36 | Broadcast | 23 August 2019 broadcastnow.co.uk
C4’s deputy director of programmes tells Chris Curtis she wants
broad and accessible shows to help reinvigorate the channel
There’s no
question
that the
relocation is
the biggest
structural
change in our
history, and this
round of hiring
represents our
biggest infl ux of
talent by milesTrying to usher in
the feelgood factor
Continued on page 38 KELLY WEBB-LAMB CHANNEL 4
Since The Dark Crystal fi lm, nobody has made puppets
like this. We had to rediscover how to create the illusion
BRIAN FROUDBehind the Scenes: THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCEP43K
ELLY WEBB-LAMBis busy.
As advisory chair of the
Edinburgh TV Festival,
she has shaped a programme that
tackles some of the industry’s trickiest
topics, from duty of care to social
exclusion. She’s corralled errant
producers, called in favours and
challenged the industry to face up to
its fl aws, all while grappling with a
day job as Channel 4’s deputy director
of programmes and head of popular
factual. That means she has rather a
lot on her plate.
In truth, it’s been like that since
she swapped Shine TV for Horseferry
Road in September 2016. Year one
(2017) of her C4 tenure saw her
handed The Great British Bake Off,
and the huge pressure that came with
it. After the highly controversial deal
struck by the former management, it
was imperative Webb-Lamb and head
of features and formats Sarah Lazenby
didn’t kill the golden goose. They
succeeded in spades, though it took a
huge amount of time and energy that
might otherwise have been focused on
other parts of the schedule.
The following year saw the arrival
of Ian Katz as director of programmes
and the cacophony that accompanied
his controversial appointment. Katz’s
lack of broad industry experience
meant a traditional controller/deputy
relationship was impossible, and there
are plenty of tales of Webb-Lamb
working to help her new boss acclima-
tise. She acknowledges she has had to
“carry quite a lot of load” and that her
brief was to “support Ian and keep the
channel moving in the right direc-
tion”. More of that later.
Relocation has only served to
complicate matters. It is too important
to the broadcaster to be considered a
distraction – pretty soon a third of C4’s
staff will be based outside of London –
but it has brought considerable
uncertainty, as well as opportunity.
Webb-Lamb says the industry hasn’t
yet come to terms with quite how sig-
nifi cant it will be for the broadcaster.
“There’s no question it’s the biggest
structural change in our history, and
that this round of hiring represents
our biggest infl ux of talent by miles,”
she says. “The Leeds HQ will have a
genuine commissioning team, with
heads of department, a creative diver-
sity exec and talent execs. It’ll have
the digital creative unit, the pictures
department and 4 Creative. It’ll feel
like a proper channel, and there won’t
be anything like it, anywhere else in
the industry.”
She is effusive about the people
C4 has hired outside of London,
including the likes of Jo Street and
Sean Doyle, claiming the quality of
appointments across the piece is a
“massive vote of confi dence in the
channel and our N&R agenda”.
There have been a few production
community grumbles that C4 has
been slow to make commissioning
decisions this year (“it feels like the
handbrake is on,” says one supplier).
Perhaps the management focus on
N&R and the uncertainty withingenre teams might have resulted in a
slowing down of decision making?
“From my point of view, I don’t
feel that, and we haven’t changed
our pattern of meetings, so in a
formal way, no,” Webb-Lamb says.
“But I’m not going to say it hasn’t
been a tonne of work.”
But as the staff consultations
and recruitment for out-of-London
commissioners come to an end,
Webb-Lamb might fi nd time to draw
breath and focus as much as possible
on what she believes is a genuinely
exciting slate.
She is optimistic that several new
commissions will become key titles,
such as Voltage TV’s The British Tribe
Next Door (w/t) and ScreenDog’s
Smuggled (w/t). The former is a four-
parter that transports Scarlett Moffatt’s
family, their house and all its contents
to Namibia to live among the Himba
tribe, while the latter examines Britain’s
border security and the lengths people
will go to in order to enter the country,
by challenging ordinary British citi-
zens to smuggle themselves in from
continental Europe. It is a two-parter,
and both shows were ordered by head
of factual entertainment Alf Lawrie.Raft of new titles
The British Tribe Next Door will
attempt to allow two cultures to
get to know one another simultane-
ously, with the aim of not being too
overproduced, while Smuggled will
demonstrate the reality of the illegal
immigrant experience. Balancing its
tone will be crucial, Webb-Lamb says:
“What the contributors need to do
to get in to Britain defi nitely isn’t fun,
but the show isn’t a Dispatches either.
It’s a fact-ent proposition.”
Alongside these shows are
several high-profi le, previously
announced titles: The Surjury,
from youth-skewing specialist
Gobstopper TV, which explores
evolving attitudes towards
plastic surgery; Crazy Delicious,
a “primary colours” Optomen
co-pro with Netfl ix that will
attempt to serve the Instagram
foodie generation; and Label1
Television’s dating format Five
Guys A Week, which was handed
a noteworthy 10-part run.
These are some big bets, and
they are timely, as C4 could
benefi t from some fresh impetus.Continued on page 38It’s a fact-ent proposition.”attempt to serve the Instagram
foodie generation; and Label1
Television’s dating format
Guys A Week
a noteworthy 10-part run.they are timely, as C4 could
Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back: recommissioned for a longer run benefi t from some fresh impetus.