Broadcasters Reveal Shows At Edinburgh Fest.
Broadcasters used the Edinburgh TV Festival to reveal a few of their upcoming show highlights. BBC One Controller Danny Cohen, for example, announced factual, entertainment and drama commissions that embrace “new talent, award-winning writers & live events on an epic scale”.
Among these is Fight For Life, a series of live event broadcasts that follows animals during their most critical and vulnerable periods – the first few weeks of their newborn's lives. Fight For Life will follow animals ranging from black bears in Minnesota to cheetahs in Masai Mara.
Exec producer Tim Scoones says: "With its global reach and an A-list cast of animals, Fight For Life will be the most editorially, technically and logistically ambitious live wildlife event we've undertaken." Commissioned by Cohen and Commissioning Editor for Science and NH, Kim Shillinglaw, Fight For Life is a BBC NHU production.
Also unveiled by Cohen was The Village. Written by award-winning writer Peter Moffat, The Village charts the story of 20th Century Britain through the eyes of one man, Bert Middleton. Having lived in the same village for a hundred years, Bert's life from boyhood to old age provides the narrative backbone. The Village is a Company Pictures production for BBC One. The six-part series goes in to production in 2012 and will be exec produced by Company’s George Faber and the BBC’s Polly Hill.
In What's The Story?, Scottish stand-up Kevin Bridges sets out to discover the reality behind some of his on-stage material by looking at his life, his family and friends, his upbringing in Clydebank, and the world he sees around him. What's The Story? is an Open Mike (Scotland) production for BBC One and will be filmed in Glasgow. "From the African savannah to a small English village, from major live events to one of Britain's hottest young comic talents, these commissions show the range and ambition we have for BBC One,” concluded Cohen.
Channel 4 chief creative officer Jay Hunt also unveiled a cluster of new commissions. Among these is Can You Afford to Care? in which Jimmy Doherty sets out to explore why ‘ethical' food is so expensive and comes up with radical new ideas to produce cheaper alternatives for the masses.
Also on Hunt’s slate is Hacks (working title), the first comedy to emerge out of the recent phone-hacking scandal. Written by Guy Jenkin, this 60 min special will air on C4 during winter 2011. Shane Allen, C4 Head of Comedy, said "It’s great Channel 4 can be so quick off the mark to shine a satirical light on what's been happening in the media.”
Hunt also unveiled Mary's Sweatshop, in which Mary Portas will fly the flag for the UK clothing industry.
Other C4 facts to come out of Edinburgh include news that the channel has invested an extra £2.5m in daytime TV with 40% to be spent in Scotland.
