UKTV scans new horizons - February 2020 - Royal Television Society
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
February 2020 UKTV scans new horizons
CrewStart TM
Struggling with start paperwork?
Use CrewStart™ for the simplest way
to contract your crew
Hiring artists and crew? Designed to help your team
automate the processing of contracts, start forms, daily
rate vouchers and timesheets, CrewStart™ manages the
onboarding process for you, from initial invitation, to
ensuring that paperwork is completed correctly, signed
and approved securely online.
CrewStart™ benefits:
Reduce administration
All contracts stored securely in one place
Ensure accuracy
GDPR auditable reports
Digital signatures Pact
/Bec
Document certification
Time tu
Daily Hot Costing shee
ts
Real-time Hours to Gross
To find out how you can save time and go
paperless on your next production whilst reducing
administration and ensuring accuracy, visit the
Digital Production Office® website
www.digitalproductionoffice.com
or contact us for more information:
T: +44 (0)1753 630300 E: info@sargent-disc.com
www.sargent-disc.com www.digitalproductionoffice.com
@SargentDisc @DigiProdOffice
/SargentDisc /digitalproductionoffice
Journal of The Royal Television Society
February 2020 l Volume 57/2
From the CEO
The RTS’s year is off his interviewer, Kate Bulkley, and to award winner Guz Khan, who has
to a racing start, with a the producer, Martin Stott. enjoyed a meteoric rise, thanks to his
full events calendar. At The second season of Sex Education BBC Three show Man Like Mobeen and
our head office, juries is, if anything, even funnier than the his appearances on Live at the Apollo.
have been busy debat- first. I, for one, am hooked. RTS Our cover story is an interview
ing the nominees and Cymru Wales and Bafta Cymru col- with UKTV’s CEO, Marcus Arthur. He
winners of both the laborated – in what I hope will be explains his strategy, now that BBC
RTS Television Journalism Awards and the first of many similar partnerships Studios is the business’s sole owner.
the RTS Programme Awards. – on a screening and Q&A with some Also, don’t miss Torin Douglas’s
Our events in London and beyond of the show’s production team. Catch analysis of what looks certain to be a
have been packed. Matthew Bell’s report inside. very busy year for Ofcom and whoever
Channel 4’s director of programmes, In Salford, RTS North West hosted is appointed to succeed Sharon White
Ian Katz, braved a bad cold and a a masterclass with the acclaimed US as the regulator’s Chief Executive.
chilly January night to talk at length showrunner Frank Spotnitz, whose
on a range of topics, and show clips credits include The X-Files. The audi-
from the broadcaster’s exciting new ence lapped up his insights into the
schedule. There is a full report in this US approach to TV storytelling.
issue of Television. Huge thanks to Ian, Elsewhere, Roz Laws profiles RTS Theresa Wise
Contents
5 Deborah Williams’ TV Diary
Deborah Williams is reluctant to take off her PJs before
she heads to Manchester for a surprising turn of events 16 Katz shares his recipe
Channel 4’s director of programmes, Ian Katz, tells the
RTS how he seeks to put clear blue water between the
broadcaster and the SVoD giants
6 Ear Candy: Love Island: The Morning After
Can’t stop talking about the first winter Love Island?
Neither can Kem Cetinay and Arielle Free, the hosts of
the show’s podcast. Kate Holman clicks play 18 Sex for all ages
An RTS panel reveals how the explicit scenes required
for Sex Education were filmed only once the cast was
comfortable
7 Working Lives: Studio manager
Pinewood Studios’ senior TV studio manager Naomi
Dulake is interviewed by Matthew Bell
20 Inside the writers room
At an RTS masterclass, showrunner Frank Spotnitz,
whose credits include The X-Files, guides students
8 UKTV looks beyond the UK
CEO Marcus Arthur aims to grow the company
through the craft of storytelling
internationally now that it is fully owned by BBC
Studios. Steve Clarke reports
22 Are the kids alright?
An RTS London event debates the future of children’s
TV in the online age
10 Ofcom: In the eye of the storm
Torin Douglas outlines the challenges facing the
regulator in the months ahead
24 Custom-made for uncertain times
Jeff Shell, the new CEO of NBCUniversal, is known for his
innate smartness and willingness to work harder than
13 Our Friend in Leeds his colleagues. Leo Barraclough reports
Andrew Sheldon considers whether TV production in the
North of England is finally reaching powerhouse scale
27 RTS news and events listings
Reports of Society activities across the nations and
14 The real deal role model regions, and calendar of forthcoming public events
Guz Khan, star and co-writer of Man Like Mobeen, is hot
property. Roz Laws describes his rapid rise from school
teacher to multiple RTS award winner Cover: Traces (UKTV)
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 February 2020 3
Objectivity.
LET’S HAVE AN INTERNET FOR ALL,
NOT JUST SOME.
Some media-buying platforms aren’t just media-buying
platforms. They’re also social media platforms. Or content
platforms. And that’s where they want you to direct your
campaign budgets.
At The Trade Desk, we don’t have that conflict of interest. We
want you to spend your ad dollars where your data leads you.
That objectivity allows for transparency in everything we do
— from pricing and inventory to measurement and reporting.
Which is why a majority of global brands trust us to take their
advertising where it needs to go.
Learn why objectivity matters at thetradedesk.com.
TV diary
Deborah Williams is reluctant to take off
her PJs before she heads to Manchester
for a surprising turn of events
I
t is always a pleasure to start members will be using to help the ever-strengthening Manchester
the working week in your PJs industry meet the target of doubling accent and love of the blues, not
and know that you can stay disability commitment by the end of the reds.
in them for most of the day, 2020. No pressure there, then.
having meetings without ■ And, finally, to the Inclusive Com-
anyone knowing or caring. ■ Meeting number two – still wear- panies Awards. My expectations
It is one of the rare weeks ing PJs – is all about day-to-day CDN are low: the shortlist is massive
when I will spend the majority of it business, lining up projects for the and intimidating. I hook up with
out of London. I am going to Man- first quarter of 2020. That done, it’s my youngest sister (the nephew’s
chester to attend an awards cere- off to Manchester. mother, in case you’ve not been tak-
mony where I have been nominated ing notes).
