Hot Shots 2024: Barrington Paul Robinson

Barrington Paul Robinson’s path to high-end TV has been anything but straightforward. After 15 years in financial services, his first foray into production earned him recognition as one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow 2006. But family commitments put his career on the backburner, and he became a production and media studies teacher.

In 2019, he turned his attention back to the industry and, determined to make the most of his experiences, joined forces with BFI Film Hub North and producer Holly Carrington to co-create the Creative Producers Lab, a scheme for emerging and returning producers.

He quit his teaching job in early 2020 – two weeks before the country went into lockdown. Fortunately, some development funding he secured through Liverpool Film Office led to him being recommended to work on the development of Dancing Ledge’s BBC1 drama The Responder. He impressed Dancing Ledge and the BBC so much that they offered him the chance to produce the series’ fifth and final episode – Robinson’s first hour of HETV.

The Responder went on to incredible critical, commercial and awards success, and Robinson was invited back to produce the second series. One of his contributions is to have reduced the carbon footprint by more than 50% compared with series one.

His success on The Responder has also led to creative producer roles on A Town Called Malice for Sky Drama and A Thousand Blows for Disney+.

Dancing Ledge chief executive Laurence Bowen says Robinson’s sense of humour, energy and charisma are contagious, and his “positivity is his superpower”.

“He’s great at motivating people and leading a unit, with enthusiasm and a sense of things always being possible.”