Keeping it real Lennie James - June 2018 - Royal Television Society
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June 2018 Lennie James Keeping it real
22 June VENUE: BFI Southbank, London BOOK YOUR PLACE: www.rts.org.uk #RTSawards
Journal of The Royal Television Society
June 2018 l Volume 55/6
From the CEO
I am so pleased to “Anatomy of a hit” strand. As we all Staying outside London, don’t miss
have the incompa- top up our fake tans and reserve a our coverage of RTS Northern Ireland’s
rable Lennie James, place on the sofa for the widely an- amazing evening with Deborah Riley,
interviewed by An- ticipated new series of Love Island, our production designer of the global phe-
drew Billen, as our second report of an “Anatomy of a hit” nomenon that is Game of Thrones.
cover story. Anyone is, yes, devoted to Love Island. I was touched that Tessa Jowell’s
who has seen Lennie I am indebted to Caroline Flack, former special advisor, Bill Bush, was
in Save Me, which he also wrote, The Angela Jain and their fellow panellists able to write a piece for Television high-
Walking Dead or Line of Duty will know for making this such a brilliant event. lighting Tessa’s huge achievements.
what an amazing and very special They say that all good things come In common with so many people in
talent he is. in threes. For our third “Anatomy of a our industry, I was very sad to hear of
Talking of Line of Duty, I was thrilled hit” report, we shift gear from one of her recent death. Tessa’s legacy in
to attend the RTS’s recent “Anatomy the honest reality shows to one of the several different policy areas, not least
of a hit” event, which gave the inside very best comedies of recent times, broadcasting and content production,
track on a truly great show. This Country. RTS Bristol put on an will be cherished for years to come.
My thanks to panellists Jed Mercu- exceptional evening.
rio, Adrian Dunbar, Simon Heath and The audience at the city’s Watershed
Priscilla Parish, and to the evening’s were treated to a hilarious encounter
chair, Anne Robinson. We have a great with Charlie Cooper, one half of the
report of the event in this issue. two siblings who created and star in
It’s been a prolific period for the this triple RTS-award-winning show. Theresa Wise
Contents
5 Huw Jones’s TV Diary
Huw Jones contemplates a big birthday as he considers
the impact of the recent review of S4C 20 An Olympic-class media minister
Bill Bush celebrates the many achievements of Tessa
Jowell, Britain’s longest-serving culture secretary
6 Universal stories from unique situations
Lennie James’s Save Me is one of the year’s most fêted
dramas. He tells Andrew Billen why, as a black man, it’s
become easier to write successfully for TV
23 Box-set Britain
Kate Bulkley examines how broadcasters are adapting
to binge viewing – no longer the preserve of streaming
services
9 Top of the cops
Tara Conlan joins an RTS audience to learn how
Jed Mercurio’s Line of Duty set a new benchmark
for the police procedural
26 ITV’s summer sensation
Love Island was the surprise hit of summer 2017.
Matthew Bell dons the sun cream to hear an RTS panel
dissect the show’s appeal
12 A look to die for
Game of Thrones production designer Deborah Riley
tells the RTS where she found inspiration for the
blockbuster’s visual style. Steve Clarke reports
29 Our Friend in the North West
Channel 4’s move is only a start. Cat Lewis says Ofcom
must do more to strengthen regional production
16 The East is ready
Asia’s virtual-reality market offers rich pickings for UK
producers, says Marcus Ryder
30 Thirsty for talent
Visual effects is both a technical and a team craft,
discovers Matthew Bell. And the sector is desperate for
new creatives
18 This Country: Anatomy of a hit
Sarah Bancroft hears how the award-winning show
evolved on its long road to the screen Cover: Filip Van Roe/Eyevine
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 2018.
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 June 2018 3
RTS NEWS Your guide to
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STEVE HEWLETT
RTS AWARDS
Friday 22 June
BRISTOL
■ Belinda Biggam
MEMORIAL LECTURE 2018
RTS Student Television ■ belindabiggam@hotmail.com
Awards 2018
Venue: BFI Southbank, Belvedere DEVON AND CORNWALL
Road, London SE1 8XT ■ Jane Hudson
■ RTSDevonandCornwall@rts.
RTS CONFERENCE org.uk
Tuesday 18 September
RTS London Conference 2018 EAST
Sponsored by Viacom. Co- Thursday 20 September
chaired by David Lynn, President TV quiz night
Viacom International Media Quizmaster: BBC Inside Out’s
Networks (VIMN) and James David Whiteley. Please email
Currell, President, VIMN, UK, rtseast@rts.org.uk for an entry
Northern and Eastern Europe. form. Tickets: £10 per team of
Confirmed speakers include: Bob four or five.
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Hall, Director-General of the BBC; Orford Place, Norwich NR1 3RU
Carolyn McCall, CEO of ITV; Alex ■ Nikki O’Donnell
Mahon, CEO of Channel 4; and
Sharon White, CEO of Ofcom
Venue: Kings Place, 90 York Way,
■ nikki.odonnell@bbc.co.uk
LONDON
11 October
London N1 9AG ■ Daniel Cherowbrier
STEVE HEWLETT MEMORIAL
LECTURE 2018
■ daniel@cherowbrier.co.uk
MIDLANDS
Charlotte Moore
Thursday 11 October Wednesday 20 June Director of Content, BBC
Charlotte Moore, Director of Summer networking event
Content, BBC. Please book your place in
Joint RTS and Media Society advance at RTSMidlands@rts. University of Westminster 6:30pm
event. Tickets £10. All net profits org.uk. 7:00pm-9:00pm A joint RTS and Media Society event
will go to the Steve Hewlett Bur- Venue: The Colmore Club, 85-89 Tickets: www.rts.org.uk
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Venue: The University of Tuesday 20 November
Westminster, 4-12 Little Titchfield RTS Midlands Awards 2018 NORTHERN IRELAND THAMES VALLEY
Street, London W1W 7BY Venue: Town Hall, Victoria Thursday 15 November Friday 23 November
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RTS MASTERCLASSES ■ Jayne Greene 07792 776585 Venue: TBC 7:00pm till late
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Masterclasses NORTH EAST AND THE BORDER btinternet.com ■ Tony Orme
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4
TV diary
Huw Jones contemplates a big
birthday as he considers the impact
of the recent review of S4C
I
t’s 7:00pm and RTS Wales is The review’s solution is that, from ■ Tomorrow, we will start discuss-
hosting an open session to 2022, the whole of S4C’s funding ing our annual report. Reach on
discuss the recently pub- should come from the licence fee. television, both in Wales and across
lished review of S4C. It’s my The Government has made a firm the UK for 2017-18 looks to be up,
job to present S4C’s response commitment to S4C’s independence, with digital audiences continuing to
and, alongside our CEO, but this plan is likely to form an grow. We’ve had a great run of grip-
Owen Evans, and the author important part of discussions regard- ping drama series, including Y Gwyll/
of the review, Euryn Ogwen Williams, ing the overall level of licence-fee Hinterland, Un Bore Mercher/Keeping
to take part in Q&As. funding from 2022 onwards. Faith and Craith /Hidden (all co-pro-
We’re coming to the end of what ductions with BBC Wales).
