A nationwide search has begun to find the best non-professional groups of musicians from across the UK. Called the UK’s Best Part-time Band, the BBC4 show will feature established, well-known musicians travelling on a road trip across the nation to find talent.
However, it is unlikely to resemble other talent shows such as X Factor; the producers Wall to Wall are searching for bands “who play any type of music – rock, pop, reggae, electronic, country, bluegrass, skiffle, ska, folk, funk, jazz or soul.”
At the end of each episode, five acts will be chosen to compete against each other in a regional heat. They will then battle for a place in the final, which will air on BBC2, with one act being crowned UK’s Best Part-Time Band. Wall to Wall said it is looking for bands made up of “old friends or recent work colleagues” who may have “been together for years…decades even.”
BBC4 is also summoning up the pioneering spirit of the ground-breaking Plays for Today by returning to the old Television Centre for five new dramas. These will include new performances and adaptations of existing dramas with some pre-recorded segments mixed with as as-live broadcasts, according to BBC4 channel editor Cassian Harrison.
Made in collaboration with Battersea Arts Centre, Live from Television Centre will feature performances from Gecko, Richard Dedomenici, Touretteshero and Common Wealth Theatre. They will air across a two-hour live broadcast in November. Islington Community Theatre will create a fifth performance released exclusively on BBC iPlayer the same day.
Despite its loyal audience and reputation for innovation, BBC4’s future has been questioned it since the proposal to move BBC3 online emerged. And earlier this summer, the BBC warned chancellor George Osborne that it would have to close BBC2 and BBC4 if the government did not provide extra funds to offset the cost of free TV licences for the over-75s.
Harrison said he realised his channel is “in an evolving landscape” but said he was optimistic about its future. He said that he does not “think there’s a choice” between BBC3 or BBC4, pointing out that BBC3’s audience were “more advanced in terms of digital consumption”, which is why it went online first.
“Where I see BBC4 as an identity as a channel and as a brand, I think it’s an incredibly singular, valuable and important part of British broadcasting landscape, and I happen to know the BBC thinks that too, from [director general] Tony Hall down. We can’t pretend on the other hand that we’re not living in an evolving landscape about what television is. It’s a rapidly changing environment.”
He admitted his channel is “not diverse enough, frankly”, but said he was working on finding more diverse shows and presenters.
