We're all young adults now - May 2021 - Royal Television Society
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May 2021
We’re all young
adults now
Television www.rts.org.uk September 2013 1
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Journal of The Royal Television Society
May 2021 l Volume 58/5
From the CEO
I am thrilled to report fascinating takeaways. There was shows is taking us all by storm. Think
on another super-busy much to learn from all the partici- Sex Education and I May Destroy You.
line-up of RTS events, pants, not least Sky Media’s head of The phenomenon is another indica-
hosted both in London insight and research, Lucy Bristowe, tion of the stunningly high quality of
and by the RTS’s cen- who revealed that subscribers to the UK’s scripted output, something
tres across the nations Sky Q watch more content live than we should never take for granted.
and regions. do other Sky customers. Don’t miss this month’s Ear Candy,
The topics have ranged from mea- I am so grateful to Barb’s Justin dedicated to the ingeniously titled
suring online audiences to the future Sampson for sharing fresh viewing Dead Pilots Society podcast, in which
of public service broadcasting, and data with the Society, including how high-profile actors bring forgotten
celebrated standout content such as audiences responded to season 4 of scripts to life.
the new BBC Two Iraq war film Danny The Crown when it made its debut last Our Comfort Classic is the 1996
Boy and BBC One’s heart-tugging autumn. Thanks to all the other panel- state-of-the-nation masterpiece Our
Sunday night flagship, Call the Midwife. lists and to Variety’s Manori Ravindran Friends in the North, which launched the
Congratulations to all those who make for chairing this headline-grabbing careers of many extraordinary actors.
the show, which recently marked its session. Read Torin Douglas’s report
tenth anniversary. in this issue.
Our lunchtime event “Hidden fig- Our cover story, written by Harry
ures: Understanding audiences in the Bennett, looks at how the once niche
on-demand age” provided some category of young-adult scripted Theresa Wise
Contents
Cover: Ackley Bridge (Channel 4)
5 Rhianna Dhillon’s TV Diary
The television and film critic enjoys being pampered
like a celebrity 16 Hidden figures
A high-powered RTS panel hears how Barb is poised to
publish regular audience figures for streaming services
6
Comfort Classic: Our Friends in the North
Matthew Bell salutes Peter Flannery’s epic
state-of-the-nation drama 18 A social history that delivers
The creator and three of the cast of Call the Midwife
discuss the secrets behind the extraordinary longevity
of the BBC drama
7 Ear Candy: Dead Pilots Society
Kate Holman enjoys dramatic read-throughs of
overlooked gems turned down by commissioners
20 Fit for purpose?
Narinder Minhas finds much to enjoy in What’s the
Point of Ofcom?, a new collection of essays examining
8 Working Lives: Writer
Kayleigh Llewellyn, the award-winning creator of
the role of the communications regulator
In My Skin, talks to Matthew Bell
22 From the battlefield to the courtroom
The team behind the Iraq war drama Danny Boy reveal
10 Young adult goes mainstream
Shows once aimed at under-25s are reaching beyond
their approach to making the BBC Two film
their target demographic, reports Harry Bennett
24 The royal watch
In the wake of Prince Philip’s death, Roger Mosey insists
12 Leader of the Pact
Steve Clarke profiles Pact CEO John McVay and
discovers how he helped secure Treasury backing for
that broadcasters covering the Windsors must move
with the times
last summer’s Production Restart
26 Public service TV at the crossroads
Should traditional broadcasters get special protection in
15 Our Friend in the North West
Cat Lewis celebrates MediaCity’s first decade as
a UK production hub
an era of streamers backed by global media giants? An
RTS panel weighs the arguments
Editor Production, design, advertising Royal Television Society Subscription rates Printing Legal notice
Steve Clarke Gordon Jamieson 3 Dorset Rise UK £115 ISSN 0308-454X © Royal Television Society 2021.
smclarke_333@hotmail.com gordon.jamieson.01@gmail.com London EC4Y 8EN Overseas (surface) £146.11 Printer: FE Burman The views expressed in Television
News editor and writer Sub-editor T: 020 7822 2810 Overseas (airmail) £172.22 20 Crimscott Street are not necessarily those of the RTS.
Matthew Bell Sarah Bancroft E: info@rts.org.uk Enquiries: publication@rts.org.uk London SE1 5TP Registered Charity 313 728
bell127@btinternet.com smbancroft@me.com W: www.rts.org.uk
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2021 3
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TV diary
A
pril has been a frequent occurrence and I am going
strange month. to milk it as much as possible.
It marks exactly
10 years of my ■ It has been a very important and
career being a film memorable year for film – which
critic – my first has seen a much higher level of
appearance was on BBC representation, in terms of diverse
Radio 1 on April Fools’ Day. My mum, and female film-makers being nom-
who recorded it (old-school, on a inated – so it really is a pleasure to
cassette), plays it back to me down be part of a programme dedicated to
the phone and I sound so nervous as Rhianna Dhillon enjoys awards that don’t often get their time
I chat to Greg James about why Jake
Gyllenhaal’s Source Code was a pretty
being pampered like in the spotlight.
My job is to pull out interesting
great film and why Sucker Punch, star- a celebrity facts about all the crafts and movies
ring Vanessa Hudgens... was not. but I also love hearing co-host
I was still a student at Reading Joanna Scanlan’s anecdotes about
University but had been thrust into being on set. And I am in awe of
one of the most exciting jobs I could cinemas and quite enjoyed laying Clara Amfo’s brilliant hosting skills
think of. into the truly terrible ones. But, with (and her incredibly white teeth).
It was never my plan to be a critic Lauren, the point is that I talk about
– that job seemed so out of reach – my top recommendations across ■ I’ve heard people say that it has
but Radio 1 was scouting for a new cinema, streaming and TV. not been a great year for film, given
film person and decided it wanted a For a critic, finding three to critique the pandemic, but I disagree. I feel
“listener on air” approach, rather than and not be critical of is more of a more hopeful about the industry’s
a seasoned expert. challenge. Lauren is so engaged and future than I have been in a long
They auditioned us without us knowledgeable about film that it while. There seem to have been more
realising (as film students, we thought makes the job easy and enjoyable. discussions, debates and arguments
we were just taking part in a film about films, perhaps because more
debate) and, after several more infor- ■ Critics are used to interview- people have had time to watch them.
mal interviews, they offered me the ing celebrities but not necessarily Preferring to wait out the pan-
job (although it took about a year to to being treated like one. I’ve been demic, huge films have made way for
be convinced that the whole thing given my own dressing room in the smaller ones, so indie films have
wasn’t a giant April Fools’ prank) bowels of the Royal Albert Hall for found bigger audiences. I’m dreading
and I find new things to love about this year’s Bafta Craft Awards. an influx of movies about the pan-
it even now. I have had my hair and make-up demic (nobody wants this) but I’m
done by some of the best in the busi- excited to see how the past year will
■ On Monday mornings, I have my ness (I am eternally grateful to any- shape cinema in the coming years.
regular slot on BBC Radio 6 Music one who makes me look good for TV). After a rough period, the arts always
with Lauren Laverne, which is gen- I scribble last-minute notes while step up and I don’t think this time
uinely one of the best ways to kick- downing a glass of Champagne, try- will be any different.
start my week. ing not to smear my lipstick and tak-
For several years at Radio 1, I have ing selfies for posterity – because, Rhianna Dhillon is a broadcaster and
reviewed whichever films are out at let’s be honest, this isn’t going to be a film and TV critic.
