Through the glass of Sally Woodward Gentle’s office in Fitzrovia, the founder of Sid Gentle Films looks out on to a large space filled with hard-working media types.
Only a modest nine of them work for her, however. The rest are social-media people and TV-commercial producers. Sid Gentle may be one of television’s most creative young indies, but it is not, at a time of rising drama costs, wasting its money on an F-off HQ.
The announcement comes after the immensely positive reception of series one, shown in April this year, which was credited with helping ITV bounce back from several high-profile failures.
Despite the series being filmed in the midst of the Greek economic crisis, it became ITV's highest rated new drama series in 2016, with almost 7 million regular viewers.
Have you heard about the woman who named her new production company after her dog? She then went on to make ITV’s most popular new drama series since Cilla in 2014.
The Durrells, described by The Daily Mail as “a masterclass in ideal Sunday telly”, was the first show produced by Sid Gentle Films to be broadcast.
More than 6 million people tuned in regularly this spring to watch the sun-soaked, feel-good adventures of an English family struggling to adjust to life in 1930s Corfu.
The one-off documentary will explore the first day of one of the bloodiest battles in human history, telling the story of five ordinary men through dramatic recreations, written accounts, expert interviews and archive footage.
Sir Tony Robinson (Time Team, Blackadder) will visit key towns, buildings, places and battlegrounds to meet the families of people who were caught up in epic conflict.
