About the ��̳ Feed

Being working class is something to be proud of: filming The Mighty Redcar

2018-09-06T16:00:00+00:00

Madison, a local resident who narrates The Mighty Redcar

The programme’s development team went around a number of places, but what they found with Redcar was that the people were really willing to talk because they wanted to talk about the issues that mattered most to them.

What better place to go to than where people want to talk to you, and want to tell you about how proud they are about their town?

Although there were those who wanted to talk to us, trying to find narratives that explain the bigger picture was quite difficult, as we met with about 400 people, not including the many hellos and brief conversations.

I ended up going up with the people I got on well with, and fortunately their stories turned into what being young’s all about - falling in love for the first time, moving away from home, getting exam results, these are huge things in your life.

The first filming started in November 2016, and for the team it wasn’t easy being away from their families and friends for a long time as there was a lot of filming at weekends.

A real high point was seeing some of the young people achieve their dreams, and the realisation for me that they’re amazing in their ability to adapt, to increase their ambition, and to do things that they didn’t think they could do.

But we had to constantly reassure the town to keep faith with us, that we weren’t going to represent them unfairly, and that we were making something objective that understands that love of where you are from: home is always home.

When you can’t show someone the final product because you’re in the middle of making it, that’s tough - people have to genuinely trust you, and have to have faith in you and the entire team worked hard to foster that.

It’s an anxious process, someone saying ‘film me for six months’, because the gloss goes away after a couple of days. But what’s good is that you get to see people change, and in this they shine.

Sometimes, with programmes on a similar territory, people in Redcar had felt it had been an unfair representation of a town, and we all felt it was important that the Redcar they saw in this was one they recognised.

It’s a big responsibility to show what real life is like for different parts of the UK, and any time anyone shows anything to do with working class towns, it’s looked down on, and that saddens me as I think being working class is something to be proud of.

When you think of Kes and Cathy Come Home and what used to be called kitchen sink dramas, you remember the pride people had and I wanted to show in some small way that this pride hasn’t died in places like Redcar.

The people of Redcar have massive amounts of love for where they come from, so I think it’s great that the ��̳ allowed us to do this in a way that is a true reflection. I did the filming along with Stuart Bernard and Jonny Ashton, and we benefited from the amount of time that we had to make this series. You can spend time getting lovely shots of places, and getting to know the town and the people really well.

When the title comes up on every episode, there’s a shot of a drone going over the Eston Hills. That was a logistical nightmare in terms of getting access, and on a good day with the sun just about to set - you’ve only got one chance to do it! And then also being hounded by other drone operators who can find you by geolocation. I learned a lot about logistics.

Filming something as huge as The Mighty Redcar is not always going to be perfect, but that’s kind of the beauty of making documentaries, it's real life and some of the things we filmed you’d not have been able to write in a drama.

I remain immensely grateful for the producers’ research, the talented, hard-working crew that 72 Films provided us with, the editors who managed to find a clear vision from what had been filmed, and of course, and always, the people of Redcar.

The Mighty Redcar begins on 6 September at 9pm on ��̳ Two.

The making of We Are British Jews

2018-08-28T14:00:00+00:00

Participants in the documentary visited Israel while filming We Are British Jews

Britain’s Jewish community has recently been the focus of widespread attention.

There is concern about antisemitism, particularly online, and fierce debate within the Jewish community about how it should best relate to Israel and the conflict with the Palestinians.

To many on the outside, it may seem that Britain’s Jews speak with one voice, but on the inside, the community is not just diverse, but also on some of the key issues, divided.

As a British Jew myself, I felt passionately about making a series that would demonstrate that diversity and division, getting under the skin of some of the most difficult challenges facing the community today.

When Lion were commissioned by ��̳ Two to produce the series we decided the best way to do this would be to take a small group of British Jews on an immersive journey, first to Manchester - home to the largest Jewish community outside of London - and then to Israel and the occupied West Bank, where they would meet Israelis and Palestinians, learning what is really like for them on the ground.

Our first challenge was to find a group of people who helped to reflect the plurality of voices in the British Jewish community to take part in the series. Perhaps the hardest to cast were the most religious and the most politically active.

Many Orthodox Jews don’t watch television and some are suspicious of the media. A lot of those we spoke to were worried they might be taken out of context in the finished programmes. At the other end people who had spoken out against the government of Israel were equally sceptical.

After months of searching, we found eight clever, thoughtful people who were prepared to talk about their beliefs and values as individuals and as a group.

At the same time as finding the contributors, we had to come up with an itinerary that would allow the group to explore the challenges at home and in Israel.

We wanted to take the group to see places and people that would help them to go on an emotional as well as a physical journey. We wanted them to engage with people some of them might see as their fiercest opponents, and hoped that by meeting each other, there would be insight that everyone could gain. We wondered if this insight might make some of the group start to think differently about being British and Jewish and about how they relate to Israel.

To plan our itinerary, we consulted far and wide, working with a team of consultants with a diverse range of voices throughout the production of the series: from an orthodox Rabbi, Nicky Liss of Highgate Synagogue, to Laura Marks, the founder of Mitzvah Day, a Jewish led charity that encourages people of all faiths to work together, and Raymond Simonson, the CEO of Britain’s only Jewish Arts and Cultural Centre, JW3. Also working as consultants were Jewish blogger, Robert Cohen, and Sally Halon, UK Programme Director at the UJIA in Manchester.

And we didn’t stop there. We spoke to other organisations in Britain, in Israel and Palestinian groups to make sure we would reflect properly some of the themes addressed in the series.

Back home after filming, our challenge was to edit the many hours of material we had into two hour long films to be broadcast over two consecutive nights - all this as the story of antisemitism in Britain was creeping higher and higher up the news agenda.

For everyone involved, from the contributors, to those they met, and the very many people working on the production, this has been a really important and meaningful project to be involved with, and one we all felt a huge obligation to get right.

I hope that whatever perspective viewers come at it from, they will come away with the realisation that the British Jewish community, whilst thriving, has a host of challenges to grapple with.

Solving them won’t ever easy, not least because, as Sylvia, the grandmother of the group says in programme one: “Everybody thinks they are right, that’s because they are all Jewish”.

We Are British Jews begins on Tuesday 4 September.

Drugsland: Gaining access and trust prove key to making compelling documentary

2017-11-14T15:09:02+00:00

On Tuesday 14 November, ��̳ Three began airing Drugsland, a documentary series offering a real, dramatic, living and breathing experience for the audience about the state of the nation in relation to drugs. Here executive producer Sacha Mirzoeff gives some insight into how the programme was made:

There’s a plethora of programmes on TV about drugs – almost as many as cooking, property and dancing. So how could we do something different?