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2021 5
COMFORT CLASSIC
F
ew TV dramas deserve the
epithet “Shakespearean”
or “Tolstoyan” more than
Peter Flannery’s Our Friends
in the North, which turns
25 this year.
The BBC Two series was epic in
scale, using more than 160 actors and
3,000 extras to tell the story of post-
war Britain, its people and its dirty
politics. It is also the tale of four New-
castle friends, who grow up and grow
old over three decades. And it is both
moving and magnificent.
Frequently judged one of Britain’s
best-ever dramas, Our Friends in the
North opens in 1964 with Geordie (Dan-
iel Craig) and Tosker (Mark Strong)
starting a band and hoping old friend
Nicky (Christopher Eccleston) will join.
Nicky, recently returned from the
US, has a guitar case bearing folk
singer Woody Guthrie’s legendary
words “This machine kills fascists”,
and is forsaking pop for politics. Mary
(Gina McKee) is going out with Nicky,
but Nicky is consumed by ideology, not
lust, and Tosker see his opportunity…
Over the next three decades, the
friends drift in and out of love, and
contact. Geordie falls into destitution;
Nicky, ever the idealist, is his own
worst enemy; foolish Tosker belatedly
finds some self-awareness; and Mary,
the beating heart of the drama, rises to
the top.
The final scene, accompanied by
Oasis’s Don’t Look Back in Anger, is impos-
Our Friends
sibly poignant: at its recollection now, I
am welling up.
Away from the personal, Our Friends
in the North deals with big issues. Cor-
ruption looms large throughout, in
in the North
local Newcastle politics, Westminster
and the police.
Ordinary people suffer, whether they
are the tenants of substandard, local-
authority housing built on bribes; or
Geordie, the victim of corrupt police
officers and a Soho sex baron (Malcolm
McDowell); or the pickets savagely Matthew Bell salutes Peter Flannery’s
beaten during the 1984 miners’ strike.
Jarrow-born Flannery was writing epic state-of-the-nation drama
from experience: he had witnessed the
economic devastation wrought on the
North East. Our Friends in the North is
BBC
angry but never righteously so; it is
6
Ear candy
also warm and funny. Not inaccurately,
Flannery has described it as “a posh
soap opera with something to say”,
although this underplays the series’
huge ambition.
As the Royal Shakespeare Company’s
writer in residence, Flannery had
penned a stage version of Our Friends in
the North. The 1982 RSC production was Emerald Fennell’s
seen by BBC producer Michael Wearing Space Bound gets
the full read-through
(producer of Boys from the Blackstuff and
Edge of Darkness), who was determined
to bring it to television.
It is often said that the BBC moves
slowly, and never more so than with
Our Friends in the North. The corporation
was fearful that some of the real-life
politicians, thinly disguised in Flan-
nery’s script, would sue.
It was perhaps even more terrified at
the budget for a series that was forever
expanding in size and scope. Originally,
Flannery’s epic ended with the triumph
of Margaret Thatcher in 1979; the
repeated delays allowed him to take
it forward to 1995 as his characters
approach middle age. By the time it was
shot, a three-hour play had become a
nine-part TV drama, with episodes of
between 63 and 75 minutes.
Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP
Shooting was protracted and riven
by rows. Directors changed, scripts
Dead Pilots Society
were rewritten and whole episodes
reshot. Eccleston and Strong didn’t get
on and spoke only when the camera
was rolling. The budget rose to £8m, a
F
huge amount for the time.
Finally, in 1996, Our Friends in the North
made it to the screen, and another BBC or every TV flop that Sam Richardson, Tony Hale and
fear – that audiences would find the made it past a com- Adam Scott.
politics at the heart of the series a missioning team, In its revamped format, each read-
turn-off – proved to be entirely mis- arguably, there is a through episode is followed by a sepa-
guided. Viewers and critics loved it, small-screen master- rate interview programme.
and multiple RTS and Bafta awards piece cast unfairly into The creative minds behind hits such
followed. the darkness. The next as The Office, Will & Grace and Orange Is
Before the series aired, of the lead Fleabag or Line of Duty tossed into the the New Black have eye-opening dis-
actors, only Eccleston had much of a television abyss, taking with it the cussions about the development jour-
profile (he had appeared in Jimmy awards buzz that might have sur- ney of getting a script to screen.
McGovern’s Cracker). Our Friends in the rounded the breakout stars and the Standout episodes include: the sur-
North launched their careers: Craig flood of fascinating fan fiction that real comedy My Cousin Thor by How I
became Bond; Eccleston regenerated could have gushed from a new Met Your Mother producer Ira Ungerlei-
as Doctor Who; McKee later starred in global fan base. der; Killing Eve and Promising Young
Notting Hill and Strong in Tinker Tailor Luckily, the Dead Pilots Society pod- Woman writer Emerald Fennell’s inter-
Soldier Spy. cast is here to bring these forgotten galactic comedy Space Bound; and the
Flannery went on to write the multi- scripts back to life. Presented by writer adaptation by Mike Royce (Everybody
RTS-award-winning Channel 4 drama and producer Ben Blacker and Friends Loves Raymond) and Kevin Biegel
The Devil’s Whore, set during the English producer Andrew Reich, Dead Pilots (Cougar Town) of the 1988 film Big.
Civil War, and then to create the long- Society gives those overlooked gems While some shows should have
running BBC One series Inspector that made it to pilot stage without stayed on the cutting-room floor, the
George Gently. being commissioned for a full series misfires of some of TV’s most acclaimed
But Our Friends in the North remains the read-throughs they deserve. writers are still worth a listen. They
his masterpiece. n Scripts are dramatically revived and might even give hope to all the screen-
performed by the likes of Richard E writers yet to get their big break.
