FACT ENT


GENRE REPORT


THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME


Successful and long running fact ent formats are notoriously


difficult to get just right but, when producers do, they’re the gift that keeps on giving. Pippa Considine reports


FACT ENT FORMATS I 40


n 2023, factual formats can be the answer to more than one prayer. Traditionally cheaper than entertainment, they can deliver warmth and familiarity at a time of worry and the joy of returning


hours and audiences, in the moment and on demand. Over the last ten years, factual


entertainment programming has risen to settle at around one fifth of all commissioning, according to the annual Pact census. While streamers still aren’t entirely convinced, all the mixed economy broadcasters have fact ent formats firmly on their wish list. The BBC has given factual formats


a big hug in recent years with Studio Lambert titles Race Across the World and Dutch format The Traitors flying the flag for the genre. Other success stories have been South Shore and 591’s Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams, Idris Elba’s Fight School from Workbee and We are Black and British made by Cardiff Productions. It’s also found success


televisual.com Summer 2023


“WE WANTED TO CREATE THE WORLD AND MAKE IT FEEL BIG AND IMMERSIVE”


MIKE COTTON, STUDIO LAMBERT


with daytime factual formats, such as BBC Studios’ Scam Interceptors and, of course, continued love for The Repair Shop from Ricochet. Most are easy watching, but they’re


not easy to land. “There are challenges around casting, the need for a constant flow of aspirational stories with a positive resolution, creative refreshes, distinctive narrative beats and familiarity,” says commissioning editor, Factual for Channel 5 Denise Seneviratne. “But when we do crack the right format with the perfect formula for our audience, they’re the gift that keeps on giving.” She cites Channel 5 favourites Dogs Behaving Badly, Rich House Poor House and looser formats, such as Bargain Loving Brits and Happy Campers. At Channel 4, head of Factual


Entertainment Alf Lawrie divides factual formats into three areas of interest. The first is talent-based; the second is competition; and the third is constructed formats. Across this is a demand for ideas that can go large. “The whole portfolio is


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