We decided to throw our net far and wide and try and juggle as many spinning plates as we could when we started on Drugsland.

We set the series in one forward-thinking city – Bristol, a place where multi-agency work excels and where several new schemes are being trialled. But if it was going to work for us we wanted everyone on side - the city council, the police, the NHS trusts, the multiple drug service providers, the many charities and support groups, the users and even the dealers.

Council worker Rich Hawkridge & policeman Mark Blackledge from the Streetwise team, Bristol

And there came our USP and our ball and chain all in one. In pursuit of a heady and intoxicating mix, we chased access in the way an addict does a high, not knowing when to stop. We might seek to obtain multi-pronged access but how on earth could we maintain it over the course of the filming period, which would go on for well over a year?

Spin forward six months and we are counting access agreements as the 'track changes’ added up and the weeks spent chasing signatures from the bosses began to take their toll. However we feel to make a compelling, rounded, non-judgmental series with the ability to follow compelling narratives we need to have the capacity to be everywhere in the city.

So now we’re good to go now surely? Well no, not by a long way. Now the whole process starts all over again with the professionals who work out in the community with street-level drugs everyday. Their concerns were sky high at first, and with good reason. How could it ever be in the best interest of the vulnerable people they worked with to take part? We had considered this at length and it helped that we shared some of those concerns - and still do today.

Recovering addict Ana is training to become a mentor for people starting their own journeys of recovery

Crucially, we found some users who wanted to take part in order to help others, even if it were just one person, not to go down their path. Things then started easing up when they persuaded the professionals on our behalf, vigorously demonstrating that they were aware of the pitfalls, had thought them through and still wanted to go ahead.

We had more than our fair share of challenges along the way. ‘No – we never ever pay contributors’ … ‘It’s absolutely crucial we are clear – we can never encourage you to take drugs in any way, but we are here to witness what’s going on in an unmediated way as possible’ ….‘Can we go over one more time what would happen if you were to get into problems when taking this drug?... ‘Can we run over this consent process again now you are in a lucid state of mind?’ Hmmm – dangerous world this documentary business …

So one year into the production things were in full flow. Although it never felt we were in control, with too many highs and crashing lows to count, we were undoubtedly getting somewhere. We were in with – heroin users, GPs, MPs, drug workers, councillors, crack addicts, staff at detox centres, recreational party animals, homeless drug users, sex workers, children of ex users, scientists, researchers, alternative psychedelic performers and peer mentors - to name but a few.

We had access to the high level institutions and ground-level workers/users, but then we needed to head underground – to the murky world of the dealers. This took a different kind of access negotiation and had an even lower hit rate. We put the word out and would arrange dubious meetings in the most unlikely of places – one surreal rendezvous was set in a café inside a mega DIY store that felt like a scene from Breaking Bad. Sadly the man whose boasts about the finest home produced crack was a no show. Maybe it was a good thing all round.
But bit-by-bit with patience and persistence we found some who did want to share their story.

Today it strikes me that the same issues come up across the board in relation to access whether we were talking to a chief constable or a street dealer. They both ultimately want to know how they could trust us and whether anything negative would happen as a result of them taking part. Good valid questions.

All of the people who took part who wanted to have now seen the finished films and are happy with them. Their trust in us hopefully proves to have been worthwhile. The series will be broadcast for just one period– another means of protecting those who took part.

Sacha Mirzoeff, is ��̳ Executive Producer of Drugsland.

Drugsland is co-produced by the Open University and starts on ��̳ Three from Tuesday 14 November, 2017. It will also be broadcast on ��̳ One from Tuesday 21 November.
Find out more about organisations who can help with information and support regarding the issues raised in Drugsland.
Follow @��̳Three on twitter.

Operation Sanctuary: An Inside Out North East and Cumbria special

2017-08-09T15:31:49+00:00

Spring 2016. Inside Out Producer Dan Farthing rings from Newcastle Crown Court.

“You will not believe what I have just heard…” and what he went on to describe was indeed pretty extraordinary.

Dan was following a series of interlinked trials of more than twenty Asian men, accused of grooming vulnerable young teenagers in the west end of Newcastle. Reporting restrictions banning broadcasts until the conclusion of the final trial meant we’d seen little early evidence of Dan’s regular days on the press bench.

Then, out of the blue, the prosecution revealed Northumbria Police had used a CHIS - a covert human intelligence source - to supply information on so-called “parties” where teenagers were plied with drink and drugs and sexually assaulted.

And in this case, the CHIS chosen by Northumbria Police was a man convicted as part of a group who raped a child in 2002. In an extraordinary turn of events, XY, as he was known, had fallen out with his police handler and was threatening to go to the press - alleging he’d been asked to plant drugs and even drive girls to the “parties”. His fee from the public purse? More than ten thousand pounds.

For the lone figure on the press bench it was a red flag moment.

And so began more than a year of legal wrangling to allow the public to know about the police tactic. Defence teams - even in the normally staid, bewigged world of the court - were animated. They, like us, wanted to hear from XY. Eventually the judge agreed that XY, now under police protection should be brought to court to give evidence in an Abuse of Process hearing. Potentially his evidence and claims of evidence of planting drugs could scupper the trials.

The prosecution, however, did not want the press present.

Until then, much of the information on XY had been largely Dan’s - a producer in a small, dogged current affairs team in the North East. Challenging the secrecy of the court would mean that was no longer the case. We would need to share our story - both inside and outside of the ��̳.

Joining forces with other news organisations, we argued for our case to be allowed to hear the evidence. Having won the right to stay in the press benches, we were able to witness XY’s extraordinary court appearance. Our programme, Operation Sanctuary: An Inside Out Special Investigation, edged closer to transmission.

The use of XY is surely a decision which merits public debate. The former head of the government body set up to tackle child sexual exploitation told us that as an ex-police officer he would not have sanctioned the use of a child rapist in this way. A grooming victim who now advises police forces across the country described it as a “kick in the teeth” for other survivors.

The police argue that to catch the kind of men who preyed on vulnerable children you need to work with difficult people. They lobbied vigorously ahead of transmission for us not to major on the employment of XY within the documentary. They had, they said, been given a clean bill of health by the IPCC - a report we have yet to see. Shortly before the final verdicts the Chief Constable, 52-year-old Steve Ashman, announced his retirement from the force.

Then as we headed back to court - this time to argue about the timing of lifting reporting restrictions - the police sent their own barrister to argue that the Judge should impose retrospective restrictions on significant sections of what we’d heard in open court last year. In effect, much of the detail of XY’s engagement would have been denied to the public - including his payment. The Judge declined and our programme will be broadcast tonight (on the day the trial has concluded). A freedom of information request about the cost to Northumbria Police of protecting XY has been turned down on national security grounds.

