RTS Midlands

It’s known to its loyal fans as the car show with a heart, bringing a tear to the eye of many a petrolhead. And while the presenters of Car S.O.S. manage to hold it together on screen for the emotional finale of each episode, when they return a secretly restored car to its surprised owner, they have confessed that they are also deeply moved.

RTS Midlands held a premiere of the first episode of series 13 followed by a Q&A, at which ebullient presenters Fuzz Townshend and Tim Shaw revealed some behind-the-scenes secrets.

This Town, Steven Knight’s pitch-perfect and loving recreation of the early-80s music scene in Birmingham and Coventry, took home three awards from the RTS Midlands Television Awards in late November.

Jordan Bolger won the prize for Best Supporting Acting Performance and Paul Whittington was named Best Director for the BBC One drama, which was made by Kudos and Nebulastar.

Laughter rang out and a few tears fell as hundreds of viewers, cast and crew gathered at an RTS Midlands event to bid farewell to the BBC soap Doctors.

Fans had travelled from as far afield as Essex and Wigan to celebrate the Birmingham-made daytime drama, set in a GP surgery and axed after nearly 25 years on screen. Memories were shared during an emotional evening, held the week before the final episode was broadcast.

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.

Phoenix Rise is a hit teen drama about a group of outsiders who help each other to fit in, so it’s good to hear the same thing was happening behind the scenes. Eloise Pennycott arrived in series 2 as Daisy, when the cast had already been working together for three months, but she was quickly welcomed – thanks to her new friends learning British Sign Language (BSL).

The new BBC One drama This Town opens with the streets of Birmingham ablaze with violence during the Handsworth riots of 1981, before the action moves to council estates.

But its creator, Steven Knight, wants to make it clear that his working-class tale is not bleak or tragic, but set in a vibrant world full of energy and promise. He even manages to make tower blocks and Spaghetti Junction look beautiful.

New documentary Brawn was described as “Succession with racing cars” at an RTS Midlands event in November. Executive producer Neil Duncanson said of the thrilling story: “Conspiracy theories, money, power, betrayal – it’s all there.”

Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story, a four-part Disney+ series, tells how an underfinanced team bought for £1 managed to defeat the greatest names in F1. And it certainly appeals to far more viewers than just motor racing fans, as director Daryl Goodrich explained.

Birmingham-born Baig, who cast shows including Peaky Blinders and Man Like Mobeen, was awarded the Baird Medal for Off-screen work by Mobeen actor Tolu Ogunmefun.

Armitage, who starred in The Hobbit and most recently Netflix’s Obsession, received the Baird Medal for On-screen work. It was presented by real-life SAS soldier Billy Billingham, chief instructor on Channel 4 show SAS: Who Dares Wins.

Sir Lenny Henry admitted he was unusually nervous before the Midlands premiere of his latest TV drama, because his family was in the audience.

Being left alone to work out how to make television is part of the secret to Guz Khan’s success, he has revealed. The multiple RTS award-winner was talking at the Birmingham premiere of the fourth and final series of the hit BBC comedy Man Like Mobeen.

RTS Midlands co-hosted a drinks reception before a screening and Q&A for fans.