Our Friends in the North is on BritBox. Grant, Carey Mulligan, Lolly Adefope, Kate Holman
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2021 7
WORKING
LIVES
Writer
In My Skin
BBC
Kayleigh Llewellyn created BBC What is your typical writing day? Growing up in a council house in
Three’s In My Skin, which won the I’m quite freewheeling, but that is not Wales, a profession in the media wasn’t
RTS’s Drama Series award earlier this something that I would recommend. on the cards. But I had a telly. Watching
year. The Cardiff-born writer can be I suffer from a lack of discipline and Victoria Wood and French and Saunders
found on the set of the latest series of extreme procrastination. I always say, was the most wonderful thing – I was
the coming-of-age drama – when she “If I’m not scared, I’m not writing.” I mesmerised by them. I wanted to do
is not writing episodes of Killing Eve. need hard deadlines. what they were doing.
However, once I moved to London
What does the job involve? Are there differences between creat- and began training, I realised that writ-
As a writer, I think it’s easy to become ing your own show and working on ing was what I was passionate about.
overwhelmed and feel inadequate. I another writer’s series?
like to remind myself that it’s not brain On someone else’s show, you are a cog Has acting helped you as a writer?
surgery; it’s storytelling and it is sup- in the machine. That’s not a negative I think it has made me a better writer.
posed to be fun. I try to shut off the thing: many hands are working to cre- I’m obsessed with writing dialogue
inner critic and listen to my gut. ate an end piece and you have to fall in that actors will relish. I have such a
line. To be good at that job, you emulate huge respect for the work they do. I
Surely, it must be a trial sometimes? someone else’s voice. You have to use improvisation on set and I encour-
The first draft is the hardest: it can take appreciate that other people may not age the actors to contribute. If a line
me weeks of procrastination; it feels agree with you, and be humble. of dialogue is sticking in their mouths,
like torture at times. I pace from room When you’re creating your own then I’m happy to let them change it.
to room in my house, with quite a show, it’s all about finding a way to
degree of self-loathing. punch through with your own voice. Do you still act?
But there always comes a point when Not often. I loved drama school but I
I hit my stride, and then I can turn out You were an actor first? never had what true actors such as
a script quickly in a day or two. Then it Yes, I think mostly because I hadn’t Gabrielle Creevy (Bethan) or Jo Hartley
becomes joyful. quite realised that writing was a job. (Trina) have in In My Skin, that extra
8
magic ingredient. But I still perform had to quit. By the time I became suc-
improv comedy in London – that cessful, I had a lot of debts to pay off.
scratches my “show-off” itch.
Do you go on set?
How did you become a writer? Yes. Aside from the fact that I intensely
In 2012, I saw a notice for the Bafta enjoy the company of the people I’m
Rocliffe New Writing competition five working with on In My Skin, I also love
days before the deadline for entries. being able to rewrite the scripts as we
With my best friend, Matthew Barry, go. My being on set allows us the free-
who’d written a couple of episodes of dom to work fluidly and evolve scenes
Casualty, I wrote a script about my in the moment. And seeing the actors
grandmother. and our brilliant director, Molly Man-
We won the TV Comedy category, ners, work their magic is thrilling.
which was incredible, but, beyond that,
[BBC controller of comedy commis- Are there any tricks of the trade you
sioning] Shane Allen, who was a judge, can share?
ordered the first couple of episodes. I’m a big fan of the “vomit draft”. I plan
This meant that I got paid and was able out an episode, and then I start writing
to find an agent. My entry into the and don’t stop until it’s finished. The
industry was such a gift – but it got key is not to re-read a scene or edit
very difficult thereafter. dialogue: if you hit a brick wall, just
write any crap and keep going. Once
Did the show get made? you write “The end”, shut down your
No, but no script is ever wasted. It computer and walk away.
opened a lot of doors for me. It’s only when you come back the
following day that you allow yourself
What was the first TV show you wrote? to read it and start editing. It forces you
Sky One’s Stella, which I co-wrote with to finish a draft and, when you have
Karla Gowlett
Matthew. We loved working together the whole thing, you can sculpt it.
but, early on in my career, I struggled to
get the industry to view me as an equal What advice would you give to some-
Kayleigh Llewellyn
partner. Matthew was the more experi- one wanting to write?
enced of us and I had a job to convince Watch a lot of TV and identify what
people I could do it by myself too. and audiences recognise authenticity. you love and why. Read scripts of shows
I knew I needed my own calling card, The hardest part was juggling my that you love and see how the writer
so I wrote a short film, Oh-Be-Joyful. It responsibilities to my family, because put it on the page.
screened at loads of festivals around the it is not only my story to tell. I had a You don’t have to write autobiogra
world and won awards, and it showed few months of therapy in the run-up phical scripts, but audiences want a
that I could write by myself. Off the to shooting the pilot because I was piece of your heart. Find the courage
back of that, I got hired for Casualty. agonising over whether I should be to be vulnerable.
doing it. But, while it was exposing and
Was that a good training ground? frightening at times, I knew that the What attracted you to Killing Eve?
Massively so. And Casualty remains the story would help other people – and It blends genres in a way that I love.
most difficult show I’ve written on. that, in telling it, I would heal myself. And I’m also just a huge fan of the
Almost every story has been told before, Writing In My Skin has been so cathartic show. Even now, one year into the job, I
so you have to be really inventive – – it is the best therapy. still get a thrill writing Villanelle’s name
with a tiny budget and lots of other [Jodie Comer’s character] on a script.
constraints. What are the best and worst parts of
Learning your craft on a show such as the job? What do you want to write about
that really sets you up well for a career I love writing – I can’t imagine any other in future?
in this industry. It’s a baptism of fire in job that would give me as much free- Issues that have affected me. I want to
the best kind of way. dom and joy. I make my own days and I raise awareness about domestic vio-
get to collaborate with amazing people. lence, mental health and LGBTQ
In My Skin draws on your experience of The worst, especially for people from [issues]. And pierce it all with some
caring for a mother with bipolar disor- a working-class background, is that it’s comedy. n
der. Does this make it hard to write? bloody hard and very expensive to
A writer needs to show unflinching break in. I had a bursary from The Film Kayleigh Llewellyn was interviewed by
honesty, which takes bravery. It is and TV Charity to keep me going – Matthew Bell. The writer is represented
frightening at first but it gets easier, without its help, I probably would have by Casarotto Ramsay.
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2021 9
Shows once aimed at Sex Education
under-25s are reaching
beyond their target
demographic, reports
Harry Bennett
O
n the day before Netflix
released the first series
of Sex Education, Jamie
Campbell, creative
director of the producer,
Eleven Film, recommen
ded the series to his friend’s 18-year-old
daughter. As a high-school drama
about the sexual misadventures of
teenagers, Campbell assumed Sex Edu-
cation would resonate with her. She
agreed to call the next day to share her
thoughts, but when she did, she said
she hadn’t watched it.
