Game of Thrones

ITV expects its new multi-million-pound fantasy drama Beowulf to appeal to audiences too squeamish to watch HBO’s gory Game of Thrones. And it’s hoped that the franchise will build on the North East’s growing reputation as a drama production base.

ITV Studios MD Julian Bellamy predicted that the new 13-part action series, filmed in Weardale and on Tyneside, will also have the broader appeal of more mainstream shows, such as BBC One’s Merlin.

Good evening. I’d like to start with an apology to Monica and Karen, our two signers tonight.  They maybe from Signpost - our multi-award winning Gateshead-based signing business -  but I bet they’ve not signed Anglo Saxon before….until tonight. Standby for a speech that can link Ant and Dec to the West Germanic version of Old English…yes, really.

HBO’s President of Programming, Michael Lombardo, might have a reputation for being a touch obsessive, but, when it comes to his list of hit shows, it seems that such qualities work just fine.

On 18 September 2016, Steve November has a problem. At 9:00pm that night, the slot arrives in ITV’s schedule that would normally be filled by the season premiere of Downton Abbey.

As Director of Drama for the ITV network, November has to find a replacement – Downton is ending, with the last ever episode to air this coming Christmas Day. And, given Downton’s blockbuster ratings performance, it’s going to be a fiendishly difficult act to follow.

By many people's reckoning, Armando Iannucci is one of our greatest and funniest TV satirists. The political classes and the grammar and conceits of television have proved fertile ground for Iannucci's wit and his team of gifted collaborators, notably Steve Coogan, Rebecca Front and Chris Morris.

RTS Futures assembled a panel of pioneers for its sold-out event at London's Hospital Club in late April, "I made it in... digital". An enthusiastic, youthful audience was eager to learn from their experiences of working at the cutting edge of new media. It learnt, perhaps surprisingly, that television – the dancing dad at an achingly hip party – still has a big role to play in the digital age.