Development priorities

Published: Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 11:12AM

All submissions will be acknowledged and we aim to provide a response within 6-8 weeks. Please note that we do not read or accept unsolicited material, i.e. it has to be submitted via a production company either an independent or one of the ITV in house departments.

• Our biggest push is for contemporary returning series for 9pm – ideas that feel more in tune with what our audience are preoccupied with, more reflective of what’s going on in the world but always delivered in an entertaining, clear mainstream format. One key difference is the move away from, a 90’ running time to 60’ for all returning series as we believe there is a strong indication that the audience prefer this format.  And, we believe it will mean that the longer pieces will stand out and feel more of a treat.

• ITV still commissions more "event" drama than any other channel and this will remain a priority for us going forward. We've had some strong pieces - TORN, a contemporary family drama, John Fay's highly original 3 parter MOBILE - a good example of a high-concept, contemporary subject with a strong authored voice, FALLEN ANGEL, an adaptation of a modern novel that by telling a story backwards, felt fresh and distinctive in the schedule, and HE KILLS COPPERS, an adaptation of the Jake Arnott novel that felt fresh and unmissable.  And it's these points of difference, these clear, original ideas that are always most appealing. We no longer want to be the channel of formulaic, psychological thrillers. We need genre pieces – thrillers and crime drama but are always looking for a fresh angle. As with series, we're moving towards a 60' running time rather than 90' and are open to different lengths of run - 3, 4, 5 or 6 parters depending on what suits the material best. There are also some opportunities for 2 x 90 to play at Bank Holidays along with some ‘prestige’ singles for Sunday night’s e.g. period adaptations such as Room with a View, My Boy Jack, and Half Broken Things.

• For singles, a 2 hour slot, actually equates to a 93’ 30 running time and would play between 9 and 11 or 8 and 11. These pieces need to tell a substantial story whether that’s an adaptation of a classic or contemporary novel (e.g. Half Broken Things), or an original piece (e.g. Housewife 49).