TV

Made In Chelsea – Where Are They Now?

Made in Chelsea is back tonight for its eagerly anticipated LA spin-off show. Following on from series nine, the series will follow the love lives and dramas of our favourite characters in the balmy backdrop of the LA coast.

From relationship woes to friendship dramas, the series featuring the glitterati of London’s set from the most exclusive postcodes have played host to more than one memorable character. But since some have departed the Kings Road, what are the much-discussed old cast up to now? 

Ollie Locke

BBC’s Defying the Label season won’t change prejudice overnight says Adam Pearson

The programme is part of BBC Three’s Defying the Label season, which aims to explore disability, poverty, hate crime, sex and romance in 15 specialist programmes over four weeks.

Yet Pearson, a former BBC and Channel 4 researcher who also starred in Channel 4’s Beauty and the Beast, argues that the BBC season is a ‘double-edged sword’. While there’s been progress in discussing disability on primetime TV, Pearson hopes to get to a stage where disabled people can appear on screen without “the need for a special season or with such a big song and dance”.

Channel 4 commissions a second series of Married at First Sight

The show, which tests partner compatibility by DNA and personality tests, sees couples married to each other the very first time they meet on screen.   

The final episode aired on Thursday 23 July and the show drew in an audience of 2.5 million , attracting a large share of 16-34 year old viewers.

Over 1,500 people applied to take part. But while some found love at the altar, others failed to ignite a spark and split up.

The series, produced by CPL, is based on a format originally created by Danish indie Snowman Production. 

What makes a good political interview?

Getting information out of politicians on TV is proving difficult this election. Day after day of interviews on a range of programmes are testing parliamentary hopefuls on every policy they have, and straight answers are rare. 

Television becomes the perfect climate for politicians to avoid tough questioning and instead get their planned party message across. 

Brits triumph at the Emmy nominations

Brits dominated nominations at the recently announced 2015 Emmys with Game Of Thrones leading the way with 24 nods.  

Highly acclaimed period dramas Downton Abbey and Wolf Hall were given three nominations each. The ITV show set in the 1920s is nominated for Outstanding Drama Series while the BBC Tudor drama is selected for Outstanding Limited Series.

Emma Thompson, who starred in the live broadcast of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, is up for Outstanding Actress in a mini-series.

The Great British Bake Off returns for another series

Brace yourselves: the much-loved baking show is set to burst onto our screens for a sixth series.

Twelve of the country’s best amateur bakers are getting set for a battle of the bakes hosted by loveable duo Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins.

Over ten weeks, the wannabe bakers will face the test by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood.

Producers have already teased us with a clip paying homage to Sound of Music with Mary Berry channeling her inner Julie Andrews on a field.

How to be the best researcher

Without competent researchers, TV would be riddled with half-truths and even outright lies, the butt of viewers’ derision and the recipient of libel lawyers’ writs.

Helpfully, the latest RTS Futures event, "How to be the best... researcher", explained how the job should be done.

"Research is the life blood of the TV industry. Without research, we’d have no Big Brother, Gogglebox or Panorama," argued broadcaster and writer Rick Edwards, who chaired the June event.

Why film is a good fit for the BBC

Philomena

Christine Langan
Christine Langan (Credit: BBC)

 

Everyone knows that BBC drama is either near or at the top of its game. But what of BBC Films, the broadcaster's infinitely poorer and sometimes neglected cousin?

For the past six years, BBC Films has been led by Christine Langan, a one-time Granada script editor who went on to win acclaim within ITV and beyond.