has been a long road in terms of ■ The review recommends creating These have truly opened the door
reviewing S4C’s remit and funding a unitary board for S4C on the BBC for UK and international viewers to
needs since our fixed funding for- model, with a majority of non-execs. Welsh drama, and we’ve just heard
mula was ended in 2012. Too often, in the past, there has been that Byw Celwydd – a Borgen-style
a perception that S4C and the S4C take on politics in the National
■ The review has recommended Authority are separate bodies. We Assembly, entirely in Welsh – has
a change to our statutory remit to will be happy to evolve the present been sold to the US and Canada.
make it clear that we should be a structure to form a shadow board
digital media service and not just a while awaiting legislation. ■ Sport was good for us last year, but
1982-style television service. competition for broadcasting rights
We have already taken important ■ One key aspect of the review is fierce. Our joint bid with the BBC
steps in this direction on digital, with amounts to a redefinition of S4C’s for rugby’s Pro14 competition lost out
Cyw Tiwb for preschool children and relationship with the Welsh lan- to a new subscription service.
Hansh for the 16-34s, and will now guage. A successful channel is a Our small but experienced negoti-
press ahead with creating a more central component in securing the ating team reports a chance that
personalised relationship with our future of the language, but the way in some Welsh-language rights may still
viewers. I will be announcing the which this is done has always been be available to us. We will follow
allocation of £3m over three years left undefined. developments with a keen interest.
to get this strategy under way. With language policy being the Sport is a key element in enabling us
preserve of the Welsh government, to keep in touch with young Welsh-
■ The review emphasises the need and broadcasting policy remaining a speakers and less-fluent viewers.
to provide a stable funding environ- Westminster responsibility, the sug-
ment for S4C, and uses the BBC’s gestion is that S4C should formalise ■ Finally, Friday brings a pre-
five-year funding agreement as a tem- a partnership with the Welsh govern- recorded interview with Dewi Llwyd
plate. Following a 34% (real-terms) cut ment and other agencies. on BBC Radio Cymru for his weekly
from 2011, the prospect of further Building on existing efforts, the “Happy Birthday” slot. Mine comes up
cuts in the DCMS element of our obvious fields will be education, lan- in a week’s time, with a big zero in it.
funding has been the cause of politi- guage learning, children, young peo-
cal tension. ple and skills. Huw Jones is Chair of the S4C Authority.
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2018 5
T
here is a scientific way to
calculate how much a The Billen profile
television audience appre-
ciates a show. An “appreci-
ation index” involves
Lennie James’s Save Me is one of the year’s
panels, scores out of 10, most fêted dramas. He tells Andrew Billen
and demographic weighting. Now,
however, there is another way: just why, as a black man, it’s become easier
take note how quickly an audience
comes back for more.
to write successfully for TV
When Sky released Lennie James’s
drama Save Me (the possessive apostro-
phe is because he created, wrote and
starred in it) as a box set on the last day
of February, it took a week for 700,000
viewers to watch all six episodes.
Within a fortnight, more than a mil-
lion had done so, each hoping to the
very end that James’s wayward, yet
authoritative, protagonist, Nelly, would
track down the kidnapped daughter he
barely knew. It was Sky’s most greedily
binged box set ever – and, I hazard,
will have cost it rather less than Riviera,
say, or Fortitude, neither of which
received Save Me’s critical appreciation.
On the phone from Austin, Texas,
where he is filming Fear the Walking
Dead, for which millions more know
him, James is chuffed. But he says that
ratings are not the way he wanted to
judge his show’s success. It was about
whether Save Me was what he intended
it to be – whether, in the actors’ phrase,
they had left it in the room. “And I
thought we left it all in the room.”
There was something special about
Universal
Save Me beyond its bingeability. It
was hinted at when James publicly
responded to viewers’ disappointment
that Nelly’s daughter was not rescued in
the final episode. That, he said, would
stories
have been “the television ending”. Now,
in his deep, slow, kind-yet-emphatic
voice, he talks about television’s new
golden age, how the plethora of quality
implies its own rules and shorthand,
from
and knowingly self-references them.
“What was important for me,” he
says, “was that it was a thriller set in a
unique
real place. It wasn’t a thriller set in a TV
version of a real place. The allowance
that I was making to TV was that it was
a thriller, but part of the way I wanted
to tell the story was to set it in a place
of reality. It wasn’t like my other day
situations
job, which is on The Walking Dead and
its spin-offs. It wasn’t trying to tell a
story of real human emotion in a fan-
tastical world, or a world dealing with
a fantastical event.”
For anyone who knows London, Save
Me provided two jolts of recognition.
