When aliens stalk suburbia - The Midwich Cuckoos - June 2022 - Royal Television Society
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June 2022 The Midwich Cuckoos When aliens stalk suburbia
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Journal of The Royal Television Society
June 2022 l Volume 59/6
From the CEO
If anyone needs one, will be hiding behind the sofa. is thriving beyond the M25 was on
reminding of the In a similar vein, Caroline Frost show to all who attended last month’s
continuing excellent profiles Ncuti Gatwa, recently handed RTS Northern Ireland Awards.
health of our creative the keys to the Tardis by the incom These are, however, difficult times
industries, look no parable Russell T Davies. for public service broadcasters. Claire
further than this But it is not just sci-fi that’s setting Enders provides a comprehensive
edition of Television. the bar high. Two reports from outside report on how PSBs are under threat
Scripted content continues to London, on the return of BBC One’s across Europe, particularly in France.
dazzle and delight. Our cover story is The Outlaws and a documentary Finally, it was a pleasure to see so
Sky Max’s scarily relevant reimagining inspired by Gentleman Jack, from Bristol many of you at our recent national
of John Wyndham’s 1957 sci-fi classic, and Leeds respectively, illustrate the event at which Jay Hunt interviewed
The Midwich Cuckoos, starring Keeley depth of talent on both sides of the Ben Frow. We report this high-energy
Hawes and Max Beesley. camera in the English regions. and candid encounter in full.
The story is brought up to date and This is a theme explored by Cat
given a female perspective courtesy Lewis’s Our Friend column, where
of screenwriter David Farr, whose she examines innovative schemes
adaptation of John le Carré’s The Night aimed at addressing skills shortages.
Manager was hugely enjoyable. I, for Further confirmation that creativity Theresa Wise
Contents
Cover: The Midwich Cuckoos (Sky)
5 Ian Katz’s TV Diary
Ian Katz marvels at TV’s power as a change maker and
its ability to unite MPs from all sides 20 PSB on the rack
Across Europe, pressure on public service TV jeopardises
democracy and pluralism, says Claire Enders
6
Comfort Classic: Minder
Matthew Bell revels in the failed schemes of one of the
great TV comic pairings of all time 22 Prime-time lesbian hero
The RTS learns how BBC One’s Gentleman Jack gave
women the confidence to come out to themselves
and their families
7 Ear Candy: Kermode and Mayo’s Take
Harry Bennett opens the popcorn for some top-class
wittertainment with Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo
24 A Timelord making history
Caroline Frost profiles Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa,
who was recently given the keys to the Tardis
8 Working Lives: Sound editor
Freelance sound editor Emma Butt discusses the trials
and triumphs of her role with Matthew Bell
27 Our Friend in the North West
Cat Lewis hails an innovative training scheme helping to
future-proof the TV sector and address the skills gap
10 Mummy’s little nightmares
Sky has recast sci-fi classic The Midwich Cuckoos from
a female perspective, reports Shilpa Ganatra
28
Sustainable TV – myth or reality?
The RTS hears how initiatives such as Sky Studios
Elstree are helping to green TV and film-making
12 An audience with the outsider
Jay Hunt interviews Ben Frow in a lively RTS encounter
that reveals why Channel 5 continues to defy gravity
30 The serious world of podcasting
The booming audio format offers programme-makers
the chance to take a deep dive into stories and ideas
16 Mud, mud, glorious mud
Shilpa Ganatra finds out how the BBC plans to cover the
that inspire them
UK’s biggest music festival, back after three years
33 RTS news and events
Reports of the Society’s seminars, events and awards
18 Crime and community payback
As The Outlaws returns to BBC One, the RTS in Bristol
hears the creators’ formula for mixing comedy and drama
ceremonies from around the UK and Ireland
Editor News editor and writer Production, design, advertising Sub-editor RTS, 3 Dorset Rise © Royal Television Society 2022
Steve Clarke Matthew Bell Gordon Jamieson Sarah Bancroft London EC4Y 8EN The views expressed in Television
smclarke_333@hotmail.com bell127@btinternet.com gordon.jamieson.01@gmail.com smbancroft@me.com T: 020 7822 2810 are not necessarily those of the RTS.
W: www.rts.org.uk Registered Charity 313 728
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2022 3
TV diary
W
ake up to not believe either would have been
an item on made by a profit-driven broadcaster.
Radio 4’s
Today ■ At a meeting in the offices of
about the Eleven Film, I am confronted with
shortage a giant and fabulously glamorous
of HRT photo of the cast of its breakthrough
drugs. Women are resorting to trading Channel 4 hit, Sex Education. I am reminded
them illegally in car parks. The that the show began life as a Chan
Government has had to appoint nel 4 development and was picked
an “HRT tsar”. A pharmaceutical up by Netflix after the channel
executive explains it is partly to do passed on it. How different was the
with supply chain problems but Ian Katz marvels version Netflix greenlit, I ask Eleven
mostly the result of a surge in demand
triggered by a Channel 4 documentary
at TV’s power as a Managing Director Jamie Campbell.
“Oh, pretty much verbatim,” he says.
presented by Davina McCall last year. change maker and Happily, this one wasn’t on my
Now Davina has made a follow-up watch, but every channel controller
film and people are worried that even ability to unite MPs has a painful list of the Ones That Got
more women will have the temerity
to ask for treatment.
from all sides Away. Our scheduling supremo Kiran
Nataraja likes to remind me that one of
It’s one of those moments that my first acts on arriving at Channel 4
reminds you of the extraordinary was to authorise a bid to acquire a
power TV has to create change. But firebrand father features several new thriller but to cap it at a modest
also of the irony that the greatest times in Derry Girls – mingle, swap sum because it was “no great shakes”.
recent achievement of a channel ping favourite moments from Lisa The show was called Killing Eve.
designed to serve young viewers may McGee’s joyous, heart-warming
be shattering the taboo around the sitcom. It would take the constitution ■ Big Boys, a new sitcom based on the
menopause. Who says Channel 4 is of Sister Michael not to be moved by life of comedian Jack Rooke, lands
becoming middle-aged? the sight of a group of people who wonderfully. It’s a warm and touching
disagree about so much united by exploration of grief, sexuality, coming
■ Drop in to a screening for MPs of their love of a transcendent piece of age and male friendship.