So we have, finally, been able to explain to viewers a key part of the controversial police tactic in tackling a criminal gang. But should it really be so difficult to report on the decision to pay a convicted child rapist from the public purse? Should it be necessary to spend even more public money to allow viewers and listeners to know as much of the whole story as possible?

And had producer Dan not been paying attention in his lone press bench vigil - perhaps none of us would have been any the wiser.

Operation Sanctuary: An Inside Out North East and Cumbria Special Investigation airs on Wednesday 9 August at 7.30pm on ��̳ One in the North East and Cumbria and 8.30pm on the ��̳ News Channel. The programme will also be available on ��̳ iPlayer

Mary Adams and other ��̳ female pioneers who inspired my love for Natural History

2017-03-08T12:59:21+00:00

If you ask someone to describe what a wildlife filmmaker looks like, I suspect they’d paint a portrait of a man with a beard and a big camera wearing camouflage gear. But I’m a wildlife filmmaker - I’m a petite, 38-year old woman, and there are plenty of others like me.

I’ve worked as a wildlife filmmaker for the ��̳ Natural History Unit for the last 13 years, most recently producing and directing a film about Islands that opened the recent David Attenborough series Planet Earth II. In the three and a half years of making the episode, I camped in the world’s largest penguin colony, watched racer snakes hunting down baby marine iguanas on a remote beach in Galapagos and got eaten alive by mosquitos in the Seychelles (it was not an island paradise experience).

Inhabitants of Zavodovksi Island, the world's largest penguin colony

When it broadcast in November last year, Planet Earth II - Islands became the most-watched wildlife show for more than 15 years, attracting more than 12 million viewers, and was the most requested programme on iPlayer for the whole of 2016. Something many people commented on, was how “nice” it was that it was produced/directed by a woman.

I guess it’s easy to assume that natural history filmmaking is a very male-dominated world. Sir David Attenborough is the face of natural history broadcasting in Britain, and we get very used to seeing male cameramen struggling in filming hides as part of ‘making-of’ segments. But the story behind the scenes is a very different one, for wildlife filmmaking – and indeed documentary filmmaking in general – is an environment that is rich in women and has been for many years.

The first female television producer at the ��̳ was Mary Adams who joined the corporation in 1936. She was a 30-year old former research scientist, married (at a time when most professions barred married women from work) and she had a rich and successful career as a documentary producer and commissioner in the field of science. It was Mary Adams who spotted a young David Attenborough in 1952, and later commissioned Zoo Quest, a series he proposed in conjunction with London Zoo, which first brought Attenborough to the television screens.

Mary Adams

In my 13 years at the ��̳, there have been many highly talented female wildlife film producers to draw inspiration from, including Martha Holmes (The Blue Planet) and Vanessa Berlowitz (Frozen Planet, Planet Earth). Many among the commissioning team and controllers for science and natural history have been female – indeed the current head of ��̳ content is a woman, Charlotte Moore.

Granted, the presence of women on-screen in science and natural history seems somewhat less common than seeing male presenters but when they do appear, they can be hugely inspirational. Watching Martha Holmes don a bubble helmet for the series Sea Trek in the early 1990s was a major factor in me wanting to learn to scuba dive and ultimately do a PhD in fish biology.

On Planet Earth II, more than half the production team were female, including all the production co-ordinators and many of the researchers and directors on location. For our penguin filming on Zavodovksi Island (the most remote and ‘committed’ shoot of the series) it was a woman who advised on field/camp safety, and one of the three boat captains that sailed us 8 days through the volatile Southern Ocean, was a female. This is something that would have been incomprehensible 40 years ago, as women were actively discouraged from working in Antarctica - women didn’t over-winter on British science bases until the 1990s.

There are still areas where women are very under-represented in documentary filmmaking. For example, you see relatively few female wildlife camera operators in broadcasting, and there is no doubt in my mind women often have to work harder to ‘prove themselves’ in the field, compared with men. But women can be excellent team leaders, and highly creative storytellers. I’m hopeful that, one day, the stereotype of ‘producer/director’ may just as easily be female.

Elizabeth White is producer/director of 'Planet Earth II: Islands'.

Return to Planet Earth

2016-11-04T16:47:44+00:00

This weekend the ��̳ Natural History Unit's landmark series Planet Earth returns for a new series. Creative Director Mike Gunton reflects on his inspiration for telling the story of the natural world.

I remember when I was about 13 years old my school’s biology department had a little pond at the back. It was spring and the biology teacher suggested that a friend and I should go and look at the new baby frogs in the pond. Of course we started trying to catch them and I remember holding one in my hand thinking how tiny they looked.

Looking back I think my fascination with nature started in that moment – the idea that hidden away in this pond – un-seeable to the majority of us – was a heaving mass of beautiful tiny, tiny frogs.

Then when I was a bit older and got my first camera, I realized that a camera could show things the human eye couldn’t see. In a way those little frogs have been my inspiration - trying to show other people the ‘un-seeable’. That’s what I try to do today, giving audiences a chance to see what they wouldn’t or couldn’t normally get to see.

If I had to tell someone what I do I’d describe myself as a filmmaker. My job is to come up with ideas, get the ingredients together and then work with my colleagues to turn those ideas into the best TV programmes we can.

Those programmes – those made by the ��̳ Studio’s brilliant Natural History Unit – have over the years been pretty successful. But the job has two sides to the coin. I think, in some ways the business of filming nature is a serious one - filmmakers are trusted to deploy enormous resources and work in challenging environments, often very remote, out of contact from any help.

We’re having to be responsible – there’s a lot at stake. On the other hand, as storytellers we’re also trying to keep a lightness when trying to reveal and communicate the wonder of nature. It would be all too easy to be a bit grand or pompous about it all. We can’t do that. It’s quite a juggling act.

I think the key to the Natural History Unit’s success is that it’s always evolving, we learn from each other, sharing experience and knowledge in a way that’s unparalleled. It’s also very broad - we’re given permission to employ different techniques to tell a huge range of stories - I have my approach to telling stories about the natural world, others have a different approach. In fact we not only have the permission to tell these stories in different ways but I think a duty as well. I personally don’t think there are many organisations which can claim that breadth of coverage and approach.

If you ask me what the has changed since the first Planet Earth and Planet Earth II - and so how they are different - I think for me there are at least three things.

The first is filming technology – over ten years - partly stimulated by original Planet Earth, there have been a whole series of programmes have lit the fires of technical innovation. The extraordinary development in technology, whether its drones, miniaturisation, new gyro stabilized handheld cameras or remotely operated cameras, we have been able to bring them together in this one series to draw back the veil of secrecy the shrouds the natural world.

