Talking TV #72: Top Gear and terms of trade
Pact’s call for a moratorium on terms of trade reviews and its implications for Channel 4 take centre stage - plus the Talking TV verdict on Chris Evans’ Top Gear debut. Host Jake Kanter is joined by Lemonade Money creative director Faraz Osman and Kerfuffle managing director Steven D Wright scrutinise Pact’s reaction to John Whittingdale’s plans, and discuss the challenge of rebooting an iconic show in the face of a hostile press and instant Twitter judgements. Also on the agenda is our commission of the fortnight. News that Tony Jordan is preparing a BBC1 drama about Barbara Windsor prompts the question: will the recent crop of celebrity deaths usher in a new era of biopics? In the final half of the programme, the team cast a critical eye over a new BBC4 music format, comedian Rhod Gilbert’s quest to find the UK’s Best Part-Time Band, and the channel’s ‘slow TV’ 90th birthday tribute to the Queen, Handmade by Royal Appointment.