Ramping up mass entertainment

There’s something apt about the fact that Daisy Lilley and Ben Kelly are former ITV employees. The pair, who lead unscripted commissioning for Netflix UK (entertainment to you and me), repeat the same “big, broad, relatable” mantra that has been the ethos of the UK’s largest commercial PSB for decades.

But that strategy, like so many other things in the industry, has been ramped up by Netflix. Witness Squid Game: The Challenge, the elimination format the pair have ordered in which 456 English-speaking contestants from across the world compete to win $4.56m (£3.77m). The stakes might not be quite as high as the murderous Korean drama, but it’s still pretty punchy.

Burning ambition

That level of ambition is front and centre for Lilley and Kelly, who are proud that the show is being made by two UK indies (Studio Lambert and The Garden), and make no bones about hunting for British ideas that have the scale and familiarity to play globally.

Kelly says: “I think there is a British sensibility that can be applied to global formats. Too Hot To Handle achieved amazing reach, but it was made by Talkback and had British DNA in terms of the voiceover and the comedy. We think it is important to tap into that.”

“We want broad, hooky ideas that will appeal to the highest number of people”
Daisy Lilley, director, unscripted series

That means the pair are happy to mine well-trodden territories such as dating, food, property or talent-access pieces – if there’s a big enough twist or enough scale.

Kelly continues: “I think there’s a misconception at times that we’re looking for shows that are incredibly edgy. That’s not it. We want really broad, hooky ideas that will appeal to the highest number of people, frankly.”

That explains why a Tyson Fury doc series from Optomen is on the cards. Kelly describes the heavyweight boxer as “a global superstar who is as British as they come”, and predicts that the series, featuring his extended family, will have broad appeal. 

ITV broadcast a very similar idea – same boxer, same indie – as a three-parter back in 2020. Given that Netflix is always talking up scale and ambition, it will be instructive to see if and how the show differs from the earlier series.

In many ways, the commission is no surprise. Kelly and Lilley are steeped in mainstream telly, having previously delivered titles such as the Jeremy Clarkson-fronted Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? reboot and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

They’ve recently ordered their first stab at a quiz show (Cheat from Talkback, fronted by Danny Dyer and comedian Ellie Taylor) and, as Broadcast went to press, their latest dating show – squirming siblings format Dated And Related from Great Scott Media – was about to drop.

Such obvious commitment to the mainstream seems slightly different to some of the leftfield entertainment ideas that have come from the US to become Netflix’s gold-standard sleeper hits – shows like Is It Cake? and Floor Is Lava.

Lilley says they also have freedom to try those kinds of ideas, and have learned from their success.

“It’s hard to predict what will be a huge show – it’s true in scripted too, with things like The Queen’s Gambit. That’s why Netflix is governed by people making these decisions [as opposed to algorithms]. Floor Is Lava and Is it Cake? have lots of talkability – that’s something that works really well on Netflix. Word-of-mouth tends to get things watched in high numbers.”

That sometimes means thinking about the release patterns for their titles. The Netflix brand was built on binge viewing and the pair work with producers to find ways of encouraging that ‘just-another-episode’ habit.

But that doesn’t mean they are wedded to it. Love Is Blind, a major US show for the streamer, was released in three batches to reflect the different phases of the show and Lilley says it is “refreshing that we can have conversations about adapting the cadence of releases”. She adds that dropping shows over a slightly longer period of time helps extend the social media conversation, in particular.

But there are certain conversations the pair don’t find themselves having. There’s no delineation around which of them covers particular topics or themes – “we talk very little about genre”, Lilley says – and they don’t have to seek greenlight approval either.

While there’s greater collaboration between Anne Mensah’s burgeoning UK team than ever before, they have autonomy, born from being “super aligned” with the content strategy of Brandon Riegg’s non-fiction team in the US.

“Our message to British producers is that we’re here in London, our door is open, and we are the people who can get their shows made and onto Netflix globally,” says Kelly.

“We’re bullish about British producers’ ability to find, develop and execute amazing shows”
Ben Kelly, director, unscripted series

He continues: “There are no targets or thresholds we have to meet, but we’re bullish about British producers’ ability to find, develop and execute amazing shows. It’s not a numbers game, but we do feel good about it.”

So good, in fact, that they have added to their ranks. Sam Crack – a “brilliant addition” who worked with them both at ITV – will look after a number of shows already in train, as well as working right across development.

Calling cards

The addition of a third team member speaks to how strategically important non-scripted programming, and entertainment in particular, has become to a streamer that was built on shows such as House of Cards, The Crown and Orange Is The New Black.

Selling Sunset and Love Is Blind are its calling cards now, just as much as any high-end drama, and Lilley and Kelly (plus Crack) are tasked with helping some British shows break into that top tier. Too Hot To Handle is probably the biggest title to come out of the UK so far, given its multiple series, as well as The Circle, which Lilley exec produced for Studio Lambert before moving to Expectation and then Netflix.

The latter has been remade by the streamer in multiple territories and the idea that Netflix can be the single global platform for a show is intriguing to indies.

The streamer appears to want to give a 21stcentury spin to the kind of deals in which Supernanny and Bake Off, Come Dine With Me and First Dates built schedules for linear broadcasters around the world.

“This country is incredibly good at finding broad formats and we have a history of creating things that travel,” says Kelly. “It’s super important to find ideas that can be made in the UK, but watched all over the world.”

At a time when ITV is returning to Big Brother, and the BBC is rebooting Gladiators and Survivor, Netflix can set out its stall as the home for ambitious new British IP. Kelly is diplomatic (and perhaps mindful of the success Netflix found a few years ago with a reworking of Queer Eye), but is pretty clear: “I’d never say never about reboots – but the things that get my blood racing are new ideas.”