Secondly, in the last 10 years there seems to have been an extraordinary upsurge in scientific investigation into the natural world. Not only that, the wealth of information is being so much more readily shared - scientists are shooting their own video, taking photos, posting stories so new knowledge is not only ever advancing but easier and quicker to access.

Thirdly, the sense of the fragility of the natural world is becoming more and more front of mind– we’re more and more conscious of that compared with even 10 years ago. Our experience in making this series was often underscored by a sense of human encroachment into the natural world and the peril that can bring. There are of course some encouraging reversals where we’ve seen enlightened conservation policies in places that were previously looking like they were heading for trouble – but the trend feels it’s going the wrong way for nature. We felt that needed some acknowledgement in the series. Coupled with that we also felt we needed to feature a habitat that wasn’t featured in the original Planet Earth - the one built by humanity. So we’ve one episode on cities and the animals that share the urban world with us. It’s an amazing film, beautiful and thought provoking at the same time.

And if I can have an additional difference to my list of three – there’s a difference in execution. The original Planet Earth had the sense of observing the planet from almost a god-like perspective. It was at the time a unique and powerful perspective. In the new series we’re looking at the world - the environment - through the animals eyes: and now we can run, swim and fly with them. Its very involving and I think brings home both the drama of their lives and their relationship with the habitat where thy live. And that in itself a reflection of the technical innovation which has occurred during the intervening years.

The worldwide impact of Planet Earth is almost incalculable. Wherever I go in the world people ask “Were you involved in Planet Earth?” It’s such a brilliant name for a start, its so evocative yet so simple. The first series came at the right time, at a point where I think people felt a need to reconnect with the planet. I’m hoping Planet Earth II will tap into a similar Zeitgeist - one that feels in the air right now.

Planet Earth is reckoned to have been seen by half a billion people. Now, thanks to our new co-production partners in China, I’m hoping even more people will watch the new series. I think China is the place in the world where the new series could have the most impact. The opportunity to reach astronomical numbers of people is a great opportunity.

When I was sitting by the pond trying to catch those frogs I never thought for a moment I would be working on something that could have the potential impact of Planet Earth II. Trying to entertain and inform such huge numbers of people is a big challenge, but the prospect doesn’t frighten me – ok, it might be a bit daunting - but it sort of fires me up - it’s definitely exciting.

Mike Gunton is Creative Director, ��̳ Studios Natural History Unit

Watch Planet Earth II on ��̳ One at 8pm on Sunday 6 November 2016
Read exclusive interviews with the production team on the ��̳ Media Centre website
Discover how ��̳ Outreach gave Bristol media students the opportunity to make their own wildlife documentaries

The tragedy of Aberfan - fifty years on

2016-10-14T14:44:16+00:00

Producer and director Steve Humphries talks about 'Surviving Aberfan' described in one newspaper as “one of the most heart-breaking pieces of television you are ever likely to watch.” It’s part of a series of commemorative programmes by ��̳ Wales, marking 50 years since the Aberfan disaster, which touched people around the world.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster.

The people of this Welsh mining village, where life for more than a century revolved around the Merthyr Vale colliery, have rarely spoken at length about what happened to them on 21 October 1966, and for good reason.

On that morning, at the start of the school day, a massive tip slide careered down the mountainside, engulfing the village primary school and surrounding houses in hundreds of tonnes of rubble and coal waste. Twenty-eight adults and 116 children were killed.

Aberfan ranks high among the worst peacetime UK disasters of the 20th century - the loss of so many children in what should have been their safe haven shocked Wales, Britain and the world.

The impact was immediate, the public response overwhelming in messages of condolence and gifts in cash and kind.

Painful memories

As producer and director of the ��̳ documentary film Surviving Aberfan, I had to persuade people to talk on camera about what was, for many, the worst day of their life.

It took months to build a relationship of trust with the community to make this possible. Inevitably, talking about the disaster brings back acutely painful memories and many survivors still cannot speak about it publicly.

But some did eventually agree to tell their story. This is probably the last significant anniversary we have to capture the experience from the widest number of surviving witnesses.

Some believed it was vital that the full story of what happened to their community should never be forgotten.

Others wanted placed on record the largely unsung role of the emergency services and the men who risked their lives in rescue operations in the most challenging conditions and lived thereafter haunted by regret that they couldn’t have brought out more alive.

Former fireman Len Haggett had never spoken about what he did on that day - even to his wife. As a result of telling us his story, of a dramatic rescue he was involved in, we were able to reunite him with Phil Thomas, the boy whose life he saved.

Len Haggett and Dave Thomas meet the boy they rescued, Phil Thomas

Recounting the stories of survival, rescue, loss and bereavement was a uniquely emotional experience for the people of Aberfan – and for me.

As a programme-maker specialising in oral history documentaries for many years, I found these some of the most affecting interviews I have ever done. It seems to me that no-one ‘gets over’ a disaster of the suddenness, scale and severity of Aberfan. There are only different ways of surviving.

Steve Humphries is producer and director of the ��̳ documentary film Surviving Aberfan.

Surviving Aberfan airs on ��̳ One Wales, Monday 17 October at 9pm, and on ��̳ Four, Thursday 20 October at 9pm
Aberfan: The Fight for Justice,Tuesday 18 October, ��̳ One, 10.45pm
Aberfan: The Green Hollow, Friday 21 October, ��̳ One Wales, 9pm; Sunday 23 October, ��̳ Four, 8pm
Aberfan; A Concert to Remember, Saturday 22 October, ��̳ Two Wales, 9pm; Sunday 23 October, ��̳ Four, 9pm

Sheffield Documentary Festival 2016: My ��̳ highlights

2016-06-20T09:00:00+00:00

��̳ Documentaries Showreel

The ��̳ had a brilliant Sheffield DocFest with some stand out films, exceptional sessions and some of the greatest names in documentary filmmaking speaking about ��̳ projects.

Louis Theroux discussed his My Scientology Movie for ��̳ Films.

The legendary D.A Pennebaker and Chris Hedgus talked about the films that changed documentary making forever (Don’t Look Back, The War Room) as well as their new ��̳ Storyville on animal rights, Unlocking the Cage.

We launched our New Directors Initiative aimed at the next generation of filmmakers.

And we engaged with the growing careers of ��̳Three documentary faces Reggie Yates, Professor Green and Stacey Dooley.

But my highlight of the festival was the exceptional session where Sir David Attenborough inspired a packed Crucible Theatre with the passion, inspiration and risk taking that has driven him over seven decades at the heart of public service broadcasting. Amazing.

Patrick Holland is Head of Commissioning, Documentaries.

Read Hannah Khalil's blog: ��̳ at Sheffield Documentary Festival 2016.
Find out more about upcoming ��̳ documentaries on the ��̳ Media Centre website.