When she got home, her mother, who
was in her late fifties, had already started
watching. Given the subject matter, she
said she’d prefer to watch it in a parent-
free zone.
Campbell asked her if her mother
had liked it: “She said, ‘The thing is, I
got up the next day and my mum had
stayed up until four in the morning to
watch all the episodes.’”
Sex Education is just one of many
young-adult series that are striking a
chord with audiences older than the
generation they depict. In the recent
past, Normal People, I May Destroy You, Feel
Good, Ackley Bridge and Industry have all
won audiences in their millions.
The mainstream success of young-
adult TV signals a change in viewing
habits across all demographics. Argua
bly, it shows a growing sophistication
among audiences, who increasingly
discriminate more by quality than by
genre. This has been matched by a
Young adult
change in programming across all
channels to align with these new habits.
It is a trend that can be traced, in
part, to the rise of the streaming and
catch-up services, where broadcasters
goes
can promote what were once regarded
as niche shows to help them break
through to mass viewership.
Netflix could reasonably claim to
have been the prime mover in this
mainstream
paradigm shift. Unshackled from the
linear schedule and the demands of
advertisers, the streamer could afford
to commission programmes for what,
in the past, would have been niche
Netflix
audiences, and without, say, a specific
age group in mind.
10“The process with Sex Education really adult drama Skins, which launched in
bore that out,” says Campbell. “Netflix ‘IT HAS ALWAYS 2007, with reinventing the genre and
was not looking for a show that would
cater to a particular demographic in a
BEEN A MYTH THAT providing it with an authentic edge.
At the time, there was an abundance
strict way. The thing it was interested YOU ONLY WATCH of young-adult series but, as the
in was executing the concept of the
show in as authored and free a way PEOPLE OF YOUR show’s co-creator Bryan Elsley recalls,
“they were quite safe and anodyne”.
as possible.” OWN AGE ON Elsley says that it was his son, Skins
The platform has, in fact, abandoned
demographics altogether in favour of SCREEN’ co-writer Jamie Brittain, who first
alerted him to the gap in the market.
what Campbell describes as “taste “In all those shows, kids would have
communities” (groups of users sharing problems and they’d get worse and
similar viewing histories). Even then, the series would bring in older viewers. worse and worse and, eventually, they’d
these aggregations are only used to Amazon Prime Video eventually secured go to their mum or dad. So Jamie’s idea
drive users to new content. the rights and, Garvie notes, “it has done was: what if your mum and dad’s idea
With Sex Education, says Campbell, exactly that”. of a solution is fucking stupid?”
Netflix did what it does for every series. The times are changing, however, Elsley hired a team combining TV
It put it out on the service indiscrimi and, as Garvie observes, “broadcasters veterans and young newbies to ensure
nately at first, allowing time for data are slowly weaning themselves off the they could write authentically about
analysis to find the “communities” with crack cocaine of a schedule. They can’t the thornier (and hornier) side of teen
which it resonated. Only once these go cold turkey but, as they themselves agehood. Sexuality, gender, mental
had been identified did the streamer
begin targeting, by positioning the
series on the Netflix homepages of
other members of those same “com
munities” – be they a 58-year-old
mother or her 18-year-old daughter.
Targeting is one thing, consumption
is another but, as Wayne Garvie, Presi
dent of international production at
Sony Pictures Television, points out,
the bingeing enabled by streaming
services promotes experimentation.
Even if you don’t like the first episode
of a series, the second is only an auto
play away – by which time you might
be hooked. “With traditional free-
to-air TV, you’ve got to come back to
Channel 4
the same place in a week’s time. It
doesn’t lend itself to trying out the
Skins
esoteric and the eclectic,” he says.
A case in point is Alex Rider, Sony
Pictures’ eight-part adaptation of become digital channels, it’s going to health, substance abuse – no issue was
Anthony Horowitz’s bestselling series change absolutely the kind of choices off limits, and the sixth formers at
of young-adult spy novels. Sony had they make.” Skins’ centre were left to their own
fully funded the project but, when the Similarly, Campbell has noticed a devices to tackle them.
company started selling the show, “virtuous circle” at play in that, seeing The result was a winning rejoinder
Garvie noted a problem – even though the mainstream appeal of Sex Education to the conventional young-adult fare
“everyone loved it”. What “became on the streamers, linear broadcasters of the time, as Skins removed the gloss
clear was that, if you were a linear are “taking more of a chance on shows and applied grit to the genre.
broadcaster, you couldn’t work out that would otherwise be traditionally Today’s young-adult shows invaria
where it would sit in the schedule”. ‘young adult’”. bly tackle tough themes and, in doing
This is a serious issue for broadcasters, Channel 4’s approach, says head of so, can break through to mainstream
Garvie acknowledges, as “they are terri drama Caroline Hollick, is to commis audiences – provided that they are
fied of losing their core audience, which sion series that, while they might have marketed cleverly or algorithmically
is always older than you think”. But he a younger focus or younger protago targeted.
remembers a “big lesson” he learnt nists, their “storytelling has a sophisti Consider such recent shows as I May
during his time at the BBC: 20 years ago, cation and its themes and emotions Destroy You, The End of the F***ing World,
the most popular programme for young have a universality to them”. Normal People, Ackley Bridge and, of
audiences was EastEnders. “It has always In so doing, Channel 4 can minimise course, Sex Education. The stories are told
been a myth that you only watch people the risk that Garvie referred to of losing inclusively and the series are targeted
of your own age on screen.” the generally older-skewing core audi indiscriminately. Viewers young and old
Alex Rider may be about an adolescent ence of a broadcaster. are spoiled rotten, so is it any surprise
spy, but Sony’s research indicated that Hollick credits Channel 4’s young that so many of us are tuning in? n
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2021 11Leader
of the
Pact
John McVay
Pact
W
hen, 20 years ago, dynamic independent TV production
John McVay Steve Clarke profiles sector in the world, worth around £3.3bn
became CEO of Pact CEO John McVay annually to the British economy.
the producers’ That McVay has accomplished all
lobby group Pact, and discovers how this without many of the privileges
his first outing to
the world of London TV types did not
he helped secure that most of his peers grew up with is
all the more remarkable. What, then, is
go according to plan. Flying down Treasury backing the knack to successful lobbying?
