Documentaries

Introduction

Our purpose is to make documentaries that inform, challenge and entertain, while holding a mirror up to modern Britain.

From the serious (Evacuation, Jeremy Kyle Show: Death on Daytime, 24 Hours in Police Custody) to the entertaining (The Dog House, Frankie Boyle’s Farewell to the Monarchy), our programmes speak truth to power, get under the skin of the nation and seek to make sense of the changing world we live in.

What are we looking for?

We’re now commissioning primarily for streaming, rather than the linear channel. Our commissioning needs broadly fit into the following categories, but please don’t let yourselves be limited by these. We know that often the best creative ideas don’t fit into pre-ordained categories.

 

AUDACIOUS PROGRAMMES

We’re looking for spikey, irreverent programming that only C4 would make.

Examples of these are our multi award-nominated series Jeremy Kyle: Death on Daytime which, investigative at heart, told a difficult, controversial story that others might not touch. Other examples are Banged Up, our social experiment about the prison system, our irreverent drama documentary Partygate and My Dead Body - another example of a confronting, challenging programme that drew a large audience.

We also embrace risk-taking and welcome ideas with innovative stylistic approaches, e.g. lip sync in Married to a Paedophile or AI voice recreation in My Dead Body.

 

PREMIUM FACTUAL BOXSETS

These perform strongly on streaming, and we are looking for more.

They’re often based on extraordinary access to a story, institution or person, but the viewing experience is similar to that of watching a drama. Our series Evacuation – which told the story of the fall of Kabul through the eyes of the British armed forces – is a good example of this, as the story unfolds in granular detail, stripped across 3 episodes like a military thriller.

We’ll always bite your hand off for brilliant access, and our limited series are often based on a privileged piece of observational access, for example our BAFTA-nominated series Undercover Police: Hunting Paedophiles (access to a covert police unit), Baby Surgeons: Delivering Miracles (access to a foetal medicine unit) and upcoming The Real AC-12 (w/t) (access to Avon and Somerset’s Professional Standard’s Unit that investigates its own officers for corruption and misconduct).

We’re the department who commissioned Jade: The Reality Star who Changed Britain, George Michael: Outed, Andrew: The Problem Prince – all examples of premium factual boxsets that centred on a well-known figure, but say something interesting about modern Britain.

True Crime is something that works very well for us, but we’re interested in stories that are ‘calorific’, i.e. they say something interesting about the world, and that offer more than just a retelling of a compelling story. Or, perhaps they’re innovative in form, or have new revelations at their heart.

Please challenge yourselves to think about how we can bring a streaming shape to all the urgent subject-matters we need to be tackling e.g. AI, the environment, cost of living crisis etc.

 

NEW BRANDS

Documentary brands have long been the engine of the channel and we’re looking for the next generation of these.

Series such as 24 Hours in Police Custody and The Dog House are going from strength to strength. We’re refreshing First Dates, and we've recently had success with new titles such as Top Guns: Inside the RAF which performed very strongly for us, and we've bought back Night Coppers, our medical strip Emergency, and various others are in the pipeline.

But, we are always looking for more. What is the successor brand to 24 Hours in A&E? What are the non-blue light precincts that act as story engines: we've done hotels, schools, birthing units. What are the new ways into these spaces? We’re looking for subjects that can deliver warmth and humour.

These brands often deliver present tense, unfolding actuality, and the thrill of a story where you don't know the ending before you start production (e.g. the nail-biting actuality inside the cockpit of Top Guns: Inside The RAF). A commitment to present-tense filmmaking is something that marks us out from the streamers and we’re committed to preserving.

We’re also interested in constructed factual as a creative way of refreshing documentary subject matters, for example our series Banged Up (looking at the prison system), Kings of the Jungle with Eddie Stafford (parenting), Outback Brits (coming of age) and Around the World in 80 Weighs (global obesity).

 

SINGLE FILMS

We’re actively looking for impactful, head-turning singles from the best documentary filmmakers, established and new.

These should punch above their weight and stand out in the schedules. We’re looking for more films like A Paedophile in my Family: Surviving Dad, Killed by a Rich Kid, Barrymore: The Body in the Pool, My Dead Body and The Price of Truth.

For subject matters that are just impossible to access through straight documentary, we do on average one factual drama each year, e.g. Consent and Partygate.

As well as grittier subject-matters, we’re looking for humour (Swingers, Dogging Tales) and opinion pieces e.g. Frankie Boyle’s Farewell to the Monarchy, our recent offering for C4’s Coronation coverage.

 

FIRST CUT

First Cut is our flagship new directors strand which has launched the careers of many top, established directors in the British documentary industry. It’s a chance for first-time directors to direct their first hour-long broadcast film. We’re looking for crowd-pleasing ideas with simple, arresting narratives. Rita Daniels runs the strand and please contact her with your ideas.

 

TALENT – ON-SCREEN AND OFF-SCREEN

On-screen, Alice Levine and Yinka Bokinni have fronted excellent films for us recently, and we are always on the hunt for new on-screen talent. Off-screen, we’re dedicated to nurturing diverse and regional voices, and we’re committed to supporting female directors, having signed up to the We are Docs Women 50 50 pledge.

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