for an Inclusive Companies award. ■ Alongside the awards ceremony, I Everyone is busy drinking fizz and
I am looking forward to it as the am booked into an academy school taking pictures – this introvert’s idea
whole Brexit, leaving Europe thing in Trafford for one of my regular of hell. Anyway, turns out, it’s a good
and general election result has been “speakers for schools” sessions. thing I made the journey: I win the
getting on my nerves. Basically, the likes of me travel Lifetime Achiever Award 2019. To say
across the country talking in schools that I am in shock really is an under-
■ Working for the Creative Diversity to year 9s who want to know what it’s statement. I can’t share with you the
Network means that you end up like to work in TV. Telling the story of first words that come out of my
trawling through the worst of peo- one’s life to future generations is mouth – much too dirty.
ple’s thinking and understanding exhausting and exhilarating. Once I calm down and take it
(or lack thereof) of what diversity is, Each time I walk away, I’m inspired. in on the way home the next day, I
and how it’s a positive in an increas- It’s great that young people want to finally allow myself to feel OK about
ingly negative world. work in television, that they do the winning. I manage to take some of
My travels around the UK tell me research and ask difficult questions my own advice: do what you do,
that there are real issues that need to – and that they laugh at my terrible always, because you never know who
be discussed – but these are less to do jokes. is watching.
with the colour of our passports, and Most of all, it’s great that, after my
more with how we support diverse sessions, they are not deterred. ■ Friday: finance day, review-
talent to finance the creation of qual- ing end-of-year accounts and the
ity content. ■ I squeeze in a bit of personal time, monthly paying of invoices.
and drop in on my nephew. He is I jump back into online conversa-
■ Anyway, the first PJ meeting is a a seven-year-old with the mind of tions, drawing up strategies and
conference call with our research a scholar. It is a short visit, but we responding without sounding too
partners at the University of Leices- play cards, using the deck he has pompous and self-righteous.
ter. We are at the sign-off stage on a designed. We discuss the world, Which is really difficult when
report identifying the barriers to dis- via the globe in his bedroom, and you’re always right.
abled people working off-screen in he insists I taste the hot pepper
TV, and what needs to be done about sauce his dad has made. Ninety Deborah Williams is CEO of the Creative
these. The findings are what CDN minutes well spent – despite his Diversity Network.
Television www.rts.org.uk February 2020 5
Ear candy
From left: Kem Cetinay
and Arielle Free
Love Island:
The Morning After
ITV
Can’t stop talking about the first winter Love Island? Neither can Kem Cetinay
and Arielle Free, the hosts of the show’s podcast. Kate Holman clicks play
C
lose the curtains, Arielle Free, ITV’s official Love Island Kem and Arielle’s effortless chem-
turn up the heating podcast covers everything from istry and love of the show feels like
and settle on the romances and bromances to show- a hilarious catch-up with friends.
sofa. Love Island is mances – and everything in between. Arielle reveals her personal theories
back with its first- With heads spinning, hearts break- and predictions about the future
ever winter edition, ing and arguments starting, Kem and romances and break-ups of the cur-
along with a new Arielle are on hand to dissect all the rent series.
location and a new host. latest happenings from the previous Kem provides the essential decoding
If you haven’t got your fix from episode condensed into a half-hour of the Love Island lingo, while sharing
the daily episode, the Love Island: The of gossip that’s perfect for your morn- his personal experiences and insider
Morning After podcast returns for a ing commute. secrets of villa life.
third series as the much-needed The podcast also welcomes a host If you dared to have a social life
pick-me-up after the drama of the of special guests and celebrity fans of in January and missed an episode of
night before. the show, including Radio 1 DJ Scott Love Island, The Morning After podcast
Hosted by 2017 Love Island winner Mills, ex-Islander Curtis Pritchard and will prepare you for that water-cooler
Kem Cetinay and Radio 1 presenter new host Laura Whitmore. moment at work. n
6
WORKING LIVES
Dad’s Army: The
Lost Episodes
(shot at Pinewood
last year for UKTV
channel Gold)
Studio manager
Ollie Upton, ©UKTV 2019
N
aomi Dulake has been r ecording. They’re usually a happy from 30 to 70 people working on the
at Pinewood Studios bunch. I look after the talent, too, and studio floor, plus another 20 in the
for six years, working any issues they have with dressing gallery, and the talent.
on some of the UK’s rooms, hair, make-up and wardrobe.
biggest shows, includ- How do I become a studio manager?
ing UKTV celebrity Do other shows shoot differently? It’s great to start as a runner because
gameshow Taskmaster and Lee Mack’s Sitcoms such as Not Going Out rehearse you meet everyone on the team and
BBC One sitcom Not Going Out. on set and we have them at the studios learn about their roles. Personally, I
for much longer – usually six weeks started as a co-ordinator for an out-
What does the job involve? or so. Each week, we do rehearsals, a side broadcast company, before mov-
When we get a production confirmed technical run-through, a pre-record ing to Pinewood.
at Pinewood TV, I latch myself on to it and then a recording in front of a live
two or three months before it comes audience. We turn the sets around and What qualities do you need to have?
into the studio. I book all the kit and then start work on the next episode You’ve got to be calm, collected and
the crew; oversee the building of the the following week. organised, especially with scheduling.
set; and book the recording days and At the other end of the scale, we And be approachable – productions
the strike days, when the set is dis- shoot three, sometimes four episodes will want to talk to you in confidence.
mantled. If the show has an audience, of Warwick Davis’s ITV quiz Tenable
I have to get them on and off site, too. in a single day at Pinewood. What are the best and worst aspects?
I love the fast pace and solving prob-
Do you work long days? Has the job changed over the years? lems, and you get to see what you’ve
On recording days, I can work up to Programme budgets have fallen over worked on very quickly on TV. The
14 hours. Two episodes of Taskmaster time, but productions still expect the worst? Your job can become your life
– each with an audience of 300 – are same service. at times. While I’m working on one
shot back to back in a day. A show production, I’m also preparing for the
takes two and a half hours to record, What does Pinewood offer shows? next shows to move in. I can be busy
with only a 20-minute turnaround Three TV studios and a small but on anything up to six productions at
– when we get one audience out and experienced team – returning pro- one time – but everyone thinks they
the next in – between the first and ductions see the same faces, people have my time exclusively. n
second show. who really know their shows. Having
Taskmaster has a massive following said that, it takes a huge number of Pinewood Studios’ senior TV studio man-
and we always try to find a way to people to actually shoot a show. On a ager Naomi Dulake was interviewed by
accommodate its fans for the recording day, we can have anything Matthew Bell.
