The end of the road - December 2022/ January 2023 - Royal Television Society
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December 2022/
January 2023
The end of the road
Journal of The Royal Television Society
December 2022/January 2023 l Volume 60/1
From the CEO
It has been another recent RTS Midlands Awards and RTS head office and beyond, we will all miss
extraordinary year for North West Awards, which reminded him. A huge thank you, David.
television, as we saw me of the depth and geographical His successor is Simon Bucks, who
at the RTS Craft & spread of extraordinary talent our has been ably chairing our Television
Design Awards this screen sector enjoys. Journalism Awards for the past three
month. Congratula- It was also wonderful to see so years. Simon, CEO of BFBS, is an out-
tions to all the nomi- many of you at our sold-out breakfast standing broadcast journalist who
nees and winners. with Tim Davie. knows the Society well. I look forward
And the gems keep on coming. I Hate For its smooth running, the RTS relies to working with him.
Suzie Too, created by Lucy Prebble and on the largely unsung efforts of many I wish all our readers a very happy
Billie Piper for Sky, and ITV’s Litvinenko, people. Over many years, as Honorary Christmas and New Year.
starring David Tennant – both featured Secretary, David Lowen has been
in this issue – are must-watches, as is responsible for the Society’s gover-
our cover story, the eagerly awaited nance. My debt to David, who is stand-
third series of Happy Valley. ing down after more than 30 years of
I was fortunate to attend both the service to the RTS, is incalculable. At Theresa Wise
Contents
Cover: Happy Valley (BBC)
5 Cait FitzSimons’ TV Diary
After a relentless news year, Cait FitzSimons welcomes
the festive season and reveals how Dan Walker is
benefiting 5 News
22 An anti-Christmas special
I Hate Suzie Too confronts the grotesque price of female
celebrity as it careers through the chaotic backstory of
Suzie Pickles. Harry Bennett reports
6
Comfort Classic: Shameless
Matthew Bell salutes the writer and actors who brought
breadline Britain to the screen in a painfully sharp comedy 24 Are you living your best life?
The RTS hears how Andrew O’Hagan’s vibrant but
heartbreaking novel Mayflies was adapted for TV
7 Ear Candy: Where There’s a Will…
… There’s a Wake – and therefore a lot of sweary fun
with Kathy Burke, discovers Harry Bennett 26 Our Friend in the East
Rachel Watson says the TV and film sector is missing
out by not investing in East Anglia’s more remote areas
8 Working Lives: Line producer
Caroline Sale tells Matthew Bell what’s involved
in making The Chase run smoothly 27 Christmas quiz
Small-screen sage or telly tenderfoot? Test your
knowledge of TV trivia
10 A cop on the edge
As Happy Valley’s uncompromising Sergeant Catherine
Cawood returns, Caitlin Danaher celebrates a crime
classic that transcends the genre
28 The search for justice
Marina Litvinenko tells the RTS how her fight to uncover
the details of her husband’s murder inspired an ITV drama
12 Feuding in style
ITVX drama Riches breaks new ground by putting female
Black British creatives to the fore, reports Shilpa Ganatra
30 Music, magic and mayhem
Steve Clarke talks to Mark Cooper, co-creator of Later…
with Jools Holland and learns the secret of its longevity
15 A new era for ITV
Kevin Lygo explains to Steve Clarke what makes
streaming service ITVX unique
32 Greening wildlife TV
Leading film-makers discuss how to make natural
history more sustainable
18 The urgent case for change
BBC Director-General Tim Davie outlines the action needed
to future-proof UK media entering an all-online era
33 RTS Craft & Design Awards 2022
The awards were hosted by journalist and TV presenter
Ranvir Singh on 5 December at the London Hilton on
Park Lane
Editor News editor and writer Production, design, advertising Sub-editor RTS, 3 Dorset Rise © Royal Television Society 2022
Steve Clarke Matthew Bell Gordon Jamieson Sarah Bancroft London EC4Y 8EN The views expressed in Television
smclarke_333@hotmail.com bell127@btinternet.com gordon.jamieson.01@gmail.com smbancroft@me.com T: 020 7822 2810 are not necessarily those of the RTS.
W: www.rts.org.uk Registered Charity 313 728
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2022/January 2023 3
Do you need
£5,000
for a history of
television project?
The Shiers Trust can
make a grant of up
to £5,000 towards
publishing work on
any aspect of TV
history
Grants will be given to assist
in the completion of new or
unfinished projects, work or
literature specific to the
objectives of the Trust.
George Shiers, a distinguished
US television historian, was a
long-standing member of the
RTS. The Shiers Trust grant is in
its 22nd year.
Application procedure
Applications are now invited
and should be submitted to the
Trustees by 30 April 2023 on
the official a
pplication form.
Applicants must read all the
conditions
www.rts.org.uk/
shiers-trust-award
TV diary
B
eing the editor of a but Qatar has been so different –
national newsroom not least watching it all unfold just
is one of the most before Christmas.
fun and most chal- It’s been a challenging story to
lenging jobs around. cover but I think we are delivering a
And the run-up to good mix of sport, people and the
Christmas heightens politics in a way that helps our view-
it all. After months of relentless ers get a good grasp of what’s at stake.
agenda-shaping stories, we’ve finally ITN
returned to what feels like more nor- ■ But it’s not just about the stories
mal times for news. A breakthrough we cover – sometimes ITN gets to be
drug for Alzheimer’s gives us the
chance of a more positive lead on the
After a relentless news centre stage and I joined colleagues
to see our CEO Rachel Corp unveil
programme – we jump on it. year, Cait FitzSimons our new brand – the first major
Times are tough, so finding stories update to our logo since the 1970s.
that lift some of the gloom can make welcomes the festive It’s been fascinating to watch how
all the difference. We want 5 News at 5 season and reveals the staff have contributed their ideas
to be more than a simple news bul- and thoughts about what we do and
letin. After all, people can get head- how Dan Walker is why – and to see that filtered and
lines on their phones 24/7.