Lennie James as Nelly in Save Me
One was the sight of its drizzly council
6
estates and sticky-carpeted, south- convincing people that this was possi- “I’m not saying Morgan is up there
of-the-river pubs. The other realisation ble was, at that time, very hard.” with Mahatma Gandhi or Martin
was that we barely see this London on Because of the colour of the leads? Luther King, but he is living and exist-
our screens. “Absolutely, that was part of it. To say it ing within a violent world and he is
Might the same be said of Nelly, the wasn’t part of it would be a lie. Because, trying to take a stand against it.”
commanding black guy in the white at that time, it was harder for people to And the staff carries connotations of
pub? “Save Me is, on one level, the clos- get their heads around that.” Christ the shepherd? “And Moses, but I
est I’ve got to something that has The drama ended with Ashley Wal- don’t want to go too far down that route
everything and nothing to do with ter’s character stabbed to death. Play- or it will fall apart. After all, it is zombies.”
race. And if I was going to do that, then James was born in Nottingham
Nelly needed to be black.” 52 years ago but he, his Trinidadian
Everything and nothing? “One of the ‘SAVE ME’ IS… THE mother, Phyllis, and elder brother,
things that I believe makes the piece
authentic to London is that you don’t CLOSEST I’VE GOT Kester, moved to London. After a long
illness, Phyllis died when her younger
just know guys like Nelly, you know
black guys like Nelly.
TO SOMETHING son was just 10, and the boys were
placed in a large, council-run home,
“The particular black guy that Nelly THAT HAS filled with “vagabonds” in Tooting Bec.
is, is, for me, specific to that commu-
nity: a first-generation black man who
EVERYTHING AND It was an experience, he has said, that
was not as Dickensian as it sounds. His
has grown up in London in a specific NOTHING TO DO father, he never knew, nor was his
way. He is not part of a black commu-
nity. He is part of a mixed, multiracial WITH RACE absence explained.
And here, I say, is Nelly, an absentee
community in London, where he is father, who comes back into his
very much in the minority but where, daughter’s life too late. James swears
as far as that is concerned, he punches wright Roy Williams’ Fallout on it is not an “itch he needs to scratch”.
slightly above his weight.” Channel 4 eight years later began with “It’s a very weird thing when that kind
James is surely right. You see black a stabbing of a young black man. At the of comes up. As a dad, I’m sure my
actors playing doctors and lawyers in time, James, who played a detective in kids couldn’t imagine the absence of
TV drama, and you certainly see them it, wrote an open letter to young knife me, but that’s partly because they
playing drug-dealers and pimps, but users. It concluded: “Be a better man.” knew me and they’ve known the role
have you ever seen a Nelly before? Ten years on, after a cruel winter and I’ve played in their lives.
“I was trying to be as specific to time spring of knifings, things seem only to “I have no memory of my father and,
and place as I possibly could in order have worsened. James is the father of genuinely, have never really felt the
to tell a universal story,” he says. three girls with his wife, the sometime absence of him. I might be deluding
In these interviews, I am now hear- actor and publicist Giselle Glasman, myself. I might, you know, sit down in
ing the specific-universal paradox whom he met in youth theatre. All the psychiatrist’s chair and they’ll
frequently enough to make me think have gone to good universities in the make everything about the absence of
that it is becoming received wisdom, US, where the family live when not my dad. But I have not consciously or,
but we should remember how unre- in London. I think, subconsciously – although
ceived it once was. “At a time when our girls are being how would I know? – spent a huge
Consider the previous drama James brought up to inhabit and take owner- amount of time in any way, shape or
wrote for television, Storm Damage, a ship of the world in a way that genera- form, missing him.”
one-off about the battle for a black tions before them weren’t afforded the James wrote his first play, aged 17,
lad’s soul. BBC Two aired it in 2000 space and opportunities, we seem to within a year of a successful audition
and it won the RTS award for Single be making that passage from boyhood at the Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone
Drama. Yet, it took six years to reach to manhood harder and harder for our (he has said that he was pursuing a girl
the screen, and only after James male children,” worries James. “It’s there). Trial and Error, about the kanga-
resisted attempts to bury it in a mid- almost like we’re culling them or roo courts convened by children in
night slot or amputate it to 30 minutes allowing them to be culled.” care, won a National Youth Theatre
for a schools broadcast. Some, I say, might argue that the playwriting competition.
He thinks it would be easier to get culture of violence is not helped by He subsequently wrote for televi-
on today – Sky commissioned Save Me shows such as The Walking Dead and sion, but it was his acting career that
enthusiastically. That is partly because Fear the Walking Dead, in which, off and took off. He appeared in everything
James is now box-office, and partly on since 2010, James has starred as from Spooks to Cold Feet, and in 24 Hour
because there have been precedents in Morgan Jones. Party People as the co-founder of Tony
the meantime for black-youth crime He agrees that The Walking Dead is a Wilson’s Factory Records. However,
stories, including BBC Films’ Bullet Boy violent show: “It does show violence, it was not until the 2003 Channel 4
and Channel 4’s Top Boy (both of which, but I don’t believe it’s an example of prison drama Buried, that he was
like Storm Damage, featured Ashley irresponsibility. My character is front cast in a lead role, and, while it was
Walters), but back then… and centre of the argument for not admired, the show was cancelled after
“Storm Damage was, again, a very killing.” one series. In 2005, he left for America.
specific story told about very specific Morgan carries a staff, I say, sharp- “I went because I needed a new
people in a very specific world, but it ened at one end, blunt at the other. challenge, I needed to broaden my
Sky
was a universal story, too, and “It’s a perfect symbol,” he agrees. ambitions,” says James. “I felt that one �
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2018 7
� of the things that I was butting
my head against, back there
in the UK, was the sense
that people had kind of
James’s
decided what my
ambition should be.
journey
People were going,
‘You should be happy. Lennie James, actor, playwright,
You’re one of the go-to screenwriter
black actors in the
country.’ Born 11 October 1965
“But that wasn’t Lives London and Los Angeles
the limit or the Mother Phyllis James, died when
pinnacle or the he was 10; brought up in London;
point of my one brother
ambition. I Family Married to Giselle
wanted some- Glasman, actor and
thing else.” then theatre PR; three
He soon daughters
noticed that Education Guildhall School
in American of Music and Drama
series –
Jericho, for As a film actor Snatch,
24 Hour Party People, Blade
instance Runner 2049
– he might be As a TV actor Undercover
cast as a specifi- Heart, Cold Feet, Buried,
cally African- Jericho, Spooks, The Prisoner,
American character, Hung, Line of Duty, Critical,
but he would not be The Walking Dead, Fear the
peripheral. “The writ- Walking Dead, Save Me
ers weren’t frightened As a writer Storm Damage,
about writing a black Save Me
character who was front
and centre. And, at the Awards BFM Film and Tele
time, that wasn’t happening vision Awards Best Male
nearly enough for me back in the UK. Performance in a Film 2002,
“The weird thing that happened for Lucky Break; Online Film
was that, as my profile rose in Amer- and Television Association
ica, I was able to be the go-to actor Awards Best Guest Actor
back home in England, as opposed to in a Drama 2013, for The
the go-to black actor.” Walking Dead
In 2010, he was cast as the corrupt
copper in the first season of Jed Mer- Watching Peaky Blinders; Real
curio’s Line of Duty and was nomi- Time with Bill Maher; ‘the odd
nated for an RTS award. Mercurio, episode’ of Law & Order
who later made him his lead in Sky’s
short-lived Critical, credits him with Reading Walter Mosley, Steven
pushing the cast and director to shoot Bochco (of Hill Street Blues)
a long interrogation scene in a single
take, now a series trademark. James on TV ‘If this is a golden age
If you hadn’t noticed, James likes of television it is happening, in the
to take television to where it has not main, in the same place that the
been before: places where black lives golden age of cinema happened:
matter, where realism is valued and America and in Hollywood.’