Television www.rts.org.uk February 2020 7
UKTV
Dad’s Army: The Lost Episodes
UKTV looks
beyond the UK
CEO Marcus Arthur aims to grow the company internationally now
that it is fully owned by BBC Studios. Steve Clarke reports
M
arcus Arthur may The line-up comprises pay-channels confidently into commissioning origi-
be a BBC veteran, Gold, W, Alibi and Eden, plus free-to-air nal shows, latterly scoring with Dad’s
but the winds of services Dave, Drama and Yesterday. Army: The Lost Episodes, the glossy PR
change blowing UKTV – formed originally as a part- drama Flack and, of course, Taskmaster.
through UKTV nership between BBC Worldwide and Now, UKTV has reached what Arthur
these past nine Thames Television – has consistently recently described as “a watershed
months or so have been like no other punched above its weight against moment” and he is weighing up the
in his lengthy BBC career. US-backed competitors. This is thanks next phase of its development.
Last June, he succeeded Darren to its exclusive, first-look deal with the Arthur was born and bred in Glasgow,
Childs as the outfit’s CEO. His appoint- BBC, which gives it secondary linear-TV one of six brothers and sisters. His father
ment followed the end of the joint and catch-up rights to everything from was a firefighter, his mother a secretary.
venture with Discovery, which finally Line of Duty and Top Gear to, last but He read psychology at the University of
gave BBC Studios full control of UKTV hardly least, Dad’s Army. Throw in all of Glasgow, followed by an MBA.
and its seven-channel portfolio (its Gavin & Stacey and Fawlty Towers and it’s His first job was selling advertising
three lifestyle channels were acquired not hard to see why UKTV has been so for BBC Magazines. A defining time
by Discovery as part of the separation) resilient for so long. was working at Radio Times, where he
and the online hub, UKTV Play. Childs’ regime saw the group move was publishing director for four years.
8
‘STRONG CHANNEL BRANDS AND
STRONG CHANNELS: THAT’S THE
WAY WE MARKET AND SELL’
Next year, he will celebrate 30 years The broadcaster reported a 7.76%
at the Beeb. share of commercial impacts in 2019,
Prior to taking over the top job at up from the previous year’s 7.48%. His
UKTV, he ran BBC Studios’ UK region, ambition is to get this up to 9%. “If we
a job that involved running 10 busi- achieved that, we’d be the second
nesses ranging across magazines, biggest channels group again. There
DVDs, live events, audio and clips. He are people who are bigger than us, but
was also responsible for Studios’ Aus- we can compete with them because
tralian business, which includes six we’ve got great content,” says Arthur.
pay-TV channels – all “hugely profita- UKTV commissions accounted for
ble”, he notes. seven of its top-10 performers in 2019,
It was here that he gained the expe- including Gold’s The Cockfields and
rience that qualified him to run UKTV, Dad’s Army: The Lost Episodes, Dave’s
whose board he has been on for six Taskmaster, W’s Emma Willis: Delivering
years. “I knew the business reasonably Babies and Alibi’s Traces. Dave helped
well from the outside before I came grow the portfolio’s share of 16- to
in,” says Arthur with a degree of 34-year-olds by 14% (up from a 5% to a
Marcus Arthur
BBC
self-effacement. 5.76% share of audience). UKTV claims
On Childs’ watch, a period spanning that Dave is the number-one non-PSB
eight years, revenues at UKTV grew by Compston. It was the channel’s first channel for this demographic.
68%, while the portfolio’s share of original scripted show and its ratings If this sounds like it has all been
commercial viewing increased by 42%. success took UKTV by surprise. plain sailing with Arthur at the helm,
The new CEO is under no illusions In the past, this show would have think again. In November, Channel 4
that he can repeat this: today’s market been “very difficult” for UKTV to announced that it had snapped up the
is considerably more competitive. afford. Now, explains Arthur, thanks to company’s most successful original
“Over that period, UKTV’s content BBC Studios’ distribution deal, money show, Taskmaster.
costs doubled. The ambition to grow that previously might have gone to Reports suggested that staff at UKTV
channels and launch new things was Discovery or a third-party distributor were “heartbroken” by the loss of the
fully invested in by both of the share- “stays in the family”. flagship series. Arthur puts it like this:
holders,” he recalls. “That was an He emphasises: “Having Studios as “At some point, all your children leave
opportunity for massive growth. There an owner should allow us to be more home. We put blood, sweat and tears
is less obvious opportunity now, but universal in some of the content we into that programme. Originally, they
there will be stuff there.” are commissioning and making.” went to Channel 4 with it. It didn’t
Before the split from Discovery, he While acknowledging a “macro work with them, so they came to us.
says the company was “almost land- threat” of the US streamers as compe- “We put that show on the map and
locked” in its ability to make decisions. tition for people’s viewing time, he invested huge amounts of marketing
“It was a UK-only business and that’s insists that the arrival of BritBox and money to grow it. It got to the place
how it looked at its future, bought its the extension of BBC iPlayer’s typical where the renegotiation was such that
rights and bought its content slate,” he window to a year are unlikely to dam- we couldn’t hold on to it.”
explains. “UKTV almost completes the age his business. Typically upbeat, Arthur highlights
set for BBC Studios, because it has “We’re a linear-channels business the opportunity to invest in new shows
production, content distribution and – strong channel brands and strong now that the budget for Taskmaster is
origination and relationships with channels. That’s the way we market freed up.
indies – but what it never had was a and sell. We make our money through The priorities are drama, comedy
large channel portfolio outside the BBC two models: pay and, more than any- and factual entertainment. Also likely
that it could run its content through.” thing, advertising. are more partnerships between UKTV
Arthur, a convivial man who seems “For me, there’s still clear water and the BBC’s main channels of the
to burst with energy, stresses that, in its between that business model and kind that saw Expedition with Steve Back-
latest iteration, UKTV can commission BritBox charging you £5.99 a month.” shall launch as a four-episode BBC Two
shows that can make a splash in inter- The original commissions and an series before a further six parts broad-
national markets and even launch some unexpected surge in young viewers cast on Dave.
of its channels and brands outside of helped UKTV recover from 2018’s And don’t be surprised if the present
the UK. five-year low: the company recorded a seven-channel line-up starts to grow
He cites the example of crime 4% growth in commercial share across again. Arthur hints: “We haven’t got a
thriller Traces, the acclaimed drama its portfolio last year, despite being definitive plan, but we will be looking
commissioned for Alibi, starring Martin demoted on EPGs. at every opportunity.” n
Television www.rts.org.uk February 2020 9
T
his was always going to be told his ministers not to appear on
a big year for Ofcom. Its PSB Radio 4’s Today programme.
to-do list for 2020 includes: He also crossed swords with Chan-
overhauling the telecoms Torin Douglas outlines nel 4 after it empty-chaired him (with
market and upgrading the a melting block of ice) during its cli-
UK’s broadband network; the challenges facing mate-change election debate.
a major review of public service
broadcasting and its future in the face
the regulator in the The Conservatives complained to
Ofcom that the block of ice breached
of changing technology and audience months ahead Channel 4’s impartiality obligations.
habits and huge global competition; Ofcom’s Election Committee rejected
tackling both “online harm” and appointing Ofcom’s new Chief the complaint, but the incident showed
industry diversity issues; updating EU Executive and the recently opened that the UK’s communications regula-
“audio-visual services” rules post search for the next BBC Director- tor cannot avoid politics.
