UK TV industry's plans to return to work

[Bob Jersey]

The safety document details six areas that producers, in cooperation with commissioning networks, must consider when planning to produce. Those are: specifically consider people at higher risk of harm; heighten precautions for everyone at work; reduce the number of people involved; consider editorial "on camera" requirements; consider mental health and well-being; and ensure a feedback loop.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/uk-tv-giants-unveil-guidelines-restarting-tv-production-1294952 (story)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dVqxR2PsdPQoMQLJabYphQ1pJsEhn1z7/view (document)

B

[M-D November]

I heard that they were restarting production on Eastenders with these new guidelines in place, which prompted three thoughts:

1) Eastenders is still a thing? JEZUS.

2) Is the Queen Vic (?) set large enough to do proper social distancing?

3) Eastenders without kissing or fighting? What's the point?

[Adam Bowie]

We haven't lost a soap in years. But they all play in primetime, or early primetime anyway, so audiences remain decent-ish.

As it happens, Eastenders is supposed to be rebuilding their set, and one of the things they were going to do was increase the scale everywhere. Viewers wouldn't notice, but it would make the set for manageable for the high turnover of episodes. In regular time, Eastenders shoots four episodes a week. As for social distancing? I suspect that they'll quickly build the pandemic into their storylines so that characters can naturally distance. And since the UK's pubs aren't opening anytime soon, I expect that'll be the case for the Queen Vic. 

I read those precautions, but they don't really make practical allowances for drama, and it's unclear to me how any regular drama is going to accommodate them. Obviously we can expect fewer intimate scenes but it will prove incredibly difficult to place actors in a "bubble" for any ongoing series. You could just about imagine a feature film taking a cast and crew, testing them, putting them in a clean hotel and keeping them there for the duration of a shoot. But that doesn't work if you're shooting for 9 months+ a year.

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