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Co-founder reveals how he combines the intellectual fulfillment of making great factual television with beekeeping
With more than 20 years’ experience in the TV industry, Ed Taylor has worked with the likes of Sir Trevor McDonald, Paul O’Grady, Sir David Jason and Ross Kemp. He has held creative director positions at ITV Studios and Viacom International Studios UK and was Head of Development for BBC Factual in Birmingham.
His long-running documentary series Autopsy: The Last Hours is now at over 150 episodes, broadcast in 140 countries and is one of the highest-selling factual programmes ITV has ever had.
Currently, Ed Taylor is the co-founder and managing director of Honey Bee TV, which specialises in making unscripted popular factual television programmes… and honey!
He generously took time out of his holiday to tell Paul Hunwick why beekeeping is so important to him and what he would say to Vladimir Putin if they ever ended up stuck in a lift together.
WHAT GETS YOU OUT OF BED IN THE MORNING?
I wake up when the sun comes up. I love the fact that it’s a new day and that anything can happen.
WHAT KEEPS YOU AWAKE AT NIGHT?
I’m never kept awake by worries. The only thing that might keep me up is noise, such as foxes barking, owls hooting or my children stumbling around the house looking for food, but I have very good earplugs.
FAVOURITE SHOP?
Farlows on Pall Mall. It’s a fishing [supplies] shop. I’m an avid fly fisherman. You can pop in there to take yourself away from the hubbub of the city and feel like you’re by a river. It’s another world.
HOW MANY HOURS A WEEK DO YOU WORK?
About 70. I’m very happy for work to overlap into other time, so long as I can visit fishing shops and go on some little trips. I was in Nazareth this morning taking a call from presenter Ross Kemp, now I’m chatting to you from the Sea of Galilee.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?
The variety of it. I get to be an “expert” in something for a short period and then move on to a different subject. It’s intellectually fulfilling. I enjoy the challenge. It’s a hard industry and finding ways to make things happen requires a lot of thought. I enjoy the plotting and the planning.
WHAT MAKES HONEY BEE TV DIFFERENT?
We don’t just make TV programmes, we make honey. Before we set up Honey Bee, I was working as a creative director at ITV and I kept bees because I’ve always found them fascinating. One beehive makes more than you can eat yourself, so I gave it to people
I worked with. They were always disproportionately pleased, and I realised it has an emotional resonance to it. That sits well with me because everything we try to do at Honey Bee TV is to the best of our ability.
The honey represents our commitment to the environment and thinking about the world.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW?
I’m currently hard at work with a second season of Ross Kemp: Deep Sea Treasure Hunter, which will be broadcast on Sky History.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE STARTING OUT IN TV?
You will require resilience and commitment. If you don’t have those two qualities, you will find a career in television both uncomfortable and hard.
BIGGEST TV-RELATED LEGAL PICKLE YOU’VE GOT YOURSELF INTO?
We made a programme about the life of the Guns N’Roses singer, Axl Rose. Despite having not seen the film – which wasn’t in any way damaging to him – he tried to stop it going out. He threatened legal action, then the band got on board and Sony Records fired warning shots. Our small company received a lot of letters from these powerful institutions which was stressful but we had a fantastic American lawyer who addressed all of their concerns. The programme went out and all the legal issues disappeared.
WHAT PROGRAMME THAT YOU HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN MAKING ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?
In The Shadow of Mary Seacole with David Harewood. It was a one-off show for ITV about the first statue of a named Black woman [a British-Jamaican nurse] to be put up at St Thomas’ Hospital. It took three years to make and I was proud we got it on an entertainment and drama channel.
WHAT ARE YOU READING AND WATCHING AT THE MOMENT?
The Godfather by Mario Puzo. I’m enjoying Paramount+’s drama The Offer about what the producer had to do to get The Godfather made. My experiences look tame by comparison.
FAVOURITE PLACE TO HAVE FUN?
Scotland, because I can fly fish there for salmon and trout, climb mountains, hike, wild camp and get on a boat. Scotland is my spiritual home.
FIRST RECORD EVER BOUGHT?
I Should Be So Lucky by Kylie Minogue. I’m not proud of that but I am man enough to admit it.
WHAT MUSIC ARE YOU LISTENING TO AT THE MOMENT?
I’m listening to Jay-Z’s The Blueprint and the album he did with Kanye called Watch The Throne but also La boheme and lots of Israeli music.
DREAM DINNER PARTY GUESTS?
Hedy Lamarr, who was both a Hollywood actress and an inventor, Malcolm X, who I’ve been fascinated by since I was a child, boxer Muhammad Ali and entrepreneur Steve Jobs. Finally, my mother just because she would keep them all in order.
IF YOU COULD CHANGE TWO THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
I’d try to be more patient. Also, I have a habit of ‘tiggering’ people. Tigger is from Winnie the Pooh and bounces the group into an adventure. Some colleagues might think I’m a bit like Tigger.
BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT IN LIFE?
My state of mind. I’m 46 and was once beaten near senseless with a baseball bat. I was in New York for 9/11 and in the building next door when the Soho bomb went off. To be at a point where I am as balanced as I am, feels like the biggest achievement.
LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
About two weeks ago. I cry quite a lot. I don’t sob but crying in a limited capacity, for me anyway, is a healthy way of processing and releasing emotion.
DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN FIVE WORDS
Passionate, thoughtful, spiritual, energetic and kind.
IF YOU COULD RETIRE TOMORROW, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
I won’t be retiring. Period.
WHO WOULD YOU LEAST LIKE TO GET STUCK IN A LIFT WITH?
Russian leader Vladimir Putin. I’d ask him, “what the fuck were you thinking?”
Ross Kemp: Deep Sea Treasure Hunter [Series 2] will be out on Sky History in 2023. To learn more about Honey Bee TV, visit their website at honeybeetv.co.uk
This article features in the autumn issue of zoom-in magazine. Click to view the issue here