the final extended episode of Derry of TV. “One of the most funny, tender,
Girls. The timing is uncanny. The profound sad-happy comedies I’ve
episode takes place on the day of ■ A few days later, answering ques- seen this year,” says The Times. “Evokes
Northern Ireland’s historic vote to tions from MPs at the DCMS Com- the mighty Sex Education,” says The
embrace the Good Friday Agree mittee, culture secretary Nadine Guardian. On social media, there is a
ment. Now, Brexit has thrown the Dorries three times cites Derry Girls, tide of love. It’s too early to tell if it will
province into political crisis again along with Gogglebox, as an example be a hit – comedies take time to find
and the Prime Minister is threaten of the kind of distinctively British their audience. But at least I know for
ing to unpick the deal he signed. programmes that a privatised Chan- sure it won’t be joining the list of Ones
But there’s no sign of political nel 4 will continue to commission. That Got Away.
tension at Bafta, where DUP, SDLP, They are curious examples to choose
Labour, Tory, Lib Dem and SNP MPs since the creators of both shows have Ian Katz is chief content officer of
– including Ian Paisley jnr, whose spoken publicly about how they do Channel 4.
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2022 5
COMFORT CLASSIC
B
ritish telly was a right old
cockney knees up in the
1980s, with Peckham’s
Only Fools and Horses boss-
ing it on the BBC and
Shepherd’s Bush’s Minder
the guvnah on ITV.
Both drew huge audiences but the TV
critics were a little sniffy about Minder,
preferring John Sullivan’s sitcom to the
comic tales of ex-boxer and old lag
Terry McCann and wheeler-dealer
Arthur Daley.
Dennis Waterman, who died last
month, was the “minder”, or body-
guard of the show’s title, and he would
have been justified in sorting out the
critics. Certainly, in its grittier early
series, Minder’s writing was razor sharp
and the comic jousting of Terry and
Arthur a delight.
A glorious array of supporting char-
acters – above all, Patrick Malahide’s
morose copper, “Cheerful Charlie”
Chisholm, and Glynn Edwards’ Dave,
barman at the low-life private mem-
bers’ club, The Winchester – added
hugely to the show.
Minder was created by writer Leon
Griffiths, initially as a vehicle for
Waterman, who had made his name
playing detective sergeant George
Minder
Carter in The Sweeney. As the BFI
pointed out in its obituary, Minder
showcased “Waterman’s deceptively
deft skills as an actor”. The part
required him to be a traditional tough
guy and ladies’ man, but also vulnera-
ble and hapless – the fall guy when
Arthur’s scams unwound. Matthew Bell revels
Waterman also sang the theme tune, in the failed schemes
I Could Be So Good for You, a trick he
repeated on the title song It’s Alright on of one of the great TV
his third long-running series, New
Tricks, where he returned to the right
comic pairings of all time
side of the law, playing retired cop
Gerry Standing.
It became rapidly apparent to the
producer, Euston Films, that the rela-
tionship between Terry and Arthur was
the heartbeat of the show, which earnt
George Cole equal screen time and
Dennis Waterman (left) as Terry McCann
billing with Waterman.
and George Cole as Arthur Daley
ITV
Arthur is a greedy, cowardly, dodgy
6
Ear candy
used-car dealer, forever sacrificing
Terry to a beating or a night in the cells.
He should be a comic monster but,
thanks to Cole’s comic chops – the
actor was best known at the time as the
spiv, Flash Harry, in the St Trinian’s films
– Arthur becomes a lovable rogue.
Always on the hunt for a “nice little
earner”, Arthur – like the equally
deluded “Del Boy” Trotter in Only Fools
and Horses – sees himself as a success-
ful small businessman, the embodi-
ment of the get-rich-quick 1980s.
Equally, Rodney in Only Fools and Mind-
er’s Terry are peas from the same pod
– put upon and long-suffering.
The glory years of the two shows
span, almost identically, those of Mar-
garet Thatcher in Downing Street, and
any satire on Thatcherism was very
much intended.
Waterman bowed out after series 7,
feeling the scripts had lost their sharp-
Somethin’ Else
ness but Minder continued without him
– TV never likes ending a show at its
peak. Terry emigrated to Australia and
was replaced by a new character,
T
Arthur’s nephew Ray Daley, played by
Gary Webster, who, conveniently, here’s an old showbiz The verdict? That it’s a video game
could also handle himself in a tear up. saying along the lines adaptation so derivative that it’s actu-
Three series later, in 1994, Minder of, “You don’t rewrite ally “solidly charted”.
bowed out (though Channel 5 disas- a hit”. And so it is with The rest of the hit list is as eclectic as
trously and briefly revived it 15 years Mark Kermode and ever: Nick Cave’s new movie, This Much
later) with an episode titled The Long Simon Mayo’s Take I Know to Be True, Danish film Wild Men
Good Thursday, with Ray, Dave and – at podcast. and Cabaret’s 50th anniversary, among
last – Arthur, taken away in the back of The pair left the BBC at the begin- others.
a police van. ning of April and their new podcast is Given the blurring of the boundary
To the end, Arthur remains utterly nothing new, but it’s nice to have them between film and television, they also
oblivious to his true self, protesting: back and bickering like an old married, review select small-screen series –
“I spend my life worrying about my cinema-obsessed couple. examples of so-called “film-adjacent
fellow man, my friends, my family; The formula for their trademark television”.
making sure her indoors has a crust, “wittertainment” simply didn’t need The headline guest for episode 1 is
pushing the economy of this septic isle updating: Kermode passionately prais- the always-engaging Tom Hiddleston,
ever upwards with my entrepreneurial ing and picking apart the week’s film discussing his role in Apple TV+’s The
skills… releases, Mayo calmly keeping him Essex Serpent.