from his native Edinburgh and travel- “Evidence and argument and under-
ling to Soho via the Heathrow Express, for last summer’s standing the situation the politicians
the train caught fire and he was stuck
on the line outside Paddington for two
Production Restart are in,” he says matter-of-factly during
a Zoom call from his north London
hours. By the time he arrived at the home before taking another pull on his
farewell party for his predecessor, he Covid-secure studios and sets. At a e-cigarette. “People assume I’ve done
was conspicuously sober while his stroke, this enabled the UK television a law degree. I have no training. I’ve
new colleagues were too merry to give sector to restart filming after the pan- picked up everything. I have a magpie
him their proper attention. demic had shuttered much of the mind. I assimilate things very quickly
Two decades later, McVay is widely industry. and retain a lot of information and
regarded as one of the most influential In March, Pact received a Special detail. This is very helpful when you
media people in the capital. He was Award at the RTS Programme Awards are talking to politicians about detail.”
made an OBE in 2019 for his services to while the Broadcasting Press Guild What he doesn’t say is that he clearly
the creative industries, and famously presented him with the Harvey Lee has that rare ability of being able to get
wore a kilt to his presentation at Buck- Award, a prize for outstanding contri- on with people from all kinds of back-
ingham Palace. bution to broadcasting. grounds and to adapt to the ever-
This year, he has been recognised for McVay’s achievements over two evolving media agenda.
his work in persuading the Treasury to decades, the Production Restart initia- Typically, he doesn’t miss a beat
set up a £500m insurance fund for tive aside, have helped pave the way when I suggest that he has a chip on
productions and for helping to create for what is unquestionably the most his shoulder. “Of course, I have. If I
12didn’t have an attitude.… You can cut post-punk band Visitors, even appearing
my head off and I’ll grow another one, three times on Radio 1’s influential John
right? Years ago, someone said to me: Peel Show and releasing several singles.
‘Aren’t you worried that you’ll never A few years ago, an album was released
get a job at the BBC?’ I said, ‘No. It is that compiled these various recordings;
never going to hire someone like me.’” McVay played keyboards, rudimentary
In the days when TV industry con- saxophone and sang. He still keeps a
ferences took place physically, McVay’s keyboard in his home office.
pushy presence would be an inevitable The band, which played support on
part of the proceedings, the same bill as such
as this imposing figure,
fond of acronyms, stood ‘WE’LL luminaries as The
Clash and Cocteau
up to speak.
To the outsider, what
ALWAYS BE Twins, led to McVay
developing contacts
he said might have THERE TO on the local music
sounded arcane. Yet,
behind the raw, Scots
KICK YOUR scene, where he also
worked as a sound
swagger lies a deeply SHINS AND engineer and pro-
effective operator, who
is a fearless advocate WE’LL NEVER ducer and put on gigs.
Making music vid-
for the 750 or so indies
that are on Pact’s books.
GO AWAY’ eos inevitably led to
working on TV shows
He is proud of the fact under the umbrella of
that, during last spring’s the Edinburgh Film
lockdown, he refunded members half and Television Workshop, an early
their subscription fees and gave free
membership to new companies for
Channel 4 initiative backed by the
then-powerful ACTT union. John McVay
six months.
“We’re not always the most popular
His freelance work came to an end
in 1986, when he took a position run- on… the BBC
people with broadcasters,” he admits. ning a TV production training scheme
“As I recently said to [BBC Director- for underprivileged youngsters backed ‘I suppose I get disappointed
General] Tim Davie, ‘Just remember, by Edinburgh council. “We were taking because the BBC is an amazing
we’ll always be there to kick your shins kids who normally wouldn’t get in the thing. It’s a really valuable asset that
and we’ll never go away.’” door at BBC Scotland and preparing we created for our society and our
Unambiguous communication was them for a career in TV, be they want- economy, and I get disappointed
one of the skills McVay learnt growing ing to work as a camera operator, in when it lets us down.… It should
up on a sink estate in Edinburgh. His make-up or as a writer. be held to the highest standards
father was a painter and decorator too “They were talented but they didn’t because it is paid for by us. It repre-
fond of a drink, who left the family know the right people.” sents us, so it should be about us.
home when McVay, the oldest of iden- His skills as an organiser led to him ‘At Pact, we will die in the ditch
tical twin boys, was 14. being appointed the founding director for the licence fee but we won’t
His mother had several jobs, includ- of the Research Centre for Television die in the ditch for the people who
ing as a hospital carer on the night and Interactivity in Glasgow, then spend the money.’
shift. McVay’s grandfa- director of training and
ther, a postman who education at Scottish
worked on the London- ‘THE BBC Screen and CEO of
On… politics
to-Edinburgh night
train, was influential in
IS NEVER Scottish Broadcast and
Film Training. When
the future Pact CEO’s GOING he was headhunted ‘I’m a Blairite, with quite a num-
upbringing. “My gran-
dad used to say to me: TO HIRE to apply for the job of
running Pact, he claims
ber of libertarian, free-market
principles.’
‘If you ever see an
opportunity, stick your
SOMEONE he was considered “a
rank outsider”.
hand up whether you LIKE ME’ McVay was inter-
On… time off
know how to do it viewed by nine people
or not.’” from Pact’s council,
He left school – a local comprehen- then chaired by the legendary Beryl ‘I love fly fishing for trout or sea
sive – at 16 with barely any qualifica- Vertue, one of Britain’s pioneering trout and collecting designer
tions and began gigging with his independent producers. “I think I was ceramics. For reading, I particularly
brother, who grew up to be a success- there to offer a bit of contrast to the enjoy historical biographies and
ful tour manager. “For me, like many other candidates.” But the outsider was books such as Mary Beard’s SPQR
others, university wasn’t an option,” now heading for the inside track. and Max Hastings’s history of the
says McVay. He and his young family upped Vietnam war.’
The pair performed together in the sticks and moved from Edinburgh to �
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2021 13� London. “Scotland is a lovely place Pact, and it’s one of the reasons I’ve insurance brokers and insurers, it
but, essentially, it’s a village and I stayed so long, is that independent became clear that no one would
wanted to play on a bigger stage.” producers are some of the most insure producers against an outbreak
His first big win at Pact came in determined, disruptive and entrepre- of coronavirus.