An hour of news, in a programme
benefiting 5 News focused into a brand that encom-
passes everything from 5 News to the
that understands the stresses and World Athletics to passengers on
strains of life, with a bit of light as British Airways flights being able to
well as shade, gives Channel 5 view- We want to know what people at watch live coverage of Queen Eliza-
ers that bit more. home are thinking – and the 5 Phone beth II’s funeral.
gives them a direct line to us. In the I’ve been reminded of the heritage
■ Our newest presenter, Dan run-up to Christmas, the cost-of-living of ITN and inspired about all the ways
Walker, gets that. It’s remarkable crisis is always on the agenda at our we are shaping its brilliant future. All
how swiftly he’s slotted into the editorial meetings. with a lovely new logo to go with it.
newsroom and built up a fantastic We’ve heard so many stories from
relationship on air with Claudia-Liza people struggling to get by. It’s shown ■ Like everyone in news, I’m looking
Vanderpuije and the whole team the scale of the challenge being faced forward to a break from what’s been a
behind the scenes. by families across the UK, and we gruelling agenda, so a tinsel-covered
He’s full of ideas and always up for plan to feature even more of these stately home, Christmas at Castle How-
trying things out – the latest experi- stories in the year ahead. ard, sounds like perfect viewing.
ment is our new Top 5 strand. It’s a Finding ways to make people feel I’ve just finished watching Andor, a
fresh take on the headlines, marking connected to the stories we tell is brilliant mix of Star Wars and politics,
the halfway point in the programme more important than ever. and The White Lotus is lined up to be
and one that works so well with the next. I’m lucky enough to have some
programme’s tone. He’s such a good ■ 5 News doesn’t do a lot of sport time off over Christmas, so there’ll be
operator, he’s inspired us all to raise coverage, but we always make space time for that, as well as some country
our game. for the World Cup. Our correspond- walks while I unwind with family
ent Peter Lane and camera operator in Ireland.
■ Part of the reason Dan is so great Adam Boyle have quite a few footy
at 5 News is his focus on the viewers. tournaments under their belts now, Cait FitzSimons is editor of 5 News.
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2022/January 2023 5
COMFORT CLASSIC
Matthew Bell salutes the
writer and actors who
brought breadline Britain
to on-screen life in a
painfully sharp comedy
B
ritish TV viewers had
never seen anything like
Manchester’s Chatsworth
Estate and its most infa-
mous residents, the Gal-
lagher family. Until
Channel 4 premiered Shameless in
2004, working-class dramas had gen-
erally been po-faced, bleak and irritat-
ingly worthy.
Paul Abbott’s comedy-drama was
different, unashamedly offering a pic-
ture of a vibrant, joyous, warts-and-all
culture. In the very first episode, the
drama nailed its colours to the mast
with an exhilarating montage of scenes,
cut at breakneck pace: an estate party
around a burning car; a blow job offered
in return for help with homework; gay
porn; a nightclub robbery and violence;
drugs and sex on the kitchen floor
– and all before the first ad break.
And then, which is the genius of
Abbott, there is the post-party come
down, as the alcoholic Frank Gallagher
(David Threlfall) makes his entrance,
carried into his house unconscious by
a couple of coppers.
The mood changes abruptly. Fiona
(Anne-Marie Duff) – Frank’s eldest
daughter, who parents her six siblings
in her father’s absence – has had her
night out with middle-class Steve
(James McAvoy) ended by Frank’s
arrival, and is mortified. In just one
look from Duff, the viewer sees what
Fiona is feeling – that her life, scrimp-
Shameless
ing and slaving to hold together a
wildly dysfunctional family, is incom-
patible with any future with Steve.
Of course, we soon discover that
Steve is a failed medical student who
has turned to stealing cars, and is not
such a fish out of water on the Chat-
Channel 4
sworth Estate.
David Threlfall as Frank
The multi-RTS-award-winner
Gallagher in Shameless
Abbott, who had already made his
6
Ear candy
mark penning scripts for Cracker, and
creating Clocking Off and State of Play,
was writing from experience.
Born into a large Burnley family,
he was deserted by both parents and
brought up by his oldest sister, just like
the fictional Gallagher family. During
his childhood, Abbott attempted suicide
and spent time in a mental hospital.
He told The Guardian’s Stuart Jeffries
in 2005, following the huge critical
success of the first series: “The stories
I tell in Shameless are accurate to what I
know. I can point to the source of every
single story.”
The right hated Shameless for its
acceptance of criminality, glorification
of excess and, most of all, for its lack of
so-called “family values”. “Feckless
Frank” Gallagher, in particular, became
a bête noire, for his “Shameless-style
parenting”. Had they bothered to watch
the series, Tory politicians couldn’t
have failed to notice that Shameless
actually celebrated the idea of family
– the Gallaghers are a close, loving and
indestructible unit.
Frank Gallagher is a comic monster,
prone to frequent self-justification: “So
what if I’m not an astronaut or the
prime minster or a football player, I am
SomethinElse
Vernon Francis Gallagher, I came, I
saw, I drunk the fucking lot.”
He is dissolute, selfish, self-pitying
I
and violent – in one shocking scene
early in the series, he headbutts his
teenage son Ian (Gerard Kearns) – but, n her new podcast, national both hilariously thorough and thor-
thanks to Abbott’s writing and Threl- treasure and bullshit caller oughly hilarious. Especially when
fall’s portrayal, Frank is oddly likeable. Kathy Burke turns her potty describing her plans for the service.
Shameless spawned a highly success- mouth to the biggest taboo She wants her hearse to be trailed by
ful US version with William H Macy as of them all. In a welcome a procession made up of her previous
Frank Gallagher, which ran for 11 con- shake-up of the celebrity- lovers (who would then be thrown on
sistently strong seasons until 2021. on-celebrity interview format, the funeral pyre). The coffin itself
The British original ran for the same each episode sees Burke invite a famous would be solid gold with a Perspex
number of series until its swansong in friend to bring their best gallows banter front, and be raised upright on the
2013, but it had run out of steam years and fantasise about their deaths. Tamar bridge. To top it off, “the front
earlier. Frank remained ever present, She has described it as her “fantasy would have two holes with my tits
but Duff and McAvoy left after series 2. football” version of death and funeral coming through and, if you want, you
The Gallaghers’ riotous neighbours Kev planning. The likes of James Acaster, can rub them for luck as you enter
and Veronica (Dean Lennox Kelly and Jamali Maddix and Stewart Lee are on Cornwall.”
