WHAT’S NEXT?
ENTERTAINMENT TV
as a result. “All of our schedules are expanding, and therefore it costs more. It’s something we are all wrestling with, and to be fair the broadcasters absolutely acknowledge it.” Thames found production on the
FEEL GOOD TV S
There’s a growing sense of
optimism about a
genre that
is relatively affordable, simple to produce, and in
demand from audiences. Tim Dams reports
lowly but surely, entertainment shows are returning to production after a three month hiatus. Earlier this month, STV
Productions’ quiz stalwart Catchphrase became the first ITV entertainment show to resume filming since stringent lockdown restrictions were lifted. Thames, meanwhile, is gearing up
to shoot the remainder of the current series of Britain’s Got Talent along with a reboot of Family Fortunes, series three of Eating With My Ex, another Supermarket Sweep and, later this year, new BBC gameshow I Can See Your Voice, based on a South Korean format. Remarkable Television is to start
shooting The Wall this summer, having managed to keep Sunday Brunch going throughout the pandemic. CPL Productions has started shooting Sky’s A League of their Own and There’s Something About Movies, albeit without a live studio audience for now. BBC Studios is also preparing for Strictly to return later this year, albeit with a shorter run. In the short term, the big change for
entertainment is how shows are being produced. Catchphrase, for example,
is being recorded at Maidstone Studios without an audience. Contributors and crew have to maintain social distancing and have their temperatures checked on a daily basis. The set has also been physically altered and teams are working in ‘bubble groups’, with staggered start times to limit the number of people on set at a given time. Travel is also being restricted on
entertainment shows. For its next series, The Wall is shifting production from an Endemol Shine hub in Warsaw back to the UK this summer, says Remarkable TV md, James Fox. Production on Remarkable’s Richard Osman’s House of Games has also moved from Scotland to London due to worries about the number of celebrities who would have to travel to appear on the show. Fox explains that the amount
of ‘time and space’ needed for entertainment production has risen due to Covid-19 safety guidelines. Production staff can no longer be squeezed into galleries, and studio records are taking longer thanks to staggered starts for crews setting up. Remote editing is also more complex and time-consuming. Costs have risen
current series of Britain’s Got Talent split in two. A normal year sees a ten day stretch of filming with over 600 people on site every day. The remaining half will now be a “Covid-19 safe weekly event in the Autumn”, according to Thames md, Amelia Brown. “At the moment, we are not allowing for an audience – a huge change from our usual 3000 strong audience at the Hammersmith Apollo,” says Brown, who adds that such changes and extra time have allowed for new creative approaches. “The advantage, however, is that it allows for more scope in the performances and the set.” To ensure the safety of contestants and crew, Brown says Thames is having “to take more time in everything we are doing and allow for fewer people on site.” Some expect audiences to start
returning in the autumn, if not before. Even without audiences, it’s still possible to make good shows, says Brown. “The old school entertainment shows never had huge audiences and we still remember them to this day. If this is the new normal for a while, it is entirely possible to still make great TV.” The spate of shows returning to
studios is indicative of a strong demand from broadcasters. Most channels have found themselves with huge gaps in the schedules due to the Covid-19 production hiatus, and entertainment is seen as one of the quickest, easiest and most cost-effective ways to plug the holes left by mothballed dramas and soaps or cancelled live events and sports. Filmed in controlled studio environments, entertainment is viewed as more straightforward to produce than genres like drama. “There’s more demand than I have
seen in years,” says Murray Boland, creative director of A League of their Own producer CPL Productions. “I didn’t expect at the beginning of lockdown that it would mean much more demand for programmes.” When Covid-19 first hit, the
Summer 2020
televisual.com 21
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