2002 and became law in the 2003 neurial people you’ll ever meet.” By clever lobbying, Pact ensured
Communications Act. The combined He adds: “I remember saying to that this was brought to the attention
firepower of McVay and another Scot, someone at the BBC, ‘Don’t ever think of Rishi Sunak. At first, the Chancel-
Pact’s then-Chair and CEO of Shed you can out-think us.’ I have access to lor’s team at the Treasury was unsym-
Productions, Eileen Gallagher, had several hundred of the brightest peo- pathetic. “I remember a conversation
persuaded politicians and policy ple in the industry. All you’ve got is with a senior Treasury advisor, who
makers that indie producers the same three strategy people who said: ‘You bunch of luvvies, you never
should finally turn up tomorrow morning.” vote for us anyway. Is this really a
McVay and his If winning the ability for indies to problem or are you just whingeing?’”
band’s first EP, keep their own rights was Pact stressed that, without a state-
Electric Heat arguably the backed insurance scheme, the TV
marketplace could grind to a halt and
precipitate an acute shortage of con-
tent. “This is fundamental to the
entire broadcasting ecology, not just
my members’ businesses,” McVay told
Sunak’s aides. “In May last year, the
world was in meltdown – politicians
were firefighting,” he recalls. “The fact
that we even got a chance to speak to
them was a bloody miracle.”
The talks dragged on as it emerged
that the Treasury would pay for a
high-level task force to examine the
problem. At the end of July, culture
secretary Oliver Dowden announced
the Production Restart insurance
initiative for film and TV production.
single biggest The scheme went live in October.
achievement of McVay’s McVay pays tribute to Sara Geater,
20 years at Pact, the achievements of the All3Media COO and former Pact
be able to retain the last spring and summer represented Chair, and the other senior producers
rights to the shows they made. another milestone in the CEO’s jour- who helped him lead the charge.
For years, broadcasters had resisted ney. With TV production held hostage “We made it clear to the Treasury
the move. Until then, Pact had been by Covid-19, McVay and his colleagues that this would be good for the pub-
divided over whether to campaign needed to think fast about how it lic,” he emphasises. “We weren’t ask-
for a larger production quota at broad- could restart safely. ing for a bailout. We were asking for
casters or to go all out for owning the In early April, he circulated a paper an indemnity fund that we might
IP. Research commissioned at the time written by Hakan Kousetta (who need to use.… There was a return on
by McVay suggested that the sector, subsequently became Chair of Pact investment because people would
then worth £700m annually, with last December), to stakeholders, stop being furloughed.”
average margins of around 3% to 4%, including the BFI and broadcasters, McVay is 61 this year but there is no
was facing financial meltdown. This pointing out that insurance was the sign of him slowing down. He con-
helped persuade Pact to campaign for major problem preventing production cedes that a succession plan at Pact
rights ownership. from restarting. After meetings with will need to be put in place. “There’ll
The triumph led to Campaign come a point when young blood and
describing Pact as “the most success- new thinking will be needed. I hope
ful lobbying organisation in the UK”.
How did he pull off this watershed
‘DON’T EVER that’s not tomorrow but…”
Broadcasters might not always be
change? “It was a combination of the THINK YOU CAN pleased to see him, but they both
right people in government and hav-
ing the right Chair and right CEO at
OUT-THINK… share a common aim: the continued
health of the UK’s world-class audio-
Pact, plus the ITC. They deserve SEVERAL visual sector, vital to our cultural and
credit and paid attention to these
white, whingeing producers. [Culture HUNDRED OF economic well-being.
“I think we’ve played our part,” he
secretary] Tessa Jowell was a cham-
pion, so was David Puttnam and
THE BRIGHTEST reflects. “We’ve shown that, if British
creative entrepreneurs are given the
[Labour peer] Alf Dubs.” PEOPLE IN THE opportunity and the right underpin-
But how much credit should he
take? “Some.… The great thing about
INDUSTRY’ ning, they can take on the world.”
A bit like John McVay. n
14OUR FRIEND IN THE
NORTH WEST
Cat Lewis
M
ediaCity in celebrates corporation’s history, the target is to
Salford,
Greater Man-
MediaCity’s first ensure that 60% of production will
come from the nations and regions.
chester, began decade as a UK Therefore, says KPMG, by 2027-28
its rapid
expansion
production hub the BBC will have spent cumulatively
£700m more outside of London.
into a world- This will generate an estimated
leading TV production centre 10 years additional economic benefit of more
ago, when BBC staff moved in soon than £850m. But it’s not just about
after Dock 10 launched its new stu- money and jobs, it’s also about how
dios and post-production business. the BBC can increase its ratings and
Back in 2007, when Salford City relevance by better reflecting the
Council and the Peel Group won their country as a whole.
joint bid to house the BBC’s new I’ve never understood why impor-
northern base, I received a call from a tant programmes such as Radio 4’s
very animated Felicity Goodey, the Today and BBC Two’s Newsnight are
main visionary behind the project. always produced in, and broadcast
With great passion, she told me how from, London. So it is fantastic to hear
MediaCity’s piazza would be bigger that many editions of these shows will
Nine Lives Media
than Trafalgar Square and would now be hosted from around the UK.
become a tourist destination. Felicity’s However, to ensure proper repre
interest in Salford’s derelict docks and sentation, it’s equally important that
the Manchester Ship Canal began in these programmes have members of
the 1980s, when she was the BBC’s their production teams living in the
business correspondent for the nations and regions. Now we are all
regional news show North West Tonight. and not just in London. Everyone used to working remotely, surely this
She was right on both counts. hopes Channel 4’s new bases in is a great way to ensure such shows
This once downtrodden area, Leeds, Bristol and Glasgow will mir- have less of a “Westminster agenda”
where A Taste of Honey was famously ror the success of the BBC’s move to and are more in touch with audiences?
filmed, attracts visitors from across MediaCity – and help the Govern- Plans by Tim Davie and Charlotte
the country. Its size has been integral ment’s “levelling up” agenda. Moore for a long-running drama
to its success. Having major TV production bases series based in the north are also
The BBC employs around 3,000 peo- in different cities also provides routes exciting. Hopefully, it will have more
ple on this vast, 80-hectare site, but its into the industry for people from appeal to viewers by capturing the
move to Salford as a founder partner diverse backgrounds. Enabling such comedy, optimism and warmth of
in MediaCity has resulted in another voices to be heard helps unify the UK Coronation Street, rather than the anx-
4,000 jobs being created. In its recent by ensuring the programmes we pro- ious gloom of EastEnders.
report on the impact of the BBC on duce properly represent and engage It’s been really exciting to watch
the UK economy, KPMG says employ- our viewers. more jobs, more representation and
ment in the digital and creative sector This is increasingly important more creativity happening here in
in Salford jumped by 142% between when we are competing with global MediaCity over the past 10 years.
2010 and 2019, while the number of media giants such as Netflix, Amazon Happy 10th anniversary. Let’s hope
digital and creative businesses shot and Disney. BBC Director-General the licence fee continues to be used to
up by 70%. Tim Davie recently confirmed that he secure and build on its success. n
As every TV viewer in the UK pays is doing even more than his prede-
the licence fee, it is vital that the BBC cessors in delivering to the whole of Cat Lewis is CEO of Nine Lives Media
creates jobs across the whole country the UK. For the first time in the and a former Chair of RTS North West.