Maxine Peake) departed at the start the line-up. But the draw is undoubt- After her guest is dead and buried,
of series 4 and were rapidly followed edly Burke herself, and it’s as sweary says Burke, “I’m one of those wankers
by Frank’s agoraphobic and daytime- and smutty a podcast as you could that’s got bonus content, too.” She plans
TV- and sex-obsessed girlfriend, Sheila hope for from her. to record a series of follow-up episodes
(Maggie O’Neill). Having said that, in Dawn French entitled 6 Feet Under, reading out her
For the remainder of its run, the she finds the perfect first guest and listeners’ funeral yarns and posing any
Maguire family became the focus of one who barely needs prompting. The questions they have to the resident
the show, which became more of a two are long-term pals and they share undertaker (and author) Ru Callender.
soap, less of a drama. The first few the same raunchy streak, so it’s not It’s a riot, but, beyond all the laughs,
series of Shameless, though, are as good long before the laughs come flowing. it might also go some way toward
as British TV drama gets.n They cover all the circumstances of helping you embrace what Burke
French’s death, the funeral service, her reminds us is “the only thing that’s
The first seven series of Shameless are will and any other business she’d like definitely gonna happen”. ■
available on All 4. to finish as a ghost. Her answers are Harry Bennett
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2022/January 2023 7
WORKING LIVES
Line
producer
The Chase
ITV
Caroline Sale is the line producer then landed a job as a production as much as the office. We film three
of ITV’s hugely popular quiz shows co-ordinator at Endemol Shine UK. daytime shows – two shows a day if
hosted by Bradley Walsh, The Chase, I worked on a variety of shows across it’s Celebrity Chase or Beat the Chasers. It
Celebrity Chase and Beat the Chasers. She entertainment, factual entertainment keeps me busy.
works for Potato TV, which is part of and reality, including live shows, both in
ITV Studios. studios and on location. When are you brought on to
I wanted to gain as much experience a production?
What does the job involve? as possible so, when I progressed to At the very beginning, to find a studio
I oversee the production budget and production management, I had a good or location, bring the heads of depart-
scheduling, as well as the day-to-day all-round view of TV. ment on board and work with the pro-
aspects of a production. This involves ducers to build a team. I remain there,
ensuring that filming is done safely, How did you become a line producer? through post-production, until the
on time and on budget. I’m also the I became a line producer four years delivery of the programme at the end.
go-between, between the crew and ago, starting out on Beat the Chasers.
the producers. Working your way up through the pro- What makes a good line producer?
duction management route, from sec- You need to be calm under pressure,
How do you differ from a producer? retary to co-ordinator to manager to possess good communication skills,
A producer works on the editorial side; line producer is the normal way to go. have the ability to work collaboratively
a line producer is on the production and be able to multitask. A sense of
side of a TV show. What comes next? humour helps.
Ultimately, head of production.
How did you get your break in telly? What are the job’s biggest challenges?
I started with work experience, thanks Where do you work? Marrying the editorial ambition of a
to a family friend in the industry, and Working on The Chase, I’m in the studio show with the actual budget you have.
8
It’s harder on a new show, when you’re
starting from scratch.
We made Cannonball for ITV, which
was shot abroad – the minute you go
abroad, your budget shrinks because
you have to get everyone out of the
country and on to the set. We also
wanted to build huge structures and
inflatable games on water, and then
throw people down them – the health
and safety demands on that show were
incredible.
Is it becoming less acceptable to film
abroad now for environmental reasons?
Yes – if we were making Cannonball
again, we would be looking to use a
local team, rather than flying crew out.
We try not to use any internal flights
on UK shows now – we get people
across the country in a much more
environmentally friendly way.
Who do you work closely with?
A show’s executive producers; I work
with two particularly talented ones on
The Chase and Ninja Warrior UK: Race for
Glory, Potato TV’s Martin Scott and
Helen Tumbridge. They work on the
creative side – I make their ideas work
logistically. I also work closely with the
production team who are crucial to
Cannonball
ITV
any production.
Working with the head of production
is a big part of the job, keeping them You learn a lot of the job as you work Does it help to specialise in one genre?
up to date with the schedules, costings your way up the ladder. My advice to You can move around – early in my
and raising any production red flags. someone starting out would be to do career, I was doing all sorts of different
A line producer and their production as many different roles as you can shows, such as MasterChef, Big Brother,
team are often the first on site and the – through work experience and as a Bad Lads Army, The Cube and The Super-
last off. runner – so you learn how TV works. sizers Eat….
As a line producer, you are an all- In fact, it’s very useful to work across
What are the best and worst parts of rounder, and you have to understand the factual and entertainment genre
the job? what people do in the studio and why – that’s how you learn the job. It would
Getting from an empty studio to a they do it. be more difficult to move into scripted,
huge, built set, and the first day of where the role of a line producer is
filming when you see everyone’s hard Is there a shortage of line producers? slightly different, but, if you perse-
work come to fruition. There are no The industry is booming and there’s a vered, you could make that leap.
worst parts – I love the shows I work huge shortage of production staff in
on. The Chase is my all-time favourite: general. People are moving up the What other types of TV series would
a family show made by a family. ladder a lot quicker these days. you like to work on?
I’d love to do live telly again – years
What advice would you give to some- Have there been other big changes ago, I worked on Channel 4’s T4 youth
one wanting to be a line producer? since you started? slot. Live TV is very stressful but, once
You don’t need any particular qualifi- Studio technology has developed it’s done, it’s done. There’s no going
cations or an accounting background, hugely – you have to move with the back. ■
but you do need strong organisational times as a line producer. Every new
skills, as well as passion, drive and show you do teaches you something Caroline Sale was interviewed by
perseverance. new. Matthew Bell.
