As we tick over into June and all optimistically begin leaving our umbrellas at home, it’s been a suitably summery week on the BBC Media Centre, with a raft of announcements for live BBC events and tours over the coming months.
First up, we’ve announced 'our most digital Glastonbury coverage ever', with over 120 live performances available via TV, radio, red button and online. So whether you’re curled up on the sofa at home, stuck in a traffic jam, or on a much-needed lunch break, your favourite acts are just the prod of a touch-screen away. For those of a more orchestral disposition, BBC Scotland is hosting Alive With Music in late June, a range of free concerts, events and broadcasts including live performances by the BBC Big Band and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Events are free but ticketed, so get in early.
From big bands to big days out, with our announcement of this year’s tour schedule and ticket info for Mr Bloom & Friends’ Big Day Out, in which CBeebies’ resident gardener and his gang of Veggies visit towns and cities across the UK, joined by Rastamouse and other CBeebies presenters.
Finally, if you’re looking to get your grey-matter working overtime, we’ve announced that Radio 3’s annual Free Thinking Festival of ideas is to hit the road again in June and September, taking up residency at leading summer events across the country. So whether it’s philosophy, music, history, politics or a good old debate you’re after, there’s something for everyone.
We’ve also had some major announcements on the programming side this week. After becoming BBC Two’s most successful drama series launch since 2005, the gripping Gillian Anderson thriller The Fallhas been recommissioned for a second series. And following a popular three-part serial version earlier this year, Dominic Mitchell’s zombie drama In The Flesh is also returning for a second run.
Also this week, we’ve released the media pack for BBC One’s major new historical drama The White Queen (pictured), including video cast interviews and production facts. Set amid the backdrop of the Wars of the Roses, it’s the story of the women caught up in the ongoing conflict for the throne, taking viewers from the feverish, behind-the-scenes intrigue at court to the heat of the battle-field.
To another kind of heat entirely, BBC Two has announced The Incredible Spice Men: Todiwala And Singh, one of two exciting new food commissions for the summer. And on a slightly cooler note, BBC Two has also announced Operation Snow Tiger, a new two-part documentary in which Liz Bonnin and a team of big-cat experts track elusive Siberian tigers through the Russian Far East. This is exciting for a number of reasons – not least because it’s the first time the BBC Natural History Unit has filmed these animals in the wild. Expect claws, whiskers and breath-taking feline footage.
On the radio side, Radio 4 has announced a new season of dramas inspired by the late JG Ballard. Dangerous Visions promises to explore that dark, satirical genre, the dystopian future – and includes a complementary new production of Golding’s Lord Of The Flies on Radio 4 Extra.
Speaking of lords, it’s finally time up for resident Time Lord Matt Smith (pictured), who we announced this week will be leaving Doctor Who at the end of the year. Over an amazing four years, Matt has been the Doctor to over 77 million fans in the UK, USA and Australia alone – and no doubt there will be global speculation about his spectacular exit show.
But if mum’s the word about the details of Matt’s departure, ‘mum’ is literally the word for this year’s 500 WORDS story-writing competition. Radio 2 has again partnered up with Oxford University Press to analyse the writing entries of some 90,000 children aged between nine and 13 years, and ‘mum’ was far and away the most popular word. We’ve also announced the winners of this year’s competition, where you’ll also find a link to this year’s amazing winning stories.
Matt Munday is Digital Content Producer, BBC Media Centre website.