Brexit; and, as the BBC’s regulator, General have highlighted the sensitive, And that’s just one of the potential
trying to sharpen the corporation’s sometimes fraught, relationship problems for Ofcom. During the elec-
performance and decision-making. between regulators, broadcasters and tion campaign, Johnson made an ambi-
But the stakes have been raised, for government. tious pledge to connect all UK homes to
a body that cherishes its reputation as Warning signs emerged during the “gigabit-speed” broadband by 2025 –
an independent regulator, by a newly general election, when Prime Minister a task Ofcom is now striving to fulfil.
powerful Government with strong Boris Johnson questioned the BBC’s On 8 January, it announced a new
views and ambitions in the media licence-fee funding, accused its news five-year telecoms plan aimed at
and telecoms sphere. The delay in programmes of anti-Brexit bias and encouraging BT and other telcos to
10invest more heavily in fibre. But the under its acting Chief Executive, Jona-
regulator still had no Chief Executive, ‘SOME IN than Oxley?
even though the favoured candidate to
succeed Sharon White was named in
GOVERNMENT The race to meet the 2025 target for
faster and more reliable broadband is
The Guardian last November. VIEW [OFCOM] of crucial importance, to broadcasters,
“Ofcom has chosen Melanie Dawes,
one of the UK’s most senior civil serv- AS A VEHICLE TO as much as anyone, as their audiences
move online.
ants, to be its new Chief Executive,” it FORCE CHANGE But a bigger priority for the television
wrote. “The 53-year-old, the most
senior woman in the civil service, is ON THE NATIONAL world – particularly the BBC, Channel 4
and ITV – is Ofcom’s PSB review, aimed
currently permanent secretary at the
Ministry of Housing, Communities and
BROADCASTER’ at preserving the benefits of public
service broadcasting in the face of
Local Government....” changing technology, viewing behaviour
The newspaper added that the and unprecedented global competition.
announcement was not likely to be review of the public service broadcast- The first stage is about to be published:
confirmed until after the election – ing system, which some in government its assessment of the current state of
and that this might have an impact view as a vehicle to force change on PSB, and how it performed from 2014
on her appointment, which had to be the national broadcaster.” to 2018. Now, Ofcom is looking to the
agreed by the culture secretary. The following morning, the BBC future and what it calls the fundamen-
And so it transpired. When the scale announced that Tony Hall would step tal question: how to ensure a mix of
of the election victory became clear, down as Director-General in the high-quality, original UK content in an
Johnson’s team floated the idea of a summer. on-demand and increasingly personal-
radical shake-up of Whitehall, under Colin Browne, Chair of Voice of the ised environment.
which the Department of Digital, Cul- Listener and Viewer, which works to Under the title Small Screen: Big
ture, Media and Sport (DCMS) might lose promote high-quality broadcasting, Debate, it has launched a nationwide
oversight of digital and telecommunica- says: “Reports that the Government series of discussions with broadcasters,
tions policy or be disbanded altogether. has turned down Ofcom’s candidate producers and representative groups,
Culture secretary Nicky Morgan, for CEO don’t augur well for its rela- as well as examining the views of
who had stood down as an MP, was tionship with the Government. audiences via focus groups.
given a peerage and stayed on, ahead “It’s just another piece in what looks Sir Peter Bazalgette, Chair of ITV and
of a planned February reshuffle. No like an uncertain and potentially haz- former Chair of the Arts Council, led an
Ofcom appointment was announced. ardous period for PSB, which has been independent review of the UK’s crea-
On 19 January, an explanation further complicated by the upcoming tive industries. He says the future of
emerged in a Sunday Telegraph headline: retirement of Tony Hall.” the UK’s PSB is crucial to its democ-
“Revolution in Whitehall hits search He adds: “We know the Government racy, culture and economy: “Are we
for Ofcom chief”. The paper reported: has made unfriendly comments about going to have trustworthy news? Are
“In the latest sign of the determination the BBC and Channel 4 and it remains we going to have British-made pro-
in No 10 to shake up officialdom and to be seen how far Ofcom is affected grammes for Brits about Brits? The
the BBC, the Government has refused by that. Ofcom has always tried to regulator needs to ensure there is pro-
to approve the regulator’s preferred avoid the politics but you can’t protect tection for the content and distribution
candidate and launched a search for PSB by regulation alone, you need that underpins our democracy.”
leaders beyond Whitehall. Culture government legislation.” The crucial issue here, say ITV and
secretary Baroness Morgan has been But let’s put aside the politics. the BBC, is “prominence” – making
making personal approaches to indus- What are Ofcom’s key tasks for 2020, sure that audiences can easily find
try executives to encourage them to public service content in a world of
apply for the role.” smart TVs, tablets and online stream-
The Sunday Telegraph explained the
significance of the change: “The regu-
‘YOU CAN’T ing, where programmes are discovered
via apps, rather than EPGs that priori-
lator is at the centre of attempts to PROTECT PSB tise the public service channels.
overhaul the telecoms market to
deliver a nationwide broadband BY REGULATION Clare Sumner, the BBC’s policy direc-
tor, recently told the Westminster Media
upgrade within five years. Meeting the
ambitious goal was one of the Prime
ALONE, YOU NEED Forum: “We need a flexible framework
of regulation that enables PSBs to thrive
Minister’s main campaign pledges. GOVERNMENT in the face of unprecedented global
“Ofcom is also responsible for regu-
lation of the BBC and due to conduct a
LEGISLATION’ competition, where UK content and
trusted news are not the priority for �
Television www.rts.org.uk February 2020 11‘OUR
REGULATORY
SYSTEM HAS
ITS ORIGINS IN
AN ERA WHEN
THE BBC WAS
SEEN AS THE
BIG BEAST IN
THE JUNGLE’
BBC Chair Sir David Clementi
BBC
� many others. This means future- last month in The Times by its group international giants – Netflix, Spotify,
proof legislation that gives Ofcom the CEO, Jeremy Darroch, with a headline Facebook, YouTube – whose financial
flexibility to update its rules in real online of “What Prohibition teaches resources dwarf our own.”