��̳ at Sheffield Documentary Festival 2016

2016-06-10T09:00:00+00:00

The Sheffield Documentary film festival has been going since 1994 and is a hub for all documentary and factual content and programme makers across the UK and beyond.

��̳ people and programmes featured in quite a few events and screenings in this year’s festival from 10-15 June 2016. Details are included below:

11 June:

A Reasonably Adjusted Debate – Disability on and Off Screen: Julie Shaw, 12:15
The ��̳ Interview: Reggie Yates, 1-2.30pm
Professor Green: Documentary and Me: Professor Green in conversation with ��̳ commissioner, Danny Horan 3.30-4.45
Surviving Dangerzone Docs: Stacey Dooley (Filmmaker)
Innovation in Archive: Catherine Allen (��̳ iWonder)
Louis Theroux: My Scientology Movie - Screening of film followed by Q&A

12 June:

Documentary and Trauma - featuring Olly Lambert, film-maker of ��̳ One’s The Abused
DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus in Conversation with Francine Stock (��̳ Radio 4 Film Programme Presenter)
Alternate Realities Reception supported by ��̳ R&D

13 June:

How to Get Your Theatrical Doc Funded and Distributed: Kate Townsend, Exececutive, Storyville, 10am
How to Document the World's Biggest News Stories - Telling the Refugee Crisis: Panel includes James Bluemel (Keo, Series Director of Exodus: Breaking into Europe) and James Rogan (Director of The Confession), 10am
Commissioning Singles, Specials and Series: Patrick Holland, Head of Commissioning, Documentaries, 12pm
Commissioning Specialist Factual: Martin Davidson, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual, 2.30pm
Docs on Cops: Panel discussion including Aysha Rafaele, Head of Documentary Production (The Met), 2.45pm
TARDIS-docs: Telling deceptively big stories in tiny online: Dan Tucker (��̳ iWonder)
Sir David Attenborough in Conversation 3.30pm
Screening of Bobby Sands: 66 Days 7.45pm, with Q&A hosted by Cassian Harrison, Channel Editor, ��̳ Four

14 June:

Commissioning Arts Docs: Panel with Mark Bell, Head of Commissioning, Arts, 10am
How to Pitch Your Climate Change Idea: Panel with Tom McDonald, Head of Commissioning Special Factual Features, 10am
Commissioning: Shorts for all Platforms: Max Godarty (��̳), 12pm
Meet The ��̳ Production Network Team, 1pm
Commissioning Factual Entertainment: Donna Clark, Head of Commissioning, Factual Features, 2.15pm
A Place at the Table - Why Documentaries for Kids Matter: Kez Margie (C��̳)
Notes on Blindness screening and Q&A hosted by Cassian Harrison 2.45pm
Our ��̳, Our Channel 4: A Future For Public Service TV: Moderated by Jane Martinson and featuring Patrick Holland on the panel, 4-5.30pm

My Scientology Movie : Louis Theroux

Films with ��̳ connection screening at festival:

Storyville:

Bobby Sands: 66 Days
The Confession
Unlocking the Cage
Notes on Blindness

Other:

My Scientology Movie: Louis Theroux (pictured above)
Burma’s Secret Jungle War with Joe Simpson
Exodus: Breaking into Europe (Keo)
Music of Strangers: Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble

Find out more at the Sheffield Documentary Festival website

Music Moguls: Never let the fax get in the way of a good story

2016-01-28T12:07:28+00:00

On Friday 29 January, ��̳ Four's Music Mogul's looks at the PR industry, the programme delves into the publicity plots that have helped shape some of the world’s greatest artists, and how PRs cultivate new bands, manage crises and attempt to maintain the reputation of their longstanding clients. Here Andy Saunders, who founded Velocity Communications in 2000 and is featured in the episode, gives an overview of how the role of the PR person has changed during his extensive experience of working in the music industry.

I’m old enough to remember fax machines. That’s how old I am.

Before the digital age the work of the PR professional was very different. It involved a lot of hands-on, physical effort.

To get a press release to a journalist in the mid-90’s meant printing it out and faxing it over to them or, if you were doing a mail shot, printing out dozens of them, putting them in envelopes, addressing them, franking them and putting them in a sack for the postman to collect.

It was a laborious process, suited to a physical world of newspapers and magazines.

These days at the press of a computer key that same press release can be sent to anyone, globally in an instant.

The world has changed. These days the news cycle is much faster and has a significantly wider reach. The advent of social media has helped accelerate an appetite for news and to increase the distribution outlets.

Bowie mural in Brixton, which soon became a memorial site as news of his death spread

The sad passing of David Bowie recently illustrated the speed in which a news item can dominate the agenda. From the initial announcement of his death on news outlets and social media the story gathered pace so fast that within minutes it had achieved a huge reach and become a global conversation that gathered momentum over several days.

Everyone is a journalist these days. Anyone with a Twitter or Instagram account can break a story and they frequently do. In light of that, the role of PR has evolved to cope with this new world order.

These days there is far more emphasis on a strategic approach to messaging. How we talk to a target audience and in what tone of voice is more than ever a hugely important part of the communications challenge. Media relations, the actual interface with journalists, comes much later in the PR process than it used to.

This is because once something is out in the digital ether it cannot be retracted. Or at least not erased. That’s why the messaging has to be bang on before there is any interaction with the media.

Once upon a time, if a newspaper got something wrong they would print a retraction and that would be that. Nowadays, if anything goes out to the media however inaccurate it will stay out there forever. It will become its own ‘truth’. And that truth can breed more truths until the story is distorted beyond recognition.

The migration of readers to digital news and social media is a great opportunity for PR’s. If used strategically it can help shape and control the story. But there is a flipside. If used clumsily the story can spiral out of control and take on a life of its own, one which is controlled entirely by a readership.

The Beatles

I recently wrote a piece about how, in my opinion, social media would have prevented The Beatles breaking up. In short, when John Lennon made his infamous “The Beatles are now bigger than Jesus” comment it triggered widespread protests against the band in the US. There were demonstrations at their live shows and death threats made against them. The whole episode all but ended the bands live career and saw them retreat to the studio where eventually they broke apart.

A slightly silly piece and a simplistic view of the situation I know, but in the blog I argue that social media would have allowed the band to talk to their fans directly, to correct any inaccuracies, to put forward a context for their statement or to apologise. In other words, to take control of the story. I believe that in a digital news environment the story would have burned brightly for a few days and then faded.

For bands and musicians, this ability to connect directly with their fans through social media and digital news is amazing but it comes with real challenges. This democratization of news has enabled direct-to-fan relationships to become ever more engaging but it has also created a huge amount of ‘noise,’ which can mean an increasingly overcrowded space.

It also means that the fan is being overwhelmed with ever more news through ever more channels. Having a well thought through strategy to avoid becoming part of this noise is vital and is where the real skill of the PR lies these days.

