Authors
Socks, chocolate and saddle sores: Filming The Hunt
How a friendship 'for life' was formed in the wild for this assistant producer and camerawoman
The Code: Revealing the secret
When I was 12 my maths teacher took me aside after one lesson and let me into a secret that changed my life forever. Mathematics, it turned out, was more than just the long division we were practicing in the classroom. He started to tell me fantastic stories that were written in the lang...
Stag: We wanted to skewer masculinity
Creator of Stag, Jim Field Smith on why a stag do in the highlands was the ultimate setting for his dark comedy thriller
The Bible's Buried Secrets
I was approached by the BBC's Religion and Ethics department back in 2009. They explained they were looking to work with a specialist on Bible's Buried Secrets, a documentary series about the Bible and archaeology, and that I'd been recommended to them. Now, I know I'm a bit of a geek, but I...
Excluded: How we made the BBC School Season drama
I'm the director of Excluded, a one-off drama and part of BBC Two's School Season. It's set in the fictional The Lamont School, a struggling comprehensive in north London. Spanning the first few weeks of a new school year, the drama charts the intersecting stories of Amanda, an ambitious hea...
Faulks On Fiction: Exploring classic characters in literature
Historically television has tended to focus on the relationship between the author and their work. This has always worked well - think of Bookmark, Arena, and Omnibus - and is a very accessible way into literature. From the outset, we wanted to do something different and came up with an unu...
The 70s: An eye-opener and a joy
I've always been fascinated by the 1970s. As I was born in October 1974 I can vaguely remember some of it - mainly Bagpuss, The Wombles and the excitement of seeing Star Wars - but the politics of the day completely passed me by. But there's something oddly compelling about the day before ye...
After EastEnders live episode - Stacey Slater disappears!
Well, I'll settle for that! A near faultless performance from cast and crew alike, and a brilliant actress delivering the killer cliffhanger to 16.6m stunned viewers. It was everything I could possibly have hoped for - a truly memorable event to mark 25 great years of EastEnders. I'm very proud ...
The Hour: I wrote the musical score
I am the composer on the second series of The Hour, a drama set in a 1950s BBC newsroom. My job is to create original music to support sections of the programme, hopefully enhancing them. I was brought on board just as shooting had started, as pre-recorded tracks of some songs of the period ...
Sunetra Sarker on Puppy Love: I’m not great with dogs!
"Sometimes I don't believe I will get to the end of the week without burning the house down or breaking my legs!" The Casualty actress and Strictly star talks about fitting a cameo role in the BBC Four comedy into her busy schedule.
Murdered by My Father: Creating characters with feeling
The drama's writer and lead actress on the importance of portraying a believable father and teenage daughter
Upstairs Downstairs: Playing Mr Pritchard
I came to play the role of Mr Pritchard by a curious turn of events. I had worked on Cranford with both Heidi Thomas (the writer of this revival) and Eileen Atkins. They'd also seen me in a play at the National Theatre. And the part kind of landed in my lap from that really. It was to...
At the mercy of The Great British Weather
Do cows really lie down on the ground before it rains? Does a farmer in Cumbria really rely on a red sky at night? I'm the specialist meteorological reporter on BBC One's The Great British Weather, where we put weather folklore like this to the test and demystify some of the science behind el...
Who Were The Greeks: Making sense of contradictions
What made ancient Greece tick? Dr Michael Scott reveals how filming a weird and wonderful monument for the BBC Two history series didn’t go as planned.
I'm the grocer in Turn Back Time - The High Street
Well where do you begin to tell a story like this? It's been the most amazing summer of my life travelling back in time for Turn Back Time - The High Street. First the Victorian era. We had an absolute shock when we first walked into Shepton Mallet market square. I felt really proud to see ou...
The Missing: Finding the location for a dark journey
The biggest decision about the look was always going to be what town we chose to be Chalons du Bois.’ The director on finding an atmospheric location to set BBC One’s haunting crime drama.
Antiques Roadshow: Telling the forgotten stories of war
TV producers are often asked "Where do you get the best ideas for programmes?" I can honestly say that some of the best I have stumbled upon are at a bar whilst enjoying a pint. Actually I'm not a big drinker, but being the series editor on Antiques Roadshow inevitably means many nights ...
The Midwives: The pressures and emotions of being new
I'm less nervous now delivering babies than when I was newly qualified in BBC Two's documentary series The Midwives. I've found that my confidence has built really quickly with the job. I feel honoured to be the only healthcare professional in the delivery room responsible for caring for...
Earth's Natural Wonders: The village where collecting honey is life and death
People in the Sundarban forest harvest honey in the mangroves to survive - but risk tiger attacks
I Was There: The Great War Interviews
'I wanted to make a film about individual responses to extreme situations' - The director on using previously unseen interviews that never made it to air in the BBC’s landmark 1964 Great War series.
