Comedy, the late, great Tony Hancock would often tell his dinner guests, was simply “frustration, misery, boredom, worry – all the things people suffer from”.
This may go some way to explaining the success of a crop of deceptively simple, single-camera comedy-dramas that have all but replaced our more traditional idea of the sitcom in the television schedules.
It’s 4pm on a Friday afternoon, a time of the week when most of us are preparing to wind down the working week. Not Gurinder Chadha, co-creator and director of ITV’s new period drama, Beecham House, otherwise known as “Downton in Delhi”.
She’s at work in a Soho edit suite, putting the finishing touches to another project, her latest movie, Blinded by the Light. The film is based on journalist and broadcaster Sarfraz Manzoor’s memoir, Greetings from Bury Park.
"It’s a lot smaller than the telly makes it seem,” I think to myself as I stare out at the infamous Hollywood sign. LA is the last place you’d expect to find a wildlife filmmaker who’s more accustomed to being holed up in a shack in the Arctic wilderness. I’m on the 10th floor of a Hollywood hotel pondering the events of the last week.
Written and created by Ruth Jones and James Corden, who also star in the series, the hit sitcom will be produced by Fulwell 73, Tidy Productions and Baby Cow Productions.
Gavin & Stacey originally aired on the BBC from 2007 to 2010 for three series, plus a Christmas special in 2008.
The show followed Gavin (Matthew Horne), an ordinary boy from Essex, and Stacey (Joanna Page), an ordinary girl from Barry, who spoke to each other every day on the phone at work.
Contestants on UKTV channel Dave’s hit show Taskmaster have to think laterally and creatively as a series of challenges are thrown at them. Much like the BBC had to in 2017 when Discovery’s acquisition of UKTV’s co-owner Scripps triggered a clause that gave BBC Studios the option to buy out Discovery. The problem was that it lacked the cash to do so.
On the eve of the 2016 US presidential election, when Donald Trump was getting his first inkling that he would be elected to the world’s highest political office, Russell T Davies was texting the controller of BBC drama about an idea they had long been discussing. “I wrote to Piers Wenger and said, ‘If he wins tomorrow, it’s time I write this show now’ – and he said yes,” recalls Davies.
“When you’re young, you’re going to do your best work – you’re fearless and you take risks that you wouldn’t take when you’re older,” said David Henshaw, a former BBC reporter and producer who has run his own indie, Hardcash Productions, for almost three decades.
"It’s always going to be risky and you only get the really good stuff by taking risks"
Henshaw was speaking at an RTS Futures event on investigative journalism in London. The multi-award-wining film-maker received an RTS Fellowship in 2009.
It seems only a few short years ago that the BBC and ITV were thought of as the titans of British media. But all of us in the UK’s traditional media solar system are getting smaller and smaller in the Apple, Amazon and Netflix universe.” Thus said Lord Hall, Director-General of the BBC, in March, as he unveiled the corporation’s plans for its new financial year.
“We need to find new ways to adapt to the changing needs of our audiences, and we need to be able to do it in real time to keep pace with our global competitors,” he continued.
Chris Packham brought his passion and knowledge to two RTS Southern events at Bournemouth University in early March, highlighting the need for greater environmental sustainability in programme production.
In the afternoon, the TV presenter and naturalist spoke to media students about sustainable TV production. In the evening, he talked candidly about his life and TV career – and how he copes with the effects of Asperger syndrome.