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2022/January 2023 9
Sarah Lancashire as
Catherine Cawood
in Happy Valley
A cop on
the edge
BBC
As Happy Valley’s uncompromising Sergeant Catherine Cawood returns,
Caitlin Danaher celebrates a crime classic that transcends the genre
H
uman bones, a barrel, What follows next is a verbal eviscer- masterpiece when it first aired in 2014.
the bottom of a reservoir. ation so composed, rhythmic and char- Against the backdrop of a drug-troubled
As far as bleak British acteristically Catherine that it could town in West Yorkshire, the series fol-
crime dramas go, this pass as poetry. Within minutes, Cawood lowed a police officer’s attempts to hold
seems like a textbook has identified the victim as a local lad her grief-stricken family together after
set-up. she’s had run-ins with years before. The the man she holds responsible for her
Thank goodness, then, that the uni- detectives are rendered speechless. daughter’s suicide, the rapist Tommy
formed officer trudging through the Viewers are left slack-jawed in admira- Lee Royce (played by James Norton), is
mud to identify the dismembered body tion. “Anyway, I’ll leave it with you,” she released from prison.
is Sergeant Catherine Cawood, played says as she turns away. “Twats.” With a dead child, an ex-husband,
by the endlessly watchable Sarah Lan- Mixing strength with radical another child refusing to speak to her,
cashire and a sign that what we’re about vulnerability, Lancashire’s humane Catherine navigated the most gruelling
to embark on could not be further from situations that middle-age could throw
a formulaic police procedural. at her, all the while raising a grandson
It’s been a long, near-seven years’ ‘EVERYTHING’S with her ex-addict sister.
wait for Happy Valley’s third series.
Writer Sally Wainwright wastes no GOING TO POT. “[Catherine] is very vulnerable and
she’s very flawed, and she has a tem-
time revealing that Sergeant Cawood
hasn’t softened with age. “Sarah really
HOW CAN WE per, and she has a passion that some-
times takes her in the wrong direction.
owns Catherine. She’s just brought so COPE WITHOUT She’s extraordinarily complex,” says
much to that part. She’s so vulnerable
and she’s tough. It’s just a fabulous
PEOPLE LIKE HER?’ Nicola Shindler, executive producer of
the first two series of Happy Valley, the
balance that she’s found with this second of which aired in 2016.
character,” Wainwright says. “What Sally is brilliant at is seeing
In the rollicking opening sequence, performance in the first two series of the heroic in the ordinary,” she adds.
Cawood is met with a series of withering Happy Valley left us spellbound, and “It’s a job. You get up and you go to
remarks from the attending senior even provided us with laughs amid the work. It just so happens that the work
detectives as she shares her observations show’s grimly realistic portrayal of you’re doing is sometimes life and
on the uncovered reservoir bones. “We’ll crimes that otherwise might have been death and really important. Sometimes
let the pathologist decide that, shall we,” too brutal to bear. though, it’s really mundane.… It was that
smirks Vincent Franklin’s Detective Despite the prolonged hiatus, few element that made it feel very real.”
Superintendent Andy Shepherd. will forget what made Happy Valley a Series 2 concluded with Catherine
10fearing that nature might overcome Despite her occasional missteps, at inappropriately recruited into the
nurture in the case of her grandson, work Catherine is driven by a strong police is mind-blowing.”
Ryan (Rhys Connah), whose violent moral code. With the police mired in Talking to Happy Valley’s police con-
outbursts at primary school appear scandals, public confidence in the sultants Lisa Farrand and Janet Hudson,
to be a sign of his innate capacity for service has plummeted since Happy Wainwright discovered that misogyny
evil, inherited from his father, Tommy Valley last aired. persists in the force. “They both said to
Lee Royce. As the horrifying reports of misogyny, me, you’d like to think things have got
With her grandson now 16, Catherine racism and sexual impropriety within better, but they haven’t,” she says. Still,
must reckon with the fact that she can the force appear to be increasingly through her discussions with both
no longer control whether Ryan wants symptomatic of a rot at the top, rather women, she was reassured that good-
his father to be part of his life. “One of than the work of a few bad apples, ness prevails. “I see that [Farrand and
the reasons we wanted to wait a while Wainwright found herself grappling Hudson] care enough to have seen out
to do the third series was so that Ryan
was old enough to be making his own
decisions about things, to be more
mentally able and astute and inquisitive
about his own life in a way that he now
has some agency,” says Wainwright.
Catherine’s sister, Clare, is often left
to pick up the pieces. A former heroin
addict, Clare’s relationship with her
older sister is one wrought with pain,
dependency and past trauma. “That
relationship gets tested more than ever.
It’s a massive part of the story,” Wain-
wright discloses. “They do have a really
distressing falling out.”
At work, Catherine and her team are
still trying to curb the Valley’s chronic
drugs problem. The new series will see
the force crack down on the illegal
supply of prescription drugs, which are
proving to be more prevalent and more
destructive than Class As. James Norton as
Tommy Lee Royce
“Catherine always feels like she’s
in Happy Valley
BBC
mopping things up and the bigger
problem never gets dealt with. But, in
this series, we get a bit closer to the with how her presentation of the police their careers in the police. You know
problem and meet some of the bigger might be received. that they do care because of the way
players who are supplying drugs in the “I do worry that I am quite soft on they talk about the job; they have done
area,” Wainwright reveals. the police in shows like Happy Valley,” extraordinary things with true respon-
After 30 years in the force, Catherine says Wainwright. “There’s a problem sibility,” she says.
is heading towards retirement and a life with TV in general, where we like cop As Catherine prepares to hang up
off duty, in her own words: “Code 11 shows, and we tend to present cops as her hat, it’s been confirmed that the
– job done”. Having long found work an third series will be Happy Valley’s final.
escape from her chaotic home life, how While the show was initially written as
will she cope without it? “Oh, I think ‘I DO WORRY THAT a one-off, after Wainwright decided to
she’s quite happy,” says Wainwright.
Of course, the real question isn’t I AM QUITE SOFT return to Catherine and her story with
series 2, the writer always had a clear
whether Catherine will cope without
work, but whether we will cope in her
ON THE POLICE idea of how the drama would end.