“I don’t understand – why me, why in check. The double act reached their 21st
me? Have I not always conducted my The LTLs (long-term listeners) can broadcasting anniversary this year and
life with decency and dignity? Have rest assured that they haven’t been you can tell. Like any sane person, I’m
the time-honoured values of yester- forgotten: the running jokes still run. inclined to skip the commercials, but
year deteriorated to the point where In fact, the very first review picks up so fine-tuned is their dry back-and-
there is no place left in the black econ- on unfinished business, as Kermode forth that they had me chuckling along
omy for men of vision?” n finally appraises Uncharted after months to a Nord VPN ad.
of Mayo pestering him to do so during Till death do them part. n
Minder is on ITV4 and BritBox. “them days”. Harry Bennett
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2022 7
WORKING
LIVES
Sound
editor
Alan Bennett’s Talking
Heads, with Maxine Peake
BBC
Emma Butt works across drama Do you create these sounds? but deaf programming still needs a
and documentary, recently mixing the Some of them, yes. But anything I can’t sound mix. It was a good show to train
sound for the BBC One series Alan find in a sound effects library – usually on – the clients were lovely and it
Bennett’s Talking Heads and Amazon sounds created by human movement – wasn’t complicated.
Prime film Arsène Wenger: Invincible. is created by a Foley artist. They mimic
Having spent the first decade of her an actor’s actions to add authenticity to Why did you move to the UK?
working life in Dublin – where she the sound in post-production. I wanted to specialise in drama but
worked on Lenny Abrahamson’s there were three or four sound mixers
much-loved film What Richard Did How did you become a sound editor? ahead of me at Screen Scene. I decided
– she now freelances in the UK. I wanted to work in music, so I studied to move to the UK, but it was difficult
sound engineering at university, Pulse at the beginning because the industry
What does the job involve? College in Dublin, but the course also here doesn’t pay much attention to
There are two sides to the job: the covered TV and radio sound. Irish credits, even though I’d worked
dialogue and the sound effects. For the I applied for work at music studios on big shows shot in Ireland such as
first, I take the dialogue recorded on and post-production facilities, and Ripper Street and Game of Thrones.
set and remove the background noise, Dublin post-production house Screen I experienced bullying at a couple of
making it as clear as possible. Scene was the first to offer me a job. I production houses, before deciding to
I also create an ADR (automated worked as a runner, then as an audio go freelance. I had no safety net –
dialogue replacement) list for any lines assistant and worked my way up the either I made it or went back to my
of dialogue that we either can’t tidy up, company. I stayed there for nine years. family in Dublin. So far, it’s going well.
have been mumbled or added to the
script – actors have to re-record them What was the first TV programme you Is bullying a problem in the post-
in the studio. I then add sound effects worked on? production sector?
not recorded on set such as cars pass- An RTÉ programme for deaf viewers Yes. Because of the intense pressure to
ing by or footsteps. called Hands On – it sounds strange, meet delivery dates, you work really
8
long hours with little support. It’s one The problem is that, although we still
of the reasons you see so few women, get the same amount of time to work
who are more likely to have caring on a programme, clients’ expectations
responsibilities, on staff at facilities have increased. Because of the new
– they want you to be at their beck tech, they expect us to do more and
and call at all times. more to clean and polish the sound. In
the past, they were more accepting of
How long do you have to work on “noisy’ pieces of dialogue.
a programme?
I work in both documentary and What are the best things you’ve
drama – starting out in Ireland, where worked on?
the TV and film industry is small, Lenny Abrahamson’s What Richard Did,
sound editors don’t tend to specialise: an absolutely beautiful movie. Recently,
they work across genres. I loved working on the Amazon docu-
With drama, I get 10 days on an mentary Arsène Wenger: Invincible and
hour-long episode to edit the dialogue. BBC One’s Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads.
That would include supervising the ADR
sessions and cutting in the replacement What advice would you give to some-
dialogue. A sound-effects editor would Amazon Prime one wanting to become a sound editor?
get about the same amount of time. You don’t necessarily have to go to
With a documentary, you get three university, but you do need to know
days, and often there’s only one person how to use the software – get the free
Arsène Wenger: Invincible
doing all of the sound editing. A lot of version of Pro Tools and practise. Then,
the time, I’m working on a programme apply to post-production houses for
right up until transmission. effects. Instead, we use a “loop group” runner positions and work your way
of about 10 actors, who come into the up the ranks.
Where do you work? studio, stand in front of a mic, and
It’s a 50/50 split between home and scream and shout as if they’re fighting. You recently wrote a report, “Diversity
facilities houses. It’s a good work-life in post-production sound”, for the Sir
balance. What are the best and worst parts Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diver-
of the job? sity – is sound becoming more diverse?
What do you need to do your job? A happy client at the end of the sound Gender diversity has improved but, in
A computer, a good set of speakers and mix – sound post-production is usually terms of black and ethnic minority
sound software Pro Tools. the last part of the process, so that’s diversity, we have a long, long way to
where the client gets to see everything go – and it’s even worse for disability.
What’s the balance between technical they’ve been working for on a prog Some companies are really good and
know-how and artistic flair? ramme come to life. It can be a beauti- look beyond middle-aged white men,
It depends on the content of a job; ful moment. but most facilities don’t.
some programmes require more sound The bad parts are long days, moving A lot of sound specialists are free-
design and effects, and the editor schedules and tricky clients, but the lance but the people who hire tend to
therefore needs flair and creativity. A final mix makes up for all of those. I rely on their contacts books, which are
straightforward programme with talk- love the job – I couldn’t imagine doing filled with the names of people they’ve
ing heads demands good sound clarity, anything else. worked with for the past 10 or 20 years,
which requires greater technical skills. when there was little diversity in the
How has the job changed since industry. They need to change the way
Can everything, as people often say, be you started? they hire.
fixed in the edit? I’ve been working in sound for
It’s not always fixable – getting the 15 years; I started when I was 19. As a What TV series or genre would you
sound right on set matters. freelancer, you now have to be on call love to work on?
24/7 – clients expect a reply from you A space show – we don’t know what
Are there any tricks of the trade you at any time of the day. space sounds like, so I would get to
can share with us? Technology has improved over the make up sounds. n
If there’s a battle scene in a show, the years – we now have software that can
sound isn’t recorded on the shoot – identify the human voice and remove Sound editor Emma Butt was
and we don’t rely on stock sound all the background noise around it. interviewed by Matthew Bell.
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2022 9
The Midwich Cuckoos
Sky
Mummy’s little
nightmares
A
wide-eyed couple
moving out of London.
Sky has recast sci-fi resonance,” says Manpreet Dosanjh,
commissioning editor at Sky Studios.