time, because the pace of change is us about regulating the internet”. Last autumn, Ofcom accused the
incredible and it’s only going to get Sky is backing a bill by Lord McNally, BBC of a lack of transparency, after
quicker.” which, Darroch wrote, would “kick off the Director-General overturned a
Magnus Brooke, ITV’s director of the long-overdue process by empow- ruling by its Executive Complaints
policy and regulatory affairs, says ering Ofcom to prepare a duty-of-care Unit over remarks about Donald
that, unless the regulator and the obligation for online platforms, over- Trump made by BBC Breakfast pre-
Government take a tough line on the seen by an independent and evi senter Naga Munchetty.
prominence rules, global companies denced-based regulator”. Kevin Bakhurst, Ofcom’s director for
may simply decide to do without the And then there’s Ofcom’s relatively content and media policy, said: “We
UK’s PSB content. “We need a fair new role as regulator of the BBC, have serious concerns around the
balance between the PSBs and the where both sides have been flexing transparency of the BBC’s complaints
platforms, to ensure what we might their muscles. A year ago, BBC Chair Sir process, which must command the
call ‘inclusion’ – that national content David Clementi told the Oxford Media confidence of the public. We’ll be
is protected.” Convention that the need to seek requiring the BBC to be more trans-
Sky has a different view. It sees the Ofcom approval for iPlayer updates parent about its processes and compli-
PSB review as a chance to challenge was holding the corporation back. ance findings as a matter of urgency.”
the orthodoxy espoused by ITV and “Every month is precious,” he said. The Guardian reported that the BBC
the BBC, by opening up local news to “Netflix, for example, currently had tried to stop Ofcom’s inquiry. It
new competition. updates its app more than 50 times a alleged that David Jordan, the corpo-
At the Westminster forum, Sky’s year – around once a week – with no ration’s director of editorial policy
policy director, David Wheeldon, said hold-up, and no need for regulatory and standards, had argued strongly
the PSB landscape should shift, to approval. that Ofcom lacked the authority to
better reflect today’s media land- “[Our] regulatory system has its examine the case. A BBC spokesper-
scape: “I urge Ofcom to be bold in its origins in an era when the BBC was son said: “We note Ofcom’s finding
thinking and not be afraid to chal- seen as the big beast in the jungle, and the fact that it agrees with the
lenge the long-held assumptions against whom all others needed pro- Director-General’s decision.”
about ‘how things are done’.” tection. That view of the world has Ofcom’s next Chief Executive will
Sky has also intervened on the now passed. Increasingly, our major not have a quiet life, whoever eventu-
issue of “online harm”, with an article competitors are well funded, ally gets the job. n
12OUR FRIEND IN
LEEDS
W
Andrew Sheldon
hen positive shift in approach from further
George considers whether education. The sector is introducing a
Osborne
first
TV production in the degree of real-world practicality
through initiatives such as Connected
uttered North of England Campus, which brings all the York-
the phrase
“Northern
is finally reaching shire universities together to focus on
meeting the needs of the industry.
Powerhouse” back in 2014, it’s fair to powerhouse scale Despite some cynicism, Chan-
say that the TV industry wasn’t at the nel 4’s relocation has undoubtedly
front of his mind. But, six years on, is been key. There have been challenges
it time to start thinking of it as such? – and there are probably more still to
Back then, the mood in the TV come – but, overall, it has had a clear
industry across the North of England galvanising effect.
was very different. Both Leeds and The broadcaster now has a team
Manchester were still struggling with of commissioners in place who are
the impact of ITV’s retrenchment to invested in the project. Armed with
London, while the BBC’s project as the the new out-of-London quotas, they
anchor tenant of MediaCity UK was have the potential to create a huge
barely into its stride. impact. And not just in Leeds, but
In the indie community, there was across the North, by encouraging
an ongoing struggle for commissions production in the likes of Liverpool,
– with only a handful of companies Sheffield, Hull and Newcastle.
True North
showing any signs of growth. Channel 5 has long recognised the
Jump forward to today and it’s a value that regional producers offer,
different story, with cautious opti- and green-lit projects accordingly
mism that the TV industry’s own – many of them in the North West
version of the Northern Powerhouse Manchester, established companies and Yorkshire. ITV has made a long-
is emerging. In 2020, the key players such as Blakeway North, Nine Lives term commitment with its soaps and
all have a stake somewhere along and Workerbee have been joined by shows including The Voice.
the M62. Studio Lambert and Gobstopper. No less welcome, the BBC is step-
After a decade of taking root, In Leeds, True North and Rollem ping outside of Salford with a new
MediaCity UK is the world-class, now share the city with Wise Owl, Air digital hub in Newcastle, coupled
digitally focused hub it set out to be. TV, True Vision North and Duck Soup. with its promise to move two-thirds
The BBC’s flagship presence is now The Garden has opened an office, and of its employees outside London by
joined by ITV (with Corrie at its heart, Daisybeck, the maker of Channel 5’s 2027. Put together, it all suggests that
obviously), and myriad other studio Yorkshire Vet franchise, has received an “out of London” is finally being taken
and post-production facilities. investment from Entertainment One, seriously.
Across the Pennines, in Leeds, that a clear indicator of confidence in I have no idea whether George
is balanced by Channel 4, with its northern production. Osborne’s broader vision of a North-
new national headquarters building After years of wondering whether ern Powerhouse will ever be realised,
due to open at the end of this year, building a career outside London was but, for the first time in this century,
and also by Sky (the owner of my even possible, there is a lift across there is a good chance that the TV
own company, True North), which both scripted and non-scripted, and a industry will be able to deliver its
employs 650 people in its future- tangible shift in attitude as the num- own evocation. If only someone
facing Digital and Technology Ser- ber of vacancies across the production could sort out those bloody trains… ■
vices Campus at Leeds Dock. sector rises.
For the first time in nearly 20 years, It’s being met in part by people Andrew Sheldon is creative director and
the indie sector is growing. In relocating, but there has also been a founder of True North.
Television www.rts.org.uk February 2020 13Guz Khan in
Profile Man Like
Mobeen
Guz Khan, star and
co-writer of Man Like
Mobeen, is hot property.
