Eight TV shows to kickstart 2025
Peaky Blinders
This Town editor Ben Yeates on character and contrasts
Yeates only interviewed for the film course at Dún Laoghaire College of Art and Design [now part of Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology] as a way to deal with shyness, on the suggestion of her head of year.
“And I loved the interview,” she tells me over Zoom, elaborating with what I quickly learn is trademark straightforwardness: “I liked the panel.”
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight accepts his RTS Fellowship
Writer, Producer and Director Steven Knight, of Peaky Blinders and SAS: Rogue Heroes fame, accepts his RTS Fellowship at the 2024 RTS Patrons' Dinner.
Our Friend in the Midlands: Kully Khaila
The novelist and writer Michael Korda wrote: “One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals.” It’s a theme that was highlighted as the West Midlands Combined Authority held its Creativity Week this autumn.
Richard Armitage and Shaheen Baig on Chekhov, class and Emily in Paris
Richard Armitage likened the progress in his acting career to learning to drive, when he delivered his RTS Midlands Baird Lecture last month. He talked about the “ridiculous amounts of preparation” he put in to his one line on Boon and three lines in Casualty, but these put him in good stead for later roles.
He explained: “Learning to drive a banger is not such a bad thing because when you get behind the wheel of a Ferrari, you know what to do.
“We can be a catalyst for change,” says Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight
All you need to be a writer, according to Leonard Cohen, is “arrogance and inexperience”. Quoting this from the RTS Convention stage, Steven Knight, added: “It’s so true. Arrogance, you need. Inexperience? You don’t know what you shouldn’t be doing, and it’s good to not find out.”
BBC News’s Katie Razzall asked him: “You must have learned things along the way?”
“I try not to,” he replied.
Drag Race’s Michelle Visage joins cast of Middlesbrough queer comedy
Smoggie Queens creator Phil Dunning will also star as Dickie, an unpredictable young performer handling life, love and Middlesbrough patriotism alongside Mam the drag queen (Mark Benton, Shakespeare & Hathaway), Lucinda (Alexandra Mardell, Coronation Street), Sal (Patsy Lowe) and Stewart (Elijah Young).
Steven Knight on Peaky Blinders, forming ideas and boosting Birmingham | RTS London Convention 2024
Steven Knight is a writer, executive producer and director but he’s also passionate about the creative economy and the opportunities it affords for regeneration of cities and promoting the next generation of talent.
Him and Katie Razzall discuss his personal investment in the studios in Digbeth, Birmingham, creating hits both sides of the Atlantic (Peaky Blinders, SAS Rogue Heroes) and where his next big idea is coming from.
DI Ray creator Maya Sondhi and star Parminder Nagra talk cops, robbers and South Asian heritage
ITV police drama DI Ray, which returns for a second series next month, boasts both a showrunner and a star of south Asian heritage. Surely that’s a first for a British primetime drama?
RTS Futures event sheds light on the world of talent agencies
Fortunately, a summer Futures event offered a glimpse into this mysterious world with the help of three experts from the world-renowned Curtis Brown agency.
“My role is to be the best advocate for my clients,” said literary agent Jess Molloy.
Her colleague, Cynthia Okoye, represents screenwriters and directors from shows such as One Day, Succession and Peaky Blinders. “Ultimately, on a very basic level, we are getting clients work,” she explained.