where acting can hold the screen. It
is never his intention to be ahead of Jed Mercurio on James ‘All the
the curve, he insists – “It’s just nice [interrogation scenes in Line of
when you are proved right.” Lennie James as Duty] were shot in single takes.
Sky has commissioned a second Morgan Jones The actors have Lennie James to
in Fear the
series of Save Me. And that, he says, thank for leading the way.’
AMC
Walking Dead
was his intention for it all along. n
8
Line of Duty characters Steve Arnott,
Ted Hastings and Kate Fleming
Top of the cops
BBC
B
BC One police corrup- whether the series could spawn a
tion drama Line of Duty Content film. “Yes! Ted’s Excellent Adventure,”
has become renowned exclaimed Dunbar, to which Mercurio
for its thrilling plot shook his head: “No, we’re a TV
twists and guest leads. Tara Conlan joins an programme.”
So, it was no surprise to RTS audience to learn Line of Duty, which began in 2012 on
see so many attend an RTS “Anatomy BBC Two, has been commissioned for
of a hit” event to hear what writer Jed how Jed Mercurio’s two more series. Heath paid tribute to
Mercurio might reveal about what’s in
store for the next series.
Line of Duty set a new former BBC drama boss Ben Stephen
son for bankrolling the show. Remem
Season 5 will feature “things we benchmark for the ber, this was before Netflix made
haven’t done before” and “characters scripted so fashionable.
we haven’t seen before”, said Mercurio. police procedural The premise grew out of discussions
He added: “That’s part of the construc- between Mercurio and World Pro-
tion of the series, the architecture that Hastings’ catchphrases). Also present ductions about him creating a police
allows us to rejuvenate the format. were World Productions CEO and drama, during which the focus shifted
“Possibly, we kind of arrived at that Line of Duty executive producer Simon to police corruption. He said that the
accidentally. But it does appear now Heath and script executive Priscilla show – now noted for its complex
that we have this situation where the Parish. lead characters – didn’t “arrive fully
audience becomes intrigued about Line of Duty regularly attracts more formed. The ideas of having a guest
what we’ve got to offer based on who than 7 million viewers and has won lead and having the lead investigators
the guest lead is going to be, what numerous accolades, including the return were all part of a process.
character they are and what the fun- 2015 RTS award for Drama Series. “If you look at the TV landscape, it
damental premise is.” Robinson said that, as well as the is sometimes quite difficult to sell an
The writer was joined by Adrian compelling characters and idea based [simply] on the fact that it
Dunbar, who plays Superintendent “spine-chilling” drama, “what I love is important in the real world,” said
Ted Hastings (“at home, we call him is the humour”. There were laughs the writer to laughs. “So many police
‘Mother of God’ now”, joked host throughout the evening, particularly series are the drama of reassurance –
Anne Robinson, referring to one of when the panellists were asked where honest, tenacious cops catch �
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2018 9
‘SO MANY POLICE SERIES
ARE THE DRAMA OF
REASSURANCE – WHERE
HONEST, TENACIOUS
COPS CATCH BAD GUYS
AND THE BAD GUYS GO
TO PRISON’
From left: Simon Heath,
Priscilla Parish, Adrian Dunbar,
Jed Mercurio and Anne Robinson
� bad guys and the bad guys go to but “if anyone’s got an iPhone in their about 3.5 million viewers, the best
prison.” pocket, it might explain”. Stephenson, drama series on BBC Two for years.”
One of Line of Duty’s USPs has been however, wanted it for BBC Two While the first series was shot in
“the idea that we do not have out- because he liked the idea of interrogat- Birmingham, the show is now filmed
and-out heroes and out-and-out vil- ing an institution. in Northern Ireland.
lains,” he said, emphasising that this “It wasn’t a great time for drama,” Northern Irishman Dunbar audi-
had been the approach from the recalled Heath. “It was around 2008- tioned for the role of Hastings. He
beginning. The first lead was Tony 2009.… We’re here talking about the thought about the character’s back-
Gates, played by Lennie James, whom golden age of drama, and all these ground from his own perspective of
he described as inhabiting a “moral dramas being made by Netflix and being a Catholic living in a Protestant
grey area”. “The same applied to the Amazon and Sky. But then, BBC drama area: “To me, to be the head of a unit
investigators: that felt like it led us into was seen, at best, as a loss leader by such as AC-12, it would probably have
a more sophisticated and mature the broadcaster.” been useful to be someone who was
explanation of why public servants fail Mercurio said: “We always felt we on the outside of things.”
to act with integrity.” wanted it to be a thriller… so you had Which makes the whole freemason
Robinson applauded the programme’s to watch the six episodes and see how plot line in Line of Duty so puzzling, said
ability to make audiences feel sorry for it would resolve. As the script was Robinson, as she inquired of his char-
the villain through moral relativism. developed, we were fortunate that a acter: “Are you a mason?”
