BBC4 is seeking as a priority to bring back the missing “edge of satire” to refresh its schedule, in line with past hits, including The Thick of It and Twenty Twelve.
Cassian Harrison, channel editor, said that “bold, critical commentary on the world we live in now” was on his agenda, and was also being pursued with BBC comedy commissioner Shane Allen
Speaking at the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, he also said he wants to refresh Friday nights, which have tended to draw on archives of popular country and rock and roll performers such as Johnny Cash or Glenn Miller for concert, clip and list shows, which were originallydevised as a staple for Sky Arts.
“We need to turn that chapter, open up the mix, more variety, more than one artist and explore collaborations with BBC 6Music” he said, including live performances from music venues, such as London’s Round House.
Harrison also backed big bold ideas, like the recent hit, The History of Toilets, and added that a forthcoming programme, Spider House, followed the lives of20,000 spiders throughout the day “how they mate, what they eat, what they do”.
Although BBC4’s 26%budget cut has ruled out landmark biopic dramas such as Edith, and Burton and Taylor, Harrison is able to buy a licence for some original drama, and has agreed to contribute to a second series of the Anglo/Welsh S4C drama, Hinterland which ran successfully on BBC4. He is continuing the Saturday night screenings of European dramas with Cordon, a Belgium production about a killer virus this autumn.
And although BBC4’s audience is upmarket and over 55, Harrison said that once audiences grew to more than 500,000 the mix became much more diverse, and it needed its own Twitter account and Facebook page to interact with fans.
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