UKTV

RTS Scotland celebrates television talent at 2019 awards

On-screen Personality winner Sabrina Grant (Credit: Harrison Reid)

Cosgrove, who led the Scotland team that campaigned successfully to bring one of the Channel 4 hubs to Glasgow, is the latest recipient of the prestigious RTS Scotland Award.

The inaugural Writer award went to Lorna Martin, who adapted her best-selling book, Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, for television. Women on the Verge, a Merman/House Productions series, aired on UKTV channel W and RTÉ2.

Who will gain from the BBC's UKTV purchase?

W show Emma Willis: Delivering Babies (Credit: UKTV)

Contestants on UKTV channel Dave’s hit show Taskmaster have to think laterally and creatively as a series of challenges are thrown at them. Much like the BBC had to in 2017 when Discovery’s acquisition of UKTV’s co-owner Scripps triggered a clause that gave BBC Studios the option to buy out Discovery. The problem was that it lacked the cash to do so.

Alibi acquires US crime dramas Waco and I Am the Night

Taylor Kitsch and Michael Shannon (Credit:UKTV)

The drama series focuses on the 51-day gun battle – the longest in U.S. law enforcement history – following a raid by the FBI on cult leader David Koresh (Taylor Kitsch) and his devout followers, just outside Waco, Texas in 1993.

The aftermath of the gun battle led to the deaths of four agents and six civilians, with dozens more wounded. A fire then engulfed the compound killing the 76 men, women and children inside.

What really happened during those 51 days remains a mystery and is one of the most misunderstood stories in American history.

Dave's new comedy Sliced shows the real South East London

Samson Kayo, Sally Broome, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Phil Bowker, Sam Homewood, David Mumeni, Weruche Opia and Richard Watsham (Credit: Paul Hampartsoumian)

Dave’s new sitcom stars Kayo – he co-wrote it with Phil Bowker, who also produces – and White Gold’s Theo Barklem-Biggs as two hapless drivers, Joshua and Ricky, who deliver pizza to their larger-than-life customers on the estates of Peckham.

Kayo, Bowker and Barklem-Biggs were speaking at an RTS Futures event in early May, which screened the first episode of Sliced and then hosted a discussion with some of the show’s talent, from both in front of and behind the camera.

"We kept it very authentic to south east London"

UKTV and Film London launch new work placement scheme

All Voices initiative (Credit: UKTV)

The All Voices initiative will offer 12 year-long placements across multiple UKTV Original productions for new entrants, mid-level professionals and returners to the television industry.

Placements will be paid at standard industry rates and will cover all areas of production from running, sound recording, production accounting, production management, directing to executive producing.

Line of Duty’s Martin Compston joins new drama Traces

Martin Compston as Steve Arnott in Line of Duty (Credit: BBC)

Molly Windsor (Cheat), Laura Fraser (The Loch) and Jennifer Spence (You Me Her) are set to join Line of Duty’s Martin Compston in Amelia Bullmore’s (Scott & Bailey) new drama as three forensic scientists who aim to discover the truth behind an unsolved murder.

The crime thriller follows Emma Hedges (Molly Windsor), a new lab assistant who joins the Scottish Institute of Forensic Science and Anatomy (SIFA) and discovers a fictitious case of a murder scene that bares a striking resemblance to memories from her past.

Taskmaster announces launch date for series 8

Greg Davies and Alex Horne on Taskmaster (Credit: UKTV/Avalon)

Greg Davies and Alex Horne return to judge a new batch of famous competitors and will decide who is worthy of taking home the coveted 24-carat gold cast of Greg Davies’s face.

The new contestants include Love Island narrator Iain Stirling, actor Joe Thomas (White Gold), stand-up comic Lou Sanders, Paul Sinha (The Chase) and RTS award-winner Sian Gibson. 

Alibi commissions original drama We Hunt Together

We Hunt Together (Credit: UKTV)

We Hunt Together is the second joint commission between BBC Studios and UKTV.

Former child soldier, Babeni (Baba) struggles to suppress his violent urges but when his friend Freddy is attacked following a date gone wrong, Baba is forced to take drastic action, setting the pair on a murderous rampage.

DI Lola Franks and DCI Jackson Reid try to outsmart the duo, but their ethics will be tested with their conflicting views on the culpability of the criminal mind.

Emily Atack joins the line up on W

Emily Atack (Credit: UKTV)

Emily Atack: Adulting will follow the actor’s life since departing from the jungle with access to all areas of her life and social media.

With the help of Atack’s family and friends, the four-part series will tackle big life questions as the star approaches turning 30, with each episode respectively posing questions about dating, parenthood and body image.

“It is an absolute joy to be asked to film this follow-doc,” said Atack.

Writers of Flack discuss the need for more complex on-screen female characters

Anna Paquin in Flack (Credit: UKTV/W)

GQ magazine described the new Anna Paquin drama, Flack, as “so ­terrible it might just be unmissable”. The verdict of the Daily Telegraph’s TV critic was “sharp and whizzy”, while the Observer hailed it as a “terrific and bittersweet comedy”, “in turns woefully tender and snort-funny”. Whatever you think of the female-skewing Flack, one thing is clear: it’s not a show to ignore.