Mercurio replied that this was “inten- new batch of money came online for “I’m not at liberty to answer that,”
tional” but, “in a way, a departure from BBC Two.” said Dunbar enigmatically.
the real world”, because most corrupt Line of Duty found its natural home Dunbar also chose not to wear his
people “are just greedy bastards”. on BBC Two, he thought, as it “was glasses for the role, “which means I
Initially, the show was turned down allowed to grow and be itself on the have to learn the script!”.
by BBC One. Mercurio declined to channel and then we were ready to Some fans play Line of Duty bingo,
reveal the controller who rejected it move to BBC One. The first episode got watching the drama and crossing off
10Hastings’ trademark colloquialisms,
such as “fella” or “for the love of God”,
of research. Since then, he said, he has
had access to advisors who are frank, IF SOMEONE
whenever Dunbar utters them. dedicated police officers who hate FEELS THAT
Robinson wanted to know: “All those
expressions of yours, like ‘Mother of
corruption and “bent coppers” but do
“not deny they exist”. SOMETHING
God’, were they in the original script or When asked what surprises him IS NOT RIGHT,
have you enhanced it?”
“Jed has a great ear for street language
about the institution, Mercurio
answered: “The slackness… we had THEN WE KEEP
and listening to what people are saying. a sequence in series 4 where a police TALKING IT
These things creep in,” explained the
actor. “I add a little bit here and there.
officer tampered with evidence. I’d
assumed that the evidence room had
THROUGH
We tease it out between us.” security cameras in it, so that coppers
Robinson asked Dunbar if he was couldn’t fiddle with evidence.… No…
ever worried that he would fall victim they said: ‘We’re workers entitled to
to the show’s propensity for surprising our privacy.’”
viewers by killing off characters played “I remember the reaction on Twit-
by famous actors, such as Daniel Mays ter,” said Heath. “People said they’d
and Jason Watkins – or if Hastings have cameras.”
would be the next “bent copper”. “We had Adrian’s character explain
“Definitely, yes, that is a worry! But I it, saying he had written a very strongly
don’t think Jed is going to get rid of Ted worded letter to the Police Federation…
just yet,” insisted Dunbar.
Switching tack, Robinson wanted to
that was the voice of the author!”
revealed Mercurio.
Interrogators
know how women had been treated in
Line of Duty. “About the same as men,”
He added that his opinion of the
police had not changed, because, “fun-
pile on the heat
Parish responded. “Lindsay [Denton] damentally, the evidence… is that the
had a tough time. She was a terrific vast majority of police officers are Executive producer Simon Heath
character. I loved Lindsay, because she dedicated public servants.” highlighted three elements that
was so intelligent.” When asked whether season 5 or 6 contribute to the success of the
Mercurio added: “As a writer, I’m not would feature as fascinating a female show: the ‘fresh and visceral’
thinking whether that is what a woman lead as Denton or Roz Huntley, Mercu- score, composed by Carly Paradis;
would do, or what a man would do, I’m rio would only say “maybe”. But he did the fact that it airs weekly, which
thinking about what anyone would do.” confirm that the new episodes would allows it to be built on social
But is Hastings sexist, probed Robin- further explore the personal lives of media; and the amount of film that
son. Mercurio explained: “There are a AC-12’s main characters – Hastings, is shot during the programme’s
lot of cop shows that still do the thing Steve Arnott and Kate Fleming. lauded long interview scenes.
of having an overt sexist, in a way that’s Fans hope that season 6 will not be ‘The devil is in the detail,’ he
BBC
just so stupid – you’re just going to be the last. Mercurio said a lot depended added. When the show has ‘Adrian
up in front of HR and then out of a job. on “how season 5 performs”. [Dunbar], Martin [Compston] and
“Whereas, if you are a sexist, the way He explained: “If it does very well Vicky [McClure], and the antago-
to do it is very subtly. [Hastings’ actions] and the current regime remains as nist on the other side of the table,
have left room for interpretation. Again, supportive as it is, there will be oppor- we’ve got three cameras going all
it goes back to that idea of grey areas: is tunities to discuss season 7. I think that the time, often turning over half-
he a sexist or is he someone who has a if, for whatever reason, those situations hour takes and everybody’s word
certain way of expressing himself – don’t apply, then, almost certainly, perfect. You need all those shots to
[but which] means a certain discrimi- season 6 will be the last.… But we’re build the sequence in the edit.’
nation against women?” really happy that it’s ongoing. I don’t Such takes often require a day to
“He’s from a different age,” put in think any of us at this point is looking shoot. ‘For us, it’s difficult – you’ve
Dunbar. to wrap it up.” got to keep up the same level of
One member of the audience com- Heath said: “We’ve never been pres- performance,’ explained Dunbar.
mented on Mercurio’s reputation for sured to be on air every year, so we get ‘But for the crew, it’s really difficult.
overseeing a collaborative approach on a break.… We can do other things and We’re in a glass box and the lights
set. Had there been times where the then come back to it… it feels quite are on it.
four of them had disagreed heatedly, fresh every time you sit down to ‘We have done 25-minute takes
wondered Robinson? “No, Jed’s always another series.” – 30 pages of the script. You’re not
right,” quipped Dunbar. Audiences will have to be patient going to get that flow [with short
“It’s not how the process works. We and bide their time. The next instal- takes], so to do it in one take is
discuss things and, if someone feels ment is not due to air until 2019. n much better.’
that something is not right, then we The first lengthy scene in the first
keep talking it through,” said Mercurio. The RTS event ‘Anatomy of a hit: Line series was 12 minutes long. Doing it
He likes to spend as much time as pos- of Duty’ was held on 15 May at Millbank ‘was a big decision’, Heath recalled.
sible on set, so people can clarify what Media Centre in central London. It was ‘It was Lennie James who said we
the writer’s intention was. produced by Barney Hooper and Sally should do it in one go.’
For series 1, Mercurio did quite a lot Doganis.
