Specialist Factual Productions | BBC Studios Productions

BBC IPLAYER, PBS

Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty

BBC TWO

Inside Our ADHD Minds/ Inside our Dyslexic Minds

NAT GEO

Cursed Gold

BBC IPLAYER, CNN

Secrets & Spies

Specialist Factual Productions is the home of dynamic, thought provoking and award winning factual television.

Across a slate of films that are all provocative, impartial and entertaining, we take our audiences on gripping journeys that are underpinned by journalistic rigour and specialist knowledge, bringing together diverse voices to ignite conversation and challenge preconceptions.

We pride ourselves on our ability to innovate with narrative form, hybridising and genre merging to create layered specialist factual with purpose...and to tell stories that matter. ...

KEY TITLES

BBC IPLAYER

Uncanny Series 2

Are you team believer or team sceptic? Danny Robins brings his hit podcast to the screen, investigating stories of the paranormal. It's about to get weird.

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BBC TWO

Lucy Worsley Investigates Series 2

Lucy Worsley interrogates some of the most infamous and brutal chapters in British history, uncovering new witnesses and compelling evidence.

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Channel 5

Britain’s Great Cathedrals: By The Grace of God

Reverend Pat Allerton unlocks the secrets of Britain's most spectacular cathedrals.

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BBC TWO

Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World

The beats that broke new ground. How hip hop emerged from underground New York into a global force for change and empowerment - as told by icons Chuck D, Ice-T, Eminem and more.

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BBC IPLAYER, PBS

Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty

The greatest art works of all time - born of war and bloodshed - as rival artists Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael compete to craft beauty from chaos.

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BBC TWO

Julius Caesar: The Making of a Dictator

He came. He saw. He conquered. The tale of an ambitious power-grab that turned to tyranny. How Julius Caesar dismantled five centuries of ancient Roman democracy in just 16 years.

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SKY

The Great Rhino Robbery

The Great Rhino Robbery unpicks the story behind why the Rhino is facing extinction and the race to catch the people responsible - before it’s too late.

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BBC ONE

Tommy Jessop Goes to Hollywood

Line of Duty actor Tommy Jessop is on a mission to create his own movie with the help of his brother Will. Is Hollywood ready for a superhero with Down's syndrome?

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BBC TWO

This Farming Life

Documentary series following the struggles and triumphs of six very different farming families in some of Scotland's most beautiful and remote landscapes.

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SKY

Michael X: Hustler, Revolutionary, Outlaw

The untold story of the rise and fall of Michael X, a man once heralded as the UK's answer to Malcolm X.

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CHANNEL 4

Freedom: 50 Years of Pride

Funny, shocking, and moving, the inspiring story of Pride and queer activism in the UK over the last five decades. With Olly Alexander, Kae Tempest, Sir Ian McKellen and many more.

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BBC

Imagine

The biggest names from the world of art, film, music, literature and dance. Alan Yentob gets close up with those shaping today's cultural world.

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BBC TWO

Killing Sherlock: Lucy Worsley on the Case of Conan Doyle

Over the course of three episodes, historian and lifelong Sherlock Holmes fan Lucy Worsley investigates this curious relationship between Holmes and Doyle, detective and author.

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BBC TWO

Windrush: Portraits of a Generation

Following a remarkable project spearheaded by the King, this documentary sees leading artists create portraits of pioneering members of the Windrush Generation.

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BBC TWO

Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution

The story of two powerful personalities at the heart of a political phenomenon. Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and their closest allies chart the rise and difficult legacy of New Labour.

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BBC ONE

In My Own Words: Jackie Kay

One of Britain’s most loved poets, Jackie Kay, on how her powerful work draws from her life’s journey, considering race, gender and identity with tenderness and humour

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BBC TWO

Survivors: Portraits of the Holocaust

Film following a project spearheaded by the Prince of Wales, who has commissioned seven leading artists to paint seven survivors of the Holocaust

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BBC TWO

Inside Our ADHD Minds/ Inside our Dyslexic Minds

Thinking differently. Chris Packham helps autistic people illustrate how their minds work, helping them connect with their friends and family in a new, more authentic way.

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NAT GEO

Cursed Gold

Recounting the 1989 recovery of gold from the shipwrecked S.S. Central America and expedition leader Tommy Thompson's ensuing legal turmoil.

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BBC IPLAYER, CNN

Secrets & Spies

Betray your country, save the world. Spies and traitors play a dangerous game in the 1980s as the Cold War brings two superpowers to the brink of nuclear war.

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BBC TWO

A Life in Ten Pictures

A series of extraordinary lives - Alexander McQueen, Bruce Lee, Carrie Fisher, Ella Fitzgerald, Nelson Mandela and Robin Williams - each unlocked by a just a handful of images. From iconic shots to private snaps, their secrets are revealed by those who know their stories best.

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BBC TWO

Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution

From the sweaty basement bars of 70s New York to the glittering peak of the global charts, how disco conquered the world - its origins, its triumphs, its fall and its legacy.

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OUR TEAM

Alan Holland

HEAD OF SPECIALIST FACTUAL PRODUCTIONS

Alan is an RTS, Broadcast and Grierson nominated programme maker who devises and leads on the department’s creative strategy. He has worked the full breadth of factual genres, Exec’ing such diverse shows as paranormal investigation series Uncanny, the critically acclaimed medical feature doc Heart Transplant: A Chance To Live and the National Commemorative Event to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day. His career highlights include recreating the Mini chase from The Italian Job on the streets of Turin, producing the Scottish elements of the Queen’s Funeral and helping to discover a new planet. ...

Abigail Priddle

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Abigail oversees a wide range of projects for BBC Studios. Her recent projects include Michael X: Hustler, Revolutionary, Outlaw (Sky), Grierson & PGA nominated Banned: The Mary Whitehouse Story (BBC), Inside our Autistic Minds (BBC) and Freedom: Fifty years of Pride (C4) with a variety of other programmes and series in production for different broadcasters. Previously a Commissioning Editor for the BBC, her credits include award-winning projects The Yorkshire Ripper Files, Chris Packham: Asperger’s & Me, and factual drama When Barbara Met Alan. Prior to this, Abigail directed a range of factual programming from acclaimed documentaries including The Met and 24 Hours in A&E to popular returners including Back in Time and Hunted. ...

Suzanne McKenna

HEAD OF PRODUCTION AND COMMERCIAL

Suz has overall responsibility for the financial and operational performance of the business, ensuring productions deliver on time and to budget. She also leads on the commercial strategy which is intended to support and enhance the creative ambition of the unit. In addition to overseeing the day to day production and commercial activities, Suz leads on business development with a particular focus on strategic partnerships, co-funding opportunities and new routes to market. Previous to this, Suz was Director for Unscripted Indies in BBC Studios, responsible for its non-fiction slate with independent production partners (including first look and equity arrangements), as well as the relationship with the BBC around its news and current affairs output and with BBC Studios across Factual Entertainment, Music and Live Events. ...