A single mother re- classic The Midwich “It has all the ingredients of the classic
entering dating life. genre piece Sky is known for – thrill-
A prep school teacher Cuckoos from a female ing, cinematic, action-packed, but set
working late. An illicit
affair. Welcome to Midwich, a seem-
perspective, reports within a very recognisable British
community. That was a proposition
ingly normal suburban town – until the Shilpa Ganatra that felt uniquely Sky.”
day something strange happens and Until now, the story has been most
many of its residents are temporarily and it’s been given a 2022 update famously portrayed as Village of the
left unconscious. After they wake, the courtesy of Sky Max and an all-star Damned, the 1960 cult movie later
women of child-bearing age discover cast that includes Keeley Hawes, Max reworked by Halloween director John
they’re pregnant. When the children are Beesley, Aisling Loftus, Ukweli Roach Carpenter. Both gave Wyndham’s story
born, they’re not quite human. and Synnove Karlsen. a higher profile, but this also made
Depicting relatable characters and “The novel is a classic, and yet has obtaining the rights to retell the story
eerie children alongside thought- never been adapted for TV, so there trickier. Robert Cheek, Route 24 execu-
provoking questions, John Wyndham’s was an opportunity to tell a story that tive producer, who co-produced the
1957 sci-fi novel is a story for the ages, still has unnerving contemporary series explains: “We have an overall
10deal with the estate of John Wyndham nuts,” Farr says. “But they have to be motherhood. As part of this, he
but its rights were very complex able to smuggle themselves into our switched the central character of
because there’s John Wyndham’s world. The original story relies upon an Zellaby, a therapist played by Keeley
estate, the estate of his wife, and then era where it was easy for the Children to Hawes, from a man to a woman – “a
there are the remake rights from the be kept secret from the world at large. listener not a lecturer”.
original film which went through Our world is about super-exposure. For Troughton, as both a Wyndham
Warner Bros. It was a big mess There are still lots of secrets, but some- fan and a female director, directing this
of complexity.” how they’re not kept in obvious dark- much-loved sci-fi story was “like get-
With Snowed-In Productions brought ness.” Plus, in mimicking their mothers, ting the keys to the kingdom”. She says:
in as co-producers to disentangle the “they’re more like cuckoos than the “I’ve done English home-grown sci-fi,
issue, the project was free to begin at originals”. such as Doctor Who, Torchwood and The
the start of 2019. “The book is beautiful in itself, it’s a Sarah Jane Adventures, and also the west-
The subsequent pandemic that classic,” he continues. “But it’s about erns Tin Star and Baghdad Central. In the
affected its filming schedule provided making it resonate for us now and not earlier days of my career, I felt like I was
an added sense of relevance to Wynd- feel in any sense like a museum piece. banging at the doors. There’s a certain
ham’s sci-fi. “In a lot of John Wyndham I did that a little bit with The Night auteurship behind certain genres, but I
stories, one thing changes in the ordi-
nary world, but this has such implica-
tions that the way we all live is
suddenly exposed,” says Cheek. “Walk-
ing through central London when there
was nobody there, as I did during lock-
down, is an image straight from The Day
of the Triffids [another of Wyndham’s
novels]. It was like the world caught up
with us in a way that was not good.”
Much of the series’ other resonance
was intentional. Cheek brought in
long-time acquaintance David Farr
(who adapted John le Carré’s The Night
Manager for BBC One and Philip K Dick’s
Electric Dreams for Channel 4) to write
The Midwich Cuckoos
Sky
the screenplay. Farr reworked the story
into a contemporary eight-parter that
takes prime position in Sky’s summer anager, which was only 20 years old,
M like smashing down genres that we
slate. but with anything that has a dated haven’t been allowed into.”
Wyndham’s original story was writ- element to it, you have to make it work Of her direction of the series, she
ten under the weight of the cold war, in your world.” says: “Female gaze is now a misused
but, for today’s audience, Farr teased The series’s striking tone – its moody phrase, because it’s anything other
out a newer crisis – humankind’s feel, confident pace and stylish visuals than the established male, white gaze.
future on Planet Earth. “I think young – was initially laid out by director Alice It should be inclusive of the people
people, particularly, feel that humanity Troughton (Doctor Who, Baghdad Central) who haven’t had the chance to be the
is deeply flawed,” he says. “We’re in a mood board. Leafing through it, subject, rather than the object, of the
questioning, are we coming to an end? with eerie images of too-perfect white director’s lens.
Is there a better form? Is there a more picket fences and people dramatically “That was something they very
efficient species? I think The Midwich passed out, it’s certainly transferred to much wanted to take on board with
Cuckoos speaks beautifully to that in a screen. Within the team effort, she cites this because the book never goes into
way that asks questions about our own the contributions of cinematographer detail about the experience of the
responsibilities. David Katznelson (The Rescue, It’s a Sin) women who are pregnant.”
“The wonderful thing about meta- and RTS-award-winning composer At the very least, it broadens the
phorical stories or allegories is that Hannah Peel, nominated for last year’s themes explored in this provocative
they’re fluid and can shift and change Mercury Prize. story. That, says Farr, is exactly what
for different times and different places.” Farr’s sparse script left room for television is for. “I see television as
Farr changed specific elements, too. cinematic elements, which helped, too. there to respond to the world we live
Midwich itself has morphed from a “Hitchcock is probably my ultimate in,” he says. “That’s when it’s at its best,
small village to a well-to-do commuter film-maker and, for him, it’s less about because we’re all watching it and we’re
town on London’s outskirts. And the dialogue and more about what’s hap- all talking to each other about it. It
Children are no longer represented as pening in the space,” he says. “I try to feels to me that this is what society
having no genetic resemblance to their write something that encourages should be about: raising and debating
mothers; in the novel, the Children all directors like Alice to explore that.” issues and asking questions. Stories are
have unusual golden eyes, light, blonde The writer also wanted it to be told one very wonderful way to do that.” n
hair and pale, silvery skin. from a female perspective to rebalance
“I’m aware this change will be the the story for a modern-day audience; The Midwich Cuckoos debuted on Sky
most controversial among the sci-fi essentially, the story revolves around Max on 2 June.
