BBC

Ofcom: the BBC's first external regulator

Ofcom's Sharon White at the RTS Cambridge Convention 2015 (Credit: Paul Hampartsoumian)

Ofcom built its ­reputation as a high-powered competition and market-­oriented communications regulator. It is capable of facing down telecoms titans, mobile-merger tycoons and the ambitious Murdoch family.

But, as it starts the run-up to becoming the BBC’s first external regulator, it faces the need to change its culture and skills base.

BBC unveils cross-platform Wimbledon coverage

She will be taking to the air on BBC One and BBC Two throughout the Championships, and bringing viewers the latest Wimbledon action.

Joining the BBC’s presenting team are former World No. 1 players Lleyton Hewitt and Jim Courier and former British No. 1 Annabel Croft.

They will be joining an extensive team of expert analysts and commentators including Tim Henman, Tracy Austin, Andrew Castle, John Inverdale and Martina Navratilova.

Coverage begins at 11.30am on Monday 27 June on BBC Two.

 

Peter Kay's Car Share returns to BBC iPlayer

Car share, Peter Kay, Sian Gibson

The popular comedy is written by and stars Sian Gibson and Peter Kay as supermarket employees John and Kayleigh who found themselves thrown together as part of the company car share scheme.

Originally launching on BBC iPlayer in 2015, the series was a huge success, becoming the most watched new sitcom since 2011. It also won Best Scripted Comedy at the BAFTA Television Awards, while Peter Kay took home an award for Best Male Performance in a Comedy.

BBC commissions Barbara Windsor biopic

Eastenders star Barbara Windsor (Credit: BBC/Nicky Johnston)

Set in the 1990s, Babs sees Windsor preparing to perform in the theatre that evening, where she talks us on a journey of the events and people that shaped her career, from her lonely childhood and complicated relationship with her father, to capturing the attention of Joan Littlewood and being cast in the Carry On films.

BBC announces start date for French drama Versailles

The long-awaited series will begin on BBC Two on 1 June 2016 at 9.30pm.

The series follows the machinations of Louis XIV, the Sun King, who moves his court away from Paris to the luxurious palace of Versailles.

At first the courtiers are delighted at their secluded paradise, but they quickly come to see the Palace for what it is: a gilded prison.

The series comes from Simon Mirren (Waking the Dead) and David Wollencroft (Spooks) and stars George Blagden as Louis XIV and Alexander Vlahos as Philippe, Duke of Orleans. 

Marcus Ryder: What the BBC White Paper means for diversity

Marcus Ryder

Thursday was an important day for diversity in the media as the government announced a White Paper which enshrined diversity in the BBC charter– but what it really means in reality will all be in the small print.

The Royal Television Society is a charitable organization whose remit is to encourage and celebrate the understanding of television and its related fields. As Chair of the Diversity Committee here is my guide as to what people should be looking out for in the coming months:

 

BBC orders slate of new documentaries

London ambulance (credit: Flickr/eastleighbusman via Creative Commons)

Speaking about the films, to be shows on BBC One, Two, Three and Four, Patrick Holland, BBC Head of Commissioning, Documentaries, said: “We are delighted to announce such a diverse and distinctive range of films from such a terrific group of programme-makers. The variety of stories and filmmaking approaches shows the ambition we have at BBC Documentaries. What unites these projects is the desire to find the very best ways to tell the most important and engaging stories."