BBC announces raft of ambitious new Factual programmes

Alison Kirkham says: “The commissions I am announcing today demonstrate the scale and ambition of Factual across the BBC. Over the next year, we want to continue delivering great content to audiences, and to attract the best programme-makers to produce work they are proud of alongside our commissioning teams.”

BBC One

The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs

Britain is hooked on prescription drugs. Almost 50 per cent of us regularly take prescription medication and the average British person is now given 18.7 prescriptions a year. Some think they’re doing us more harm than good and that it’s costing the NHS a fortune. Dr Chris Van Tulleken is determined to do something about it. So he’s embarking on a daring medical experiment for BBC One that could change the way we think about our health forever.

Supported by major medical organisations, Chris will be taking up residence at a hectic GP practice to prove that there’s more to getting us healthy than popping pills. For three months, he’ll treat illnesses without antibiotics, control pain without painkillers, and wean some of Britain’s most drug-dependent patients off their ‘life-saving’ drug regimes.

Instead of giving his patients medicine, he’s going to take their medicine away.
What will Chris’s fellow doctors think about his experiment: irresponsible or ground-breaking? And in a series of experiments that expose our love affair with prescription drugs, can he get us to change the way we think about popping pills forever?
Commissioned by Tom McDonald, Craig Hunter is the commissioning editor. The programme is made by Raw, and Dominique Walker is the executive producer. 2x60

The Age Of Loneliness

This is the ‘Age of Loneliness’ and Britain was recently reported to be the loneliness capital of Europe. Soon, one in four of us will live alone.

This film by award-winning director Sue Bourne explores why the loneliness epidemic in Britain is affecting so many people of all ages. The problem is now so widespread and deep-rooted it is seen as a major public health issue.

Bourne travels the country to find people brave enough to admit how lonely they are and to go on camera to talk about how loneliness affects their lives. From Isabel the 19-year-old student, through Ben the divorcé and Jaye the 40-year-old singleton, to Olive the 100-year-old who says she lives on ‘lonely street’, this film will strike a chord with many, many people.

Each story reveals the painful reality of loneliness. But it also offers hope, because it shows how these different people can and have alleviated their loneliness in some small, but hugely significant, way.

Commissioned by Patrick Holland, Head of Commissioning, Documentaries. Clare Paterson is the commissioning editor. The film is being made by Wellpark Productions. Sue Bourne is the executive producer. 1x60

BBC Two

Operation Burma

Renowned climber Joe Simpson, who told his amazing story of survival in the book and film Touching The Void, is going on an extreme journey of discovery to learn more about the father he barely knew.

The journey will take him on a hazardous trek through a remote corner of Myanmar (Burma) that’s been off-limits for decades, to retrace his father’s steps in a little-known area of World War II history. Twenty-one-year-old Ian Simpson was one of 1,350 ‘Chindits’ - special forces who were dropped into the jungle to fight a gruelling campaign behind Japanese lines, struggling against the rugged terrain, heat exhaustion, and the ravages of disease.

Using his father’s secret diary – written in code, and now in the Imperial War Museum – Joe will recreate some of the conditions faced by the soldiers, whose numbers dropped from 1,350 to just 25 in four months. Following the route taken by his father’s brigade as closely as possible, Joe, accompanied by survival expert Ed Stafford, will relive the story of reduced rations, malaria and ferocious jungle fighting, all while pursuing his highly personal quest to get to know the father he considered a hero, but with whom he had a distant relationship.

Commissioned by Martin Davidson and being made by Arrow Media. The executive producer is Nick Metcalfe. 2x60

Cats vs Dogs

Dog lover Chris Packham and cat lover Liz Bonnin (shown above), are setting out to answer the age-old question: which makes the best pet - cats or dogs?

Using the latest scientific research and a specially commissioned national ‘pet census’ (the first ever taken in the UK) to discover exactly how the public feel about our canine chums and feline friends, this series sets out to solve the question once and for all.

Chris and Liz will set out on a journey around Britain to decide which they think makes the best pet, gathering supporting evidence to argue their case and to try and convince each other which is best. The series will cover a range of subjects, from cat and dog experiments demonstrating the latest scientific research into animal behaviour and physiology, to historical sequences which explore how their relationships with humans have evolved, as well as meetings with extraordinary cats and dogs around the country who display special talents, and sequences which compare domestic dog and cat behaviour with their cousins in the wild.

Chris and Liz even undertake the ultimate test for a pet owner – a pet swap. Liz will take care of Chris’s dog for a week, while Chris looks after her cat.

The series culminates with the results of the nationwide census to confirm which animal Britain has voted top dog or top cat.

Commissioned by Tom McDonald, Lucinda Axelsson is the commissioning editor. The films are made by Boundless and the executive producer is Fiona Caldwell. 2x60

Rick Stein’s Long Weekends

In this new series, Rick Stein gives viewers the inside gastronomic track on some of his favourite destinations for a long weekend, including Bordeaux, Berlin, Reykjavik, Bologna and Vienna. From fabulous local markets and great restaurants to wineries, cafes and bars, Rick wants to showcase food excellence and brilliant recipes that people will love to cook at home.

As a seasoned traveller himself, Rick shows viewers where to look and how to enjoy a city they’ve dropped in on for only a few days. He wants to encourage viewers to try new places and avoid the mediocre tourist traps.

Once back at home in Padstow, Rick chooses three classic dishes from each place and shows us how to cook them.

Commissioned by Donna Clark, Catherine Catton is the commissioning editor. The series is made by Denhams and Grace Kitto is the executive producer. The director and producer for the series is David Pritchard. Two series of 5x60.

