimistic,
Wonder makes documentaries about “What we love most of all is being able having already ordered a third series.
serious subjects. Out of Iraq tells how to do exactly what we want to do. We Shooting on the second series of
a US Marines translator and an Iraqi like being able to roll the dice and take RuPaul’s Drag Race UK was suspended
soldier found love during war, while risks. It’s really what keeps things during the spring lockdown, “With
Stonewall Outloud recounts the story interesting, so I don’t think we would closed borders, international quaran
of the 1969 riots when patrons of a sell,” says Bailey. tines and national lockdowns, it was
Manhattan gay bar, the Stonewall Where do they see World of Wonder an interesting challenge, spanning the
Inn, fought back against the New in 10 years’ time? Peering into his better part of eight months,” recalls
York police. crystal ball, Barbato says: “One of Ru’s Bailey. “I think this period has been
Barbato rejects my suggestion that favourite words is ‘stick-with-it-ness’, difficult for everyone and we hope
its documentary output is somehow and that ability to keep going and season 2 will make everyone feel
more worthy than its drag shows: refuse to go away is what gets us out ‘much betta’ as Baga would say.”
“Please don’t misunderstand: drag is of bed in the morning. So, in 2030, we Summing up the secret of the show’s
serious. Fun, yes, but serious fun. It hope people will be watching Drag Race success, Bailey adds: “From Shakespeare
attacks prejudice and raises up the Uranus, assuming that humanity hasn’t to the pantomime, drag has always had
marginalised. And that’s very much succeeded in wiping itself out – which a strong tradition in the UK. But, of
our mission in life.” is, admittedly, a big assumption.” course, it’s not just in the UK. We have
World of Wonder’s most recent doc More seriously, Barbato believes that found that, all over the world, there are
umentary, produced by Barbato and World of Wonder’s independence gives armies of queens ready to bewitch and
Bailey and directed by Chris McKim, it an edge in a TV landscape increasingly bedazzle audiences with their talents.
chronicles the life of New York artist dominated by big producers. “While “It’s about the courage, perseverance,
David Wojnarowicz. “Less well-known algorithms are great for the ‘McDonald and conviction of the queens, and
than Warhol or Mapplethorpe, artists sification’ of content, the more things that appeals to everyone’s capacity for
whom we have also made documenta become the same, the more people empathy and compassion. Well, almost
ries about, Wojnarowicz was an out crave something different – and that’s everyone [except] the loser of the
spoken critic of the US government’s why we’re here. recent US election.” n
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2020/January 2021 17RTS DIGITAL CONVENTION 2020
T
his is my perfect job.” Dur-
ing more than 40 years in
television, Gary Davey has
worked across the board
– from taking charge of all
content and creative ser-
vices at Sky Germany, to being the
CEO of Hong Kong-based Star TV.
But it is only now, as CEO of Sky
Studios, that he feels like he is in his
dream role: as “the gamekeeper turned
poacher – having been a broadcaster
all my life and now being a supplier”.
Davey was in conversation with
journalist Kirsty Wark as part of the
RTS Digital Convention 2020. Wark
had provoked his admission by asking
if his current role appealed to him
because “you get to work with small
companies, vision stuff, but you also
get to be that small-time creator who
looks at a script”.
Davey agreed that his remit was
ideal, but he also noted the unique and
unforeseen situation: “I couldn’t have
picked a more challenging year to do it
in!” The Covid-19 lockdowns have seen
many people turn to on-screen enter-
tainment to pass their time stuck inside,
Gary Davey
Sky
with a surge in both linear-TV and
It all starts
streaming compared with last year.
Davey admitted a few of the guilty
pleasures he had discovered during
lockdown, including some from com-
petitors, such as Netflix’s The Queen’s
Gambit. “And of course, the one show
with the story
that everybody’s currently obsessed
about, HBO’s The Undoing.”
Reflecting on some of Sky’s newer
programmes, including the comedy
Brassic and drama Gangs of London,
Davey acknowledged some hesitation
following the success of the award-
winning series Chernobyl. It was, he said,
Gary Davey, CEO of Sky Studios, outlines his
such a “tough act to follow. I mean, I approach to commissioning standout shows such
remember trying to pitch the idea to
my bosses. It was like – you want to as Chernobyl, Gangs of London and I Hate Suzie
make a drama out of the Chernobyl
nuclear disaster? Really? But, having and Sky shows, because it’s all about out that “Netflix has signed Harry and
read the script, I mean, Craig Mazin just the customer experience, right? And Meghan [Markle], and we have Amazon
created a masterpiece with that script.” so, Sky shows have to compete… and and Phoebe [Waller-Bridge].”
