Everyone who has ever worked in television knows that one of the essential qualities required to produce outstanding TV is the ability to collaborate.
At an RTS discussion, held in early December with key members of the production team of BBC One’s ambitious His Dark Materials, the extent to which different groups worked together to complete the series was made abundantly clear.
The showrunner, whose credits range from Brookside and EastEnders to Holby City and Doctor Who, was giving an RTS Midlands drama production masterclass in Birmingham, where he explained the process of piloting a show in the hyper-competitive US TV market.
Television executives and young telly talent joined forces for the annual RTS Futures Christmas quiz – hosted by comedian Tom Allen who was assisted by TV presenter Ria Hebden –at Channel 4’s HQ in December.
The team of Channel 5 execs and budding TV talent, the aptly named “Beyoncé Know-Alls”, were victorious. They took home the RTS Futures Christmas quiz trophy plus priority tickets for a live show of their choice, including Dancing on Ice, The Graham Norton Show and The Big Narstie Show. Can you match their performance?
There was a moment when I realised that everything had changed. I’d sent a team to the Arctic to attempt to paddle the world’s largest fjord system two months earlier than would have been possible at the start of my career – because all the ice had melted.
Over 30 years, I’ve had a front-row seat as our rapidly changing climate pushes the natural world to the brink of collapse.
Quiz shows are enjoying their golden age. Never before has the armchair quizzer had so many opportunities to show off their knowledge in front of the TV. The Wall and Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? prosper in primetime, but it’s during the daytime and early-evening schedules that quiz shows come into their own.
RuPaul’s Drag Race enjoyed a triumphant transatlantic transplant to BBC Three in the autumn. “Drag queens and TV are like peanut butter and jelly – the perfect combination,” argued the show’s creator, Fenton Bailey, to a full house at a lively RTS Futures event in November.
The guessing game about HBO’s Succession takes off towards the end of the first episode, as the capo dei capi, media tycoon Logan Roy (played by Brian Cox), suffers a suspected brain haemorrhage. It seems the succession will be a simple coronation.
Whatever your view of the result, it was a wretched and dispiriting election campaign. Politicians seldom broke away from churning out the same sound bites, and on social media there was a level of viciousness that was unbearable.
It’s therefore not exactly a surprise that the mainstream media, pressured by parties and harried by online trolls, had a rough ride in the 2019 general election, too. It is difficult, as the proverb goes, to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
The year begins and ends with Brexit, or “breakfast” as one confused supporter dubs it on TV. James Graham, the gifted chronicler of our times, creates The Uncivil War for Channel 4 and HBO. Graham perfectly captures how this febrile issue divides our nation by wealth, age and geography.
Fans of the US version of The Office, rejoice! Amid the constant pleas for a TV reunion, the next best thing has arrived in the form of a new podcast, Office Ladies.
The Office co-stars and real-life best friends Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey take a trip down memory lane and relive each episode from their unique perspective.
They dish the dirt on cast members and reveal what went on behind the scenes in each episode of the hit series.
