BBC - Commissioning - Features & Formats on BBC Two

What We Want

• Browse by genre
  • Arts
  • CBeebies
  • CBBC
  • Comedy
  • Current Affairs
  • Daytime & Early Peak
  • Documentaries
  • Drama
  • Entertainment
  • Features and Formats BBC One & BBC Two
  • Features & Specialist Factual on BBC Three
  • HD at the BBC
  • History & Business
  • Learning
  • Open University
  • Music & Events
  • Religion & Ethics
  • Science & Natural History
  • Sport
• Browse by channel
  • BBC One
  • BBC Two
  • BBC Three
  • BBC Four
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • BBC iPlayer, Red Button & Programme Pages
• Service Strategies
• Programme Acquisition
• Nations and Regions

Print this page

Features & Formats on BBC Two

• See all BBC Two briefs

Commissioning Editor: Alison Kirkham

Overview

Qualities we are looking for:

• The contemporary - find inspiration from everyday life - make us see familiar everyday things with new eyes and a fresh perspective.  Take BBC Two into the contemporary world.
• Entertainment – being entertaining is as key as being informative - features should sometimes have a sense of fun.
• Talent – this is key; we continue to look for strong, charismatic experts to drive propositions – Alex Polizzi, The Hairy Bikers, Lorraine Pascale and Monty Don are people we love.
• Innovative shapes - create more Features and Formats and Specialist Factual hybrids to add distinctiveness and content to traditional features areas and national obsessions. 
• Emotion - BBC formats offer a great deal of factual knowledge. It would be interesting to think about what features might look like if they equipped audiences with more emotional knowledge. What are the modern iterations of Life Laundry or No Going Back - formats that ask more profound questions about our lives?
• Male Skewing - What can we do that feels more distinctively male - given the success of brands like On Thin Ice, Top Gear and James May's Toy Stories on BBC Two - there must be ways to continue to tap into that male audience.
• Drama - don't be afraid of confrontation - thought-provoking approaches can force us to reassess our position on something.

What's been working well gallery

Alex Polizzi – The Fixer – demonstrates the appeal of really charismatic, engaging and expert talent married with a Fact-Ent shape.  We are always looking for distinctive faces around which we can build shows. This programme also took us into more contemporary, non-traditional worlds not seen as frequently on BBC Two.

Restoration Home is the perfect marriage of traditional features territory - in this case makeover; with the more detailed factual knowledge the BBC Two audience so enjoy – in this case architectural and social history. Crucially it is a broad, endlessly returnable format.

The Hairy Bikers continue to show how infectiously enthusiastic, maverick experts are key to successful Features and Formats on the channel on BBC Two. We're always looking for more to build shows around.

The re-launch of Gardeners World demonstrates what an appetite there is for real expertise on BBC Two.  The audience enjoy revelling in information and detailed content.

Features & Formats - BBC Two - Big returnable hour long formats for 8pm - Flexible on shape - closed episodes or narratives building across several weeks.

We're looking for formats for big broad audiences - must appeal to a male as well as female audience

We're keen to innovate here, rather than mimic what's gone before - we think it's probably not about food (unless there's a unique new approach) as we already have a lot of cookery.

Simply, we need a returnable format to keep people coming back time and time again.  The Fixer and Restoration Home are examples of how this might work.

Talent is key - presenters must have authentic and relevant expertise but must all be strong, engaging and distinctive voices - e.g. Alex Polizzi, The Hairy Bikers, Giles and Sue, Lorraine Pascale.

Take out is also crucial - these formats must be full of 'specialist features' knowledge/expertise. However, tonally they still need to feel entertaining (think The Supersizers which achieved this really successfully).

We're continually on the look out for contemporary territories. In particular, we've seen a lot of nostalgia ideas recently, but what are the new areas for the here and now? How can we make TWO feel tonally more varied and adventurous?

Features & Formats - BBC Two - Event-Driven Features at 2000 or 2100 - Think about innovative shapes; it might be live or could be stripped.

Formats can be reputational too; so how can we create big events that divert the nation's eye to BBC Two?

We think specialist factual content might be key to making the event feel distinctive and rich for a range of viewers. Coast offers a distinctive taste of specialist factual content. How else can the worlds of science, history, the Arts and any other specialist area bring a new flavour to national obsessions, fascinations or big issues? Lambing Live was a great example of how more traditional subjects can be accessed through more unusual shapes.

We love the participative nature of Springwatch: how might you add that into the mix?

Where are the opportunities available? 

Opportunities extist within the WoCC for 13/14. Please note that a number of hours have a Regional quota attached.

How should I submit my ideas and who should I pitch to?

All proposals should be submitted via the e-commissioning system to the relevant genre controller or commissioner. Take a look at the Who's Who for the latest BBC Two Features & Formats commissioning team contacts

Want to know more about the broader BBC Two service strategy?

If you would like to know more about Janice Hadlow's BBC Two channel strategy, please visit the BBC Two page.