Love Productions is never far from the headlines, but 2014 was the year its reputation for provocative programming was exceeded by its status as a producer of huge, high-quality hits.
Quite simply, it has been an outstanding year for the company, which delivered the top-rating show on both BBC One (The Great British Bake Off, 13.5 million) and Channel 4 (Benefits Street, 6.5 million).
That success convinced Sky to make its first investment in a British indie, taking a 70% stake in Love through a deal that Broadcast estimates could ultimately value the business at £40-50m.
Love is a canny operator. While Bake Off outperformed any of TV’s established entertainment formats on BBC One and is this year’s Best Popular Factual Programme, the indie also delivered Junior Bake Off for CBBC, spinoff Extra Slice for BBC Two and sister show The Great British Sewing Bee for the same channel.
Benefits Street (pictured) sparked a national debate and was quickly recommissioned, and C4 has also ordered Immigration Street to run later this year.
Love’s lower-profile shows were also critical successes. FGM doc The Cruel Cut and terminal illness doc-cum-reality format My Last Summer both made it onto Broadcast Awards shortlists, winning praise from the judges.
With the support of Sky, Love now has the US firmly in its sights after a year of unprecedented success at home.
Award sponsored by The London Studios
Shortlisted
Big Talk Productions
It was a big year for Big Talk. BBC Three’s Him & Her concluded with a Bafta-winning third series, BBC Two’s Rev and Channel 4’s Friday Night Dinner continued in fine fettle, and BBC One’s Our Zoo moved the company into mainstream family drama. Plenty of US projects are in the works, hinting at a bright future.
Red Production Company
ITV’s Prey and BBC One’s Happy Valley demonstrated once again Red’s ability to deliver high-quality, risky drama series for mainstream audiences. The latter was among 2014’s top shows, picking up this year’s Best Drama Series award. Its combination of Sally Wainwright’s script and Sarah Lancashire’s performance was dynamite.
Screenchannel Television
An appearance on the Best Independent Production Company shortlist is reward for a small indie that has punched well above its weight for the past few years. BBC One daytime hits The Sheriffs Are Coming and Fake Britain won peaktime commissions and the indie grew with a food series for BBC Two and an Exposure doc for ITV.
Tiger Aspect Productions
Tiger Aspect has had a prolific year. The revived Ripper Street for Amazon Prime and BBC Two’s Peaky Blinders led its drama slate, while Dave’s quirky Crackanory, Sky Arts’ Psychobitches and E4’s My Mad Fat Diary proved its multichannel pedigree. Then there’s BBC Three’s Bad Education and Backchat With Jack Whitehall And His Dad, the latter of which has now moved to BBC Two.
World Productions
After a few quieter years, World Productions has returned with a bang and the second series of BBC Two’s outstanding Line Of Duty was bigger and better than the first. The indie also delivered Chris Chibnall’s clever two-parter The Great Train Robbery, which was major a hit for BBC One.
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