The first episode of Our Oceans, a new five-part Netflix nature documentary narrated by Barack Obama, opens with the story of a humpback whale protecting her calf in the Pacific. Reflecting on the show, series producer Jonathan Smith found himself relating to the whales: “A bit like the humpback at the beginning, this is our baby… that we’ve spent six years nurturing, and we’re about to send it out to the world.”
More than 24 million people tuned into ITV and the BBC to watch Spain beat England in the Euro 2024 final in July. A month later, Warner Bros. Discovery streamed 3,800 hours of live Olympic competition, consumed by UK and European audiences to the tune of 7 billion minutes.
Clearly, sport still pulls in huge audiences, whether broadcast on linear TV or streamed on platforms such as Discovery+ and Max. But rather than resting on their laurels, platforms are looking to attract the next generation of fans via social media and YouTube.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year: frantically juggling work dos with gift shopping and carol concerts. Add to that list the small matter of avenging the murder of your secret lover, and things get wild very fast.
This is where we find Keira Knightley’s Helen in the opening episode of Netflix’s six-part spy thriller Black Doves. Married to Wallace (Andrew Buchan), the British defence minister who’s tipped for No 10, she’s the picture of domestic bliss as a dedicated wife and mother to two young twins.
Manners is the lead director behind the latest iteration of David Nicholls’ 2009 bestseller, the Netflix series One Day. Viewers get to know Emma, a working-class girl from Leeds, and Dexter, a privileged boy from London, through just one day a year, over a 20-year span. Manners’ role included setting the tone for the series as a whole, finding her ‘Emma’ and ‘Dexter’, choosing locations, and creating a visual language for the two of them, both when they’re together, and in the years where they’re separated.
Across the 29 hotly contested categories, the BBC leads the way with 32 nominations and dominates the Design – Titles and Director – Multicamera categories by receiving all three nominations for both. Next up is Netflix who received 16 nominations and garnered all three nods in the Sound – Scripted category. Netflix’s hit drama Eric, produced by SISTER and Little Chick, gained the most recognition for an individual programme with a total of five nominations.
If you experience soaring heartrates and sweaty palms at the sight of haunted dolls or evil nuns, it doesn’t mean you can’t participate in spooky evenings – you just need to choose something a little milder.
Read on for five TV series with Halloween vibes, that won’t give you night terrors…
Financial and cultural value were discussed in an illuminating session that offered insights from what panel chair, The Telegraph’s audio director Kamal Ahmed, called “three titans in the area”.
Jane Featherstone, co-founder and CCO of Sister, commented on the current climate affecting the valuation of companies. “We’re in a state of change,” she said. “Budgets have risen, largely driven by getting movie talent in above the line,” she said. The feeling was that what was wanted wasn’t really TV any more, but long movies. This, she said, “pushed all the costs up”.
In this season it’s important to remember the true meaning of autumn – not plastic skeletons and rotting pumpkins – but fluffy socks and fireplaces, lots of hot drinks and a cosy TV show.
BBC iPlayer
In series three, Heartstopper is growing up with its characters. Nick and Charlie are starting to transition from a relationship that began at 15, to one where they support each other through life changes, mental health struggles, and those big university decisions.