We still talk to journalists, we still apply the dark arts of spin on occasion, we still beg and plead for coverage of our bands/events/products because ultimately it is still a sales job, but it is a much more strategic role now than it ever was.

Andy Saunders is founder of PR company Velocity Communications.

Music Moguls: Myth Makers is broadcast on ��̳ Four on Friday 29 January at 10pm.
You can watch the previous two episodes Melody Makers and Money Makers on ��̳ iPlayer.
Read 'Music Moguls: Masters of Pop' by series producer Francis Whately.

Music Moguls: Masters of Pop

2016-01-15T14:05:44+00:00

A new series exploring the untold history of the pop and rock worlds, told by the producers, managers and PR giants, starts tonight on ��̳ Four, 10pm. We asked series producer Francis Whately some questions about it.

Music Moguls. What’s the pitch?

"The music business is a cruel and shallow trench where thieves & pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There is also a negative side." Hunter S. Thompson

Where did the idea come from?

We wanted to tell the Rock Story from a different point of view. For too long it’s all been about the artists, as though they work in a vacuum. We wanted to shine a light on the unsung heroes – the men and women behind the scenes (the Svengali’s; the Melody Makers; the Puppet Masters, the Mythmakers etc.) to show the crucial role they have played in the success of the rock and pop industry. At a time when we are at saturation point with pop and rock biographies, now is the time that the stars behind the stars moved centre stage.

No-one likes a spoiler, so give us a taster of what we’ll see

The series tells the story of the music industry not from the frayed and tired yarns of the artists, but from the managers, producers and PR gurus who orchestrated their careers: the unsung heroes, and sometimes villains, behind the scenes. Where would Elvis Presley be with Colonel Tom? Where would be Led Zeppelin be without Peter Grant, or Justin Bieber without Scooter Braun.

Each film uses and expert in their field to tell the story. Episode one – Money Makers - we collaborated with Simon Napier Bell, the brilliant former manager of amongst others Mark Bolan, The Yardbirds and Wham; for Film Two – Melody Makers - the mighty Nile Rodgers, who produced everyone from Madonna to David Bowie, Diana Ross to his own band Chic; and for film Three – Mythmakers - Alan Edwards is our PR Svengali. Edwards was behind everyone from Prince to the Rolling Stones, David Bowie to the Spice Girls.

One great contributor in episode one is Adele’s manager, Jonathan Dickens. He talks about what it is to be a manager, and the music industry today:

“Managers are only as good, I believe, as the artists they manage. That is so important."

“I've never really chased the money first, and a lot of people say they never really chase the money – and most people do. The biggest thing of that is when you actually have success, when the money really starts to be significant. Opportunity to Adele presents itself by the truckload every day. Any and every opportunity to make money in non-traditional or branding exercises, we've been offered it - everything. Clothing ranges, perfumes, nail polishes ..it goes on. For us, the first thought isn't the branding opportunity, it's the music, and I want to protect what it is we do with her music and her content - absolutely I do. And that will never change.”

Episode two looks at the Melody Makers - the Music Producers. The men and women who have created the signature sounds that have defined key periods in rock and pop history. Led by the genius that is Nile Rodgers, the film discusses his work with Chic, and others, but also how he gave super Producer Mark Ronson his first Sony Walkman to start producing his own sounds.

Mark Ronson tells us: “The role of a producer really is just to take the song at hand, or the album, and make it as great as it can be for that artist.”

“The first artist that I really clicked with was probably Amy (Winehouse) when working on ‘Back to Black’. Amy had played me this stuff by The Shangri-Las, and we obviously both loved Motown and 60's and early 70's soul music.”

“I never started making music because I wanted to be in the limelight.”

The third episode concentrates on the dark arts of PR – the Myth Makers. With exclusive access to one of the biggest PR’s in the music business, Alan Edwards, we tell the extraordinary story of how PR in Britain was born in the music industry, thrived and spread like wildfire throughout all the media. Today it is reckoned that 90% of what we read is PR orchestrated. We tell the story of how you can have a hit single without PR but you can’t have a career.

On being involved with the programme, Alan Edwards said: “We all know what a significant role PR plays in British public life nowadays, but not many people realise that its roots go back five decades to the start of the Music Business as we know it now. In this film I lift the lid on the unseen, uncredited, often unappreciated and unsung PR’s that helped create an industry that now employs something like 60,000 people.”

We hear how he and other major PRs, such as Barbara Charone and Andy Saunders, cultivate new bands, manage crises and attempt to maintain the reputation of their longstanding clients. They feature alongside artists such as the Sex Pistols, Uriah Heep, Brett Anderson and Hugh Cornwell.

What surprised you making these films?

As a team we were surprised just how important managers, producers and PRs are to the whole music-making process. Managers are therapists, accountants, confidants and friends. Producers can turn what sounds like nothing into a hit and while you can have a number one without PR you can’t have a career without it.

What do you reckon we’ll think about the music industry after we’ve watched it?

We hope the audience’s eyes will be opened wide by this series as it shows the immense work and brain power that goes into the soundtrack of our lives. The story is surprising, erudite and often very amusing.

Francis Whately is series producer of Music Moguls: Masters of Pop.

Episode 1 of 'Music Moguls: Masters of Pop' will be broadcast on ��̳ Four at 10pm on Friday 15 January and available to watch on ��̳ iPlayer after that for 30 days.
Find out about the '10 most influential moguls in pop history - and what you can learn from them' on the ��̳ Music website.

Hourglass: Paying tribute to Gravenhurst

2015-12-04T16:02:20+00:00

On Saturday 5 December at 8pm, ��̳ Introducing in the West will broadcast 'Hourglass' a special programme about Bristol singer/songwriter Nick Talbot, aka Gravenhurst who died last December aged just 37. Here presenter of the 60 minute documentary, Richard Pitt talks about what it was like paying tribute to the local musician who he had known for over ten years.

I first met Nick Talbot in 2002, just as he was heading out on the path of solo performer as Gravenhurst. We recorded a session with him for Bristol Uncovered, just Nick and his acoustic guitar. It struck me immediately that he had something truly remarkable.

His death last year was an absolute tragedy, but it’s given me the opportunity to thank him by paying tribute in a radio programme and not many people get that privilege. I can’t say it’s been an easy process, but it’s been wonderful to hear the music again with fresh ears, to talk to Nick’s friends and hear their stories. He was a remarkable musician, but also a remarkable man.

Nick Talbot. Photo by Lucy Johnston

Nick’s sound was truly unique. He had the choirboy voice and the intricate finger-picking guitar style, but he delivered dark tales with difficult subject matter that were heart-breakingly beautiful.