“I wanted there to be some sort of
absence. “The biggest thing for me was IN SHOWS LIKE big final confrontation between
worrying about, if Catherine retires,
will everything break down?” Wain-
HAPPY VALLEY’ Tommy and Catherine. That’s always
been the plan to conclude the story, to
wright explains. find a way to give some kind of resolu-
“A friend of mine said to me the tion, one way or the other,” she teases.
other day, ‘You do realise we’re watch- the heroes –and, obviously, I do with “We couldn’t have avoided it. I don’t
ing the breakdown of civil society at Catherine. Catherine is meant to be a think the drama would have been
the minute, don’t you’, and I was like, really good police officer. satisfying if they didn’t have a big
‘Oh my God, yes, we are’. It does feel “And then we hear all these terrible explosive showdown.” ■
like Catherine retiring is a reflection of reports of what’s going on in the Met
that,” she continues. “Everything’s and other constabularies.… Happy Valley’s third and final series starts
going to pot and how can we cope “Some of the stuff that’s been in the on BBC One and iPlayer on New Year’s Day
without people like her?” press recently about people who are at 9:00pm; series 1 and 2 are on iPlayer now.
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2022/January 2023 11Riches
ITV
Feuding in style
Y
ou could practically hear family behind a hair and beauty
the eye roll of black actor ITVX drama Riches empire, who are left reeling after the
Steve Toussaint, Lord
Velaryon in House of the
breaks new ground sudden death of their patriarch and
CEO, Stephen Richards (Hugh
Dragon, when he by putting female Quarshie). When he includes his New
responded to the back-
lash about his casting in the role earlier
Black British creatives York-based daughter Nina (Deborah
Ayorinde) and son Simon (Emmanuel
this year. “They are happy with a to the fore, reports Imani) from a former relationship in
dragon flying. They’re happy with his will, it causes ructions with the
white hair and violet-coloured eyes, Shilpa Ganatra wife, Claudia (Sarah Niles), and chil-
but a rich, black guy? That’s beyond dren of his present family.
the pale,” he sighed. Airing on ITVX in December before
Certainly, while society sees people its linear-TV showing next year, it is
of all colours straddle all classes, quickly evident that the innovations it
including the higher echelons, British makes in character and context – it
television has been slower, across the also speaks to themes of black beauty
board, to peel away from stereotypes. and blended families – take second
Here to change that in fine style is place to the drama of it all.
Riches, a glitzy series about the wealthy Writer Abby Ajayi (Inventing Anna,
12‘THE UK IS…
BEHIND THE US IN
ITS PORTRAYALS
OF… PEOPLE OF
MARGINALISED
GROUPS’
Four Weddings and a Funeral) says: “I’ve
always been fascinated by family dra-
mas, both fictional and real-life ones
– whether you’re talking about the
Royal Family, the Kardashians, the
Guccis, the Murdochs. It’s so interest-
ing how murky and muddy things get
when money and family mix.”
The series revolves around Nina,
who is left to save the company, but
has do so while grappling with her
own abandonment issues. Along the
way, she makes startling discoveries
Abby Ajayi Deborah Ayorinde
ITV
about the business. Will the different ITV
factions of the family come together to
The UK’s box-ticking habit
save the company, or will their thirst
for power rip it apart?
The series was brought to life by
Ajayi with Nadine Marsh-Edwards
and Amanda Jenks at Greenacre Films While Abby Ajayi and Deborah Ayorinde validated me. It showed I was capable,
(Been So Long, Unsaid Stories), who have had very different transatlantic even though I had spent a decade
quickly found interest from ITV. “But journeys to arrive at their current trying to get in the door.
because this is a story that’s set in the success, both have come to similar ‘I’ve since stayed in the States
world of rich people, we needed more conclusions about inequality of oppor- because the professional opportunities
finance,” explains Marsh-Edwards. tunity in the British television industry. there are significantly more interesting.’
“And because of our connections in Ayorinde says that the UK is, ‘unfor- To improve the situation, both feel
the US, we had to pitch to American tunately, behind the US in its portrayals that having an open mind and trust,
companies. We were thrilled that of different people, especially people towards black women especially, will
Amazon Studios came on board and of marginalised groups. There is per- help foster change. ‘There’s a long way
allowed us to make the series in the formative diversity and inclusion, but I to go in terms of letting more people not
way we wanted to make it.” would like to see more genuine diver- only have a seat at the table, but having
Even then, “it wasn’t a massive sity and inclusion.’ a voice at the table,’ says Ayorinde.
budget at all, so we had to be resource- Ajayi’s career path, in particular, is Schemes to promote inclusivity need
ful,” continues Jenks. “We had to have clear evidence of performative inclu- to be carefully considered, says Ajayi.
big chats and storyboard with all the sion in the UK. She explains: ‘I had that Because, ultimately, many don’t lead to
directors to establish how we were opportunity where you get to do one meaningful opportunities, marginalised
going to do it on our budget. We didn’t episode of EastEnders and then an creatives spend their limited time and
go to New York, for instance – hope- episode of Hollyoaks. You were never energy going down cul-de-sacs, which
fully, no one will notice that when they invited back, it was very much “a box disadvantages them further.
watch the show. has been ticked now”, and that was no ‘It makes people feel like they’re
“Music was important in creating way to build a career.’ ticking boxes and spending their
atmosphere, and we found a few Eventually, she went for broke and diversity money, but it has to be about
undiscovered bands. It was important moved to the US for a final push at a actually greenlighting work,’ she says.
for us to be as creative as possible, so TV writing career. Within weeks, she ‘It’s a slightly depressing indictment
no one is thinking anything other than, landed a job as a writer with Shonda of the British industry if black actors,
‘Wow, that looks amazing,’ when Rhimes’s production powerhouse black directors and black writers have
watching the show.” Shondaland, maker of Bridgerton and to leave home to get the opportunity
Casting proved a challenge, as the How to Get Away with Murder, which and the skills and utilise their talent,
actors not only had to prove their tal- Ajayi was hired for. ‘That immediately only to then be welcomed back.’
ent, but they also needed to gel as an ▶
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2022/January 2023 13Riches
ITV
‘WE LOOK
▶ ensemble of family members. are the only department that doesn’t
“Aisha Bywaters was a great casting have a head and so, as a lead, you’re
director because she knows every-
one,” says Marsh-Edwards. “What
FABULOUS WHILE kind of the head of department,” she
says. “It’s not just about doing great
didn’t help was that all the auditions DOING BAD work on camera, it’s also about the
were done by Zoom, because it was
done during Covid. Abby or one of THINGS’ fact that when I come in, I have a lot
to do with the energy on set.
