Bristol

Co-creator and lead actor Jayde Adams may have been nervous about showing it to her home audience, but it is fair to say that the sitcom went down a treat. “You were great,” Adams said to the audience. “I mean, I was better, but you were brilliant. Thank you.”

Lucy Lumsden, executive producer and MD of ­Yellow Door Productions, approached Adams about making a show seven years ago. “I was very lucky to spot Jayde, and it really was a kind of epiphany moment, of just feeling that Jayde’s got a magic touch,” she said.

You will have spotted the rise in Bristol voices entertaining us on TV – Stephen Merchant’s The Outlaws, Daisy May Cooper in Rain Dogs and, airing this month, Ruby Speaking, co-created by and starring Jayde Adams.

They share more than just the vernacular and location. All three series are warmly wrapped in empathy for their characters’ less-than-straight­forward lifestyles and draw strongly on the colourful and complicated city itself.

Chimp Empire, which follows two rival troops of chimps, was previewed at a sold-out joint RTS West of England/Wildscreen Network screening at the Watershed in Bristol, ahead of its release on Netflix last month.

The team spent 18 months filming a four-part series that required extensive research. “We spent months analysing every detail about every chimp known to the scientists,” explained Reed, “so we had these huge backstories from every individual chimp.”

Merchant created the series alongside Elgin James, and it has so far followed the seven strangers from different walks of life as they are forced together and struggle to reform. In series one, a bag full of money threw them into the dark and dangerous Bristol underbelly.

As Bristol City Council’s new senior film manager, I have finally reached a position where I can support and promote my two main passions – Bristol and filming in the West Country. 

My role is to oversee the work of the Bottle Yard Studios and Bristol Film Office, and make sure that Bristol can build on its past successes and deliver a single, complete and consis­tent offer encompassing studio and location filming. And, despite the pandemic, there has never been a better time. 

The RTS National Student Television Awards took place on Friday 16th June at the BFI in London, at a ceremony hosted by comedian Katherine Ryan. After initial judging of the undergraduate entries in the regions, the nominations for the national final were selected from the regional winners by the national juries.

At “How to survive as a TV freelancer”, the panel cited toughness, persistence and resilience as key qualities needed to work in the television industry.

Transferable skills are also important. “You should be shooting, doing sound and showing your creativity,” said RDF West head of production Angela Oakhill.

One of Oakhill’s pet hates is interviewees who talk about RDF productions made in London: “Do your research – it’s easy to find out what shows are made here in Bristol.”

After weeks of intensive viewing and a day of enthusiastic and lively debate the experienced industry judges have delivered their final verdict in the fields of on-screen talent, craft, digital media, drama, regional television news and across a range of factual programming.  

You can download the full press release, list of nominations and judges below.

It is a skillfully woven story, brought to life with animation and puppetry that both pokes fun and unravels economic conundrums.

The screening took place in mid-September during the Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival at the Watershed in Bristol, in association with the Bristol Festival of Ideas and the RTS.