Channel 4

Channel 4 drama commissioning editor on the broadcaster’s remit

Gwawr Lloyd sits with her hands clasped together

Lloyd gave an in-depth look into the commissioning process, from the significance of producers – “one of the most important relationships a writer will have is with a producer” – to the time a show spends in development: “On average, [it’s] three to four years before it hits the screen.”

Channel 4’s remit was key, said Lloyd: “[Our shows] need to deliver on so many fronts… inclusivity, regionality, [they should] be revelatory, funny, have something to say… We do need to tick all those boxes, because that’s what makes us different from every other channel.”

Alex Mahon warns of TV's generational time bomb

Introducing the first session of the Convention, Cambridge Chair and Channel 4 CEO, Alex Mahon, posed a stark question: “Is there simply too much content?”

And then a follow-up – “And with content as king, hasn’t distribution now become King Kong?” – before offering some typically honest answers.

“We’ve been in a frantic race for eyeballs, advertising dollars and subscription cash, and that race, like some kind of gigantic global grand prix, has been driven by hubristic spending on video creation.

Channel 4 releases first look images of Nicola Coughlan and Lydia West in new comedy Big Mood

Eddie and Maggie, the characters in Big Mood, stand side-by-side in fancy dress

The six-part series centres around best friends Eddie (West) and Maggie (Coughlan). Their relationship has endured a decade of highs and lows, but now, the real world is calling. Both need to consider their careers, while Maggie has to contend with the unwelcome return of bipolar disorder.

Eddie and Maggie sit on a sofa, hand-in-hand and looking distraught
Credit: Channel 4

Channel 4 orders one-off documentary on women searching for Russia’s missing men

An elderly woman stands in front of three graves, which have writing in Cyrillic

Russia’s Lost Sons (working title), an hour-long programme, was filmed over a year by filmmakers for ROMB, an independent Russian media outlet. 

Women looking for their sons, brothers and husbands join forces as they contend with mostly unresponsive government offices. They are left searching morgues and trawling social media for news, in desperate hopes of finding those they have lost. 

10 things you might not know about The Great British Bake Off

Each series sees twelve amateur bakers attempt to out-bake their opponents and impress judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood, with encouragement (/harassment) from the presenters, now comedian Noel Fielding and queen of daytime Alison Hammond.

With one of the highest average audiences of any programme in the UK (in 2016, nine of the top ten most-watched programmes of the year were episodes of the show), Bake Off has become a Great British institution.

Opening speech by Convention Chair and Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon | RTS Cambridge Convention 2023

"Five months ago the Channel 4 team set out to determine what the new ‘video day’ for consumers is really made of, with an original research project. I will talk a little about what we did and what we found and then some experts will join me on stage to help interpret our research.

To make sure we were properly prepared for this RTS discussion, we set ourselves some harder questions than just ‘what is the video day?’:

Emma Thompson and James Corden OBE among the new speakers for the RTS Cambridge Convention 2023

Emma Thompson and James Corden OBE will speak at the RTS Cambridge Convention 2023

The agenda-setting programme, titled Too Much to Watch, will see James Corden OBE give his first industry interview since returning to the UK, and Bryan Lourd, Co-Chairman of Creative Artists Agency in conversation with multi-Academy Award® winner Emma Thompson.

Live Aid: four decades on

The benefit concert to raise money for the victims of famine in Ethiopia drew an estimated 1.5 billion television viewers worldwide.

Music promoter Harvey Goldsmith – who orchestrated Live Aid’s Wembley concert and, two decades later, the Live 8 benefit concerts – talked about his career with lawyer and broadcaster Andrew Eborn for an RTS London online event in July.