BBC

The UK is facing “a total loss of cultural sovereignty”, which risks leaving the country culturally impoverished unless action is taken to stop US giants such as Netflix from dominating the media landscape.

This was the frank message from Mark Thompson, the former Director-General of the BBC who, for seven years since 2012, has been engaged in a wholesale transformation of The New York Times from a print company into a digital-based global news operation with 5 million subscribers.

Earlier, the RTS convention had been told that, as a brand, Netflix today enjoyed the same high levels of public trust as the BBC. As for the TikTok-using, mobile-addicted members of Generation Z, the BBC looked to be completely under the radar.

Now it was the time for Tony Hall, the BBC’s Director-General, to respond. He did so in a wide-ranging, troop-­rallying speech, and argued that, in today’s age of uncertainty, characterised by propaganda and disinformation, the BBC and public service broadcasting were more important than ever.

The BBC has responded to the rise of subscription video-on-demand services by extending the iPlayer catch-up window from 30 days to one year.

BBC iPlayer chief Dan McGolpin defended the decision: “TV works in seasons… it means that things which are on a yearly cycle, such as The Apprentice, will be there.” He claimed that audiences, months after transmission, can now be “substantial” – some 40% of Killing Eve’s audience came to the thriller after the original catch-up window.

Documenting the planet with the BBC, differentiating Discovery from Netflix and the other streamers – and taking Amazon on at its own retail game – were the three big themes expounded by Discovery’s President and CEO, David Zaslav.

Miranda followed the eponymous protagonist’s awkward encounters in the joke shop she ran with her best friend Stevie (Sarah Hadland), as she vied for the attention of heart-throb Gary (Tom Ellis).

Hosted by Miranda Hart at the London Palladium, Miranda: My Such Fun Celebration will see the cast reunite to look back over the sitcom’s history of friendship, family, romance and laughter. 

Viewers can expect behind the scenes footage and moving reflections alongside the essential silliness and gags that made Miranda so popular.

Alongside Q&A panel sessions with top execs who work on some of the country’s biggest shows, practical workshops In the exhibition hall included how to make drama with BBC One’s Doctors in their specially created hospital set, filming on smartphones, using drones and how to make a podcast.

The major broadcasters joined more than 40 exhibitors from across the industry to give attendees one-to-one advice on how to break into the industry, from creating the perfect CV to gaining professional experience.

The series will be written and directed by Tobias Lindholm (Mindhunter), who received an Oscar nomination in 2016 for his film A War.

The Investigation follows the real-life investigation undertaken by the Head of Homicide for Copenhagen Police, Jens Møller, into the murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall in 2017.

Giri/Haji (Duty/Shame) follows Kenzo Moru (Takehiro Hira), a Tokyo detective who must travel to London in search of his allegedly murderous brother Yuto (Yosuke Kubozuka), whom many believe to be already dead.

Accused of brutally killing the nephew of a Japanese mobster, Yuto’s actions threaten to unleash a gang war in Tokyo. In London, separated from any semblance of familiarity, Kenzo must navigate this strange new city to uncover whether his brother is guilty, or indeed still alive.

Catherine The Great

Starts Thursday 3^rd October, Sky Atlantic, 9pm

Powerhouse Helen Mirren takes on the role of longest-ruling female leader of Russia, Catherine II, in new four-part mini-series Catherine The Great.

Giving the third Steve Hewlett Memorial Lecture at London’s Westminster University, he accused policy makers of largely concentrating “on tightening the funding pressure and other constraints on the BBC further” including “the disastrous withdrawal of funding free licence fees for the over 75’s” agreed in the 2016 Charter now coming into full effect.