BBC Two

From comedy to docs, via reality TV: “With my writing partner from university, I was writing script-based comedy… we got close a few times to getting things away but it wasn’t quite working,” recalled Cary.

He landed a job as a runner at Endemol, working on BBC Three show Celebrity Scissorhands and then Big Brother: “I exploited every connection I had at Endemol and got a job at North One, which used to make a lot of Cutting Edge [documentaries] for Channel 4.”

The North Water is set during the late 1850s and follows a disgraced army surgeon, Patrick Sumner (O’Connell), who attempts to flee from his past by joining a whaling expedition in the Arctic.

Led by Captain Brownlee (Graham) and the ship’s owner Baxter (Courtenay), Sumner serves on the Volunteer as the ship’s medic.

Sumner’s quest for redemption takes a brutal turn when he encounters cruel harpooner Henry Drax (Colin Farrell), whose indifference towards killing reflects the harshness of the Arctic wasteland they’re sailing towards.

The Glasgow-born, Yorkshire-based entrepreneur, who lost his sight at the age of 18, runs Traveleyes, a company that takes blind and partially sighted travellers on action-packed holidays around the world.

The four-part series will follow Mark Bonnar (Catastrophe) and Jamie Sives (Chernobyl) as brothers Max and Jake, who unintentionally run over and kill an old man called Walter.

As Jake is uninsured and under the influence, his successful and seemingly more responsible brother Max convinces him to cover-up the accident.

However, when relatives and neighbours begin to suspect that Walter hasn’t passed away through natural causes, the consequences of their actions come back to haunt them in ways that neither could have imagined.

“We’ve seen big audience demands for shows on iPlayer after their initial TV release. You can’t judge numbers on the overnights anymore. We don’t aim for a focused demographic. It has to appeal to the whole audience and there needs to be a big sense of purpose that shines through,” added Holland, who was interviewed by RTS West of England Chair Lynn Barlow at the Everyman Cinema in Bristol.

Semi-Detached follows Stuart (Mack), a failing wedding DJ whose life in suburbia spirals downhill.

Stuart’s hopes of a quiet life are crushed by his chaotic family including his much younger partner April (Ellie White) and their new-born baby, his law-breaking brother Charlie (Neil Fitzmaurice) and his drug-taking father, Willie (Clive Russell).

The first series originally aired on BBC Two earlier this year and the finale became the channel’s highest rated episode for a new factual entertainment programme since 2016.

Celebrity Race Across the World will follow four famous faces as they embark on a journey across the world with no mobile phones, internet access or access to air travel.

Joined by a loved one, the celebrities will be expected to travel thousands of miles with only the cash equivalent of a one-way flight to their last destination.

The series gives unprecedented access, granted by Glasgow High Court, to a high-profile murder trial that has gripped Scotland and solves a 20-year old disappearance.

The exclusive access documented suspects Edward Cairney and Avril Jones as they faced trial for the murder of Margaret Fleming.

When a Personal Independence Payment application – a welfare benefit for someone with a disability – was submitted in 2016, suspicions were raised when authorities couldn’t contact the claimant.

The challenging journey will take place over two series exploring the diverse landscape of the two continents that make up a quarter of the Earth’s land space.

Reeve will start in the icy mountains of Alaska and journey down to the hot plains of Argentina.

The first five-part series follows Reeve as he travels from Alaska down to Costa Rica, with the second series – set to be filmed next year –set to showcase his travels through South America.

During his journey, Reeve delves into areas of the Americas few outsiders, or even locals, get to experience.