How To Update BBC's Film Show

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If you’re a film fan from or based in the UK, it’s safe to say it has been a pretty shit day from the news HMV is in administration for the second time in six years and the BBC has cancelled its movie show, Film 2019.

Film has been a flagship for the BBC for decades with Barry Norman, Jonathan Ross and Claudia Winkleman all being permanent hosts before Winkleman left in 2016 and they went with a guest host.

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I was a fan when Ross was the host and when Winkleman was announced it was exciting but the BBC seemed to bury its own product as it aired at crazy times. I only seem to have known it was on after the fact and when wanting to watch the following week, it was never on.

However, I believe using the Beeb’s own examples I could pitch a show that’s new and could bring an audience into the show.

Firstly, keep the Film name. It’s iconic, easy to remember and easy to hashtag on social media.

Everything else in the words of Kylo Ren “Let the past die! Kill it if you have to. It is the only way to become what you were meant to be.”

BBC have done this twice with Sounds Like Friday Night (a modern Top Of The Pops) and Politics Live (a replacement for Daily Politics) and using these two examples this new Film 2019 would be every Friday night at 7:30pm and it should be a panel show airing on BBC One or it could be better suited and given more time on BBC Two.

The ideal person to host is Edith Bowman. She’s the only person to host. She’s got years of presenting experience both radio and TV, presents a number of London red carpets, one of the go-to stand-ins for the BBC 5Live Kermode and Mayo film review show, was a guest presenter on the old Film show and has her own film podcast called Soundtracking (which is brilliant a deserves a listen).

As for the first regular panellist is Radio 1’s resident film critic Ali Plumb. He’s young, witty and if you’ve watched his interviews on the BBC iPlayer utterly brilliant.

Joining Plumb would be James King. King is one of the UK’s most respected film critics and has written a book covering 80s teen films called Fast Times and Excellent Adventures: The Surprising History of the ‘80s Teen Movie.

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The final choice as a regular panellist was tough because it’s down to two utterly brilliant, young women who will be the future of the UK film scene and both deserve the chance to be on a platform like this. They are Hanna Flint and Clarisse Loughrey.

It’s such a hard choice, I’m going to let Two-Face flip a coin.

When it comes to Loughrey, she hosts her own YouTube channel, writes for the Independent and as she wonderfully puts it in her Twitter bio the “substitute teacher” of the 5Live’s Kermode and Mayo film review show.

On the other hand, Flint is the co-host of the TalkFilm podcast (another thing you should listen to), hosts the Official film chart show and helms interviews for YouTube channel Build and Yahoo Movies.

They’re both great on Twitter and clever as fuck and I can’t pick because one would be the regular and the other is the first pick stand-in.

If the show is on BBC One then I can only see it getting 30 minutes, but on BBC Two I believe 45 minutes to an hour would be enough for the show to breathe especially if it’s a busy release week.

The new Film would cover one or two of the biggest film news of that week, reviews (as all four will probably have a different take), top streaming picks and interviews. You’d also see tweets pop up on the screen during the show.

There could even be an iPlayer only show called Bonus Features, which Flint and Loughrey would host in which they could talk about a certain genre or area in the film industry.

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The old Film was great to get people interested in going to the cinema and this new film could do the same at the time slot get families, millennials and old people in seeing a film that weekend or watch a something on Netflix.