BBC Three

Reggie Yates’ Extreme UK

Following his hugely successful series, Extreme South Africa and Extreme Russia, Reggie Yates turns his attention on the UK. We Brits pride ourselves on our tolerance, laid-back attitudes and sense of fair play. But behind the easy-going façade, strong opinions and extreme lifestyles are there if you look for them. We may have made strides in gay rights, but Black British gays still struggle with homophobia; the official crime rate might be down, but it hasn’t stopped a growing trend of fighting in the name of sport; 21st-century feminists are closer to equality than ever, but their success has spawned an army of new misogynists.

Commissioned by Patrick Holland, it is being made by Sundog and the executive producer is Sam Anthony. 1x60

Rent A Cop

Rent A Cop is a warm and often funny observational documentary series following a Darlington-based private security firm and the local people that the company aims to protect.
Francis Jones, born again Christian and former professional boxer, is a man with a big personality and even bigger dreams. He is on a mission to clean up the streets of Darlington, and thinks his private security business is going places. This film for BBC Three goes behind the scenes of Francis’s firm, Sparta Security and meets the local people that the company aims to protect.

No job is too small for Francis and his team of security staff. Made up of balaclava-clad ex-forces officers, part-time bouncers and a personal trainer, they mediate in neighbourhood disputes and from as little as £3.50 a week, patrol residential streets in the dead of night. At the other end of the scale, they guard against grand larceny at big businesses in the area. Francis’s unorthodox methods and relentless enthusiasm mean his missions are often hilarious but also heart-warming as he goes the extra mile to help his clients.

Rent A Cop follows Francis, his staff and operations as he aims to conquer Darlington and roll out his own brand of crime-fighting to the nation.

Commissioned by Sam Bickley in her previous role in Factual commissioning and the executive producer is Samantha Anstiss. The series is produced by BBC In-house Creative Label. 8x30.

BBC Four

The Cliff – A Year In The Avian Life Of The Shiant Isles

Scotland’s seabirds are declining fast. Adam Nicolson, writer and owner of the Shiant Isles, explores the threats facing our seabirds, and meets the people fighting to conserve them.

Remote, wild and desolately beautiful, the Shiants are one of the most important breeding sites in Europe. The cliffs, rocks and boulder fields of these three islands are home to 10 per cent of the UK’s puffins, as well as thousands of pairs of guillemots, razorbills, shags, fulmars and kittiwakes. But there is bad news on the horizon: seabird population collapses are occurring all across the western edge of Europe and Adam wants to know if the same fate is headed to the place he has known so intimately over the past 20 years.

Over the course of a year, Adam follows the seabird colonies on the Shiants, and visits other colonies in northern Scotland and Iceland in order to understand the nature of the decline. What are its causes? And how terminal is it? And is there anything that can be done to prevent it?

Commissioned by Patrick Holland, the commissioning editor is Clare Paterson. The programmes are made by Keo North and the executive producer is Andrew Palmer. 2x60

Hidden Killers Of The Post-War Home

Dr Suzannah Lipscomb explores the time when British people embraced modern design for the first time after years of austerity and self-denial. The look and feel of the post-war 1950s home – a ‘modern’ world of moulded plywood furniture, fibreglass, plastics and polyester – had its roots in the materials innovations of World War Two. In fact, no other war before or since has had such a profound effect on the technologies of our current life.

This bright new era encompassed a host of social changes, including higher living standards and improved technologies but, as Suzannah will discover, there were also unexpected dangers lurking throughout the changing home…

This is the fifth episode of Dr Suzannah Lipscomb’s hugely popular Hidden Killers … strand.

Commissioned by Patrick Holland, the commissioning editor is Clare Paterson. The programme is made by Modern Television and the executive producer is Sarah Broughton. 1x60

Storyville: Dreamcatcher

From award-winning British filmmaker Kim Longinotto comes Dreamcatcher, a deeply moving film which explores the work of former prostitute Barbara Myers-Powell, as she helps vulnerable women escape the dangers on the streets of Chicago.

By day, she counsels incarcerated prostitutes and by night, she drives the streets in her Dreamcatcher Foundation van, offering condoms and compassion to women experiencing a situation she knows only too well. Brenda is living proof that these women can change their lives and this intense, powerful documentary offers a non-judgemental eye on the day-to-day workings of the Dreamcatcher Foundation.

It was a winner at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

Storyville: Cartel Land

Cartel Land is a documentary directed by Matthew Heineman about the Mexican Drug war and the cross-border drug cartels that operate in and around the Mexico/US border.

The film gained astonishing access to civilian groups attempting to challenge the power of Mexico’s drugs gangs, focussing on Tim 'Nailer' Foley, the leader of Arizona Border Recon, and Dr José Mireles, a Michoacán-based physician who leads the Autodefensas - two vigilante leaders fighting the drug war on both sides of the border.

But as the vigilantes’ influence increases, so, too, do questions about its conduct and motives. Are these new sheriffs any more reliable than those they have come to usurp?

Heineman’s film is an at times harrowing exploration of the drugs trade and was a winner at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

The Editor of Storyville is Nick Fraser and the Executive Producer is Kate Townsend

Factual on the BBC

BBC Factual reaches half the population in an average week and nine out of the 10 top 10 Factual programmes of 2015 to date are BBC titles. Covering Documentaries, Natural History, Features, History, Science and Arts programming, recent highlights have included Great British Bake Off, the Met, Britain’s Secret Spending Habits and Big Blue Live on BBC One, The Detectives, Back In Time For Dinner, Countdown To Life, Simon Schama’s Face Of Britain and The Mosque on BBC Two, the Disability season on BBC Three and Pop Art and Slow Week on BBC Four.

EDA

Related BBC Links

• BBC One
• BBC Two
• BBC Three
• BBC Four