Channel 4 head of specialist factual, Shaminder Nahal, has announced three new orders with a landmark doc on Tony Blair, a series on the rise of AI and a three parter on the Mitford Sisters.
The new three-part factual series exploring the life, leadership, and legacy of Tony Blair will be made by 72 films, the makers of The Rise and Fall of Boris Johnson.
The series will look at Blair’s meteoric rise, his years in Downing Street, and his career post-politics.
Featuring an in-depth interview with Tony Blair himself, his story is also told through those who knew him best – friends, allies, and opponents. “Peeling back the layers of political spin and tabloid sensationalism, the programme offers a fresh perspective on the man who transformed the Labour Party and reshaped Britain. The series goes beyond the headlines to explore the key moments that shaped Blair’s leadership, providing a gripping insight into one of the most influential Prime Ministers of the modern era.”
72 Films, along with Argonon-owned Windfall Films, is also to make a two-part landmark series looking at the rapid rise of AI and the figures who have played pivotal roles in this technological revolution.
Featuring both this year’s Nobel Prize winner, Geoffrey Hinton, the ‘Godfather’ of AI and Demis Hassabis, the genius behind Deep Mind, ‘The Story of AI’ will hear from a variety of expert voices in the field and ask what it means to live in a world where technology supersedes all human brainpower. “Where some celebrate the incredible progress in medical care and productivity enhancement, others caution that if left unchecked super intelligent tech could lead to human extinction in a matter of decades.”
The series will be directed by Nick Holt (The Murder Trial) and edited by Ben Brown (Lucan). David Dugan of Windfall Film and David Glover of 72 Films will be executive producing.
David Dugan of Windfall Films says: “’The Story of AI’ grapples with one of most profound existential transformations facing our planet. Windfall Films and 72 Films have joined forces to tell the definitive story of the pioneers and prophets who have created this revolution. It’s a story unfolding at such speed, even the creators are shocked.”
Shaminder Nahal, Head of Specialist Factual at Channel 4 says, “I’m so grateful that this extraordinary team have taken on the challenge of making a series about AI – delving into the incredibly complex science, but also the deepest, most philosophical issues about what it means to be human, and what our collective future holds. They will be telling the dramatic and fascinating story of the people who have created this powerful new technology – but also revealing the moments along the way that have made us stop and think about the boundaries of science and ethics. I can’t wait to see the finished series.”
A three-part documentary series from BAFTA-winning producers Swan Films will tell the story of the famous, and notorious, Mitford sisters.
The six daughters of an English peer and cousins to the Churchills had ringside seats to some of the most extraordinary and divisive events of the mid-twentieth century. Leading radically modern lives for women of the time, they met everyone who was anyone, from Hitler to the Windsors, the Goebbels to the Kennedys, Evelyn Waugh to Eva Braun. The Spanish Civil War, the Fascist rallies in the East End, the rise of the Nazis, the Blitz, the destruction of the old aristocratic England – they were present for it all.
Diana Mitford married the British Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley, was declared an enemy of the state and imprisoned during WWII; Jessica Mitford eloped with Winston Churchill’s nephew to Spain at the height of the civil war before moving to America, becoming a communist, civil rights activist and celebrated journalist; Unity ingratiated herself with Hitler and attended every Nuremberg rally, before shooting herself on the day war was declared; Nancy, in bestselling novels such as The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate, mythologised the eccentric lives of the Mitford family; while Deborah became the Duchess of Devonshire, reviving one of England’s grandest houses – Chatsworth – before dying at the age of 94 in 2014.
Talking to experts, biographers and family members, and drawing on a wealth of interviews the sisters gave later in life, as well as their extensive writings, the series will use the sisters’ own words to narrate the story of their incredible lives from their own unique perspectives.
Neil Crombie, Creative Director, Swan Films, said: “This is an incredible and very timely opportunity to tell the true stories of these remarkable women. Through their eyes and in their words we’ll experience some of the most dramatic events of their times – an age with some thought-provoking parallels with our own.”
Shaminder Nahal, Head of Specialist Factual says: “I’ve long been intrigued by the Mitfords and what these aristocratic women, who were constantly in the papers, in the gossip columns, and even in the presence of the most terrifying people of the age – say about Britain. We’ll be looking at some of the major events in 20th century history through their stories, including the rise of British fascism, which offers salutary truths for today. I can’t wait to see what the extraordinary team at Swan Films make, hot on the heels of their utterly brilliant series The Miners’ Strike : Battle for Britain.”
Series Director is Alice McMahon-Major; Producer is Charlotte Rodrigues and the Executive Producers are Neil Crombie and Joe Evans.
Staff Reporter
Share this story