I got to record 3 sessions with Nick over a decade. His first coincided with the inception of Gravenhurst - “I haven’t played a guitar in front of anyone in over a year.” For the next, 5 years later, when he played songs from the new album The Western Lands, he brought his pedalboard and explained what everything did. Deep down, he actually wanted to be Jimmy Page. And in 2012, he released what turned out to be his final album The Ghost In Daylight. He signed my copy - “For Richard - all the best mate.” The conversation would be about his new songs, the next album on the way, the challenges of sustaining a music career. He’d be gregarious, welcoming, always very funny.

I get to play great new music every week on ��̳ Introducing. It’s a privilege and a pleasure - finding something new, inspirational, just plain catchy. The time I spent talking to Nick, listening to his glorious music, sitting wide-eyed while he played those stunning songs in session, will live with me forever.

Richard Pitt is presenter of ��̳ Introducing in the West.

'Hourglass. A Tribute to Nick Talbot' will be broadcast on ��̳ Radio Bristol, ��̳ Radio Gloucestershire, ��̳ Somerset and ��̳ Wiltshire at 8pm on Saturday 5th December 2015 and repeated at 1am.
Find out more about '��̳ Introducing in the West' on their website and facebook page.
You can follow @bbcintrowest on twitter.
Watch '7 music documentaries that will leave you feeling moved, uplifted and inspired' on the ��̳ Music website.

Revisiting Srebrenica

2015-07-04T14:16:48+00:00

In the documentary 'A Deadly Warning: Srebrenica Revisited' journalist and British Muslim Myriam François-Cerrah travels to Bosnia, to mark the 20th anniversary of the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II. In a frequently emotional trip, she visits the site of the genocide at Srebrenica, with a group of young people all born in the year of the massacre. Here producer/director Gillian Bancroft talks about the challenges of making a film about a genocide that isn’t well remembered.

In the early 1990s I travelled to the former Yugoslavia with the British Red Cross to make a short film about refugees. They were fleeing the fighting that was tearing apart this popular holiday destination and which eventually led to independence for states like Bosnia. It’s a trip I’ll never forget but I’m ashamed to say that over the years my memory of the wider conflict had faded. I’m not alone. Ask people what they remember about Srebrenica in 1995 and few may have an answer. We needed to find a way to tell the story of a genocide that many had forgotten and convey the importance of events understood by very few.

On the 11th July 1995, General Ratko Mladić led the Bosnian Serb Army into the spa town of Srebrenica, despite its designation as a UN safe area. In the days that followed, around eight thousand Bosnian Muslim men and teenage boys were systematically massacred and buried in mass graves. Women, children and elderly were forcibly deported. Many suffered terrible abuse.

Today a British charity - Remembering Srebrenica - takes small groups to Bosnia to learn the lessons of this genocide. Chatting to the organisers I discovered that they sometimes take young people who know nothing about Srebrenica. Our viewers could discover the story afresh with one of these groups and reflect with them on whether it has any relevance for us here in Britain today. The film would stand or fall on the strength of their three-day visit to Bosnia.

Presenter Myriam François-Cerrah with the group she accompanied to Srebrenica

As soon as I spoke to the young people, some of my natural anxieties eased. The diverse group included Julie, the daughter of Colonel Bob Stewart who was United Nations Commander of the British forces in Bosnia in the early nineties; and medical student Abdul, who said he was astonished that he didn’t hear about the story in school and wondered why “…when Muslim people die you don’t learn about it as much”. Journalist and British Muslim Myriam François-Cerrah would go with them as our presenter. She understood that for a lot of British Muslims Srebrenica is still a very raw issue. This is a genocide that struck Europe’s oldest Muslim community and Europe failed to stop it.

The journey that followed was incredible. We visited the old battery factory just north of Srebrenica where UN peacekeepers were stationed in the 1990s. It’s now a Memorial Centre where we met a survivor of the so-called ‘Column’ of men and boys who had attempted to escape the advancing Bosnian Serb Army by walking to a region under Bosnian Muslim control. But it became a death march. I knew that a key moment for the group would be when they were shown a film detailing the three days that followed the fall of Srebrenica.

Gillian filming for the documentary A Deadly Warning: Srebrenica Revisited

The Bosnian Serb Army filmed its own actions - including the execution of many unarmed men and boys - and some of this footage is used in the film. My job at this point was to record the reactions of the young people. I didn’t actually watch the film myself. Even so the experience left its mark.

The atmosphere in the room was palpable; focusing on the expressions of the young people watching I found myself feeling physically sick. One of young group, Abdul, had to leave. He said the similar ages of the victims left him thinking about himself - ‘ you and your friend and your brother. You’re all together in a van together and you know you are about to die.’ Our presenter Myriam commented that the images are likely to stay in the mind and ‘if something positive can come from learning about that you’ve got to hope it was worth it.’

Gillian filming with the 'Mothers of Srebrenica'

From there the young people went straight to meet the ‘Mothers of Srebrenica’. These women each lost members of their family, husbands and sons, in the massacre. The rain never stopped falling as the group walked arm in arm with the mothers around the memorial cemetery – row upon row of white markers, one for each of the thousands who died.

Myriam and the young people went on to confront the current Bosnian Serb President of Srebrenica’s Municipal Assembly, who refuses to accept that what happened here in 1995 should be termed a genocide. Finally we travelled to the mortuary where on-going forensic work is still identifying the victims 20 years later.

It was a very intense few days. We watched the young people learn first-hand how easily prejudice can take hold, even their own, and then realize for themselves why this story has such important lessons for us in multicultural Britain today. Summing up the trip Myriam said:

‘What struck me about the young people on this journey was not only their realisation that they had been blind to what happened in Srebrenica, but in many cases that it made them much more conscious of the danger of divisions much closer to home."

Gillian Bancroft is producer/director, A Deadly Warning: Srebrenica Revisited

A Deadly Warning: Srebrenica Revisited will be broadcast on ��̳ One on Monday July 6 at 10.35pm and will be available to watch on ��̳ iPlayer for 30 days thereafter.
Find out about 20th anniversary memorial events around the UK at the Remembering Srebrenica website.

��̳ at Sheffield Documentary Film Festival 2015

2015-06-10T15:20:00+00:00

Today, Thursday 10 June, marks the close of this year’s Sheffield Documentary Film Festival. As part of the festival there were events with two ��̳ channel controllers, ��̳ One’s Charlotte Moore and ��̳ Two and Four’s Kim Shillinglaw.

Kim spoke on Monday with the makers of the new ��̳ Two series The Detectives, which follows a Greater Manchester Police specialist unit investigating sex offences. She also talked about her wider ambitions for narrative and storytelling across ��̳ Two and ��̳ Four.

