Expect the unexpected as BBC Studios celebrates an incredible year

Ralph Lee, CEO, BBC Studios Productions

(Ralph Lee looks back on a stunning year of content, with exciting new shows for the BBC, Apple TV+, Channel 4 and Amazon Prime Video, alongside award-winning favourites.)

It has been an incredible year for BBC Studios Productions, both in terms of the outstanding content we’ve produced for the BBC and for us as a commercial studio. In the four years since the BBC’s main production arm launched commercially, an astonishing revolution has taken place in the programmes we make, driving creativity and nearly doubling our income in that time, alongside growing success for our brands and production teams internationally.

We make 2,400 hours of TV annually through BBC Studios Productions and our labels. Just over half of our production revenue comes from the BBC and includes strong returners like Strictly Come Dancing (or Dancing with the Stars as it’s known internationally, which launched on Disney+ in 2022) and the much-anticipated Frozen Planet II, which reached 20.5 million unique viewers in the UK across the series, as well as new hits like The Green Planet and we won two BAFTAs for Time, which has been recommissioned for a second series.

Our Glastonbury 2022 coverage generated a huge buzz across the BBC’s digital platforms, with content streamed a record 34 million times on BBC iPlayer and a record 23 million streams watched live, while our newest brand Supertato, from the recently-joined Kids & Family production unit, is already in the top 30 streamed titles on BBC iPlayer. And our specialist event teams quietly set the global standard for state event coverage with the epic three-day Platinum Jubilee celebrations, as well as dedicated and respectful coverage during the National Period of Mourning leading up to, and including, the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Highlights from our scripted labels included Nottinghamshire-set crime thriller Sherwood produced by House for BBC One, hailed by the Telegraph as the “BBC drama of the year” and is set to return. Baby Cow’s new comedy The Witchfinder, starred the brilliant Daisy May Cooper, with Daisy May also appearing in Am I Being Unreasonable?, a twisted comedy-thriller from Lookout Point’s Boffola Pictures, which was swiftly recommissioned for a second series. 

We see huge growth potential for scripted, and this year we’ve expanded our portfolio with 100% ownership of Firebird Pictures (Wahala, Wilderness), Sid Gentle Films (Killing Eve, Extraordinary) and by investing in premium indie Turbine Studios, the makers of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe and Uprising. We have also invested in award-winning factual indie Voltage TV and Kelly Webb Lamb’s newly launched Mothership. These investments complement our existing BBC Studios Productions brands, ensuring we can provide an unparalleled range of rich content across all genres.

In the middle of 2023, National Geographic will premiere its new documentary OCEAN EXPLORERS, with a cutting-edge vessel taking audiences to the deepest parts of the world’s seas. Directed by Academy award-winning James Cameron, the six-part show is a co-production between BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit and OceanX Media, and will be shown in 172 countries and in 43 languages. We also look forward to welcoming Kate Ward, as our new Managing Director for Factual, a genre that is critical to BBC Studios success and growth.

And we’re all hugely excited about the new BBC children’s high school drama series Phoenix Rise, from Kids & Family. Starring Paul Nicholls, it follows six teen outsiders as they return to mainstream education over 20 half hour episodes.

Looking back over the year and what is to come, we couldn’t have done it without our extraordinary editorial and production teams and their amazing creativity, skill and ambition. Our wider BBC Studios family and partners also play an essential role in our success. So thank you. Without you, there would be no fantastic and often surprising programmes. When it comes to BBC Studios content, you should be prepared to expect the unexpected.