News


360 to commemorate Titanic sinking for BBC1


BY ALEX FARBER


360 Productions has won a BBC1 commission marking the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, as parent company Impos- sible Pictures opens a Republic of Ireland office. Titanic And Me is a 3 x


30-minute series fronted by Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman. He worked for ship- builders Harland and Wolff, which built the ship, in Woolwich docks as a young man. The series is being made by


360 Productions’ Derry office for BBC Northern Ireland and was ordered by BBC Knowledge commissioning executive James Hayes. It will air in April 2012 and is on the brink of securing addi- tional funding from Northern Ireland Screen. Goodman will meet relatives of


some of the 2,000 people who died when the Titanic sank in April 1912, to discover the impact it had on their lives. He will travel from Southampton to Bulgaria and Italy to find those affected by the disaster. The three shows will also include around eight minutes of


Titanic: Strictly’s Len Goodman meets relatives of the disaster’s survivors


rare archive footage and examine the tourist industry that has sprung up around the Titanic. 360 Productions series producer


Edward Hart said: “We will explore how the disaster still resonates and look at the parallels between 21st century society and the world in 1912. It was the first modern disaster story, told through new technology that was emerging at the time. The famous passengers also meant the story had layers of celebrity attached to it.”


Titanic And Me is being exec


produced by 360’s John Farren. 360 Productions is also extend-


ing its operations with a presence in the newly opened Dublin office of Impossible Pictures. Impossible will initially use the


office to manage the post-produc- tion of Sinbad, Sky 1’s epic 13 x 60-minute drama, before deliver- ing more CGI work. “Sinbad came from the same


DNA as Primeval and is some- thing Impossible does very well,” said Hart.


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Century to make undercover police doc for C4


The undercover policeman who spent seven years posing as an environmental activist is to be the subject of a Channel 4 Cutting Edge film. Century Films is producing the


documentary, which will explore issues around civil liberties and undercover policing through the prism of Mark Kennedy’s story. Kennedy lived under the alias of


‘Mark Stone’ in a community of eco-activists. His cover was blown after 114 activists were arrested, including him, due to information that he had passed to the police. His story caused a flurry of press


attention in which Kennedy voiced criticism about undercover policing and expressed sympathies with the movement. The case against the 114 activists eventually collapsed. Brian Hill is directing the film


and said that as soon as Kennedy’s story broke, a number of indies were interested in securing access. Police including Merseyside


chief constable Jon Murphy, who also sits on the board of the Associ- ation of Chief Police Officers, are taking part in the film. It is slated to TX later this year


and was ordered by C4 documen- tary commissioning editor Aysha Rafaele. Katie Bayliss is the execu- tive producer and James Ross is the producer.


So TV finds right answer for Dave with Armstrong’s Big Ask BY ALEX FARBER


Dave has ordered a full series of comedy panel show Alexander Arm- strong’s Big Ask from So Television following a successful TX pilot. Armstrong chairs the 6 x


30-minute series in which three guests try to devise questions the other competitors cannot answer, on a range of topics. Griff Rhys Jones, Katy Brand


and Robert Webb featured in the May pilot, with Come Dine With Me voiceover artist Dave Lamb acting as a fact checker. Dave channel head Steve North said that along with the channel’s


8 | Broadcast | 1 July 2011 Big Ask: successful TX pilot


live events, the series would help to establish the brand in the UK comedy space.


banker titles Steve North, Dave


hits the mark because it sits so comfortably alongside our big


This new series really


North ordered the series along


with UKTV director of commis- sioning Jane Rogerson and interim controller Christian Drobnyk. It will be exec produced by UKTV commissioning editor Sarah Fraser with So TV’s Graham Stuart and series producer Patricia McGowan. The series is set to enter produc-


tion in October and will air in the first quarter of 2012. For its 31 May pilot, Alexander


“Commissioning a winning


comedy format is hard to do straight off the bat, but this new series really hits the mark because it sits so comfortably alongside our big banker titles like QI,” he said.


Armstrong’s Big Ask attracted 241,000 viewers (1.1%), with a further 74,000 (0.5%) viewing an hour later on Dave Ja Vu, slightly down on the slot average of 262,000 (1.2%).


www.broadcastnow.co.uk


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