In recent years, Channel 4’s new national HQ in Leeds and the BBC’s relocation of 2,300 posts to Salford have dominated our perception of out-of-London programme production.
This is perhaps not surprising: the corporation has the largest Ofcom quota for UK production outside the M25 – 50% – followed by Channel 4 and ITV, who both have 35%, and Channel 5, with 10%.
The Colour of Magic, Sky
Just under 100 industry professionals gathered at Prime’s new events space, Archive, to discover whether their work had made it on to the awards shortlist. Larry and Paul, a comedy act who have built up a strong local following on BBC Radio Leeds, hosted the launch.
Nominations for the 18 awards categories reflected the healthy level of production in the Yorkshire region. The hotly contested factual awards earned multiple nominations for Daisybeck Studios, Air TV, True North and True Vision Yorkshire.
The week begins with an epic clear-out of my extremely messy home office in time for a makeover. Marie Kondo I am not. What does spark joy, though, is a small brass plaque inside one of the fitted cupboards. It reads: “Specially installed for Lynne Perrie.” This is a reminder that soap history is literally in the walls here.
The programme is not the first all-female special to air on television, as Celebrity Big Brother and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown made similar tributes in 2018 featuring all-female line ups to commemorate a century of women’s suffrage.
British soaps have made huge strides in portraying the lives and loves of gay characters since the genre’s first on-screen kiss in EastEnders three decades ago.
But, argued the actors, writers and producers on the panel at an RTS event in mid-July – “LGBTQ in soap: job done?” – the fight against prejudice is not yet won.
“Soaps are incredibly powerful in terms of being able to get a message out and in changing people’s perceptions,” said Daniel Brocklebank, who plays gay vicar Billy Mayhew in Coronation Street.
After jumping ship from Hollyoaks to Emmerdale, MacLeod explains his excitement at bringing new ideas to the Yorkshire-based soap.
“I’m always looking for ways to do something differently or surprise the audience with something they haven’t thought of before,” he says.
And that he did. During a week-long storyline, which was ten months in the making, the small village turned to chaos when a multi-car pile up left viewers guessing who would exit the soap, with central characters at the heart of one of the biggest disasters in Emmerdale history.
Emmerdale has been a mainstay of TV production in the Yorkshire region for more than 40 years. It has just had one of its most successful years, winning a raft of awards and having several episodes and storylines singled out for critical acclaim.
A panel of Emmerdale’s finest talked about ITV’s ratings-grabbing “super soap week”, which also involved Coronation Street, last October. The week of extraordinary episodes saw Emmerdale film its biggest stunt and use non-linear story-to dramatise a huge car crash from multiple points of view.
For 45 years Emmerdale has been one of Britain's best-loved shows. After an extraordinary few months during which it has won two major awards and critical acclaim with its heart-wrenching stories and unique characters, the RTS Yorkshire is celebrating its continuing success.