the directors was in the room after “If I’m having a shitty day and I
having Covid tests, and the rest of the don’t go through the proper channels
execs watched via video. But, once because I knew she could deliver it,” of handling that shitty day, that can
we all got in a room with them, we says Ajayi. affect the entire thing. I tried to help
could see that it worked.” For Ayorinde (Girls Trip, Luke Cage), the cast by advising them on how to
Adds Jenks: “We’re proud that who had just completed a lead part in handle certain challenges, and how to
we’ve found some fantastic actors the Amazon series Them, stepping advocate for yourself and your charac-
who are not necessarily known to into the central role of Nina was ter and your work, by finding a way to
audiences. We’ve found some stars of serendipitous. Like her character, she be a strong support system for them
the future, and they’re held [together] was returning to London after spend- while also not abandoning myself.”
by experienced actors such as Hugh ing most of her life in America. Plus, And, of course, there is plenty of
Quarshie and Sarah Niles. there was the allure of a production glam. As Ayorinde says, “We look
“It was great to offer interesting that showed a blended black family fabulous while doing bad things”.
non-lead roles to Brendan Coyle in a new light. Although warring families on TV
(Downton Abbey) and Hermione Norris “We’re not a monolith, and it’s unfair are hardly original – Succession comes
(Spooks, Cold Feet) because they’re big to represent a group of people like to mind as a recent example – the
stars and you think, ‘They’re not just that,” she says. “In Riches, there’s diver- cultural specifics of a high-class Black
going to play the lawyer and the sec- sity even in a small pocket of people. British family, arguably, make it as a
retary’, but they do,” she recounts. You see different types of black peo- compelling watch. As Jenks points
“But nothing is as it seems in Riches, ple: from the UK, Africans, Caribbeans out, “There aren’t many shows in the
and the plots do change rapidly.” and Americans. And different types of British landscape made by an all-
Once the actors were in place, it wealth: there’s generational wealth; female company with diversity at its
allowed Ajayi to add the finishing Nina and Simon are self-made; and heart, that’s written by a black
touches to the characters. “Emman Alesha [played by Adeyinka Akinri- woman, directed by black directors,
uel speaks fluent Yoruba, for instance, nade] is self-made in the context of two of whom are women. And that
and has such incredible comedic also having generational wealth.” brings an energy of its own.” ■
timing, so I’d write to that. And Sarah As the main character in an ensem-
brought this real gravitas, so I’d try a ble piece, Ayorinde felt the responsi- Riches will be released on ITVX from
different line, like a zinger one-liner, bility of leading the actors. “The cast 22 December.
14A Spy Among Friends
ITV
A new era for ITV
T
he final quarter of 2022
is likely to go down as
Kevin Lygo explains its reach beyond the loyal and ageing
audiences who regularly tune in for
one of the most signifi- to Steve Clarke what staples such as Coronation Street,
cant periods in the long Emmerdale and the frequently out-
and remarkable TV makes streaming standing News at Ten. Famously, Lygo
career of Kevin Lygo,
ITV’s Managing Director of media and
service ITVX unique is a devoted fan of the Street and
never misses an episode.
entertainment. “For ITV, it’s terribly important that
For starters, there’s been one of the early on in his life in TV, in the 1990s, we appeal to a wider audience than
most successful ever series of the he gave it all up for several years to we do through linear-TV. With linear,
entertainment flagship I’m a Celebrity… sell Islamic art in London and Paris. just with the soaps, we’re hitting 6 mil-
Get Me Out of Here!, not forgetting ITV1’s But if he is in any way stressed at the lion people every night but, largely
high-profile coverage of the Qatar thought of being the front man for the speaking, they are the same 6 million
World Cup, with plaudits for the iras- launch of ITVX, it doesn’t show. people,” Lygo explains. “That’s our
cible studio pundit Roy Keane and, Having turned 65 in September, he bread and butter. The sales boys go,
crucially, the overdue launch of the no longer has anything to prove – but ‘Yeah, we’ve banked them.’ But what
broadcaster’s shiny and heavily mar- ITV most certainly does, as the ITVX about those hard-to-reach people,
keted new streaming service, ITVX. service replaces ITV Hub, which con- younger people, light viewers.
“It’s an exciting time here,” muses sistently punched below its weight. “We’ve identified many different
Lygo. “It was inevitable that ITV As Lygo sets out X’s stall, it seems cohorts, vast numbers of people to
would step full stride into the world ITV is leaving little to chance: it is target across the range of genres, from
of streaming. Soon, I think, streaming ploughing £160m into new commis- drama to factual and acquired.” At its
as a separate thing will vanish. sions for the service, which has been launch on 8 December, ITVX provided
Everything will be streamed. ITVX is some 18 months in the planning. 10,000 hours of content and, tellingly,
us creating a destination for viewers The aim is for ITVX to take its place promises at least one new exclusive
to go to when they’re looking for alongside the mighty BBC iPlayer and show will drop every week.
things to watch. Remember, within it, the deeply inventoried All 4 – and ITV aims to get the service off to a
is everything we’re currently doing.” compete with the US streamers. It is powerful start with several high-end
Lygo is an unusual media luminary: an admission that ITV needs to extend dramas. These include the six-part ▶
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2022/January 2023 15▶ cold war thriller A Spy Among Friends,
starring Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce,
the new teen drama Tell Me Everything,
period drama The Confessions of Frannie
Langton, starring Karla-Simone Spence,
Sophie Cookson and Patrick Martins,
and Plebs: Soldiers of Rome, a feature-
length special.
“I’m not sure we would have done
A Spy Among Friends if we only had the
main ITV channel,” says Lygo. “We
might have thought ‘Is it a bit BBC One
and a half? Is it a sort of Tinker, Tailor
world?’ But, for us, that’s the sweet
spot of ABC1s, maybe more male. We’ll
see. But it feels like a drama that a lot
of people who wouldn’t necessarily go
to Trigger Point would love.”
