Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey will follow Ant and Dec as they attempt to uncover their ancestral roots with the help of expert genealogists and historians.
Using their DNA, the duo’s journey will take them to Ireland and the US, meeting far-flung relatives along the way. The show will reveal some astonishing truths about both Ant and Dec’s heritage, including celebrated war heroes, ‘historically important’ ancestral bones and even Royal descendants.
Remaining “local” in terms of story, themes and talent was key. In fact, Paul Marquess – MD of PGM TV and a veteran of soaps including Brookside and Hollyoaks – argued that what worked, in his experience, was being “very local”.
Marquess said: “It is much harder to build a franchise with global appeal… but there is a huge appetite for quality English-speaking drama.” He called for more locally produced drama in Dublin, adding: “This is a cool place!”
Lorna Martin, who won the inaugural Writers Award at the RTS Scotland Awards in June, encouraged would-be writers in the audience to put pen to paper: “People want your story. There’s so many production companies and they want content.”
Martin – who adapted her best-selling book, Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, for UKTV channel W and RTÉ2 (Women on the Verge) – continued: “Look for the type of production company whose shows resonate with you or [make] shows you like – I think that’s crucial.”
She added: “And send them a nice email.”
Carolyn McCall, CEO at ITV, sets the scene for the RTS Cambridge Convention 2019 with a wide ranging look at the challenges and opportunities for the television industry in a fast-changing world.
Host Susanna Reid talks to Neil Mortensen, Kevin Lygo and the consumer panel in Leeds with Ranvir Singh, about the the changing TV landscape.
Presenter and actor Nadia Sawalha will get households ready for the busy weeks ahead with her family recipes in her new cooking series Nadia’s Family Feasts.
Sawalha, who won Celebrity MasterChef in 2009, will be joined by a guest chef each week and together they will cook breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.
Each episode will be themed around different cuisines including British, Chinese, French, Indian, Italian, Middle Eastern and North American.
McCall is joined by Susanna Reid, Neil Mortensen, Kevin Lygo and the consumer panel in Leeds with Ranvir Singh, as they discuss a wide ranging look at the challenges and opportunities for the television industry in a fast-changing world.
Chairs
Susanna Reid, Journalist and Broadcaster
Ranvir Singh, Journalist and Broadcaster
Speakers
Too Close follows Dr Emma Robinson (Emily Watson), a forensic psychiatrist who is assigned to assess Connie, a patient accused of a terrible crime that she cannot remember committing.
Robinson attempts to determine if Connie is fit to stand trial and learns of a complicated relationship between Connie and her beautiful best friend Ness, who appears to have a strong influence on her mental condition.
Speaking to the RTS he said: “It meant that people came to me with their ideas. Steve Coogan came to me with Philomena (Coogan and Pope’s screenplay was nominated for an Oscar and won best screenplay at the Venice Film Festival).
“Success gets you meetings, but it still doesn’t get something past the finishing line if it’s not good enough…It also means you can be more ambitious and more expansive.”
It may be Carolyn McCall’s first RTS Cambridge but she knows what she wants from the convention’s speakers. They should be positive and provocative. She also wants to hear from the voices of the people who consume the content.
“There is no point going into the Cambridge Convention with an attitude of ‘It’s all doom and gloom’. Yes, there are challenges but the opportunities for content creators have never been greater,” she emphasises.
