Expect the unexpected as BBC Studios celebrates an incredible year

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.

While we are well known for our BBC content, 2022 was the year our work for other clients came to the fore. Nearly half the programmes we make now are for non-BBC customers, showcasing our creativity and contributing significantly to our overall growth.

Apple TV+ exclusively showed Prehistoric Planet and Trying, Netflix audiences enjoyed Our Universe and The Anthrax Attacks. Stephen Daldry’s Freedom: 50 Years of Pride and Somewhere Boy went out on Channel 4, the latter produced by our indie label Clerkenwell Pictures.

Internationally, our LA production team joined forces with Lionsgate to remake Ghosts for CBS and Paramount+, which became television’s most popular new comedy in the US and we saw the Weakest Link back on screen in the UK as well as local versions continuing in the US and Australia.

There’s lots to look forward to. Coming up in 2023 will be a second series of Good Omens for Amazon Prime Video. We also have a new BBC and PBS landmark documentary series Fight The Power: How Hip-Hop Changed the World, produced by Chuck D, featuring interviews with the likes of Ice-T, Fat Joe, Run DMC and MC Lyte.

In 2023, National Geographic will premiere its new documentary OCEANXPLORERS (w/t), with a cutting-edge vessel taking audiences to the deepest parts of the world’s seas. Executive Produced 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.

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About BBC Studios

BBC Studios, a global content company with bold British creativity at its heart, is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group, supporting the licence fee and enhancing programmes for UK audiences. Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, its activities span content financing, development, production, sales, branded services, and ancillaries across both its own productions, and programmes and formats made by high-quality UK independents. Award-winning British programmes made by the business are internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms, with brands like Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear and Doctor Who. BBC.com, BBC Studios’ global digital news platform, provides up-to-the-minute international news, in-depth analysis and features to more than 139 million unique browsers each month. BBC Studios has offices in over 20 markets globally, including ten production bases in the UK and production bases or partnerships in a further seven countries around the world. The company, which ordinarily makes around 2000 hours of content a year for both the BBC and third parties including Apple, Netflix and Migu, is a champion for British creativity around the world.  It is also a committed partner for the UK’s independent sector through a mix of equity partnerships, content investment and international distribution for programme titles.

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