Similarly, Tell Me Everything – the
whole cast is under 21 – “would not
have been commissioned by the main
channel because it’s niche. If we’re
lucky and it all works, it could be like
Skins back in the day.
“The range of what we can commis-
sion now is extended and, with it, the
range of audiences that we can
approach should reflect that,” Lygo
emphasises. “The commercial side of
Kevin Lygo
ITV
the business goes, ‘Great, our reach is
extending. We’re getting targeted
viewers. We’re getting different sorts
of viewers and it’s all additional.’ ‘SOON, high-end shows, Lygo highlights
ITVX’s Britishness and how the hope is
“The content has got to speak louder, STREAMING AS A that UK audiences will respond to a
be sharper, better and have a bit more
surprise about it. It lends itself more, SEPARATE THING familiar landscape populated by famil-
iar actors, presenters, and other well-
although not exclusively, to the contin- WILL VANISH. known celebrities; for example,
uing story. Thrillers are obviously the
stalwart. But it’s not only that: if you EVERYTHING WILL Stephen Fry is fronting a natural his-
tory documentary, A Year on Planet Earth,
look at which streaming dramas are
successful, they are thrillers.”
BE STREAMED’ which launches later in December.
“If we’ve got a new drama starring
Intriguingly, ITVX is even including Damian Lewis or Vicky McClure you’re
a section devoted to hundreds of hours Seven new comedies have been going to go, ‘I like this, I know where I
of anime, not the kind of thing you’d commissioned for ITVX. The genre is am’. I think to see something new yet
automatically associate with ITV. “Even notoriously difficult to get right and is familiar is quite compelling in a mas-
if the audience is very small,” Lygo expensive. “Of late, ITV has slightly sively fractured and overwhelming
explains, “it’s very good for us to stepped away from making comedies,” marketplace.
approach a group of people who maybe he says. “ITVX gives us an opportunity “For us, the balance in commission-
never come to ITV except for the odd to make some comedies because there ing is about whether we have got
entertainment show or sports match.” isn’t the pressure to get an overnight enough that’s new that draws you in.
One new ITVX show defines what audience of 4 million viewers.” I’m very confident that our recent
Lygo hopes will be part of X’s appeal, He promises a range of comedies: library, drawn from over the past few
Litvinenko, starring David Tennant as “Mainly scripted but we’ve also got a years, will still feel fresh. It’s only a
the Russian defector. Among the tens sketch show using deep-fake technol- repeat if you’ve seen it before.”
of thousands of hours of archive mate- ogy alongside some more traditional but The fact that it is free provides
rial available on X is Des, in which spikey sitcoms.” Lygo adds: “We can be another advantage, contends Lygo.
Tennant plays serial killer Dennis a bit more relaxed about language,” and “For us, the trump card is that it’s free.
Nilsen, first shown by ITV in 2020 with be unfazed if the classic, mainstream, During a cost-of-living crisis, and
an accompanying documentary. “A lot older ITV audience doesn’t flock to it. people cancelling their subscriptions,
of people haven’t seen Des,” says Lygo. “It’s OK if it doesn’t deliver big figures all of this will be available for free, with
“If you come in for Litvinenko, next to it but is watched by light ITV viewers.” ads, of course.” To watch ad-free costs
will be an icon saying, ‘If you like this, While the US streamers have £5.99 a month, including BritBox.
you might like Des’, so, with luck, Des infinitely deeper pockets than ITV and He expects the first year of ITVX to
gets another lease of life.” can afford to spend more freely on be a learning curve as the company
16Tell Me Everything
ITV
‘CONTENT HAS
discovers what people are coming to remains to be seen. “I’ve only had
the service for, what they watch a lot positive responses. I’m thrilled it’s
of and what is likely to keep them on GOT TO SPEAK back,” says Lygo. “It is one of the most
the platform.
The hope is that movies will turn out LOUDER, BE extraordinary shows ever made. It
could be a very important show for
to be a big draw. At launch, ITVX has SHARPER AND driving audiences for us.”
250 films ranging from Hollywood
blockbusters like Wonder Woman to BE BETTER’ What, then, of his personal viewing
favourites, the Street aside? Is there a
older classics such as Reservoir Dogs. show on a rival that he covets? If there
“On a main channel, feature films don’t is, he isn’t saying, although he does
play that well anymore, but they per- Was even Lygo taken aback by its confess to enjoying HBO’s Hacks and
form well on digital channels like ITV2 success? Normally, ratings dip during finally caught up with Call My Agent
and 4,” Lygo explains. the series. This didn’t happen, some- earlier this year. He also enjoys watch-
“On a streaming service, we want to thing he attributes to the Matt factor: ing subtitled Scandi noir “because I
attract new people, so we want our “People have come back to it after not can detach from it being a work thing”.
MAUs (monthly active users) to double watching it for years. Or maybe they’ve Season 1 aside, he doesn’t watch The
over the next three or four years. We never watched it, but they heard Matt Crown. “You’ve got to remember, I’ve
want people to spend more time on Hancock was on and he drew them in.” got to watch a lot of ITV and, because
ITVX than they did on the Hub. As for the decision to cast the former I do adore Coronation Street, that’s three
“Things like movies are great health secretary, “You use your gut hours a week. When I’m a Celebrity… is
because, if you’re in, you’re in for two instinct and years of knowing the on, my life’s over.”
hours. As a result, we get the con- show inside out.… Ultimately, why Piers Morgan’s show on TalkTV is
sumption hours up. If you’re watching wouldn’t you want a big, controversial, another programme he avoids: “Eight
a big movie, we can tell you what else confusing, fascinating figure of the o’clock at night? Really? With every
you might like on the service.” The moment in the show? thing that’s ever been made available
idea is that word-of-mouth will drive a “It’s not only what the viewers think and a new show every day from one of
lot of viewing to ITVX. but how the rest of the cast reacted, the streamers that’s cost $20m an hour.
