RTS Midlands

The commissioners day offered informal chats, pitching sessions and networking. “We wanted an informal feel to the day as we wanted to encourage honest and open discussions between the indies and the commissioners,” said RTS Midlands Chair Caren Davies.

She added: “It meant that the indies could see numerous people in one day instead of having to go back and forth to London, which can be quite costly and time-consuming for some of the smaller companies.”

RTS Midlands is planning to host more of these types of events in the future.

The Writers Guild was holding its AGM outside London for the first time at the Library of Birmingham, and was invited to network with RTS members and producers from the region.

Dorothy Hobson, vice chair of RTS Midlands, discussed the work of the centre and William Gallagher, deputy chair of the Writer's Guild and an RTS committee member, urged the creative people at the busy reception to share ideas.

The TV veteran received a certificate from Midlands vice-chair Dorothy Hobson. “I hope to remain active to at least 2036 when it is my aspiration to organise a lecture for the RTS entitled ‘Television: the first 100 years’,” he said.

Terry Stanton’s interest in television began at an early age when his father bought a Marconi set to watch the funeral of King George VI in 1952.

The networking event was a great opportunity for the RTS Centre to bring itself up to date on the progress of the many projects currently in production in the Midlands.

“We wanted to get a real insight into everything that is happening in the independent sector in the Midlands, so the RTS can work out how best to serve the sector,” said RTS Midlands Chair Caren Davies.

“We’re aiming to boost the profile of TV production in the Midlands and provide more opportunities where we can celebrate and showcase the rich diversity of the programmes that are made here,” she added.

Hosted by Slade star and local living legend, Noddy Holder, the teams were put to the test on all things “telly” – and, as an extra treat, BBC WM’s Richie Anderson fronted the interval game.

“The Radio Brainwaves”, a team from BBC Radio claimed the top spot, beating other teams from the BBC, Central News, members of the Doctors cast and The Producers’ Forum, as well as independent production companies such as North One and Full Fat Television.

How do you go about creating a new TV drama for a worldwide audience? “It has to have something recognisable globally; it has to show good old England – you need to harness a global brand,” reckoned Jude Tindall.

The writer and producer Ella Kelly were sharing their secrets with students at an RTS Midlands masterclass at the University of Wolverhampton in mid-February.

Dunnett was able to draw on her vast experience of developing and making programmes for all terrestrial channels. She joined Channel 4 from Scottish indie Raise the Roof in 2016 where her credits included BBC One’s Holiday of My Lifetime with Len Goodman.

The masterclass helped students understand how different types of programmes fit into the schedules by unpicking popular programmes to show the simple rules of formatted factual.

The RTS Midlands event was held at the National Motorcycle Museum on Solihull on the same day as the Centre’s Programme Awards.

At the RTS Midlands Centre conference, the Director of the BBC Academy and BBC Birmingham, Joe Godwin, discussed training and apprenticeship schemes as well as the success of BBC Drama in the region.

Diversity was the theme of the workshop chaired by former BBC community affairs correspondent Barnie Choudhury, which featured actor and broadcaster Phina Oruche, BBC head of business development Tommy Nagra and Godwin.