For many of the young cast of new Channel 4 drama The Gathering, it was their first time in professional acting roles – not that viewers are likely to be able to tell.
The secret to eliciting such quality performances from newcomers is to leave them to get on with it, lead director Gareth Bryn told the Liverpool premiere audience.
Written and created by Bridget Christie (Taskmaster), the comedy-drama follows 50-year-old Linda Jane Jenkins (Christie), who embarks on a pilgrimage to Gloucestershire after learning she has started the menopause. Linda finds solace in the forest, where she meets a host of interesting characters, from the Pig Man (Jerome Flynn) to the Verderer (Jim Howick). The community rally around the Eel Festival, where Linda is crowned the Eel Queen.
The free service allows its users to stream live channels through smart TVs, without the need for an aerial or dish. Viewers are also able to watch on-demand content from the UK’s biggest broadcasters.
As was previously announced, Hisense will be the first smart TV partner for the service, and begins selling Freely smart TVs today (30th April).
Freely represents the first collaboration between Britain’s four public service broadcasters, in an effort to futureproof live TV in the age of streaming.
Intended for 16-34-year-olds, UNTOLD investigates contemporary subject matters which appeal to the younger generations. Past episodes include Only Fans Got Me Fired, The Truth About Spiking, and The Cost of Being a YouTuber. All episodes are available on the Channel 4 streaming service and are posted onto the Channel 4 Documentaries YouTube channel.
“Get three takeaways from each discussion. Set yourself three skills to develop. Make three meaningful contacts.” This advice came from host Beth Hewitt, welcoming students to RTS North West’s Student Networking Day.
First up was a panel discussion, “Hidden roles in TV production”. Katie Bayman, with “one of the coolest jobs in TV”, according to session chair Lyndon Saunders, is a virtual studio developer.
Every episode of the six-part series follows three British phobia sufferers as they journey to the Netherlands to face their fears. 10 million people in the UK have a phobia, or extreme or irrational fear.
Dr Merel Kindt is professor of clinical psychology at the University of Amsterdam, who has spent 20 years developing the Memrec treatment. Kindt’s unorthodox approach boasts a success rate of 83%, and encourages patients to approach their fear head-on, rather than avoid it. Arachnophobia is a fear of spiders, ranidophobia a fear of dogs and globophobia a fear of balloons.
Known for traditionally ‘masculine’ roles such as EastEnders’ Mick Carter, Dyer will set his preconceptions aside to investigate all of changing gender roles, attitudes towards male mental health, and stereotypes surrounding masculinity.
The Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus, mental health experts, fitness fanatics, sex therapists, and male victims of domestic abuse will all be interviewed by Dyer through his candid questioning. Dyer will meet men who believe ‘traditional’ masculinity is under fire, then turn to those who are exploring more ‘progressive’ options.
When director Ashley Francis-Roy and his team set out to make To Catch a Copper, no one could have predicted what the finished series would look like, nor the cases that would emerge in Avon and Somerset Police’s Counter-Corruption Unit.
“We started with a huge amount of openness,” said Francis-Roy, following an RTS screening of episode 2 in Bristol, the city where many of the incidents in the three-part series took place.
Morgan and Soverall play Kelly and Jessica, two competitive teen gymnasts growing up in Liverpool. Although Kelly is on her way to high-class competitions, she feels more at home with a group of urban free runners, who help her escape the world of gymnast-mums and strict schedules.
When Kelly and Jessica attend an illegal rave on a small tidal island, Kelly is assaulted and the drama moves into a whodunnit.
