burntcopper | piloting tv

This is interesting. After the whole BBC3 airing pilots from various writers thing a couple of years ago, which let the audience vote as well as letting them tweak it - which gave birth to Being Human (we do not speak about Phoo Action which got pulled before airing), it appears that such a thing has proved successful enough that they're extending it. Paul Cornell's Pulse had its pilot air a few weeks ago, and was available for quite a while on iplayer. Tonight they're airing another pilot, a rom-com/drama called Reunited.

This is a major departure from usual tv commissioning in the UK. Nearly all series get commissioned in one go, no pilot. I know some comedy stuff has a showcase for industry (it's how Black Books got its start), but otherwise, nup. And the public would never get to see these. Probably helps that TV companies don't commit as much money as US tv if a series gets commissioned - most non-soap series are 6 eps max, 8 if it's big, 13 *only* if it's the coveted BBC1 Saturday early evening slot which means Dr Who and Merlin. A series never gets pulled mid-run since that would require major re-scheduling, it's always filmed ages in advance, and it's only the 13 ep ones that would still be filming when the first episodes of a series air.

So, yeah. Wondering if this is going to become a new way of commissioning shows in the UK.