Roz Laws describes his
rapid rise from school
teacher to multiple RTS
award winner
W
hen he’s not in
the jungle pen-
ning quips for
Ant and Dec,
Andy Milligan is
the co-writer of
Man Like Mobeen and has a running joke
with the sitcom’s creator and star, Guz
Khan. As they work on the hit BBC
Three series together, Milligan asks him,
“Can you tell me what every Muslim in
Britain will think of this joke?”
This is because Khan has been
dubbed “the face of British Muslims”
– a result, Milligan points out, of it
being far more likely for a bearded,
practising Muslim to appear on our
screens as a suicide bomber than as a
character like Mobeen.
Khan has a wry laugh at the label
and declares: “That is a crown I do not
want to wear. It’s tricky, as realistic
depictions of Muslims on TV are still so
few and far between. If there were
another five shows like Man Like
Mobeen, it would take the pressure off.
And I do feel the pressure of trying to
represent people as fairly as possible.
“I hope my community is proud that
The real deal
they have a voice that’s honest. I’m
sure that there are doctors and lawyers
in Small Heath [the Birmingham sub-
urb where Man Like Mobeen is set] say-
ing, ‘This is not our story! – but they
role model
can tell their own.”
The third series of Man Like Mobeen
recently dropped on BBC iPlayer. Set
and filmed in inner-city Birmingham,
the comedy follows Mobeen Deen, a
young man with a dark past as a drug
dealer who is trying to set a better
example for his much younger sister in
the absence of their parents.
14Khan’s depiction of “the ends” is
based on his own experience growing ‘I WANT TO much money or time and I hope it
helped these youngsters see they could
up on a council estate in Coventry with
a single mum. Pakistani immigrant
SEE MORE have a future in the industry.”
Khan has also shown his former
Zainab Khan raised him and his two WORKING-CLASS pupils at Grace Academy what they
sisters following his father’s death
when he was three.
PEOPLE IN FRONT could achieve. “I still see them all the
time, on the street and in the super-
It’s been a swift rise to prominence OF AND BEHIND market. I think I’ve become more of a
for 34-year-old Ghulam Khan, a mar-
ried father of four. Five years ago, he THE CAMERA’ crazy uncle to them. A few of them are
interested in acting and have started
was teaching humanities in Coventry their own YouTube channels, which
and making comedy sketches for You- fills me with joy.”
Tube. One went viral after he joked audience laughed at things I didn’t Wolverhampton actor Dúaa Karim
that the film Jurassic World should be even realise were jokes. was just 15 when she won the role of
banned for racism because it called a “We hang episodes around issues Mobeen’s sister, Aqsa. “He’s just like
species of dinosaur “pachys”. such as knife crime, racial profiling my big brother, in real life as well as on
His Mobeen character subsequently and the NHS and, in the third series, screen,” she says of Khan. “He’s very
appeared on iPlayer in the short Road- we set one episode in a food bank. But kind and encouraging of young talent.”
man Ramadan, as part of the Comedy the important thing is to make it funny, With Khan’s dedication to honesty,
Feeds series. His comic guide to the not worthy. in retrospect it seems obvious that,
Islamic month of fasting became one “Working with Guz isn’t so different when he appeared on a recent episode
of the platform’s most-watched shows. from Ant and Dec. All three are very of the BBC One panel show Would I Lie
Events moved quickly. He gave up nice people who make me laugh. To You?, his two hilarious stories – con-
his teaching job and secured a pilot for “Guz is very generous with his time cerning locking a fellow teacher in a
Man Like Mobeen, also landing a break- on set and knows everyone’s names. cupboard and paying a friend to share
fast radio show on BBC Asian Network We all know self-centred performers, his hotel room to scare away ghosts
and a part alongside Emma Bunton in but Guz couldn’t be further from that. – had to be true.
Comedy Central’s Drunk History. He was “Any bad points? He’s always late He says: “That was great fun. The
later to star alongside all the reunited and never answers his phone, which is offers are coming in to appear on other
Spice Girls in a Walkers’ crisps advert. annoying. But that’s about the worst panel shows but if I feel the vibe isn’t
In August 2017, it was announced that thing I can think of.” right, I give it a miss. I don’t have to be
Man Like Mobeen was going to a full series. One of Khan’s passions is helping everywhere.”
Executive producer Ben Cavey from others to break into TV. For series 3 of Khan did say yes to playing Idris
Tiger Aspect – the show’s co-producer Man Like Mobeen, he launched a training Elba’s friend Del in Netflix’s Turn Up
– described Khan as “one of the most scheme in partnership with Film Bir- Charlie and spent several weeks in a
exciting new talents in the country”. mingham, BBC Comedy and Tiger camper van with Billy Zane for Sky
The judges at the 2018 RTS Midlands Aspect to offer eight paid, entry-level One’s Curfew. Additionally, he was cast
Awards agreed, naming him the Out- positions in production for people by Mindy Kaling in her TV remake of
standing New Talent. He has also from the West Midlands. Four Weddings and a Funeral.
scooped the Actor and (with Milligan) Khan says: “Most people have no For Khan’s next project he’s going
Writer prizes for the past two years. idea how to access the entertainment back to school, but not to teach. He’s
On paper, you wouldn’t expect the industry – where do you start? So it’s created a new sitcom that he hopes to
Khan and Milligan partnership to work important for us to offer opportunities. star in based on his classroom career.
as well as it does. The latter – Ant and I want to see more working-class peo- He ponders: “I’ve got to know
Dec’s only full-time writer for the past ple in front of and behind the camera. Romesh Ranganathan well, as another
14 years – admits he’s from “quite a Talking is all well and good but you teacher turned comedian. He said that
posh part” of Newcastle and doesn’t need to walk the walk. no one else has come through as
get all the jokes in Mobeen. He was “The scheme didn’t cost us too quickly as me.
brought in as a script editor on Comedy “I’d asked the school to hold my
Feeds and hit it off with Khan. position because I’d be back in a year
“We don’t have much in common,” ‘HE’S ALWAYS after having a bit of fun with comedy.
says Milligan. “We bonded over our
shared interest in hip hop and comedi- LATE AND NEVER But I never came close to going back,
because it just kept building.
ans such as Eddie Murphy.