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2021 15Channel 4
It’s a Sin
Hidden figures
A high-powered RTS panel hears how Barb is poised to
publish regular audience figures for streaming services
A
fter years of refusal by required to share top-line viewing data streaming data could increase under-
the global streaming for UK shows with Ofcom and domes- standing of audience behaviour,
companies to share tic broadcasters, so that the full reach including the relationship between live
their viewing data, of PSB content can be assessed. and on-demand viewing. It’s a Sin pre-
new light will soon be At a recent RTS lunchtime event, miered on Channel 4 on 22 January
shed on the perfor- “Hidden figures: Understanding TV this year and all five episodes were
mance of Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ audiences in the on-demand age”, immediately available on All 4.
– and PSB streaming services such as Barb’s Chief Executive, Justin Samp- The Barb chief said that 4 million
All 4 and BBC iPlayer – by the industry son, unveiled previously unreported people watched episode 5 before it
ratings body Barb. figures for the fourth series of The aired in Channel 4’s live linear sched-
From the late summer, Barb expects Crown. He revealed that 3.7 million peo- ule on 19 February. Far fewer – nearly
to publish regular viewing figures for ple watched episode 1 of the Netflix 900,000 – watched the episode live,
SVoD services on the same basis as series during the first seven days it was while another 1.4 million watched in
those for broadcast television. This will available. Moreover, “episodes 9 and 10 the four weeks following transmission.
allow meaningful comparisons to be were watched by around 1.4m people, The data also revealed that just under
made for the first time. which points to just under 40% of its 90% of the series’ pre-broadcast audi-
The move comes as the Digital, Cul- viewers getting through the whole ence watched on a TV set, with the
ture, Media and Sport Committee of series in seven days”. balance split between PCs, tablets and
the House of Commons has recom- Sampson also used insights from smartphones. Sampson added: “Not
mended that the streamers should be Channel 4’s It’s a Sin to show how surprisingly, the live audience was
16almost entirely on the TV set, and just the piece, you get the average audience or the BBC, but went to Netflix and it
under 10% of the post-broadcast audi- for VoD, which you can look at in surprised us all by being such a big
ence watched on a PC, tablet or aggregate with linear, and that gives a success. I know that Anne Mensah
smartphone.” proper understanding of the scale of [vice-president of original series at
He said this showed the value of viewing, rather than simply taking a Netflix] would like more shows like
broadcasters collaborating with Barb. very shiny, sexy big number for VoD.” that – and Justin’s information made
It was much more challenging with the Lucy Bristowe, Sky Media’s director me think that mainstream now
streaming companies, many of which of insight and research, said: “At Sky, we [includes] Netflix and Amazon.”
were reluctant to share information. But have a lot of our own data and down- Sampson’s final slide showed the
he revealed that Barb was now in talks load information and audience infor- weekly reach of the four biggest
with two major streamers over possible mation but it’s quite hard to get into the streaming services, going back to the
collaboration, having been firmly real demographics – who’s actually in beginning of August. He said seasonal
rebuffed by Amazon a year or so ago. front of the screen watching that piece factors were at play — viewing was
“In 2017, we had an enquiry from
Amazon about the possibility of meas-
uring audiences of The Grand Tour,” he
said. “Our answer was yes — with its
co-operation — and we highlighted
that, as an industry currency, the num-
bers would be published to all our
subscribers. On that bombshell, the
trail went cold.
“In light of this challenge, Barb set
out to measure audiences for Amazon
and other SVoD services with or with-
out their involvement. And we’re now
on the verge of going live with our
solutions, as seen in that sneak pre-
view of our figures for The Crown.
“We are in the final stages of due
Netflix
diligence, prior to the launch later on
The Crown
in the summer, and we’d be delighted
for the streamers to have the collabo-
rative relationship with us that we of content – and that’s what the Barb typically higher in the winter than the
have with the broadcasters.” technology does very well for us. summer — and the lockdown from
Sampson noted that Netflix had been “A great recent example was Your 6 January would also have had an effect.
helpful with technical information when Honor on Sky Atlantic. From the Barb “Having started this period with a
Barb began to attach viewing meters data, we could see the viewing grow- weekly reach of just over 25%, Netflix
to the wi-fi routers in some of its ing as we pre-TX-ed it and then keep topped 30% during November, when
5,000 panel homes (traditionally, these growing, and we could layer on the The Crown launched,” he said. “During
have always been attached to the TV set). Barb data to see who those people March, it was achieving a weekly reach
And, while he wouldn’t “give a run- were in terms of demographics, and of around one-third of all [people] aged
ning commentary” on his talks with the [in what other ways] they watched. four and above.
streamers, he said a third company was While big data is fantastic, Barb gives “We can see how YouTube is watched
about to start a conversation with Barb. us a fuller picture of what is going on.” on a TV set by around one in five people,
Speaking in the same RTS session, Wayne Garvie, President of interna- although we know — not shown on this
Sarah Rose, chief operating and com- tional production for Sony Pictures chart — that YouTube generates much
mercial officer, UK, for Channel 5’s Television, said the figure which stood larger audiences on smartphones, tab-
owner, ViacomCBS Networks Interna- out for him in Sampson’s presentation lets and PCs than any broadcaster or
tional, welcomed Barb’s new research was the viewing for The Crown, produced SVoD services.
as a “game changer” that would reduce by Left Bank Pictures, which is owned “For Amazon Prime Video, the eye is
confusion and misunderstanding. by Sony. drawn to two spikes in its audience
“It’s the easiest mistake to make He said: “On a platform that is in last December. These both coincided
but a number of commissioners have about half UK households of free-to-air with Premier League match days when
made it over the years,” she said. “You [viewers], it can now reach free-to-air Amazon had the rights to live-stream
look at the Barb statistics for linear numbers. And if you look at The Crown all the games.”
viewing and then look at the number audience and a BBC One audience, they Hidden figures no more. n
of streams for VoD and add them are probably really similar, so that, to
together. But you can’t do that, because me, says that Netflix is mainstream. Report by Torin Douglas. ‘Hidden figures:
the number of streams is just the “That has an impact on the question Understanding TV audiences in the
stream-starts, which could be people of when you sell a show, and where on-demand age’ was an RTS event held
sampling something and either not do you sell it? We had a taste of this on 20 April. It was chaired by Variety
liking it or getting interrupted. recently with a show called Behind Her international editor Manori Ravindran.
“Now that Barb is measuring across Eyes, which could have played on ITV The producer was Steve Clarke.