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2022 11Jay Hunt interviews
Ben Frow in a lively
RTS encounter
that reveals why
Channel 5 continues
to defy gravity
Paul Hampartsoumian
Ben Frow
An audience with
the outsider
B
en Frow is nothing if not He told her that when he first decade earlier. Frow’s initial success
candid. During a worked at Channel 5 as controller was based on his uncanny knack for
high-energy RTS two- of features and entertainment, from creating factual shows that punched
way with Jay Hunt, the 2004 to 2007, a lot of work needed above their weight – in a previous
architect of Channel 5’s doing. “There was a pungent smell incarnation at Channel 4 his hits
revival gave an insight about the channel for many years,” he included Property Ladder and How Clean
into how he’s turned around a broad- said. “I was part of creating that smell Is Your House? – and signing up big-
caster that last year enjoyed its strong- and my vision was to get rid of it.” name presenters such as Jeremy Pax-
est performance since 2009. He returned to Channel 5 in 2013 as man, Michael Portillo, Jane McDonald,
“Quite a few of you turned up think- director of programmes – he is now Michael Palin and Jeremy Vine; Dan
ing this would be the channel control- chief content officer, UK, Paramount, Walker made his debut reading 5 News
lers’ version of Fight Club,” joked Hunt, with a range of responsibilities that this month, replacing Sian Williams.
one of British TV’s most successful extend beyond the core channel. He More recently, despite his limited
content supremos, most notably at immediately set about modernising an budget, Frow has guided Channel 5
Channel 4 – she is now creative direc- entity once associated with US imports, through an impressive line-up of
tor, Europe, worldwide video at Apple. such as CSI, and the long-running Aus- drama. “I’m not across the dramas. I
She said the two were not mates but tralian soap Neighbours, recently axed. don’t read the dramas,” he said. Suc-
that she had been very impressed by Today, Channel 5 is barely recognis- cesses have included a revival of All
Frow’s achievements. able as the broadcaster it was nearly a Creatures Great and Small and the Sally
12Channel 5
Cruising with Jane McDonald
Lindsay-starring Cold Call. To date,
under Frow’s leadership, the station ‘YOU CANNOT – connecting with an audience…”
Frow remembered how, when he
has commissioned 60 hours of drama. PLAY AT became director of programmes, he
In an entertaining and often humor-
ous session, Hunt teased out Frow’s TELEVISION. IT’S gave his commissioning team an ace
card that they were allowed to use on
approach to creating the widely A CREATIVE JOB, a project that he didn’t want but which
admired broadcaster whose eclectic
line-up embraces The Hotel Inspector, IT CANNOT BE AN they believed in.
He explained: “I want them [the
signature show Cruising with Jane McDon-
ald, Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly, Happy
INDULGENT JOB’ commissioners] to take me to a place
and force me to watch something that
Campers: The Caravan Park and children’s I wouldn’t necessarily have agreed to.
eco series Go Green with the Grimwades. I want to give them the space to argue
Dressed in trademark black (and his team as the advertising market their case…
sockless), Frow revealed to Hunt that collapsed overnight. “I know I’m nearly always right.
quick decision-making and getting But, ultimately, what he described I’m rarely wrong. [But] I want them
people such as McDonald, Portillo, and as his “pragmatic approach” had left to prove me wrong… force me to reap-
Palin (who recently visited Iraq for the Channel 5 occupying a stronger place. praise a subject, a talent, or a genre
broadcaster) had been key to trans- Last year, the broadcaster raised its differently.”
forming Channel 5. overall viewing share by 5% – and by a Apart from being challenged by his
How did he decide which ideas to whopping 11% in primetime. For ABC1 team, how does he keep his creative
greenlight? “You’re looking for some- viewers, Channel 5 enjoyed its best antenna sharp? “You read the papers,
thing that will solve a problem, get you performance for 15 years, with 7% year- and everyone is talking about how much
out of a hole. You can only take the risks on-year growth for this demographic. money they’re making from their prop-
if you bring in the viewers and if the All this was achieved at a time of erty. That was how Property Ladder was
advertisers are happy and the market- intense competition from the stream- born. The Yorkshire Vet just popped into
ing department is happy,” he insisted. ers and his public service rivals. my head. I liked the sound of that. It’s
“You can’t play at television. It’s a crea- So, how did he know what would got a warm, cosy feeling.”
tive job, it cannot be an indulgent job.” work, pressed Hunt. “I don’t know. Is it Of Cruising with Jane McDonald, he said:
He recalled that during the first lock- age? [Frow is 61 in July] I’m not trained “It’s a very me show. I was crystal clear
down he had felt incredible pressure in media so it’s not something I’ve about what I wanted to do. I was walk-
and responsibility for the business and learnt. I come from a theatre family ing the dog on Clapham Common. �
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2022 13Channel 5
Cold Call
� Oh, cruising. Jane McDonald [laugh-
ter].… We utilise Jane brilliantly. Inter- ‘WE ARE NOT A watch at 9:00pm because there’s a
Channel 5 drama.’
estingly, when the first cut came in it CHANNEL THAT “You cut through all the choices that
was a very different show – very
sneery.” Frow ensured that it was IS SUPPOSED TO we have and say: ‘This is a place we
will give you what you want and make
re-edited to be warm and cosy. INNOVATE AND… you feel good and pleased to have
He continued: “I’m not pretending
that our job is to reinvent the wheel. BREAK NEW spent time with us.’ I try to apply that
to every single programme.… If we fail,
We are not a channel that is supposed GROUND. THAT IS we fail, but we can only fail if we’ve
to innovate and create new directions
and break new ground. That is not my NOT MY REMIT’ done our very best to make sure the
content is good.”
remit. We are a commercial channel It may be that Frow’s unusual back-
that has to make a lot of money. It ground for a British TV executive helps
would be remiss of me to be negli- non-metropolitan flavour, perhaps him to connect with parts of the UK
gently experimental. personified by Jane McDonald, and its that, say, the BBC can find it hard to
“I see something that works on popularity in the regions. relate to. “I am an outsider,” he said. “I
another channel and think: what is our Hunt asked if Channel 5 had unin- was an outsider at my choir school ’cos
way of doing it? It could be walking tentionally become the levelling-up I couldn’t really sing that well. At my
programmes. I think: how are we going broadcaster? Frow replied: “We have a comprehensive school, I was a gay boy
to do walking programmes that say lot of regional voices. We film all over who spoke posh, so I was an outsider
something about us? the country and don’t make any pro- there. As a costume-maker, I wasn’t as
“It’s a very pragmatic approach to grammes in London. A lot of our pre- good as other people. In a way, being
thinking about ideas. We look at what senters have regional accents.” an outsider liberates you, it gives me
works, we look at what worked five, He added: “Nowadays, we’ve all got the confidence to sit on these panels
10 years ago and what we could rein- so much choice. The key point is to try and fight my corner.”
