Channel 4

The RTS Student Master­classes drew a crowd of more than 300 this month to hear four of the industry’s top talents talk about their careers and offer first-hand advice on how to make a start in television.

Journalism

Inzamam Rashid, a Sky News correspondent based in the north of England, told the packed Journalism masterclass: “I always wanted to do the news, [as] a reporter, a newsreader or [working] behind the scenes.”

Ben Miller (Primeval) also returns as Detective Superintendent Richard Grove, and is joined by new cast members Dominic Cooper (Preacher), Tamsin Greig (Black Books) and Vinette Robinson (Boiling Point).

The show leaves right where it left off, following Newman as she tries to stop new client Jon (Cooper) from killing again.

The awards celebrate excellence in broadcast television, highlighting the extensive range of skills and processes that are involved in programme making, welcoming entries from both broadcasters and individual crafts people. The prestigious awards ceremony will be held on Monday 4^th December at the London Hilton on Park Lane.

Presenter Davina McCall and comedians Rhod Gilbert, Adam Hills, Joe Lycett and Munya Chawawa will be taking the lead on the live 90-minute fundraising extravaganza.

Among the special guests are Strictly legend Oti Mabuse, The Good Wife star Cush Jumbo, and Ghosts’ Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Charlotte Ritchie.

It’s quite a shopping list, but it’s a flavour of what broadcasters are looking for in factual programming, a panel of commissioners told an audience at an RTS East event in Cambridge last month. 

Louisa Compton’s investigations unit at Channel 4 needed no more introduction than a brief clip of her recent Dispatches film on Russell Brand, but she stressed that, as well as seeking high-level, impactful investigations, she is looking for subjects to get people talking, such as Rebekah Vardy: Jehovah’s Witnesses and Me. 

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.”

Broadcasters, production companies and ­streamers must ensure “this industry is synonymous with talent, opportunity and inclusivity, and not the scandals of #MeToo”. 

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.

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.

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.