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2018 11A look to die for
S
he’d worked on an mad.’” Cue laughter from the enthusi-
Oscar-winning movie, Design astic RTS crowd.
attended the same stage Four seasons of Game of Thrones later,
school as Cate Blanchett Riley’s award-winning designs (see
and Mel Gibson, and, Game of Thrones box on page 13) are integral to the phe-
aged 26, was responsible
for art directing the Sydney Olympics
production designer nomenal success of the show, which
bows out in 2019 at the end of season 8.
closing ceremony. But not even the Deborah Riley tells “The universe of Game of Thrones
precociously talented Deborah Riley includes many different kingdoms. It’s
was prepared for her first day on set in the RTS where she the job of the art department to make
blustery Northern Ireland as the new
production designer of Game of Thrones.
found inspiration for sure that those kingdoms are separate
and different from one another,” Riley
“I was absolutely petrified,” she the blockbuster’s style. explained. “When that works, the audi-
recalled at a sold-out RTS event in
Belfast, entitled “Creating the visual
Steve Clarke reports ence accepts these different worlds as
being real. In my head, Westeros is
world of Game of Thrones”. The illus- about as real as anywhere else.”
trated talk by this erstwhile Australian – “some of the most beautiful I’ve ever Stressing the importance of loyalty,
architecture student highlighted some seen” – took place five years ago. It the production designer said: “We’d
of the visual wonders of Westeros she included her first look at Castle Black never have been able to get through
had helped fashion for TV’s first global (HQ of the Night’s Watch) “built on the the volume of work without all of us
scripted blockbuster. windiest quarry imaginable. All the returning, year after year.”
That initial experience of Game of timbers are real, the forge is a working She explained that Game of Thrones
Thrones’s Northern Irish locations forge. I thought: ‘These people are (despite its reported budget of $10m an
12Working with
the top brass
Deborah Riley: ‘On Game of
Thrones… there are a lot of cooks
in the kitchen. That’s something
that I wasn’t fully prepared for
when I arrived.
‘On most features, you’ll have a
DoP and a director, and you might
have a producer who lays in from
time to time. But on Game of
Thrones – this sounds terrible –
the director is a gun for hire. It is
the producers who hold the power
and make the creative decisions.
‘There’s a very clear balance
between the producers, who have
the overarching vision for the show
and, at the same time, assign
the director for every episode,
because they know exactly what
imagery they are creating, moment
to moment. There’s a surprising
amount of politics involved in that.
‘[What I] do is bring them ref-
erence. We always see what they
respond to and what they’re inter-
ested in.
‘The wonderful thing about
Game of Thrones is that we’re
working with very bright people.
They know all the cultural refer-
ences. They can quote all the mov-
ies or the architecture or whatever.
We have a language that gets us
Game of Thrones season 6
Sky
into the piece immediately.’
episode) involves a fast shooting advantage of that is we can’t muck
schedule, unthinkable in the movie
sector, where her credits include The
around. Decisions have to be made, we
commit to an idea and get on with it,”
Deborah Riley’s
Matrix and Moulin Rouge.
“During the interview process [for
she said.
Having initially studied architecture
trophy cabinet
the job] I had to admit to David Benioff at the University of Queensland in
[Game of Thrones executive producer Brisbane, she abandoned the idea of a For Game of Thrones:
and co-creator] that I’d never worked career as an architect. (“As my grand- n Emmy for Outstanding Produc-
in television before. He replied, ‘But mother said, ‘You’re drawing too many tion Design for a Narrative Contem-
this isn’t television.’” straight lines.’”) Instead, she enrolled porary or Fantasy Program (One
Nevertheless, when three different on a stage design course at Sydney’s Hour or More), 2014, 2015 and 2016
production units can, in theory, be famed National Institute of Dramatic n Bafta Craft Award – Best Pro-
filming simultaneously in three sepa- Arts – “It accepts eight people a year duction Design, 2018
rate counties, the ability to work at and I was one of them.” n Art Directors Guild Excellence
speed is essential. Croatia, Iceland However, as was clear from her talk, in Production Design Awards in
and Spain are all used as locations to Riley’s passion for buildings and her Television – One-Hour Period or
complement the Irish scenery of the ability to remember their details has Fantasy Single-Camera Television
Causeway Coast, Cushendun Caves, inspired several set designs in Game of Series, 2015, 2016 and 2018
Murlough Bay, Ballycastle, Castle Ward, Thrones. For the Iron Bank of Braavos, For Moulin Rouge:
the ruins of Inch Abbey and the surfing Nazi architect Albert Speer’s designs n Art Directors Guild Excellence in
beach of Downhill Strand. for Hitler were the starting point: Production Design Awards – Period
“We move very, very quickly, which “They are all about power, intimidation or Fantasy Film, 2002
can be frustrating. But the great and wealth.” �
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2018 13How to get a job in Westeros
Deborah Riley: ‘My agent said she had they supplied me with drawings... I
a project that I should interview for, so I think they sent me material, knowing
interviewed for Game of Thrones. I had that I was working at the time, to see
never seen [the show]. I was working how I would cope with the stress of it. I
on a terrible, tiny film in Louisiana. provided them with a lot of stuff.
‘That weekend, I watched 13 hours of ‘Then, one day, David Benioff Skyped
Game of Thrones. The people in Loui- me. I did exactly what people tell you
siana wouldn’t release me for an inter- not to do: I begged. I told him that,
view in LA, so Game of Thrones were honestly, in every cell of my body, I
kind enough to meet me on a Saturday. knew that I could do this. So they took
‘A month later, after lot of auditions, a punt on a very inexperienced person.’
Mentors get you through the door
Deborah Riley: ‘I have been very lucky an intensely competitive environment,
in my career, I have worked for a lot of where there were no guarantees that
female production designers. I didn’t we’d be allowed through the doors the
even realise that it was a rare thing. next day.
‘I was very lucky because the set ‘That was the kind of excellence they
decorator on Moulin Rouge was a required but, unfortunately, it also cre-
production designer in her own right ated friction among the students. So, to
in Mexico. She was an extraordinary be shown such kindness by somebody
woman. She said: “Come with me, I was something I wasn’t used to. I didn’t
Davos Seaworth in the ‘Battle
will mentor you.” even know that existed in the industry. of the Bastards’ episode
‘I didn’t realise how rare those words ‘I am now mentoring someone in
are. I went to Mexico City and worked Australia. It’s a really important thing.
with her. She would share her accom- How else do you get through the door? � Frank Lloyd Wright was the inspira-
modation and do everything she could, How else do you ask whether what tion for the Meereen Audience Chamber:
just to have me around and teach me you’re doing is correct? “I was always very proud of the amount
everything she knew. ‘I am very passionate about the of colour, pattern and texture that we
‘In the theatre school I went to, we power of people looking after one managed to put into that space.” For the
were taught to hate one another. It was another. It’s as simple as that.’ House of Black and White, she thought
hard about the religious buildings on the
banks of the Ganges at Varanasi (“I love
Sheer grit is an essential soft skill the way the stone steps rise up out of
the water”), and Hong Kong’s Ten Thou-
sand Buddhas Monastery, which she had
Deborah Riley: ‘I cannot stress this ‘We [take] the smallest amount of visited many years earlier.
enough: if you think you can do some- time that you can to actually build Riley revealed how she had been
thing, and feel it in your soul that you these things. When you see them on hugely influenced by the “behaviour
can do it.... Just say yes to everything. screen, you don’t think these sets were and environment studies” part of her
‘Be enthusiastic and positive.… Be built very quickly. architecture course – “essentially, the
kind and people, generally… will be ‘Surround yourself with really great psychology of space” – something that
kind to you. A show such as Game of people and acknowledge [them] she uses every day at work.