vent. Should we bring back entertain- and provide content where people go, What is clear is that, under Frow,
ment shows? What would our take on ‘I really want to watch that because I Channel 5 appears to ignore some of
property be?” enjoy being in that person’s company. the things his PSB competitors obsess
No less a figure than culture minister Or I love being taken to that surprising about. He couldn’t care less about his
Nadine Dorries recently described place. Or I love the tension that this shows having a global audience – or,
Channel 5 as “the levelling-up broad- brings. Or I love the fact that I don’t come to that, what the streamers are
caster”, presumably referring to its have to think about what I am going to doing. Hit shows tend to start off as local
14hits, whether it’s Strictly or MasterChef.
He is not interested in chasing ‘IT WOULD BE commissioners is to provide the sched-
uler with as much ammunition as pos-
younger viewers. Hunt noted that he’d REMISS OF ME TO sible, ammunition that can work for us
ended up with an audience that is
more diverse in terms of regionality
BE NEGLIGENTLY in many different scenarios – male,
female, broad, light, dark…
and is skewing older and often upmar- EXPERIMENTAL’ “My eye is mainly on the four other
ket. That’s not a bad sweet spot for terrestrial channels. How can we grow
generating revenue. our share year on year? I am not inter-
Frow responded: “As you get older ested in week on week. I know that last
you stop listening to Radio 1 and start year on this day we got a 4.7% share.”
listening to Radio 4.… Look, there are a This year, Channel 5 has so far
lot of other channels chasing the enjoyed five months of continued
Paul Hampartsoumian
young. We all know that young people Jay Hunt interviewing Ben Frow growth. Not that he is resting on his
are very hard to get. They don’t watch laurels – especially with the World
television in a conventional way. I Cup coming up in November, he needs
could piss a lot of money away trying to get more in the bank in terms of
to chase them.” audience share.
He needs no reminding that big, suc- Regarding his decision to defy the
cessful shows need to appeal to a wide sceptics and build a successful drama
range of viewers, comprising different portfolio, he told the RTS that his
demographics. Without naming names, approach was identical to his attitude
he categorised some programmes on to factual: “We didn’t have that much
the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 as “lazy”, money, so we had to find people who
“second-rate” and “mediocre”. wanted to be creative. A lot of people
Including his own channel in this want to do drama but they’re not going
harsh analysis, Frow said he some- to be given the opportunity because it
times looked across the schedules and is a bit of a closed shop and it’s snooty.
thought, “Is this really the best we can “We had to have drama because it is
be?” He added that “99 times out of very popular. I was surprised at how
100, I can tell when they won’t work. quickly we ramped it up.… We now
Viewers aren’t stupid and they know
when something is mediocre. We need ‘WE ALL KNOW know what works.
“Like factual, the challenge is that
to be brave and anarchic. If we are THAT YOUNG we’ve got to have some stuff that is
going to go down, it should be all guns
blazing.” PEOPLE ARE surprising. Crime does well, thrillers do
well, but we’ve got to have the pieces
Frow’s favourite Channel 5 meeting VERY HARD TO that make people go, ‘Wow’, and take
of the week is the regular 5:00pm Tues-
day get-together, when all the sched- GET… I COULD some risks with shows that are so not
Channel 5.” n
ules are published and he and his team PISS A LOT OF
forensically analyse them to look for
opportunities to place their own shows.
MONEY AWAY Report by Steve Clarke. ‘In conversation
with Ben Frow’ was an RTS national event
“Channel 4 plays a drama against a TRYING TO held at the Cavendish Conference Centre
BBC drama. Why are they doing that?
It’s insane.… My job and [that of] the
CHASE THEM’ in central London on 7 June. The producers
were Harriet Otoo and Clare Laycock.
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2022 15Mud, mud, glorious mud
Hazy Pics/Alamy
T
he phrase “go big or go “It works for everyone, except rival
home” could have been Glastonbury is back festivals, who say it creates a licence-
coined for the Glastonbury
Festival. There are two
after a three-year fee subsided event. Other festivals
don’t have that exposure in their toolkit,
ways to experience the absence. Shilpa Ganatra and have to pay more for their artists.”
world’s most important
music weekender: those with the
finds out how the BBC Still, after Glastonbury’s pandemic-
related absence, it returns this year at
stamina and luck in the ticket lottery plans to cover the UK’s the end of this month with Billie Eilish,
can camp out at Worthy Farm, mud and Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar
all; or there’s a viable “home” option, biggest music festival headlining. The corresponding cover-
with the BBC, a cuppa and biscuits. age promises to “be bigger in scale and
Since the BBC gained the rights to top of their game in 1997, witnessed range than ever before”, says the BBC’s
Glasto for its 1997 edition, the capacity the legendary headline set from David director of music, Lorna Clarke.
of the festival has doubled, but the TV Bowie in 2000, and watched as Jay-Z Alison Howe, executive producer for
coverage and viewership has increased redefined the remit of Glastonbury in BBC Studios, adds: “We’ve had the big-
exponentially. That’s particularly the 2008, as did Beyoncé in 2011. The last gest enforced break any of us have ever
case since the BBC gained distribution Glasto in 2019 saw Kylie’s “Legends” had. So, there’s a real sense of doing
rights in 2010 – it is now beamed to slot reap 3.2 million viewers – the everything we can within our power
around 100 territories across the globe. festival’s highest ratings yet – “and and our budgets to go as big as we can.”