“There’s lots I don’t understand,
ANSWERS HIS “I think it’s because people gravitate
towards someone they recognise. I’m
from Punjabi and Urdu words to cul- PHONE, WHICH one of their own and not fake. I’m not
tural references. When we did a pre-
IS ANNOYING’ some Rada-trained actor, I’ve stumbled
BBC
view screening in Birmingham, the into this. But it seems to be going OK.” n
Television www.rts.org.uk February 2020 15Crazy Delicious
Katz shares his recipe
Channel 4’s director of programmes, Ian Katz, tells the RTS how he seeks
to put clear blue water between the broadcaster and the SVoD giants
L
ike every broadcaster, we have to be quicker.… What we can E4 comedy, Maxxx, written and starring
Channel 4 is feeling the compete on is TLC and impact. You get actor OT Fagbenle, who appeared in The
heat from the streaming our bespoke attention from develop- Handmaid’s Tale. “OT has never written
giants. But, at an RTS ment through to marketing. We des- a comedy before. It’s been a labour of
early-evening event, the perately want a show to land. love over two or three years. Those are
network’s director of “What I’m finding, particularly with the kind of soft things that we can
programmes stated that, despite their writers, is that the appeal of these, deliver that those with more money
bigger budgets, he can offer producers weighed against the money and the than us are not that interested in.”
the personal touch that Netflix et al lack. other things the SVoD world can offer, Judged by a clip from Maxxx that had
Ian Katz said: “If you ask drama pro- is growing.” the audience laughing noisily, the story
ducers what is it like dealing with the Katz added that UK writers were about a former boy band star who
streamers, they tend to say two things. showing their frustration with the becomes a drug-raddled, tabloid laugh-
On the plus side, you get quick streaming world: “There is a sense that ing stock, could take its place alongside
answers and big budgets; on the nega- you can toil away for years and drop other Channel 4 comic gems such as
tive side, they swallow up all your something into the SVoD pond and it Catastrophe, Peep Show and Father Ted.
rights and you have a five-minute just disappears. It’s much better to work It’s been two years since Katz suc-
window.… with a PSB.” ceeded Jay Hunt at Channel 4. By all
“We can’t compete on money and As evidence, he highlighted a new accounts, the experience has been
16something of a baptism of fire for the than the £5m-plus that might be spent
former Guardian deputy editor, whose by the SVoDs.
only other job in TV was editing BBC Turning to comedy, the director of
Two’s current affairs flagship, programmes admitted that the genre
Newsnight, between 2013 and 2017. struggled to match drama for ratings
The last six months have seen things but argued that it often overperformed
settle down for Katz at the network, as on All 4. “We have a fabulous tradition
viewing figures have improved and in comedy and there is a definitional
critics and audiences alike have started quality about it,” said Katz, who injected
to applaud elements of his schedule. £10m into comedy in 2018. “If you can
There’s even been an Oscar nomina- get comedy right, it has an incredibly
tion, for the Channel 4 Syrian war doc- long life. Week in and out, our biggest
umentary For Sama. shows on All 4 are comedies such as
He acknowledged that 2019 had been Friday Night Dinner and Derry Girls.”
a year of “two halves” in terms of rat- He singled out Stath Lets Flats and This
ings. A tough beginning was followed Way Up for praise and said he would
by a much improved second half. continue to seek out significant content
“We finished the year in a very that would sit in the archive and gener-
strong place,” said Katz, pointing out ate views. “It is worth throwing out
that Channel 4’s audience share was more fishing lines as every now and
“level across the demographics”. “In then you get a Derry Girls,” he declared.
peak, we were the only commercial Channel 4’s controversial decision to
broadcaster that was up for all demo- “empty chair” Boris Johnson with a
graphics,” he claimed. “Crucially for us, melting ice block during a general elec-
we were significantly up on BAME tion leaders’ debate staged by Channel 4
audiences, which was a big objective.” News was arguably one of the defining
When he was appointed at the end media moments of the recent election.
Channel 4
Channel 4
of 2017, Katz said his aim at Channel 4 It provoked outrage in the Conserva-
was to “make waves”. In 2019, he had tive Party and a complaint to Ofcom
Ian Katz
succeeded in creating “a lot of waves” that the broadcaster had infringed due
as he identified shows such as: the impartiality rules, which was rejected.
prescient James Graham drama Brexit: broadcaster coincided with CEO Alex Katz said that, as a journalist he had
The Uncivil War (his first commission Mahon developing and opening new spent many years attempting to get
starred Benedict Cumberbatch as Dom- regional offices in Leeds, Bristol and climate change “into the heart of the
inic Cummings); the second series of Glasgow. political and the media agenda and
Derry Girls; and the Michael Jackson He told the RTS that setting stories mostly failing”. But, overnight, Chan-
documentary Leaving Neverland. in specific places outside London gave nel 4’s debate put the spotlight on the
For a taste of 2020, Katz played a Channel 4 another “point of difference” subject. “I’m very proud of that. It was
video showcasing Crazy Delicious, a between itself and the SVoDs. an extraordinary achievement.”
food-based competition that includes The Accident devastated a fictional He described Channel 4 News as
an edible set; The Write Offs, a series small Welsh town and Deadwater Fell “probably the highest-quality news
about adult literacy presented by Sandi centred on a Scottish village, while programme in the world”.
Toksvig; and a new documentary, Derry Girls was set against the back- He added: “Ofcom has consistently
Unexplained, which examines the still ground of the Troubles in Northern given Channel 4 News a clean bill of
controversial death of Stuart Lubbock, Ireland. health in terms of its impartiality. I
who was found dead in the swimming “Locating our stories strongly in concentrate on the news we make, and
pool at Michael Barrymore’s house. specific places gives us a real point of I think it’s first rate.
“This film lays bare a really profound difference and we will be looking for “One of the most heartening things
institutional failure to deliver justice,” more of these programmes,” he added. for me last year was that our news
said Katz. “It’s jaw dropping that, after Not that Channel 4 was averse to audiences were up substantially, both
20 years, no one has been brought to co-producing with the SVoDs. Russell in volume and in share and across all
account for this death. T Davies’s upcoming drama Boys has demographics. I think that speaks for
“It also tells the extraordinary story been made in tandem with HBO Max. itself.” n
of what a catastrophe like this does to This had given the show a “very high
a family.… But what takes it to another production budget”, noted Katz, who Report by Steve Clarke. ‘In Conversation
level and makes it quintessential expected more such partnerships in a with Ian Katz’ was held at H Club London
Channel 4 is its extraordinary window “variegated landscape”. on 21 January. Ian Katz was interviewed
on the way the media, celebrity and Deadwater Fell, produced by Kudos, by journalist and media commentator
the public intersect.” had not been made for peanuts but its Kate Bulkley. The producer was
Katz’s first two years at the budget was closer to £2m per episode Martin Stott.
