BBC announces raft of ambitious new specialist factual formats

Tom McDonald says: “I’m thrilled to be announcing a raft of new titles across BBC One and Two. These commissions show the huge range of subjects we’re tackling as a department, from HIV and the world-view of children, to how cities work and how technology can change our lives. We’re using many different forms to deliver specialist factual content in ways which feel fresh, contemporary and distinctive; from stripped events to observational documentary, presenter-led pieces to exciting new formats, we’re continuing to find new ways of bringing the extraordinary wonders of our world to the audience.

"Alongside our successful returning shows, from An Hour To Save Your Life to Trust Me I’m A Doctor and Inside The Factory, our new projects are ambitious and exciting next steps for the department.”

EDA

BBC One

The Truth About... strand has been a great success on BBC One, bringing over 4 million viewers to programmes on a range of science topics including Sugar, Calories and Dementia. The strand now returns to reveal the truth about a disease that a lot of people think has been conquered. In fact, as presenter Dr Chris van Tulleken shows, it is very much still a threat - with over 6,000 new infections in the UK every year - and millions more worldwide.

The film is about the fight against HIV - a fight that Chris has dedicated his scientific career to winning: understanding the virus, tackling prejudice and complacency, and searching for a vaccine and cure.

Chris will meet those living with HIV, as well as the experts leading cutting-edge research to beat the disease. He will reveal the science of HIV, and explain what the disease is doing, where it came from and where it is going.

BBC Two

World’s Busiest Cities: New York (w/t)

Following the success of World’s Busiest Railway 2015, this new three-part series presented by Ade Adepitan, Anita Rani, Ant Anstead and Dan Snow takes viewers to the heart of three iconic public spaces in the city of New York: one of the busiest and most complex metropolises in the world.

Filmed as live from Grand Central Terminal, the New Fulton Fish Market and Central Park, the series offers a 360-degree insight into the lives of New Yorkers - how they get about the city, how they are fed, and how they relax.

Immersive films will show how transport, commerce, culture, leisure, food and retail play key roles in the life in the city, and the series will take viewers behind the scenes of some of the city’s biggest shops and organisations, as well as deep underground at major engineering projects to tell the story of New York, its people, and its history.

World’s Busiest Cities: New York is executive produced by Lisa Ausden and series produced by Amanda Lyon for BBC Studios. The Commissioning Editor is Tom McDonald.

Big Life Fix (w/t)

This new three-part transformational science series follows a group of designers, engineers, programmers and tech experts as they face the challenge of coming up with innovative interventions that will transform the lives of people all over the UK.

From a man with locked-in syndrome who wants to communicate with his family, to an 11-year-old boy born without hands and feet who is desperate to ride a bike, the series offers extraordinary insight into the lives of those whose dreams seem to be beyond grasp and who need the help of experts.

To solve these and other challenges, the Big Life Fix team, working with presenter Simon Reeve, is on a mission to come up with new inventions using smart but creative cutting-edge technology. The series is a celebration of British ingenuity, design and skill – and its power to change effect huge change in the lives of ordinary people.

Big Life Fix is being made by Studio Lambert. The series director is Tom Watt-Smith and the executive producer is Ros Ponder. The commissioning editor is Craig Hunter.

Through A Child’s Eyes (w/t)

Taking a unique perspective on contemporary Britain as seen through the eyes of children and told in their own words, this new six-part series provides a remarkable insight into how children grapple with life’s big questions. This eye-opening, poignant and entertaining series will see how young people aged five to 11 from a range of different backgrounds interact with others and experience the world around them.

Devised in collaboration with child experts, the series will meet children at their after-school clubs across six different British towns and cities. Featuring 70 children from boxing clubs, horse riding groups, debating societies and birdwatching groups, each episode will see the children bring their own brand of logic to a variety of topics - from wages to war, mums to Members of Parliament. To explore their lives beyond their clubs, the series will also follow the children at home and within their families, using GoPro cameras worn by the children themselves to offer intimate access to their viewpoint.

Their way of looking at the world with innocence and wonder promises to give a whole new perspective to our own lives.

Through A Child’s Eyes is executive produced for the BBC by Rachel Arnold and Samantha Anstiss; it is series produced by Tom Williams and series directed by Pamela Gordon. The commissioning editor is Elliot Reed.

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