Talkback Thames to split

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

ERA: Ending as Talkback Thames is set to split

TALKBACK Thames, one of the most prolific names in television production in recent times are to part ways as part of a major shakeup of operations at the company’s owners, Fremantle Media.  The joint-venture, responsible for many of the popular shows seen on screen today, will cease to exist from New Year’s Day next year with both companies reverting back to their original solo identities.  This is because Fremantle is aiming to broaden its programming genres and it plans to do that by launching two new production companies in the process.

     Talkback was launched in 1981 and launched the careers of many faces like Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith, becoming a major player in comedy production in the 1990s with hits like I’m Alan Partridge and They Think It’s All Over.  Thames roots go back to when it was part of the ITV network, launching in 1968 and holding the London franchise of the broadcaster on weekdays until 1992.  It’s mainstay of programmes were mainly in drama like The Sweeney, Minder and The Bill.

     After Thames was ousted out of ITV, it became an independent production company and in 1996, it was taken over by Pearson Television, predecessor to Fremantle.  Both Talkback and Thames merged to form Talkback Thames in 2003 with its current onscreen name first coming into effect two years later.

      So what happens now to both companies in this production shakeup?  Talkback will now revert to its original roots of producing comedy entertainment/panel shows such as Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI and Celebrity Juice whilst Thames will now focus on just general entertainment programmes like The X-Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and All Star Family Fortunes.  They will also be responsible for producing an upcoming revival of the classic gameshow Blockbusters for digital channel Challenge.  The two new productions labels set up, will be known as Retort, which will be responsible for scripted comedy (PhoneShop and Richard Bacon’s Beer & Pizza Club) and Boundless, which will oversee production of factual shows (Grand Designs and The Apprentice.)

The change in direction has been requested by Fremantle Media UK chief executive Sara Geater, who said in a prepared statement: "This new label structure allows us to showcase the amazing talent within our business by enabling us to be even more creative and innovative to better respond to our customers' needs. We're committed to developing inspiring entertainment for broadcasters and audiences, and I believe that this structure of labels with big ambitions will ensure we better serve our customers with bespoke propositions that will deliver them the hits of the future."

      It’s certainly a bitter pill to swallow, having to say farewell to such an excellent provider of British television over the last few years.  Now though, it’s time to face up to the future and this change seems that it will give a new lease of life to Fremantle’s current programmes and it will certainly attract the attention of potential new investors.

National Television Awards - The 2012 shortlist

BACK: Dermot O'Leary will host again in January 2012

THE lengthy nominations list for the 2012 National Television Awards was released this morning.  Many TV favourites have been included on the list in one of the most glamorous ceremonies on the TV calendar.  New reality hits The Only Way is Essex and Made in Chelsea will make the ‘Reality’ award one to watch, as they have been nominated against the more familiar shows, The Apprentice and I’m A Celebrity.

     Jonathan Ross and Graham Norton will go head-to-head over the ‘Talkshow’ award, whilst Australian soaps Home and Away and Neighbours join the heavyweights from EastEnders and Coronation Street in the ‘Serial Drama’ category. 

     Fans can vote for their favourites at the official website; www.nationaltvawards.com.  The ceremony will once again be at London’s 02 Arena and hosted by X-Factor anchor, Dermot O’Leary.  The long list will be knockdown into a smaller shortlist in December, with the prestigious ceremony shown live on ITV1 in January 2012.

THE NOMINATIONS

TALENT SHOW

The X-Factor, Strictly Come Dancing, Britain’s Got Talent, Let’s Dance for Comic Relief, Dancing on Ice, Popstar to Operastar, Got to Dance, So You Think You Can Dance

COMEDY PANEL

Celebrity Juice, Pointless, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week, QI, Have I Got News For You, Odd One In, Would I Lie To You?

DRAMA

Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, Waterloo Road, Glee, Wild at Heart, Casualty, Lewis, Shameless, Holby City, Law & Order UK, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Midsummer Murders, Silent Witness, Monroe, New Tricks, Spooks, DCI Banks: Aftermath, Scott & Bailey, Inspector George Gently, Whitechapel, Doc Martin, Merlin, Waking the Dead, Luther, Hustle, Above Suspicion: Deadly Intent, Lark Rise to Candleford, Case Histories, Kidnap and Ransom, The Shadow Line, Silk, Vera, Torchwood: Miracle Day, Upstairs Downstairs, South Riding

TALK SHOW

Loose Women, The Jonathan Ross Show, The Graham Norton Show, Paul O’Grady Live, Alan Carr: Chatty Man, Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, The Wright Stuff, The Rob Brydon Show, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, That Sunday Night Show

FACTUAL PROGRAMME

MasterChef, Top Gear, This Morning, The One Show, BBC Breakfast, Who Do You Think You Are?, Antiques Roadshow, Countryfile, Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, Billy Connolly’s Route 66, Crimewatch, Daybreak, DIY SOS: The Big Build, Strangeways, The Biggest Loser, Watchdog, Britten’s Hidden Heritage, An Idiot Abroad, Ocean Giants, Lost Land of the Tiger, Inside the Human Body, Turn Back Time- The High Street, Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention, Royal Navy Caribbean Patrol, Human Planet, Long Lost Family