Television www.rts.org.uk February 2020 17Sex
for all
ages
An RTS panel
reveals how the
explicit scenes
required for Sex
Education were
filmed only once
the cast was
comfortable
Netflix
Gillian Anderson in Sex Education
F
ew series by the streamers Jaws dropped around the cinema commercial hit for Netflix. The US
have made as much noise during what we can safely say – even streamer is famously reticent about
as Netflix’s Sex Education, this early in the year – will be 2020’s releasing viewing figures.
which brings the genre of most astonishing opening sequence. “We didn’t have any idea that people
the US high-school teen Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) is shown would respond to the show in this way
drama to the UK – and trying and failing to control his newly and, particularly, that the breadth of
adds plenty of gauche sex. discovered sexual urges in a scene that audience would be as it is,” said execu-
The global giant released the second ends in excruciating embarrassment in tive producer Jamie Campbell, creative
season of the comedy-drama in Janu- front of his therapist mother, Jean director of Eleven Film, which makes
ary. A few days earlier, the first episode (Gillian Anderson). the series.
was premiered at a joint RTS Cymru Season 1 of Sex Education was a huge Campbell was speaking as part of a
Wales/Bafta Cymru event in Cardiff. critical success and, almost certainly, a three-person panel with casting
18director Lauren Evans and location
manager Midge Ferguson, which fol- ‘[THESE WERE] opportunity to tap into South Wales’s
ready supply of production crews. Since
lowed the screening of the first epi- SOME OF the BBC decided to shoot Doctor Who in
sode of the new eight-part series.
Sex Education attracts “an audience THE MOST Wales some 15 years ago, many shows,
such as Casualty, have followed in its
that is very youthful and an audience EMBARRASSING wake, bringing behind-the-camera
that is very senile – and lots [of people]
in between,” joked Campbell. “People PHONE CALLS talent with them.
“I found most of the locations driv-
think it has something very contem-
porary to say, which can appeal both to
OF MY LIFE’ ing around and getting lost,” explained
location manager Midge Ferguson,
very young and old people.” who grew up in nearby Monmouth.
The series, in which Otis Milburn “A lot of shows end up using the
offers advice on sex to his fellow sixth- the most embarrassing phone calls of same old locations – if you’ve ever
form pupils – mixes hilarious teenage my life. These were young actors and I been down Bute Street in [Cardiff] Bay,
sexual confusion with a sensitive dis- had to have a conversation [with them], you know it’s had the shit shot out of
cussion of sex and relationships. But, making it transparent from the begin- it. Trying to find [places] that are fresh
added Campbell, Sex Education is not ning that it’s got sexual content… and, as well as aesthetically brilliant is what
“didactic”; rather, it is “truthful and especially in this climate, to make sure I’m after. Wales is just full of fantastic
emotionally open, which people like”. everybody feels that they’re armed with places.
Campbell praised series creator the knowledge of what the show’s “I had a good chat with the director,
Laurie Nunn. “The conceit of the show about, how we’re going to shoot it and Ben Taylor, and the [production]
is very unusual and shouldn’t work,” what is required of each character, so designer, [Samantha Harley], about
he said. “It allows you to be broad that they could make an informed their thinking, so I had an idea of what
comedically but also go to some quite decision before they committed [to it].” I was looking for. Then, I literally
dark and emotionally deep places.” An integrity co-ordinator was headed off in a direction that I thought
Director Ben Taylor’s input was as brought on board for filming “so that I might find them. I had good days and
important, argued Campbell, as Nunn’s. all these scenes of a sexual nature bad days.
He explained that Taylor, whose credits [could be] broken down and almost “You spend a long time driving
include Channel 4 comedy Catastrophe, choreographed. Everyone talks around and [asking yourself whether a
married “Laurie’s vision” to the look through what they are and are not location] is interesting or says some-
and feel of the “American teen movies comfortable with – everyone has a thing about a character. After a while,
and high-school TV shows that we grew voice,” said Evans. you get to know what works and why
up with, particularly the John Hughes “It is amazing to think that, even as it works.”
movies”. Hughes made his name with recently as five years ago, I would say “Midge took us around in his car and
1980s teen films such as The Breakfast more than 90% of productions would showed us [some locations outside]
Club and Pretty in Pink. have no parameters to work with,” Caerleon,” recalled Campbell. “He was
“There’s an innocence about those added Campbell. “In physically inti- showing us stuff that we were getting
shows and an aspirational quality,” said mate scenes… you’d just cross your blown away by.”
Campbell. British series, he continued, fingers, go for it and hope that every- The show’s location, however,
tend to focus on “what a horrible expe- one was OK. That was good because remains unspecified, which gives Sex
rience [school] is”. “And often it is, so people, on the whole, have good inten- Education a universal feel. “It is its own
that’s fair enough, but one of the things tions, but you want to make sure that place,” said Campbell.
we wanted to do was to say that our people feel and are safe.” Working for Netflix, Campbell con-
characters were going to look back and Sex Education is set in the fictional tinued, had been “unequivocally a
feel it was the best time of their lives, Moordale Secondary, filmed in Caer- great experience”.
rather than a time to escape from.” leon, South Wales. The series makes He added: “It really backed the script
Sex Education’s cast is a mix of the the most of the Wye Valley’s many and Ben’s creative vision for how to
famous and experienced – Anderson, beauty spots, few of which have been shoot it, and told us to get on with it
Butterfield and, new for season 2, seen in TV drama before. and make it the most ‘authorially’ pure
Anne-Marie Duff – and first-timers. Wales offered “extraordinary places show that we could make.
Discussing how she cast the show, to shoot”, said Campbell, and the “That is an unusual approach. Most
Lauren Evans admitted that, initially, broadcasters ask you to shape it for a
“it was a daunting challenge”. “With a particular demographic.
younger cast… some of whom had
never [acted] before, it’s about feel… ‘NETFLIX TOLD “As producers of the show, it’s a very
liberating process.” n
and trying to assess quickly whether US… TO MAKE
they’ve got potential.”
Cast diversity, she said, was critical: IT THE MOST Report by Matthew Bell. ‘Sex Education
series 2 screening and Q&A’ was the first
“It was hugely important to find an “AUTHORIALLY” joint venture between RTS Cymru Wales
eclectic ensemble that was representa-
tive, so everyone could see themselves
PURE SHOW and Bafta Cymru. It was held at the
Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff on 15 Janu-
on screen.” THAT WE COULD ary and chaired by BBC Radio 1 presenter
The sexually explicit nature of the
show led to Evans enduring “some of
MAKE’ Steffan Powell. The event was produced
by Edward Russell for RTS Cymru Wales.
Television www.rts.org.uk February 2020 19You can also read