James Hall, a freelance journalist higher than for EastEnders”, notes Hall. Ahead of the weekend itself, BBC
who covers Glastonbury for The Daily “It’s a win-win for Glastonbury, the Two documentary Glastonbury: 50 Years
Telegraph, has been attending since BBC and for the artists,” he suggests. “It and Counting will chart its social and
1992. “That was during the time of allows Glastonbury to attract the best musical history, while another doc
Channel 4’s 4 Goes To Glastonbury and, line-ups, especially as the artists’ fees will go behind the scenes of Stormzy’s
even then, I was protective of our little are small compared with other festi- powerful headline performance in 2019.
secret getting out,” he says. vals. The fee doesn’t cover the produc- Once the festival site opens, cover-
“Since then, the BBC has been tion costs, so the bells and whistles age will run across all four linear chan-
instrumental in taking the festival have to be paid for out of the artists’ nels for the first time (and last time, as
mainstream. Now, you go on an aero- own budgets – rumour has it that BBC Four will soon be online-only),
plane and you can watch a Coldplay Stormzy’s pyros cost £16,000 a burst. alongside expanded iPlayer coverage.
set from Glastonbury – it really has But they’re willing to do this because Clara Amfo, Jo Whiley and Lauren
turned into something else.” they know it’s going to be watched by Laverne return as core presenters of
Viewers have seen Radiohead at the hundreds of thousands of people. the TV coverage, this year joined by
16Radio 1’s Jack Saunders. “His energy and producers that we discover what it Taylor. “We know things take roughly
levels are immense, which is pretty enables us to show. And that will build. this length of time and they need to
important at Glastonbury, particularly That’s the trajectory we’re on, and happen in this sort of sequence.”
at 1:00am,” says Howe. we’re taking it to the next stage.” Then it’s about dealing with the
This year also sees BBC Studios’ Preparations begin for the festival at unexpected (“usually weather-related”,
Glastonbury HQ move to Cardiff. the start of the year. “We start going says Howe) and changing narratives as
“We’ve always worked with some of down in in January, when the cows are the festival progresses. That often calls
our colleagues in BBC Studios in Car- all out in the woods,” says Taylor. “It for large-scale changes with little notice.
diff, because there’s lots of people transforms into a place where you can It’s difficult to think of more intense,
there that know and love Glastonbury, put on these massive stage shows with demanding conditions in which to
but we’ve formalised it for this year’s huge lighting operations, huge pyro- create such voluminous multichannel
event,” says Howe. technics and lasers… and those have output. But that means Glasto provides
Technical improvements are only to just grown and grown. world-class training for those up for
be expected after a two-year hiatus, “Over the years, the challenge has the challenge. “It relies on people
BBC
and the main change for 2022 is
upgrading to ultra-high-definition TV ‘IF COLLEAGUES olunteering to do it. If you’re not a
v
person that enjoys being at Glaston-
(UHD) for much of the Pyramid Stage
coverage. Mostly trialled in sport
WANT TO SIT IN bury, Glastonbury is not the place for
you to be,” says Taylor. “With all due
events, it will be the first time that THE DRY, THEY respect to other colleagues, if they
UHD is used in a major music event,
with specific benefits for this audience.
CAN GO TO want to go and sit in the dry, they can
go to Wimbledon that summer.”
“The stage coverage will look glossier
as a result and the cameras will allow
WIMBLEDON’ “It can be a gruelling place, there’s
no question,” agrees Howe. “But
us to show the night-time audience equally, I have been inundated with
better,” says Peter Taylor, BBC Studios’ people who, though they’ve got lots
head of operations. been to find new ways of shooting it of other jobs, have already earmarked
“In the daytime, you look up the hill when, ultimately, we’re still constrained days off in case there might be a job
[towards] the big stages and you can by where we can put cameras because for them at Glastonbury.
really see that scale of the 80,000-strong there are thousands of people there.” “At the end of it you’re exhausted, but
crowd. By the time it’s the headline act, The stage crews arrive in earnest on you feel like you’ve just done a year’s
they’re all standing in the dark, and you the Tuesday of festival week, divided work. And, as professionals, a lot of
lose a bit of that atmosphere. With the into three presenting teams, a VT team, people love that.
cameras that we’re using, I think we’ll be and a 25-strong team for each of the “Whether you’re a runner and it’s
able to get further and see that crowd. five stages that are live-streamed. the maddest thing you’ve ever done, or
“We’ve got this technology and it’s When it comes to show time, “Glas- you’ve done as many as I have, it’s still
clever stuff,” he continues. “But it’s tonbury is a site like no other, because a shared unique experience.” n
only when we get it into the hands of if you try and plan something down to
the creative people like our directors the second, you will fall over”, says Glastonbury 2022 runs from 22 to 26 June.
Television www.rts.org.uk June 2022 17The Outlaws
BBC
T Crime and
he eagerly awaited sec-
ond series of Stephen
Merchant’s comedy
thriller The Outlaws
received its premiere in
community
Bristol in front of a sell-
out, home-town audience, ahead of its
return to BBC One on 5 June.
The first episode of a series that
follows the lives of seven minor felons
payback
completing a Community Payback
sentence marked a hugely confident
return, delivering big laughs and jeop-
ardy as the characters try to escape the
clutches of a violent drug lord.
Comedy thrillers are a tricky propo-
sition: the risk is that they are neither
comic nor thrilling. That is something As The Outlaws returns to BBC One, the
The Outlaws avoids by being very good
at both, often at the same time.
RTS in Bristol hears the creators’ formula for
The series was created by Merchant mixing comedy and drama
and US film-maker Elgin James, best
known for the Amazon Prime crime background, Merchant said he and Executive producer Luke Alkin from
series Mayans MC. “He’s renowned for Elgin shared similar interests. “He told Big Talk Productions took Merchant’s
tough, gritty drama,” said Merchant. me that, when he was in a gang, he idea to the BBC’s comedy department,
“Elgin himself ran with gangs when he liked to read, but he didn’t want the which instantly greenlit the show: “It
was growing up, and did some prison other gang members to know he liked wasn’t just the brilliance of the scripts
time. He always jokes about the fact that reading books, so he’d hide [them]…. but also the timing – the distinctions
he and I together are an unlikely mix. This is a tough gang member reading between comedy commissioning and
“This is going to be hard to believe Pride and Prejudice. So, it seemed to us drama commissioning were breaking
but I’ve been in very few street gangs completely believable that you could down.”