To tie-in with the event Kim announced a host of new films from acclaimed documentary directors and producers, including Jane Treays, Robb Leech, Sarah Hardy, Blue Ryan, John Battsek, Stephen Bennett, Colin Barr and Clare Johns. She said:

“��̳ Two is a fantastic showcase for the some of the most exciting and acclaimed documentary film-makers working in the UK; alongside the incredible drama writers and producers we have on the channel, they make ��̳ Two a real platform for the best of British creativity. I'm very proud of the documentaries we are announcing today and the remarkable talent, often tackling difficult subjects, that we are able to support.

"Using a range of story-telling techniques, from self-shooting to fixed rigs, these films have unique and privileged access to many different aspects of modern British life, from David Lammy’s tough Tottenham constituency to the rarefied world of Country Life magazine and from the private world of the divorce clinic to the community Dunblane, 20 years on from the shattering massacre at Dunblane Primary School.

"I’m also pleased to announce today that following the success of the first series of The Detectives, Executive Produced by Colin Barr at Minnow Films, I have commissioned another series from the same team.”

This external content is available at its source: https://twitter.com/mezstone1/status/607956555028414464

Then, on Tuesday, Charlotte Moore was interviewed by Doc/Fest Chair Alex Graham about her priorities for the channel and also announced new documentary commissions to broaden the range of subjects and perspectives on ��̳ One. Charlotte said:

"From singles to series, these documentaries have gained extraordinarily intimate access to four distinctive worlds that will move, provoke and challenge the ��̳ One audience.

“From Brett's inspiring story of triumph over adversity to capturing what it means to live with cancer today, from exploring racial tensions in Burnley through the eyes of two cab companies to a window into the world of Britain's new aristocracy in Longleat."

This external content is available at its source: https://twitter.com/carolnahra/status/608213066879246336

This external content is available at its source: https://twitter.com/KerryLeese/status/608220228472963072

There were many other ��̳ events and screenings at the festival including the ��̳ Radio 1 and 1Xtra Pitch Stories, an chance to witness ��̳ Radio 1’s first ever documentary public pitch opportunity, as a set of filmmakers competed for a commission worth £2000; and a ‘Meet the Makers event’ with the creators and presenters of ��̳ Three's satirical comedy The Revolution Will Be Televised, Jolyon Rubinstein, Heydon Prowse and Joe Wade. There were also a series of Meet The Commissioners events featuring a number of ��̳ speakers.

You can see a full schedule of events on the Sheffield Doc Fest website.

Hannah Khalil is Digital Producer, About the ��̳ Website and Blog.

Docs on ��̳ Two: Modern Britain in all its staggering variety

2013-06-12T10:32:07+00:00

Later this week, the documentary filmmaking world will descend on Sheffield for the 20^th Sheffield Doc/Fest. This year, I’ll be heading there to take part in The ��̳ Interview alongside one of the stars of The Great British Bake Off, presenter and comedian Sue Perkins. We’ll be talking about documentaries and the phenomenal impact they’re having on the ��̳ Two schedule.

A selection of new documentaries coming to ��̳ Two.

The last year has been an outstanding one for documentaries on ��̳ Two – from the ambition and scale of Keeping Britain Alive and Britain in a Day to the huge popular success of Inside Claridges and The Choir, we’re seeing a renewed and growing appetite for films about all aspects of real life. We’ve seen factual and documentary series become the stuff of water-cooler conversations and twitter trends, and collected BAFTAs and Royal Television Awards for programmes as diverse as The Great British Bake Off and 7/7: One Day in London, Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die and Protecting Our Children.

At an event last week, I was delighted to announce that ��̳ Two is strengthening its commitment to single documentaries by reviving the iconic series Modern Times for the 21st Century.

Last seen on ��̳ Two in the late 1990s, Modern Times was a fantastic part of our heritage and is still, in my view, the defining series for single documentaries. Walking softly but carrying a big gun, the films had unexpectedly big things to say smuggled into the filmmaking. They may have been about particular moments or experiences but they had something bigger to say about the world we live in. It was done with wit, attitude and authorship, and was a great place for directors to spread their wings in a free and exciting way.

And that’s precisely why I’m bringing it back for ��̳ Two. The new Modern Times will build and expand on ��̳ Two’s impressive track record for producing award-winning documentaries, and provide a platform for leading filmmakers to showcase cutting-edge films which reflect life in modern Britain. We want the very best filmmakers to tell stories that will illuminate, provoke and reveal modern Britain in all its staggering variety.

Alongside Modern Times, I was also delighted to introduce other new documentary films and series which will screen on ��̳ Two in the near future.

In Stephen Fry - Out There (w/t), Stephen Fry will look at what it means to be gay in different corners of the world and explore why some people feel so threatened by homosexuality.

As tens of thousands of people across the country attend slimming clubs each week, Welcome to the World of Weight Loss (w/t) will put the spotlight on our national obsession with food and diets. More people than ever are on a diet, yet obesity rates are soaring. So does dieting help? Critically-acclaimed director Vanessa Engle (Walking with Dogs, Money) follows members from three different slimming clubs over a three-month period as they try to lose weight in a film that asks why we have such a complicated relationship with food.

Marking the 25th anniversary of one of the world's worst offshore oil disasters, Piper Alpha will chronicle the tragic events that occurred on the Piper Alpha rig in July 1988. It was a cataclysm that killed 167 men and left only 61 survivors, each of whom had to fight for their lives to escape the huge, labyrinthine structure and the flames consuming it. The 90-minute film will detail the experiences of those who found themselves in the midst of the inferno that destroyed the rig.

Over the course of a year, Iceland (w/t) follows the fortunes of Iceland supermarkets and its maverick CEO Malcolm Walker who believes his shoot-from-the-hip style of leadership holds the key to a happier workforce and a profitable business. But Iceland faces big challenges - from its competitors, the recession, the horse meat scandal and the changing attitudes towards frozen food. For the first time, Malcolm opens the doors to his 800-store empire in one of its toughest years.

The Crane Gang takes a look at the changing industrial landscape of Britain through the gritty world of mobile cranes and their drivers. With unprecedented access to UK’s largest mobile crane operator, this new series follows a range of characters from the crane to the boardroom as they battle to keep everything running smoothly.

From the filmmakers behind The Tube, six-part series The Route Masters: Keeping London Moving (w/t) will lift the lid on the daily battle to keep London’s roads moving, and the individuals who keep the system working - from night bus drivers and road menders to the controllers running it all. But it’s also the story of our capital now – as the city expands faster than ever.

A taster of these, and other upcoming ��̳ Two documentary highlights, can be seen in the showreel (above). I’m really looking forward to these programmes airing on ��̳ Two later this year and hope you like them too.

Janice Hadlow is Controller, ��̳ Two.

About the ������̳ Feed