Unscripted

They emerged as unlikely heroes of lockdown: a farming family in Yorkshire who showed, even as the country was brought to a halt by Covid, that life went on when it came to rearing animals. Rob and Dave Nicholson of Cannon Hall Farm in Cawthorne, Barnsley, the stars of Channel 5’s On the Farm, kept millions of isolated viewers entertained with daily live broadcasts on social media.

Alarm bells are ringing in the unscripted world. Concern for the health of the sector has soared following two recent events: Channel 4’s decision to axe a number of shows and a survey by broadcasting union Bectu revealing that nearly half of UK freelancers working regularly in unscripted TV are now unemployed.

The Channel 4 casualties included the cancellation of Four Weddings and Andrew Neil’s Sunday-night political show being put on hold.

The three-hour speed networking evening, “The big connection”, saw guests being allocated a table and visited by professionals at eight-minute intervals, with everyone given the opportunity to introduce themselves and ask questions.

Sarah Joyce, head of unscripted at ScreenSkills, explained the choice of the evening’s theme: “Sometimes, people don’t really understand what unscripted TV is, or… appreciate that there’s such a breadth of content.

Before the pandemic, the UK production sector was stretched for talent, thanks to its extended boom. Now, as the sector revs back up to full speed, the skills issue is becoming even more pressing.