Thrones is... obviously, not all rainbows: because, without them, we’re nothing. “Whenever we in the art department
it is very, very hard work. But that’s It’s very much a team endurance sport. read any scene, we have to try and
where the grit comes in. The talent, the Be a team player. figure out how it would work,” she
vision and the eye are all important, but ‘Most important of all, don’t give up.… elaborated, “and how we can harness
you have to be prepared to stick it out. Maybe an idea will come but, some- the subtle cues of visual storytelling to
‘Not everyone is going to be your times, you just have to force it out of better tell the story.”
friend but there will be those that yourself and it’s amazing what you Her job begins when the art depart-
stand by you. Those people are more come up with. ment receives an outline of the
valuable than you can possibly imagine. ‘Every minute of my day for the past upcoming series, written by Benioff
It is [only] through the loyalty of the art five years has been dedicated to the and the show’s co-creator, DB Weiss.
department that we’ve been able to show and it’s been time well spent. I “These are an absolute joy to read,” she
create so many extraordinary sets. don’t regret any of it.’ said. “It’s here that the season’s crea-
tive ambitions are laid on the table.”
14All pictures: Sky
A play staged in Braavos in the episode ‘The Door’
She then decides, in collaboration bones of the amphitheatre were there. “To achieve the body piles, we had to
with the producers, which scenes After weeks of plaster, paint and rings it bulk it out with rostrum to make it as
require location filming and which can was completely transformed.” efficiently as possible. We also had to
be shot on one of the stages at Belfast’s To film scenes in a frozen lake, you’d provide all the uniforms and saddlery
Titanic Studios, the three-hectare site be forgiven for thinking the sequences for the battlefield, a massive and
where she is based. should be shot in Iceland. Not so, thankless task.
Things do not always go to plan, explained Riley: “Due to the amount of “But it was satisfying to think that
though. For the climactic battle in stunt work and visual effects, the we were able to capture images like
“Hardhome”, the eighth episode of sequence was brought back to Belfast. this in camera, and that visual effects
season 5, Riley flew to Iceland believ- “We filmed in an abandoned quarry weren’t required.”
ing “there might be the perfect location near Belfast, painted with a layer of You sense that Deborah Riley – who,
waiting for us”. She saw lava forma- snow to make it look convincing.” at 45, is certain to go on to work on
tions on an Icelandic beach that Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica, many more high-profile TV and film
seemed ideal, and a fishing village was painted in response to the terror projects – has found working on the
built – but, then, “logistics won out bombing of civilians in the Basque HBO series hugely satisfying.
and we ended up bringing the entire town during the Spanish civil war, was “The experience of Game of Thrones,
sequence back to Belfast”. the “perfect reference” for her design particularly in the lead-up to the end,
The logistics of making Game of for the “Battle of the Bastards” (epi- leaves me absolutely speechless,” she
Thrones could be challenging, she said sode 9 of season 6), because it provided said. “Creatively, it’s been full of the
– until season 6, she worked simulta- “an appropriate depiction of brutality highest highs and the greatest riches
neously with five different directing and darkness”, she said. “The main that you can possibly imagine. It’s also
teams. thing that the art department needed kicked me to the ground a couple of
Sets are not always made from to provide was the body pile.” times, as well.” n
scratch, and thinking laterally helps. Even with Game of Thrones budgets,
For instance, “The Mountain and the assembling such an ambitious set ‘Creating the visual world of Game
Viper” episode from series 4 was filmed required careful thought. “The props of Thrones with production designer
in Dubrovnik, at a hotel abandoned in department had a variety of dead Deborah Riley’ was an RTS Northern Ire-
the early 1990s, during the Croatian horses. We had to estimate how many land event held on 22 May at Black Box,
civil war. “It was completely covered we would need because, at £3,000 a Belfast. Hugh Odling-Smee (Film Hub
in graffiti,” she recalled, “but, for us, the pop for a dead horse, we had to NI) hosted the Q&A. The producers were
most important thing was that the improvise. Sarah McCaffrey and Sara Gunn-Smith.
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2018 15Virtual reality
Asia’s VR market offers rich pickings
for UK producers, says Marcus Ryder
The East
is ready
A
seasoned television
producer friend of
mine tells a great story
about his biggest
missed business
opportunity. It was in
the 1980s and he was at the Edinburgh
Festival Fringe. He wandered into a
small room where two young Japanese
women had set up a large television
set, a small PA system and two mics.
The two Japanese women then
turned on the TV and began to sing
along, badly, to some rather cheesy
Western pop songs he knew and a few
Japanese songs he had never heard of,
as the lyrics were shown on the TV set.
When the women finished, the TV
producer and the few other people in
the audience filed out completely
bewildered by the whole experience.
He later overheard one member of
the audience talking to a friend saying:
“You know that is meant to be the big
thing in Japan.” The other replied: “Japan
is very strange, singing along badly to
pop music will never catch on here.”
My producer friend had, of course,
just witnessed one of the first exam-
ples of karaoke in the UK. A global
industry now estimated to be worth
$13.5bn, and he had walked away
laughing at it. Even if he had thought it
would never catch on in Britain, and
simply invested in Japan, he would
have made millions. In Japan, the
industry is now several times larger
than its entire movie sector.