and spent very little time in prison.” have humour and then moments of He added that Big Talk’s early suc-
Despite the obvious differences in great tension. That was what life was.” cesses, such as Shaun of the Dead and
18Hot Fuzz, were also known for “melding pandemic. “It was a mad idea and very exactly like San Francisco. And the genres, particularly with comedy. It’s exhausting but we managed to stagger good thing was, because we’re in the part of the heritage of our company.” through.… It helped us in a way because pandemic, as Gamba says, we couldn’t Merchant wears many hats on The we were like a team in the trenches go out and show him that it wasn’t. Outlaws: co-creator, writer, actor (he fighting through and everyone getting “We seemed to hit it off and he came plays lonely lawyer Greg), executive to know each other.” to Bristol.… It was nerve-racking producer and even director of episodes “It feels like a proper love letter to because we were filming in a pandemic in series 1. “As an actor, you see it from the city,” said MacDonald. Gunning and he’s 78 years old, so you’re always a a different perspective… from the added: “I think Bristol’s the ninth main little bit jumpy… but we managed to get inside out… whereas, as a writer or character in the show – it looks so though it without him dying, so it was director, you’re on the outside looking great on screen and I’m so pleased the the best outcome, really.” in. I have great faith in the actors tell- world’s getting to see it in all its glory.” Hollywood legend Walken, surely the ing us when something feels phoney. Alkin added: “It’s a strange thing but definition of a cult actor, plays small- “I hope the actors would say that I’m contemporary Bristol hasn’t been seen time crook Frank, and is a huge catch for not precious about the dialogue and if that much on screen, because it’s got a the series. “We always wanted a char- they’ve got an improvement, an unique atmosphere and culture, and it acter who felt like he’d fallen to Earth improvisation or a note on it, then I’m looks great.” and landed in Bristol,” added Merchant. happy to welcome that.” Both Merchant and Cole are Bristol Will there be another outing for The “I feel very free to have a bit of natives. The latter recalled: “I’ve got so Outlaws? “We have ideas for a third Stephen Merchant in The Outlaws BBC improv here and there,” said Jessica much family here… and it was nice to series, but if I say it’s definitely happen- Gunning who plays Diane, the deluded be in the same city as them – but I ing and it doesn’t then I’ll have embar- community project supervisor. “The couldn’t see them because we were in rassed myself… but hopefully it will. original scripts are a great foundation the pandemic. It was bittersweet: “Originally, the thought was that you – I thought they were brill.” you’re doing what you love and you could have a different set of offenders “It was a real joy – the actors were want to share that with the people you in different cities… but, not only have amazing and you could rely on them love, but you can’t see them.” we enjoyed filming in Bristol, we’ve to get the tone right. I had the time of Referencing the latest Downing fallen in love with the characters.… So, my life,” added Alicia MacDonald who Street partygate revelations, Merchant if we can bring them back, we will.” n directed episodes 3 to 6. interrupted, to huge cheers from the Gamba Cole plays Christian, whose audience: “You didn’t go and have a Report by Matthew Bell. ‘The Outlaws relationship with Rani (Rhianne Bar- drink, perhaps at a leaving do?” series 2 screening and Q&A’ was an reto) develops in series 2. He said: “I’ve Merchant recalled flying to Connecti- RTS West of England event held at the worked with [Rhianne] before [on US cut to entice Christopher Walken, who Watershed Cinema in Bristol on 24 May. drama Hanna) so we already had that won an Oscar for The Deer Hunter, on to It was hosted by the writer Chinonyerem trust.… We’ve got a great friendship.” the show. “He asked me what Bristol Odimba Odimba. Suzy Lambert produced Series 1 and 2 of The Outlaws were was like. I said it was very hilly, colour- the event with the assistance of Big Talk shot back-to-back in Bristol to make ful, has a big suspension bridge, it’s on Productions, Four Eyes and Rich Cain of up for time lost during the Covid-19 the water, it’s artsy and bohemian, so it’s Ian Johnson Publicity. Television www.rts.org.uk June 2022 19
PSB
on the
rack
Across Europe public
service TV faces
multiple challenges,
explains Claire Enders
T
here is a sea change afoot
across European public
service broadcasting (PSB).
Alongside the ongoing
tumult that surrounds
the future of the BBC and
Channel 4, several continental European
France Télévisions
PSBs have recently undergone signifi-
cant reforms to their funding models.
Backs to the wall:
All this comes at a time when they face
France Télévisions
an intensifying battle for eyeballs and
co-production Germinal
production resources with predomi-
nantly US-based streaming giants.
There is significant variation in the leaves 24 out of 56 EBU countries state budget financed by a hypothe-
market conditions, public perceptions using a licence fee to fund at least part cated PSB tax (Finland and Sweden);
and financial health of PSBs, but there of their PSB systems, with many meth- or replacing it with direct funding from
is commonality in terms of the audi- ods employed for collecting the fee. the state budget (North Macedonia,
ence and revenue challenges they face. The most widespread is via electricity Norway and Romania).
Across the countries of the European suppliers (12 countries) and the PSBs One important outlier is Switzer-
Broadcasting Union (EBU), between themselves (seven countries). Other land: the “No Billag” referendum in
2015 and 2020, the total weekly reach methods include using the tax authori- 2018 proposed the abolition of direct
of the PSBs dropped by 5 percentage ties (France and Israel), postal services and indirect public funding for the
points to 61%; for 15-24s, it dropped by (the Irish Republic), and private com- Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG
10 points to only 35%. panies (Switzerland and the UK). SSR). The motion was overwhelmingly,
A worrying aspect of some of these The future of the licence-fee model rejected by 72% of voters. This was a
reforms is that they contribute to the is at stake in many territories, includ- significant endorsement of the funda-
erosion of impartial news and current ing France; the UK will launch a mental purpose of PSB stress-tested in
affairs, provision of which has enabled review of alternative funding models the public arena.
electors to be informed and make their for the BBC in July. Ireland is also The reasons for recent changes are
choices at the polls independently. potentially in line to follow suit later varied. Denmark’s shift was motivated
Hungary is an outstanding example of this decade. by opposition to the level of the fee
how the decline of this vital institu- The three main reform options we and the advantage it was seen to afford
tional foundation can undermine a have seen play out in the market are: PSBs. In Sweden, it was driven by fears
well-functioning democracy. changing the fee into a household surrounding the fee’s outdated terms
Between 2009 and 2022, 11 EBU charge (Germany); replacing it with a and its inefficient collection (evasion
territories dropped the licence fee. This special, ringfenced fund outside the hovered between 11% and 15%). The
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