SITUATION COMEDY

Benidorm, Trollied, Not Going Out, Come Fly With Me, My Family, Miranda, Outnumbered, Candy Cabs, Friday Night Dinner, Whites, Reggie Perrin, In With the Flynns, Mrs. Brown’s Boys

SERIAL DRAMA

Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Neighbours, Doctors, Home & Away, Hollyoaks

REALITY PROGRAMME

Come Dine With Me, The Only Way is Essex, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, The Apprentice, Made in Chelsea, 71 Degrees North, Coach Trip, Peter Andre: The Next Chapter, Don’t Tell The Bride

ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME

The Cube, Harry Hill’s TV Burp, Ant & Dec’s Push The Button, Live at the Apollo, All-Star Family Fortunes, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, Total Wipeout, The Million Pound Drop, Take Me Out, John Bishop’s Britain, Celebrity Mastermind, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Tonight’s The Night, Red or Black, Lee Mack’s All-Star Cast, University Challenge, The Magicians, Sing If You Can, New You’ve Been Framed, The National Lottery: In It To Win It, Dynamo: Magician Impossible    

ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTER

Ant & Dec, Davina McCall, Dermot O’Leary, Harry Hill, Graham Norton, Jonathan Ross, Tess Daly, Vernon Kay, Paul O’Grady, Michael McIntyre, Alan Carr, John Bishop, Keith Lemon, Cat Deeley, Myleene Klaas, Bradley Walsh, Paddy McGuiness, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Steve Jones, Lee Mack, Holly Willoughby, Chris Tarrant, Piers Morgan, John Barrowman, Phillip Schofield, Dale Winton, Alex Jones, Adrian Chiles, Rob Brydon, Lenny Henry, Richard Hammond      

NEWCOMER

Chris Fountain (Coronation Street), Jacqueline Jossa (EastEnders), Jimmy Akingbola (Holby City), William Beck (Casualty), Chelsea Halfpenny (Emmerdale), Danny Mac (Hollyoaks)

SERIAL DRAMA PERFORMANCE

Jessie Wallace (EastEnders), Danny Miller (Emmerdale), Alison King (Coronation Street), Simon Gregson (Coronation Street), Pauline Quirke (Emmerdale), Nina Wadia (EastEnders), Jane Danson (Coronation Street), Lucy Pargeter (Emmerdale), Steve McFadden (EastEnders), Jake Wood (EastEnders), Jeff Hordley (Emmerdale), Chris Gascoyne (Coronation Street), Emmett J.Scanlan (Hollyoaks), Katherine Kelly (Coronation Street), Claire Cooper (Hollyoaks), Charley Webb (Emmerdale), Lindsey Coulson (EastEnders), Kieran Richardson (Hollyoaks), Andrew Lancel (Coronation Street), Jonny Clarke (Hollyoaks), Nitin Ganatra (EastEnders), Rachel Shenton (Hollyoaks), Steve Halliwell (Emmerdale), Stephanie Davis (Hollyoaks)

FEMALE DRAMA PERFORMANCE

Karen Gillian (Doctor Who), Amanda Redman (New Tricks), Laila Rouass (Holby City), Georgia Taylor (Casualty), Suranne Jones (Scott & Bailey), Freema Agyeman (Law & Order: UK), Dawn Steele (Wild at Heart), Sarah Parish (Monroe), Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Maxine Peake (Silk), Sally Carman (Shameless), Eve Myles (Torchwood), Caroline Catz (Doc Martin), Kelly Adams (Hustle), Nicola Walker (Spooks), Emilia Fox (Silent Witness), Lesley Sharp (Scott & Bailey), Jaye Jacobs (Waterloo Road), Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey), Kelly Reilly (Above Suspicion), Brenda Blethyn (Vera), Tara Fitzgerald (Waking The Dead), Katie McGrath (Merlin), Julia Sawalha (Lark Rise to Candleford), Keeley Hawes (Upstairs Downstairs), Anna Maxwell Martin (South Riding)  

MALE DRAMA PERFORMANCE

Stephen Tompkinson (DCI Banks), Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Martin Clunes (Doc Martin), Bradley Walsh (Law & Order: UK), Laurence Fox (Lewis), James Nesbitt (Monroe), Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey), Idris Elba (Luther), Bradley James (Merlin), Martin Shaw (Inspector George Gently), Kevin Whately (Lewis), Alun Armstrong (New Tricks), John Barrowman (Torchwood), Guy Henry (Holby City), Phil Davis (Whitechapel), Colin Morgan (Merlin), Adrian Lester (Hustle), Peter Firth (Spooks), Dennis Waterman (New Tricks), Ben Turner (Casualty), Stephen Rea (The Shadow Line), Jason Isaacs (Case Histories), Alec Newman (Waterloo Road), David Morrissey (South Riding), James Bolam (New Tricks), Ciaran Hinds (Above Suspicion), Rupert Penry-Jones (Whitechapel), Trevor Eve (Kidnap and Ransom), David Threlfall (Shameless), Ed Stoppard (Upstairs, Downstairs), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Neil Dudgeon (Midsummer Murders)