BBC marks 100 years with indie orders

Balloon Entertainment, Lion Television and The Garden are among the indies to have landed commissions from the BBC to mark the corporation’s 100th birthday next year.

Under the banner BBC 100, a range of programmes will tell history of the BBC and its impact on public life.

Three-parter David Dimbleby’s BBC: A Very British History, from BBC Studios’ The Documentary Unit, will explore the corporation’s role, its conflicts with governments and its own public controversies. Denys Blakeway will exec produce.

BBC director of factual, arts and classical music Patrick Holland and head of commissioning for documentaries, history and religion Clare Sillery ordered the show, with Hamish Fergusson the commissioning editor.

BBC’s First 50 Years sees John Bridcut mining the BBC archive to explore the corporation’s first half century, from John Reith’s launch of BBC Radio in 1922. The two part feature-length documentary is made by Crux Productions and The Garden Productions.

Bridcut is also series producer, with recently departed Garden boss Magnus Temple executive producing. Mark Bell is commissioning editor for the BBC.

Balloon Entertainment comedy The Love Box in Your Living Room with Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse will take a look at the BBC’s last 100 years mixing contemporary footage with “genuinely authentic made-up stuff”.

Bradley Adams will produce, with Enfield and Balloon’s Bryan Elsley exec producing. Tanya Qureshi is the commissioning editor.

On CBBC, Lion Television’s Horrible Histories: BBC’s Big Birthday Bonanza! will mix facts and jokes to tell the story of the corporation, while Mighty Scotland’s Here’s One I Made Earlier (w/t), with former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq, will explore the best of British children’s programming from the past 100 years.

The latter was ordered by director of entertainment commissioning Kate Phillips, with Rachel Ashdown the commissioning editor.

Series of specials

As part of the BBC 100 season, the BBC will also broadcast specials of Strictly Come Dancing, Doctor Who, Top Gear, MasterChef, The Apprentice and Antiques Roadshow.

Other BBC content for 2022 will include the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the Women’s Euros, the World Cup and Commonwealth Games and Frozen Planet II.

In audio, Radio 3 programmes across the year will include The Sonic Century, exploring the impact of 100 years of radio, while Radio 4 has ordered Past Forward, featuring historian Greg Jenner, who will explore audio from a random date generator to alight somewhere in the BBC’s vast archive.

Radio 4 will also broadcast The Battle of Savoy Hill, a dramatised five-part account of Hilda Matheson, one of the first women to work at the BBC, and her working relationship with BBC founding Director-General, Lord Reith.

Charlotte Moore, BBC chief content officer said: “BBC 100 will celebrate and reflect on the unique role the BBC plays in the lives of audiences across the UK as our much cherished national broadcaster from its creation right up to the present day.”