The cuts in unscripted TV and the cost of living crisis, said Holdsworth, the creator of upcoming Channel 4 drama Dance School, had hit the largely freelance workforce in the industry hard. “If you have to keep a roof over people’s heads… it doesn’t feel stable to be working in television at the moment. I don’t blame anyone who’s looked elsewhere,” she said.
Like a patient receiving life-changing news when they only went in for a routine check-up, last October’s BBC announcement that the long-running daytime drama Doctors was to be axed was a shock.
For more than two decades, Doctors has been part of the TV audience’s daytime routine across the nation. The final episode will be shown in December 2024, when the surgery closes its doors for ever. It promises to go out with a bang.
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.
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.”
Since its debut in 2000, Doctors has followed the fictional lives of NHS doctors, nurses, and receptionists, as well as their families and friends. Alongside these continuing story lines, they also have a story of the week which focuses on a patient and their individual life, usually for a one or two episode arc.
The writers of the Tiger Aspect production, Guz Khan and Andy Milligan, were named Best Writers for the third year running.
Dúaa Karim, who stars as Khan’s little sister in Man Like Mobeen, won the Acting (Female) award, while the series also took the Craft – Production prize.
Hereford-based production company and charity Rural Media matched Man Like Mobeen, nabbing three awards for: Flesh (Animation); film-maker Luke Collins (Breakthrough Off-screen); and BBC New Creatives (Short-form).
Experts share their wisdom and guidance on working in post production, including ITV Central’s Sonia Matharu, Ashley Allen and Max Goldini from The Farm Group, and Steve Killick from BBC's Doctors.
The team behind BBC One's Doctors takes us behind the scenes of the Birmingham set of the continuing drama, sharing who does what, how they do it and all the gossip. Followed by a Q&A with the on-screen talent. Panellists include Producer, Mike Hobson, 1st Assistant Director and Scheduler, Rachel Stacy, and Actors, Bharti Patel and Dex Lee.
More than 40 broadcasters, production companies and industry bodies set up home for the day in the Business Design Centre, London, to dispense advice to 1,300 young people hoping to break into TV. A series of sessions – featuring expert panels from across the industry – cast light on television genres, skills and opportunities.
BBC continuing drama head of production Nikki Saunders revealed there was a huge number of entry-level jobs across her department, including runners, camera assistants and make-up artists.
Alongside Q&A panel sessions with top execs who work on some of the country’s biggest shows, practical workshops In the exhibition hall included how to make drama with BBC One’s Doctors in their specially created hospital set, filming on smartphones, using drones and how to make a podcast.
The major broadcasters joined more than 40 exhibitors from across the industry to give attendees one-to-one advice on how to break into the industry, from creating the perfect CV to gaining professional experience.