On ITV1 (recently rebranded again which is partly why he went in late. “And with what we’re putting out
for the launch of ITVX), the challenge Establish them all together and then and the BBC is putting out.… It’s not
to find cut-through content doesn’t get chuck him in.” surprising it’s doing what it’s doing. I
any easier, which makes the recent Whether the Big Brother reboot, due sometimes wonder if they should have
triumphant series of I’m a Celebrity… all on ITV2 next autumn, can prove to just done ‘Podcast with Piers’. It would
the more impressive. be another reality juggernaut for ITV be a lot cheaper.” ■
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2022/January 2023 17The
urgent
case
for
change
Paul Hampartsoumian
Tim Davie
T
im Davie, the BBC’s
Director-General, has
BBC Director-General and content remains universal and
affordable – and not at the behest of
called for urgent action Tim Davie outlines the rich, overseas companies acting as
to ensure that British gatekeepers.
media can prosper into action he wants to ■ Champion a clear, market-leading
the 2030s. He said the
BBC must work together with politi-
see to future-proof role for the BBC in the digital age. No
one in the world has created a digitally
cians, policymakers, regulators, and UK media entering led public service media company at
other parts of the sector to secure the scale. There is an opportunity to put the
future of a world-leading UK media an all-online era BBC at the heart of the UK’s media
market. future. There is a plan for how an inter-
He was speaking at an RTS event we keep busy on a joyous treadmill of net-only version of the BBC will oper-
attended by the former BBC Director- flare-ups and debates. ate, focused around a simple, single
General John Birt, academics and BBC “But, beyond the day-to-day, we brand in the UK and abroad, the BBC.
Chair Richard Sharp, who recently urgently need to spend more time ■ Invest in the BBC. The BBC is one of
claimed the corporation was guilty of agreeing what we want to create that the world’s most powerful and recog-
“liberal bias”, which it was fighting best serves our audiences, the econ- nised brands. “We are open-minded
against. Davie made an impassioned omy and society.” The aim should be about future funding mechanics, but
case for why a newly capitalised BBC “to create a bigger creative sector sup- we are clear that it is critical we have a
should be at the centre of a thriving ported by strong public service media universal solution that fuels UK public
domestic media characterised by and a thriving BBC”. service growth – not stifles it – while
“public service growth”. To achieve this, he identified four offering audiences outstanding value
He said: “Today, I want to make a essential requirements: for money.”
case for growth, and the choices, as the ■ Ensure that the UK is fully con- ■ Move faster to regulate for future
UK, to own it. Too much of this debate nected so that everyone can receive success. “The UK’s legal and regulatory
is painfully ‘small’. In BBC terms, we their TV and radio via the internet. A environment has not kept pace with the
understandably fret about domestic positive plan is needed to ensure that market. We need rules for the promi-
issues, political spats and the latest UK businesses and audiences get max- nence, availability and inclusion of PSB
headlines. And, because people care, imum benefit, no one is left behind, content on new platforms, in video and
18audio.” And “a regulatory framework said, is the right time to ask: do we over the past five years, delivering a
that is proactive, agile, and responds to let the global market simply take its stretching target of more than £1.2bn
obvious harm when it occurs – allow- course or should we intervene to in returns and growing profits 70%,”
ing innovation and growth across the shape the UK market? said Davie.
industry, alongside the necessary and Nearly 90% of adults, and 75% of At the same time, the corporation
appropriate safeguards. 16-34s use the BBC every week; and has stepped up its commitment to a
“Today, the BBC reaches nearly half every month, nearly every adult uses the highly efficient BBC, reducing over-
a billion people weekly, a number that BBC in the UK. “More than 30 million heads to within 5% of total costs. “We
has been growing.” browsers in the UK used the BBC online cut more than 1,000 public service
The corporation is “the best-known yesterday, the only online UK brand to roles last year. All our senior managers
British cultural export – that’s quite really mix it with global players,” Davie are assessed, and we are stripping
Motherland
BBC
something, when you consider the
‘THE BBC REMAINS
away bureaucracy as we create a
competition, from music to monarchy”. world-class culture,” Davie continued.
In India, BBC services reach 70 million BIGGER THAN He said the time when the broadcast
people in nine local languages. In the
US, the BBC is now the most trusted NETFLIX,AMAZON signal will be switched off, bringing
“infinite choice”, is not that far away;
news brand. When BBC News’s Russia AND DISNEY+ the BBC needs to start planning for
editor, Steve Rosenberg, interviewed
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs COMBINED FOR this now.
In this online-only world, the BBC
Sergei Lavrov, the recording received HOURS OF VIDEO will have an opportunity to harness
“7 million views inside Russia”.
Despite this, Davie said, “We are in a WATCHED [HERE]’ the potential of an interactive digital
landscape to increase public value and
period of real jeopardy. A life-threaten- stimulate the UK media market. Inter-
ing challenge to our local media and the net-only distribution will represent a
cultural and social benefits it provides.” stressed. “When it comes to hours of chance to connect more deeply with
This is not an immediate crisis for video watched in the UK, the BBC audiences and to provide them with
audiences: “The choice of high-quality remains bigger than Netflix, Amazon better services and choice than broad-
TV and audio has never been better. Prime and Disney+ combined.” cast has allowed. There will be signifi-
The threat is not about whether there Award-winning shows, from Time to cant editorial opportunities.
is choice, it is about the scope of future Motherland, have proliferated: “Nine He urged the Government to speed
choice and what factors shape it. Do million watched the launch of Frozen up broadband roll-out. Forecasts sug-
we want a US-style media market, or Planet II, while a peak audience of gest that, by 2030, about 2 million UK
do we want to fight to grow something 17 million watched the Women’s Euros homes will still not be using fixed-line
different, based on our vision?” final; the BBC delivered 42 million broadband; and, even in a few years,
Broadcasting, as opposed to stream- streams of Glastonbury; and the cover- 5% of the UK landmass may not be
ing, will continue to shrink as a pro- age of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral covered by 5G or 4G to provide con-
portion of people’s TV and radio showed what only the BBC can do.” tent on the move.
consumption across all age groups. The numbers of people who say the In this digital future, the BBC will
TikTok is now bigger than the BBC in BBC provides impartial news has held provide universally delivered, differenti-
video for 16-24s in the UK. Today, he firm. “BBC Studios has grown rapidly ated content and nurture an informed ▶
Television www.rts.org.uk December 2022/January 2023 19You can also read
