Broadcast Magazine – 22 August 2019

broadcastnow.co.uk 23 August 2019| Broadcast | 13

BY HEATHER FALLON

Cassian Harrison is doubling down
on alternative, contemporary
short-form drama and seeking
“MTV Unplugged for the 21st
century” as he seeks to make BBC
“a real home for experimentation”.
The channel editor told Broadcast’s
Commissioner Index that BBC
is a confi dent channel seeking
alternative ideas, and he aspires to
“really test the boundaries of what
contemporary television looks like”.
At this year’s Broadcast Digital
Awards, BBC4 scooped the
Channel of the Year prize, as well
as Best Documentary Programme
for Fulwell 73’s Bros: After The
Screaming Stops and Best Short
Form Drama for Snatches: Moments
From Women’s Lives (BBC Studios).
The latter and SoonGone: A
Windrush Chronicle (Douglas
Road) were both successful as
8 x 15-minute series and Harrison
intends to order drama shorts
in a similar vein.
He is keen to encourage pitches
outside of the popular “naturalistic”
dramas seen on the likes of BBC
and BBC2 in favour of more
abstract pieces, similar to Rachel
Maclean’s feature fi lm Make Me
Up!, which took a satirical look at
the pressures faced by women.
“That was a surreal fever-dream
of a drama and BBC4 is a place
where we can push the boundaries
without having to worry in the
same way that other channels do.”
Separately, Harrison is proud
of BBC4’s reputation as the corpo-
ration’s home of music and has
issued a call for “MTV Unplugged
for the 21st century”.
The channel is still interested
in using archive in interesting
ways, but Harrison says indies
pitch conventional, archive-driven
programmes that narrate the
history of a genre or artist far

BBC
4
boss keen to experiment

Cassian Harrison seeks alternative ideas to ‘test the boundaries of contemporary television’

This page includes a profi le taken from Broadcast Intelligence’s Commissioner Index (CI). The full profi les in CI include contact details,

tariffs, audience breakdown, slot preferences, a commissioner’s team members and work history, plus a full list of previous commissions.

Visit the Commissioner Index stand at Edinburgh TV Festival. Pre-book your meeting at: subs.broadcastnow.co.uk/ED20J

Cassian Harrison

Channel editor

Channels BBC

Genres Factual, Specialist Factual, Music,Drama

PITCH PREFERENCES

Prod. company required

Yes

Co-pros

Yes

Talent in place

No

RECENT COMMISSIONS

The Harold Shipman Files

A box-set history series investigating the GP’s 20-year murder spree,

during which he likely killed more than 250 people.

Executive producers Nancy Bornat

Production company Wall to Wall

Bauhaus Rules

Jim Moir (Vic Reeves) challenges recent graduates to create a new work

of art, design or performance each day that adheres to the rules of the

Bauhaus movement.

Executive producers Janet Lee

Production company BBC Studios

too often. “Frankly, I think we’ve

made all of them,” he said. Instead,

he is looking for a greater sense of

event and occasion, and praised

MTV Unplugged for “bringing bril-

liant artists up close and personal”.

He hopes to fi nd a way to evolve

the format for a modern audience.

Harrison would like artists with

a “real cross-generational poten-

tial” who will appeal to an older

audience while having a contem-

porary connection”.

He also highlighted BBC4’s

potential to act as an avenue for

emerging creatives and producers

to attract the attention of other

BBC channels.

He is interested in strong,

authorial voices, not just in terms

of talent but also fi lm-makers. “We

can give young, ambitious fi lm-

makers a really big environment to

stretch their legs, and act as a kind

of door to the BBC,” he said.

BBC4 is also keen to extend its

strategy of pairing projects with

other BBC channels, such as The

Jeremy Thorpe Scandal, which aired

to coincide with BBC1’s A Very

British Scandal. The documentary

secured the highest-ever rating

for the channel: 2.4 million.

COMMISSIONER INDEX