BBC to Reunite Genesis for Documentary
The BBC on Monday unveiled an ambitious music strategy, including new shows, partnerships and other initiatives, such as a music awards show.
The U.K. public broadcaster said its plans, which also include a Genesis documentary that will reunite the band’s original members for the first time since 1975 and a celebration of country music, amount to its “strongest commitment to music in 30 years.”
Under the banner of BBC Music, “the strategy is designed to strengthen the BBC’s place as a world leader in music broadcasting and commissioning and enhance the U.K.’s position as a world leader in music creation and performance,” it said.
One key part of the strategy is a new annual extravaganza dubbed the BBC Music Awards on flagship channel BBC One, with the broadcaster overall promising “more primetime music” on the country’s most-watched network.
BBC One, Radio 1, Radio 2 and The One Show will cooperate on the awards that promises to celebrate “the best in popular music from the last 12 months” in London on Dec. 11. It will feature “captivating live performances and collaborations to review and celebrate the year,” the broadcaster said. Awards will include an honor for the British Artist of the Year, International Artist of the Year and Song of the Year.
BBC director general Tony Hall and new director of music Bob Shennan unveiled the music initiatives on Monday.
The broadcaster’s digital on-demand player BBC iPlayer will bring audiences “the best live and on-demand music programs from across the BBC, with more music from your favorite artists, festivals and shows, curated in new ways.” Later in the year, subject to approval from governing body BBC Trust, BBC Radio 1 will launch a branded space within BBC iPlayer offering such things as Live Lounge performances and big guest interviews.
Among other TV plans, BBC Two is working on a series with the working title The Soundtrack of the Twentieth Century for 2016. It will explore popular music’s rise and transformations across the 20th century. “From Caruso to Taylor Swift via Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Eminem and many more, this is the story of 100 years of music as only the BBC can,” the broadcaster said.
It also unveiled plans for a feature-length documentary under the working title Genesis: Together And Apart for BBC Two. It will reunite all original members of the band, Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford, for the first time since 1975.
Meanwhile, this fall, BBC Four and Radio 2 will present Country Legends: Nashville And Beyond, a season of programs exploring the history of country music. The coverage will consist of three films looking at Nashville, Kenny Rogers and Bob Harris and a special concert featuring country music superstar Brad Paisley and his songwriters.
Coinciding with London Fashion Week this September, BBC Four and BBC Radio 6 Music will collaborate on programming on the relationship between music and fashion. Under the working titleOh You Pretty Things!, a three-part series will look at the relationship between British rock and pop music and fashion with interviews with the Sex Pistols’ Glen Matlock and others.