"It’s the closest I'll ever get to being on Big Brother”: Big Boys creator Jack Rooke on freshers, grief and growing up

Jack Rooke (centre) with Dylan Llewellyn as Jack and Camille Coduri (credit: Channel 4)

It’s 2013, and the characters in Jack Rooke’s new sitcom Big Boys are navigating the first night of freshers at a typically terrible student bar. Apologies to any millennials horrified to hear their recent university experience described as a period piece, but Rooke’s sharp observations of early 2010s British culture are viscerally transportive to those halcyon days of Tumblr, Cherry Sourz and Darude’s ‘Sandstorm’.

Getting Intimate: The Evolution of the Intimacy Coordinator

In the wake of reports of #MeToo and on-set sexual harassment and bullying, the role of the Intimacy Coordinator in the film and television industry has become an imperative part of productions creating a safe and comfortable set for actors who are taking part in intimate and sensitive scenes. With producers, broadcasters and streamers more commonly working with intimacy coordinators, the role has continued to evolve over the years.  

Summer Indie Networking Event with Liam Keelan

Liam Keelan will address the indies and discuss his ambitions for Disney and the opportunities for indies across all genres. The event will be an opportunity for indies to connect with one another and the we recommend attendees also buy a ticket for a future star within their organisation; this we believe will ensure the event will create greater opportunity for interaction and exchange of ideas. RTS NW Student Awards winners will also be invited to attend the event. Ticket price includes a drink and light supper. 

Kiell Smith-Bynoe on the acting grind, Ghosts series four and his new Comedy Blap Red Flag

It was the last day of Edinburgh Fringe Festival where he was performing in the improvised comedy show BattleActs! for the third year in a row, and he was trying to buy some drinks at the bar. But far from ruing the loss of the round, he was jubilant. “It’s the happiest card decline I’ve ever had,” he says, “because I remember just knowing […] that I was going to be in a show that I really loved.” You see, earlier that day, he was told he had been cast in Stath Lets Flats.

In conversation with Ben Frow

What does it take to turn a channel around? Jay Hunt, Creative Director, Europe, Worldwide Video – Apple, and former Chief Creative Officer at Channel 4 and Controller of BBC One, will explore that question with Ben Frow as Channel 5 marks its 25th year with a remarkable change in perception and a growth trajectory which out-performed all other UK PSBs in 2021.

Gary Neville: from nervous presenter to football’s spokesman

It’s the day after Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football and alongside fellow lead pundit Jamie Carragher, Neville had spent one of the programme’s pre-match segments discussing club ownership in light of Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich problem. It turns out not everyone appreciated his U-turn on the issue, arguing now that all clubs owned by states should be called into question, including Manchester City. But when it’s your job to give your opinion on debates fuelled by the fiercest of club loyalties, bollockings are par for the course.