Wark wondered if he had shared her the customer decides. Davey said that Sky Studios had not
early concern about how viewers “It’s the most incredible, powerful, done any deals with on-camera talent
would find anything on the streaming dangerous democracy that God ever at all – out of choice, because he
services that have taken the world by created and it’s brutal. Our customers believed that “the idea of a talent deal
storm: “I remember when this was will abandon shows quickly if they is dangerous”.
kicking off, and it was, ‘Oh, people will don’t like them. So, it really keeps us “What matters first is the story,”
never be able to find their way between on our toes, both in what we’re choos- Davey insisted. “Then, finding the right
Amazon, Netflix, Peacock and Sky.’” ing to make and how we make it.” people – the writers, producers, direc-
Davey said he welcomed the com- However, predicting the popularity of tors, cinematographers and [only then]
petition: “We present Netflix shows in a show is far from easy. Big names can on-camera talent to fit the story. It
our user interface, alongside BBC, ITV help attract audiences. Wark pointed might be an old-fashioned approach,
18both been getting nervous about the
I Hate Suzie supply of sound stages for their grow-
ing needs – and, indeed, about the
availability of craft skills in general.
“We think that there’s going to be a
significant deficit in all of the crafts, all
the way from painters, carpenters, elec-
tricians, grips… So, we will be investing
in full-time employment and… to make
sure that we’ve got a pipeline of young
people coming through in all of the
crafts – it’s really important.”
Wark said that this had been a really
tough year for freelancers and Davey
agreed. When the coronavirus crisis
struck, Sky Studios suspended 29 pro-
ductions. “If you take that 29 and
multiply it by the hundreds of people
who are typically attached to a series
production, it’s an enormous number
of people.”
Some shooting recommenced in
June. “We’re back in full flight,” said
Davey. He expected the very detailed
production planning that made that
possible to remain a strong feature of
the way that TV was made from now on.
He accepted that “there may be some
negative by-products of that, because,
Sky
sometimes, the true genius of produc-
tion comes out of thinking or seeing
but I think it’s the one that works best.”
He continued: “We much prefer an ‘THE IDEA OF A something [on set] that you might not
have done in a planning meeting.”
organic approach to development,
where we start with the story outline
TALENT DEAL IS He also expected technology to con-
tinue transforming production, with
and spend an enormous amount of DANGEROUS’ “studio walls of LED screens showing
time getting scripts right, working backgrounds generated by a games
closely with great writing teams.” engine. You will be able to have mobil-
Davey enthused about actor Billie in Bad Wolf. “We had a very simple ity inside a virtual world, which opens
Piper being a “perfect match” for I Hate motivation. It’s called proximity. Sky up almost infinite creative opportuni-
Suzie writer Lucy Prebble’s vision for [does not have] the right to stop them ties for spatial creation.”
her show, but said he would not have from doing what they think makes But Davey brought the focus back
wanted to start from a position of “hav- sense for their company. However, we to the human element in production
ing to find a project for Billie – it just have a proximity to the Bad Wolf team – and particularly the mental health
doesn’t make sense to me”. He said he that is really helpful to both of us.” challenges that many currently face.
would rather find the right actor for a Wark asked if Sky had a first-look “We will have a rethink about how
brilliant story. deal with Bad Wolf or other indies. we deal with our freelance commu-
Davey explained his view on “the “Only in a very vague, soft way.… They nity,” he said. “When you say to a
really tricky balance” of creative free- are independent companies that need young person, look, you need to go
dom: Sky might have many conversa- to make shows for everyone. And we home and self-isolate for 14 days,
tions at the script development phase, want to encourage them to be success- because someone you were working
but, once production had started, “you ful.” Davey clarified that Sky Studios with has had a positive test – what
have to have enormous trust in your was not actively seeking more such happens to them? Who’s taking care
director and the rest of the team.… I relationships, “but never say never. We of them? That is still a gap that we
very rarely visit sets – I don’t think it is are highly opportunistic”. have yet to address.” n
constructive.” Which is not a word that could be
While Sky did not do talent deals, used to describe its commitment to Report by Omar Mehtab. Gary Davey,
Wark noted that it had taken stakes in build a 11-hectare studio complex in who is retiring as CEO of Sky Studios in
independent producers, such as Bad Elstree, Hertfordshire. The 12 sound summer 2021, was in conversation with
Wolf, maker of His Dark Materials. Davey stages will open in 2022 and support Kirsty Wark. The event was part of the
explained that Sky Studios “took a very, some 1,500 production jobs. Davey said RTS Digital Convention 2020, sponsored by
very small equity piece” alongside HBO that Sky and its owner, Comcast, had YouTube. The producer was Helen Scott.
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2020/January 2021 19You can also read
