How Hunted uses tech to emulate the state

Hunted goes into its 10^th anniversary continuing to push the envelope of tech in its quest to emulate the powers of the state while chasing down its competitors.

“We want to keep the same feel as the early series,” senior executive producer for Hunted and Celebrity Hunted Matt Bennett told Broadcast Tech, but this hasn’t stopped the show from evolving, with the upcoming series seeing a new studio brought in for the hunters’ HQ.

Bennett explained, “The inspiration for HQ is the famous image of former President Obama watching the capture of Osama Bin Laden,” and series editor for Hunted Guy Simmonds added that, “We want it to look like a Hollywood movie,” and to, “feel very filmic.”

Even with that aim, everything in the set is real and actually used, outside of the servers – with the real ones next door. Simmonds said, “The set is within the bounds of possibility, but made to look better for TV. Everything in there is real world stuff, but as these places are off the books the public don’t usually see it.”

This includes an 8.5m x 1.5 LED video wall which runs the length of the set, which is made from over 50 500mm panels provided by long term supplier Promultis. It’s driven by OBS Studio, open source software for live video broadcasting, which allows the production to show a variety of content from multiple sources simultaneously, including new for the 2025 series, intelligent video management system NX Witness. NX Witness is also used by SpaceX to monitor rocket launches, and Hunted is using it to replicate the state’s use of CCTV. There is also a touchscreen table, a “war board” that is used by, and originally designed for, the military. Executive producer Emma Young said, “We’re always trying to make it visual,” with the wall and live streaming key to this

A combination of Sony Burano’s and Sony FX9’s capture what happens at the HQ with custom LUT’s created by Clear Cut colourist Damion Katwaroo.

Of course, the content coming into the studio is from the fugitive and hunter teams, which have a producer and director embedded as well as an assistant producer and runner following behind to capture CCTV footage or acquire the real thing from CCTV cameras, video doorbells and more, with permission from its owners.

The fugitive teams use Sony FX6 cameras as their workhorse and FX3 cameras when there was a need to be more discreet, with the ProRes and logging functionality of the newest iPhones also coming in handy when filming covert footage. FX6’s are also on hand with the hunter teams, in addition to GoPros, and a combination of law enforcement specialist Hytera’s SC780 and, yet to be released, SC880 5G model cams for live steaming back to HQ. Hytera also provided P50 Pro radios for the hunters to communicate from within the field and HQ.

The body cams were equipped with special network hopping SIM cards provided by Key Sim and a custom dispatch unit provided by Nvoyy which in combination with special UDP ports meant we could prioritise traffic to ensure a stable HQ video connection. There are also drones used to capture footage that is sent back via LiveU and Starlink for live streaming in the HQ.

Simmonds noted that the production, “Wouldn’t be able to afford all the tech without surveillance companies [like Hytera] donating it.” This also includes “non-traditional” technology for a TV production, that is used to simulate how government’s track fugitives, such as Oxygen Forensics’ software for copying the data on phones, cybersecurity organisation NCC’s assistance with hacking devices – with permission, or the recent addition of facial recognition following its introduction by the police at events like Notting Hill Carnival and permanently in Croydon.

Young admitted, “It’s frustrating when people say it’s a set up,” given all the effort that goes into making it realistic. The hunters are able to request information from the siloed off production, such as CCTV footage from a certain area, or bank account tracking, and more, with a referee, with former Scotland Yard detective Kevin O’Leary deciding if it is a realistic question, likely they would be able to receive it in the real world, and how long it would take to arrive. Young believes the government’s, and thus the Hunted production’s next challenge will be integrating AI into this world, which will bring another set of ethical dilemmas. Simmonds was clear, “Everything has to work as it would in the real world.”

This won’t the be end of the innovations, and Bennett is particularly keen to keep the show as realistic and up to date with the newest technologies. “It’s important that a show is still highlighting the powers of the state when they are only increasing,” he said, warning, “It only needs policies to change for this to be used against us.”