Are there modern equivalents? I
moved to Beijing back in 2015 to find
out. I now firmly believe that Asia in
general, and China specifically, has a
great deal to teach the UK, the rest of
Europe and other established markets.
16I also believe that there are huge of something you can do at home or as
untapped media opportunities here: an “add on” to your mobile phone. In
opportunities for media professionals places such as China and Japan, con-
in China itself, and opportunities to sumers are far more likely to go to
take successful Chinese media models places and pay for an AR/VR experience.
and apply them in the UK. This would explain why, in 2016,
One example of both is augmented Japan built a simulation airplane that
reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). never takes off: people sit in their seats
China is investing heavily in both and “virtually” go to their destination.
these technologies. A recent report by And it is doing really well, having been
Digi-Capital into the state of the fully booked since it launched.
industry predicted that China, in terms China recently opened the world’s
of revenue, will soon overtake the US first virtual-reality amusement park,
in the AR/VR market. covering 135 hectares. All 35 rides fea-
The website TechCrunch describes the ture VR experiences.
business “as a golden opportunity (or But AR/VR opportunities in China
threat) for domestic and international are not just at the high end. Walking
players”. In just four years’ time, one around Beijing, I regularly see small
out of every five dollars spent on AR/ booths and shops charging around
VR will be in China, and the Asian $5-$10 for a 30-minute AR/VR experi-
market will be worth more than the ence. Again, China is leading the way.
rest of the world put together.
The AR/VR revolution also has the
There are an estimated 3,000 shops
offering these. ‘CHINA IS
full backing of local and central gov- China is also looking for strong cine- CURRENTLY
ernment. In March this year, the Shen-
zhen regional government, along with
matic and television AR and VR con-
tent. At this year’s International Film LAGGING IN
electronics company HTC, announced & TV Program Exhibition, hosted last TERMS OF
a new, $158m fund to incubate AR/VR
ventures.
month in Beijing for the first time in
its 15-year history, VR and interactive HIGH-QUALITY
So, the big question for UK and other experiences were part of the CONTENT,
non-Chinese media companies is how
to take advantage of this opportunity.
programme.
Knowing the great content that UK
WHICH IS
As the chief international editor for companies are able to produce for ONE OF THE
China Global Television News (CGTN),
I see the primary opportunity in con-
conventional television and film audi-
ences around the world, it is not diffi-
WEST’S MAJOR
tent production. In my experience, cult to imagine how it could be STRENGTHS’
Chinese media organisations excel in adapted to fulfil the ravenous Chinese
hardware production and other tech- demand for AR/VR content.
nological areas. But when it comes to High-quality, natural-history con-
producing content, they lack creativity tent that can be turned into VR safaris
and an in-depth understanding of or scuba-diving; science-fiction and
what audiences want. fantasy content that can be brought to
Kevin Chen, President of Shenzhen life; and even world-famous tourist
State VR Ventures –the man in charge attractions and museums that people
of that $158m government fund – can visit without ever having to apply
echoed this sentiment in a recent inter- for a visa. I could go on and on. Suffice
view. He said that “China is currently to say, these would all be very attrac-
lagging in terms of high-quality content, tive to Chinese audiences.
which is one of the West’s major From broadcasters such as CGTN,
strengths”. This is also the view that an which is looking for documentary
ex-Disney executive, currently work- content, to amusement parks looking
ing in AR/VR production, expressed to for their next big ride, the range of
me over lunch recently. He had con- opportunities is considerable.
sulted on AR/VR projects in the US for I think back to my producer friend
organisations such as the New York and the missed business opportunity
Times but felt strongly that China, he experienced almost 40 years ago,
rather than the US, was where the big when he witnessed the dawn of kara-
opportunities were. oke. If I had to pick a song to sing
However, the same former Disney about AR/VR in China, it would have to
man also offered a word of caution that be Abba’s pop classic, The Winner Takes
US and European consumers were very It All. n
different to those in Asia. He believes
that AR/VR experiences in the US or Marcus Ryder is chief international editor
Europe are often thought of in terms of China Global Television News.
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2018 17Content
Sarah Bancroft
hears how the
award-winning
show evolved
on its long road
to the screen
This Country
Anatomy of a hit
N
o one had heard of series – made for a sold-out RTS Bris- with the typing, he claimed to laughter,
cousins Kerry and tol event last month. after he dropped out of uni (“a sports
Kurtan Mucklowe Together with Daisy May Cooper, science degree – tragic!”). By 2014,
18 months ago. Now, Charlie’s sister, the team had snared working with a production company,
BBC Three’s mocku- “the elusive under-30 audience – the they had made a pilot for ITV, but that
mentary This Country audience that all broadcasters die for”, nearly put paid to the project. They lost
– ostensibly about young people in noted Lynn Barlow, who chaired the control of their creation; no one liked it.
modern rural Britain – which revolves evening. This Country was “pitch- Fortunately, Daisy was dogged: she
around them, has garnered three perfect” – how had they done it? approached Shane Allen, head of com-
Baftas, three RTS awards, rave reviews “Because we’re incredibly childish,” edy at the BBC: he agreed to be their
and a huge following. quipped Mayhew-Archer. “Or incredi- last-chance saloon. Allen commis-
The second six-part series, which bly talented,” countered Barlow. sioned four episodes from the Coopers
finished airing in early April, has Appropriately enough to the charac- for BBC Three and introduced them to
racked up more than 12 million iPlayer ters of Kerry and Kurtan, who spend Mayhew-Archer, a comedy producer
requests, and a third series is in the large amounts of time trying to make whose previous credits included Josh
pipeline for next spring, along with an something out of nothing, This Country Widdicombe’s Josh.
autumn “special”. came about only after a series of set- Hating the pilot but loving a You-
No wonder, then, that the chance backs. In 2010, failing to get work as an Tube clip the Coopers had made of a
to get the inside track on the comedy actor, Rada-trained Daisy began writing Scrabble-playing Kerry screaming to
from producer Simon Mayhew-Archer, a comedy based on life around her mum “Is Dave a word?”, the pro-
director Tom George and Charlie Cirencester, where the Coopers had ducer was clear: “The big thing we all
Cooper – one half of the real-life grown up and still live. wanted was that it should have the
siblings who write and star in the She roped Charlie in, initially to help appearance of reality.”
18You can also read