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2021 17Leonie Elliott (left) as
Lucille Anderson and Helen
George as Trixie Franklin
BBC
A social history
that delivers
The creator and three of the cast of Call the Midwife discuss
the secrets of the BBC drama’s extraordinary longevity
‘I
can’t believe it’s been 10 years,” reflecting the evolving society around The three actors on the panel –
said Helen George, who plays them. George, Jenny Agutter, who stars as
Nurse Trixie Franklin in Call Its longevity was the topic of discus- Sister Julienne, and Leonie Elliott, who
the Midwife. “It’s been a fantas- sion at the RTS event “Comfort and plays Lucille Anderson – each presen
tic ride, from not knowing if it challenge: celebrating 10 years of Call ted a clip that, in their view, encapsu-
was going to be more than six the Midwife”. lated the spirit of Call the Midwife.
episodes to here – 10 years later.” The secret of its success, according Demonstrating her point, George’s
Rare is the TV drama that makes it to George, was that, while it was origi- clip was from the finale of the last
to its tenth series. But, since the pro- nally based on the memoirs of Jennifer series, in which Trixie makes an impas-
gramme detailing the ever-eventful Worth, the show’s creator and writer, sioned plea to keep Nonnatus House in
happenings at the nursing convent of Heidi Thomas, continued to have “this public service by reading out the names
Nonnatus House first appeared on magnificent way of reflecting what’s of 117 women who it had helped.
15 January 2012, it has become a going on… politically and medically “It seems so relevant today to list
Sunday-evening staple. back to Nonnatus House in the 1960s. those names, when, on the anniversary
The series offers a glimpse of yester- It makes us all realise that we’re going of Covid, names were listed in exactly
year London via the microcosm of around in circles slightly, and that the same way. This was filmed way
nurses, nuns and soon-to-be mums, things sometimes progress, but some- before Covid, but Heidi has this sixth
with their values and impositions times they don’t.” sense to be able to predict,” said George.
18“And the symbolic nature of that Agutter’s clip was Chummy (played by training as a cervical cytology nurse
unity of nurses who are sat opposite Miranda Hart) painting her mother’s – cervical screening was introduced in
a bench of suited men felt a relevant nails with care and love. “It’s such a Britain in the 1960s on a voluntary and
parallel to the Government and the simple moment and that’s what’s experimental basis. “As we go forward
NHS at the moment. It’s an ongoing extraordinary,” she explained. into series 11, I would like to tell a story
conversation, which I don’t think has For Leonie Elliott, playing Lucille where cervical cancer is diagnosed.
had an end since Clement Attlee Anderson gave her the opportunity to We haven’t done that yet, but we set
started the NHS all those years ago.” represent the Windrush generation the seeds for that almost two years
Set in Poplar during the late 1950s within Britain’s medical community ago,” said Thomas.
and early 1960s, Call the Midwife hasn’t – no pressure, then. Thomas’s immense reservoir of rich
shied away from emotive and divisive “That [representation] was impor- stories is arguably another key reason
topics in its depiction of women’s tant. One of my favourite moments is for Call the Midwife’s enduring success.
health, the slow advance of society, when Lucille finds her church,” she When it comes to uncovering these,
and life and death. The pill, abortion, said. “It was an experience that my “I’m looking for stories that grab you
teen pregnancy, romance and religion grandad and a lot of my mum’s cous- in the heart or the throat or the stom-
have all been examined. ins had – they were christened in ach, not the brain,” she said. “It’s
The thalidomide scandal is a case in living rooms and they would have something that surprises me. Some-
point, and was the subject of Thomas’ services in the living room. thing that angers me. Something that
chosen clip. In the 1950s, the drug was “It’s important for anyone to find will make me weep or simply educate
released without being tested properly their community, but it felt extra spe- me on something I did not know.
on pregnant women and used as a cial because it spoke to how my family “Once I have been grabbed by a story,
treatment for morning sickness. found their community when they I look at ways of fleshing it out. By the
But it caused defects and fatalities in came to England.” time we get to script stage, we consult
an estimated 10,000 newborns world- Elliott’s chosen clip depicted Luci- with experts on any medical story.”
wide before campaigners began ques- lle’s friendship with the elderly Miss With season 10 launched last month,
tioning the drug’s impact. Call the Millgrove. “It speaks to the nature of and three further series in the pipeline,
Midwife introduced a storyline involv- our show, having so many generations. we can be assured that the stories told
ing thalidomide at the end of the And also, for me, Caribbean culture is will continue to be uncompromising.
fourth series and continued it beyond. very much about respecting your “With Call the Midwife, there has
Covering it “made me realise the elders and having a good rela- never been a story too bold
power of Call the Midwife, and also the tionship with them,” she said. or too dark or just too out
responsibility,” said Thomas, giving an The rich stories of these there for me to pitch,”
insight into the thinking behind her evolving relationships, their said Thomas. “What Call
writing of the story. nuances and the subtle the Midwife has given
“The thalidomide community have reflection of society me, which not every
an informal saying: ‘Nothing about us around them is aided by writer can say they
without us’, and, once it became the show’s longevity. get in their career, is a
known in the press that we were going Over the years, certain home. A home is
to cover this story, we were contacted arcs have slowly come where you are
from many directions, and we really to the fore while oth- safe. A home is
made a point of hearing those voices. ers fade into the where you can
“Because we are a popular drama, background as they do bold things.
we could not only reach a large audi- resolve themselves. When you
ence, create conversations and pro- “We have the have a com-
voke memory with this story, but we luxury of a slow pany like
were able to do something no docu- burn,” said ours,
mentary could do and go behind the Thomas. “That there’s
delivery-room door. That was a privi- might be Luci- nowhere
lege and a responsibility that I didn’t lle’s romance you’re
want to shirk.” with Cyril, it scared
Given the influence of Call the Mid- might be Trixie’s to go.” n
wife, which regularly draws eight mil- alcoholism – like
lion viewers, Jenny Agutter suggested many people who Report by Shilpa
the topic of cystic fibrosis to Thomas. struggle with addic- Ganatra. ‘Comfort
It was a subject close to Agutter’s heart tion, she has had and challenge:
as the genetic condition runs in her peaks and troughs celebrating 10 years
family. and periods of sta- of Call the Mid-
The awareness that the programme bility. We deal in wife’ was held
brought was significant: “After the drama not melo- on 22 March, and
episode was shown, the Cystic Fibrosis drama, so every chaired by Erica
Trust had more hits on its website than thing has to be Wagner. The event
it had ever had,” Agutter said. earnt.” was produced
The show isn’t only about the big An upcoming jointly by the RTS
Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne
BBC
topics, but the little moments, too. example is Trixie and IJPR.
Television www.rts.org.uk May 2021 19You can also read
