Last week, as the streets of Edinburgh filled up for the Edinburgh Fringe, I attended the Edinburgh TV Festival to hear from those in the know about the state of the industry in 2025 and beyond.

Michael Sheen (aka the Prince of Wales) feels very fondly towards Good Omens, especially the fans. He’s still very emotional about how much the show means to people and the incredible sense of community in the fandom. We should listen to him on the subject of the future of the creative industries. “Like if a child wants to become a footballer, you need to support kids from age 6 to become actors” in their schools and local communities. And a warning: “telling our own stories in our own accents is not a given.” We must keep fighting for this representation because as with so many things at the moment, these battles we thought we’d fought and won can slip away from you.

Spotlight on the BBC

On the subject of representation and regional accents, the big broadcasters (especially BBC and Channel 4) know the conversation about representation has never been louder. And authentic stories rooted in place sell around the world – Blue Lights, Derry Girls, Gavin & Stacey. But it’s up for debate if they’re doing enough, however well the regional quotas have been received, even though the revelation about how much of the The Traitors crew were actually from Scotland was a bit of an embarrassing mess. Professor David Olusoga says portrayal camouflages the accents of the decision makers in TV. The continuity announcer has a regional accent but the commissioners never do.

Head of huge production company Studio Lambert, Stephen Lambert behind such hits as The Traitors, Gogglebox, Race Across the World, Undercover Boss, Wife Swap and more.

On the success of The Traitors, Head of Studio Lambert Production company said, ” You need brilliant people who can be themselves and you need just the right mix. All need to be comfortable in their own skin with cameras around them, which is really hard to find.”

The serious business: The government says the UK’s creative industries are not a nice-to-have. They’re our economic future. Sir Chris Bryant MP, Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries (whose mother was a makeup artist employed by the BBC and looked after Shirley Bassey’s wigs) wants there to be fewer freelancers in the future, for small production companies to grow and guarantee secure income as employees and in doing this better secure work for disabled people and other underrepresented groups. But as to how, when, and where the support comes from, no answers from Edinburgh. Interestingly, after listening to the panel on authentically British TV earlier, 85% of BBC daytime shows are made outside of London, embracing innovation and risk. 

Munya Chawawa warned that the Internet is the bogeyman that is coming for TV. The staggering viewer numbers that internet creator Mr Beast’s version of the Squid Games garnered, when compared to Netflix’s own numbers (over 2000 million compared to over 800 million) points to how much people are turning to YouTube for visual entertainment. Munya’s own experience of making TV with YouTube highlights that TV executives do not know how to translate that success into mainstream television, as he warned that TV has to lean into “collaboration not cameo” when bringing Internet creatures into their world. Internet video creators can turn around a video from idea, through logistics, to filming and editing in a single day. TV can’t keep up with that, so there has to be a middle ground where both disciplines can utilise the others’ advantages, but as it stands TV still seems to treat the

Sky gave a reassuring answer, in these troubled times, that – for them – Sky’s identity is grounded in hopeful television. They only seek out shows with uplifting endings, character redemptions, and a sense of hope for humanity. Something which feels very needed in the current landscape.It seems all broadcasters are lost in how to engage the under-30s, though all are desperately looking for a new “Traitors” type hit – one which engages the entire family and becomes “must-watch” television.

The BBC is sticking to its commitment to new comedy, though has created a self-inflicted issue in that by (wisely) recommissioning so many of their new shows from the past couple of years, it leaves fewer slots for brand new comedy in the next year. Sadly, Jon Petrie, Head of Comedy, said that the BBC are not looking towards sketch comedy for any of that new content.

The cast and team behind Disney+ hit Rivals.

The less-serious business: All hail the superb bonkbuster Rivals, but don’t call them a guilty pleasure. “It sounds dismissive and we’ve all worked really hard to get the tone right, the humour, the sex and the more difficult storylines too”. Did you know Alex Hassle’s audition tape was put to one side despite being the first tape seen? All this because he’s not blonde! Writer and fan of the Jilly Cooperverse Dominic Treadwell-Collins knew it would upset die-hard fans of the books. Jilly had to personally approve ‘her Rupert’. And what we saw in that brief but brilliant “Your fields are on fire!” scene was all natural – the penis prosthetics creeped everyone out! They have a great time on set with each other, the relaxed friendliness is so important for a show with this much intimacy. The official “no wanker policy” means all the cast and a remarkable 90% of the crew have come back for season 2, half of the 12 eps are already in the can. Haley Atwell stars as Rupert’s ex-wife and Rupert Everett as her new husband. 

Shonda Rhimes is currently editing the finale of Bridgerton season 4. She says it’s not so far removed from her workplace soap opera origins. She thinks of ‘ton as a workplace drama; the marriage market is women’s work in the Regency period. She also says she wasn’t specifically trying to shake up period dramas with diverse storylines and casting but “I’m never going to write a show that doesn’t include me.”

New show announcements:

• Celebrity Traitors will air in October 2025 with that incredible cast, who were all super keen to get involved.
• Squid Game: The Challenge S2 will air in November 2025 on Netflix
• The line-up for Last One Laughing UK S2 was revealed with the excellent news that Bob Mortimer returns as S1 champion! Prime Video.
• Tina Fey confirms Four Seasons Season 2  is just about to start filming for Netflix.
• First look at Dawn French’s return to BBC comedy with a family life insurance scam in Can You Keep a Secret
• New for BBC unscripted Bear Gryll’s Wild Reckoning, a show where Bear helps people resolve personal conflicts in the Welsh countryside
• Richard Gadd in Half Man, a frightening-looking dark drama from theBBC and the Baby Reindeer star.
• Mitchell and Webb are back at Channel 4 for sketch comedy, this time supported by 30 new young writers and onscreen talent. Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping is coming soon.
• Handcuffed is a very Channel 4 show due early 2026 where Jonathan Ross handcuffs radically different people together 24/7. Expect arguments about politics, religion, culture wars etc etc. Last pair standing win £100,000
• A big announcement from Charlie Brooker, “something quite different” is due soon. He and Annabel Jones stepped away from their Netflix-owned production company Broke & Bones earlier this year.