Round Up Week 52 & 1 (23 December - 5 January)

A bumper round up of BBC announcements, press releases and blogs, plus some highlights from our TV, radio and online output over the last two weeks.

BBC Action Line

The BBC’s Action Line reported that it received over 431,000 visits online or calls to the information service in 2017, a huge increase on last year’s number of 280,000.

BBC Audio Drama Awards 2018

The finalists for the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2018 have been announced and include nominations for Kate Phillips (Peaky Blinders, Wolf Hall) who is nominated for Best Debut Performance following her role in Radio 4’s Gudrun’s Saga, Resistance by author Val McDermid in the Best Audio Drama (Series) category and the late Sir John Hurt in the Best Actor category.

Appointments

BBC Northern Ireland announced that Eddie Doyle has been appointed Head of Content Production.

Announcements and blogs

Drama

The media pack for Hard Sun - a pre-apocalyptic crime show set in contemporary London - was published; as was the media pack for Silent Witness - series 21.

Comedy

Following a successful pilot, broadcast as part of the Comedy Playhouse earlier this year, Mister Winner is set to return to BBC One for a six-part series in 2018. 

Factual

As part of the Royal Collection Season across BBC television and radio, BBC One announced The Coronation, an hour-long film revealing to new generations the compelling story of the Crown Jewels and the ancient ceremony for which they are used.

Radio

Over the past three years BBC Radio 4 has taken listeners on a journey across Europe, in Reading Europe exploring the best in contemporary literature from across the continent. In 2018 Reading Europe reaches the eastern edges of Europe, with works from both Turkey and Russia exploring regions where freedom of speech has been threatened.

International

BBC News Bangla (formerly known as BBC Bangla) is expanding on TV with the launch of a Bangla edition of the BBC’s flagship digital technology programme Click, and a second edition of the weekly news programme BBC Probaho.

Blogs

As 2017 drew to a close we remembered some of the actors, presenters, writers and comedians who have graced the BBC with their talents, but sadly died during the year in BBC celebrities we said goodbye to in 2017. We also brought together the About the BBC Advent Calendar 2017 and published the weekly BBC iPlayer Highlights 30 December - 5 January and 6-12 January.

Broadcast Highlights

• The Highway Rat, Monday 25 December, BBC ONE
• Doctor Who Christmas Special, Monday 25 December, BBC ONE
• 300 Years Of French & Saunders, Monday 25 December, BBC ONE
• Little Women, Tuesday 26 December, BBC ONE
• The Miniaturist, Tuesday 26 December, BBC ONE
• Alan Partridge: Why, When, Where, How And Whom?, Wednesday 27 December, BBC TWO
• Lenny Henry On Richard Pryor: The Making Of A Satirist, Saturday 23 December, BBC RADIO 4
• Simon Callow's Dickensian Christmas, Monday 25 December, BBC RADIO 3
• Jools' Annual Hootenanny 2017, Sunday 31 December, BBC TWO
• Grandpa's Great Escape, Monday 1 January, BBC ONE
• Inside No.9, Tuesday 2 January, BBC TWO
• Logical Family: An Evening with Armistead Maupin and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Monday 1 January, BBC RADIO 3