“Modernisation” is a dangerous word for broadcasters when it comes to coverage of the Royal Family. So, too, is “journalism” if it intrudes too far into the ceremonial. Both are immediately construed by critics, especially those who like to bash the BBC, to mean the abandonment of tradition and a lack of respect for the monarchy.
In 2009, soldiers from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment found themselves the subject of a major inquiry into allegations of torture and the murder of Iraqi prisoners.
The inquiry lasted five gruelling years and eventually concluded that the allegations were untrue and “deliberate and calculated lies”. A decade after the story made headlines, the high-stakes investigation and the wider theme of morality in war is being dramatised in BBC Two’s Danny Boy through the eyes of one of the soldiers involved in the case, Brian Wood.
Public service broadcasters have a “fleetingly short space of time” to find a better financing model – and without guaranteed prominence on smart TVs, “PSB is dead, it is over”. These were just two of the stark warnings aired at an RTS panel discussion “Small beer or big deal: Should we still care about PSB?”.
I can’t believe it’s been 10 years,” said Helen George, who plays Nurse Trixie Franklin in Call the Midwife. “It’s been a fantastic ride, from not knowing if it was going to be more than six episodes to here – 10 years later.”
Rare is the TV drama that makes it to its tenth series. But, since the programme detailing the ever-eventful happenings at the nursing convent of Nonnatus House first appeared on 15 January 2012, it has become a Sunday-evening staple.
On the day before Netflix released the first series of Sex Education, Jamie Campbell, creative director of the producer, Eleven Film, recommended the series to his friend’s 18-year-old daughter. As a high-school drama about the sexual misadventures of teenagers, Campbell assumed Sex Education would resonate with her. She agreed to call the next day to share her thoughts, but when she did, she said she hadn’t watched it.
After years of refusal by the global streaming companies to share their viewing data, new light will soon be shed on the performance of Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ – and PSB streaming services such as All 4 and BBC iPlayer – by the industry ratings body Barb.
From the late summer, Barb expects to publish regular viewing figures for SVoD services on the same basis as those for broadcast television. This will allow meaningful comparisons to be made for the first time.
I can confirm that, growing up as a kid in south-east London, I never once dreamt about becoming a regulator. You know – running organisations that begin with the letters “Of...”. To be honest, I’m not sure that I know anyone who did.
And I’ve certainly not met anyone who had photos of great regulators – if there are any – on their bedroom walls. Me: I just wanted to play for Spurs and open the batting for India. Before you complain, it is possible to feel Indian and British, even English, all at the same time, especially if you weren’t born here.
MediaCity in Salford, Greater Manchester, began its rapid expansion into a world-leading TV production centre 10 years ago, when BBC staff moved in soon after Dock 10 launched its new studios and post-production business.
Back in 2007, when Salford City Council and the Peel Group won their joint bid to house the BBC’s new northern base, I received a call from a very animated Felicity Goodey, the main visionary behind the project.
The next Fleabag or Line of Duty tossed into the television abyss, taking with it the awards buzz that might have surrounded the breakout stars and the flood of fascinating fan fiction that could have gushed from a new global fan base.
Few TV dramas deserve the epithet “Shakespearean” or “Tolstoyan” more than Peter Flannery’s Our Friends in the North, which turns 25 this year.
The BBC Two series was epic in scale, using more than 160 actors and 3,000 extras to tell the story of post-war Britain, its people and its dirty politics. It is also the tale of four Newcastle friends, who grow up and grow old over three decades. And it is both moving and magnificent.
