Zinc TV managing director and executive producer Tanya Shaw, on getting the band back together to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Live Aid for BBC2
Production company: Brook Lapping, a Zinc Media Company in association with Ronachan Films
Commissioner: Jack Bootle, head of commissioning for specialist factual, and Emma Hindley, commissioning editor for the BBC, Amy Entelis and Lyle Gamm for CNN Originals
Length: 3 x 60 minutes
TX: From Sunday 6 July, 9pm, BBC2
Executive producers: Tanya Shaw, Norma Percy
Director: Thomas Pollard
Series producer: Angus Macqueen
Producers: Jamal Osman, Olivia Bernhardt Brogan, Max Stern
Post-house: Bumblebee Post Production
The idea for the series came from an unlikely source: Bob Geldof himself. Back in the day, Brook Lapping was part of Ten Alps, and technically, Bob was Norma Percy’s boss.
Two more different people you couldn’t get, but they formed an unlikely, long-standing friendship. Bob approached Norma and said he wanted her - specifically her, the best political documentary maker of our generation - to make a series to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Live Aid.
It was clear from the outset that this wouldn’t be a music series; it would be a series that would try to unpick the complexity and impact of what was achieved back in 1985, through a 2025 lens. Norma agreed – but only on the condition that Bob understood one thing: he would have no editorial control, and he could not tell her what to do!
Bob was, of course, heavily involved in the process. As angry now as he was back in 1985, he was the central figure – the main interviewee, without whom none of it would have happened. We interviewed him, argued with him, and spent hours delving into his perspective and those of his critics.
The team we assembled to make the series brought together a range of perspectives and skills. All the best series I’ve been lucky enough to have been a part of have involved bringing together a collection of unlikely bed fellows, and this was no exception.
Though we weren’t making a music series, we needed people who understood music. We brought in Ronachan Films – Angus Macqueen, (Death of Yugoslavia, Gulag, Cocaine, First Contact and Maradona 94’ The Fall and Thomas Pollard (Paid In Full: The Battle for Black Music, Ed Sheeran: The Sum Of It All) – who turned out to be the perfect combination.
Tom’s deep musical insight and Angus’s political film-making background and sharp production expertise were crucial to shaping the tone and narrative of the series.
The team’s longstanding industry relationships were crucial in securing access to many of Live Aid’s key musicians and politicians. Our trusted network, built over years of making documentaries, helped gain the trust of artists who might otherwise have been hard to reach.
Alongside our music consultant, Des Shaw, Bob also played a central role, using the same intensity he once employed to bring them on board for the Band Aid single and the Live Aid concert – although his email to ‘Madge’ sadly went unanswered – it was the combined efforts of the team that opened doors and brought these legendary figures back into the fold.
As with many co-productions, the versions of the series for BBC and CNN are slightly different, tailored to their respective audiences. For example, Lenny Henry’s contribution resonates more with UK audiences, while CNN’s version leans more heavily into the Philadelphia concert, rather than Wembley.
We showed Bob the series for factual accuracy before picture lock. As we’d expected, he liked some aspects and found others difficult.
We remained committed to delivering to the brief given to us by BBC and CNN. This wasn’t a music series, and with that came the responsibility of addressing some of the criticisms Bob has faced in recent years. Why weren’t there more people of colour in the concert? Why didn’t that matter to him? Did Live Aid actually do more harm than good in Africa?
Sadly, the series feels all the more relevant today, especially in light of recent USAID cuts under the Trump administration.
It not only reflects on the achievements of Live Aid but also critically examines its lasting impact, addressing important questions about humanitarian efforts and global responsibility.
Ultimately, the programme isn’t just about celebrating Live Aid as a pivotal moment in music history; it’s about delving into its complexities and confronting the tough questions that have emerged over the years.
Whatever you think about Bob Geldof, (and my own views have changed several times over the course of last year), it’s hard not to be impressed by his dogged determination and unwavering drive.
Juggling transatlantic tastes
Angus Macqueen, series producer
We all have juggled with co-productions, different lengths of film and cut downs, but the Live Aid series posed a particular set of challenges. We had ten months and an absolute Anniversary deadline to produce three films for the BBC and four for CNN. We were fortunate that behind our backs Kate Phillips of the BBC and Lyle Gamm from CNN had met up and agreed how they wanted this to run, so their basic goals were the same. At every stage we made sure that both sets of commissioners were across what we were doing.
Where in the past cutdowns were usually simple – take the 60 minutes
and make it 50, now tastes and demands on either side of the Atlantic have drifted quite a way apart. We had to turn three 60 minutes into four 42 minute films with five ad breaks. CNN were very understanding that the basic drive to our story was British (well Irish), but we were constantly on the lookout for the US voice in the archive, or the US journalist on the ground in Sudan in 1985, to keep their audience onside. Then there the budgetary limitations in a series that relies so heavily on music, when the BBC blanket does not extend to the CNN version, so there were painful lectures given us by our brilliant line producer, Anna Hamilton, along the lines of “Thou shalt not have more Status Quo!”. And who knew that Queen claim Freddie’s “AY-OH” interaction with the Wembley Crowd is a separate track? Kerching.
Then there were the cuts themselves – our three-part history did not naturally work as four. Then there are the six parts and the five ‘hangers’ you have to create to keep an audience across an ad break. I, being thoroughly old fashioned, am not a fan of a music base to tell the audience what to feel about what an interviewee is saying. For CNN, it is filmmaking 101. I plead guilty to handing on almost completely, to Tom Pollard, the series director. So in the end the BBC and CNN have the same story told in rather different ways – and none of us are sure which we prefer.
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