As election fever reaches its peak in the US, American comedian Rich Hall looks back at the dirty tricks that have been played in presidential races past. The nasty campaigns and unsavory moves covered proves it wasn't just Trump and Clinton who dished out low blows.
Among the subjects they covered were the UK’s inadequate digital infrastructure, Netflix, Brexit and, inevitably, The Great British Bake Off.
Matt Hancock’s speech in the previous session found favour with the panel. BBC chief Tony Hall welcomed the emphasis the Minister of State for Digital and Culture had put on “social and regional” diversity in television.
James Purnell: ‘From a PSB perspective, we now see a real chasm between the way we are going to be regulated.
‘The Charter agreement is a set of incredibly detailed guidance to Ofcom – children’s programmes, history, religion, current affairs, 100-plus quotas.
‘We wouldn’t wish that on Channel 4, but, looking at what has happened with Bake Off, there is a huge difference between the way we are regulated, and… now there is a question about whether that is right.
‘Channel 4’s lighter touch should be looked at.’
The broadcaster is partnering with Triforce Creative Network and MonologueSlam UK to support up and coming actors from all backgrounds across the entire UK.
MonologueSlam UK is a scheme running across the UK which offers professional actors the opportunity to perform a monologue before a judging panel of industry professionals.
Twenty-two actors will compete in the final in London in December in front of key industry decision makers and a Channel 4 drama commissioner, with 10 finalists going on to explore working with Channel 4 Drama.
Be Your Own Doctor is a health programme for modern society, where we turn to Google before GPs when we're ill.
The paid scheme, called 4Stories, aims to recruit more talent currently under-represented in drama, including women, disabled people, BAME people and people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
4Stories will give three directors and three writers the chance to work with Touchpaper Television on a new three-part series of related films.
The films tell one story from three different perspectives, each episode half an hour in length.
The opportunity is open to writers who have never had an original single, serial or series broadcast on UK television.
Titled Deutschland86, the second series picks up the story of Communist agent Martin Rauch who we last saw in East Germany, caught up in a betrayal plot amongst his superior officers.
Three years later, in 1986, Martin emerges as an exile in East Africa and is once again enlisted by his Aunt Lenora to fight in the Global Cold War. Set amongst true stories of terrorism in 1980s Western Europe, Deutschland86 journeys through events in Paris, Johannesburg, and Tripoli before returning to a divided Berlin where nationwide anxieties are coming to a head.
The channel's live coverage of the debate, held on September 26th, reached a consolidated audience of just under 200,000 viewers.
Channel 4 Current Affairs Commissioning Editor, George Waldrum said: "This has been a US election like no other with phenomenal public interest. Everyone wants to know if Trump can really pull off a shock victory. We're excited to bring what could be a pivotal moment in both Clinton and Trump's bid to be the next President, to a UK audience. It's unmissable."
Currently in its third season in the US, the show stars Anthony Anderson (Kangaroo Jack, The Departed) as Andre Johnson, a middle-class father of four who is afraid he and his family have lost sight of their culture as black Americans living in a white suburban neighbourhood. The series follows Andre's attempts to reclaim his family's heritage and encourage his children to celebrate their roots.
