The Big British Asian Summer on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ
Fatima Salaria
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Commissioning Editor, Specialist Factual
This August, for just over two weeks, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is inviting audiences to enjoy the Big British Asian Summer. It is a season of programming that aims to delight, excite and, at times, provoke, as it explores a shared, complex history that’s as British as it is Asian. On TV, on Radio and on Digital, it shines fresh light on how the coming together of two cultures and communities has created something unique here in the UK.
As one of the lead commissioners on the season I am often asked ‘why?’ – on the one hand, why focus so much air time on one specific community? And on the other, why not commit to content like this all year around? Representation, after all, isn’t just for seasons.
The answer to both is in a sense the same – the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ’s ambition is to reflect the diversity of contemporary Britain and all its communities all year round, in drama, comedy, entertainment and factual.
A season though offers the opportunity to make a splash, launch new talent, and shift the dial with particular diverse groups, who don’t always see the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ as their natural home. Our Black and British and Gay Britannia seasons, both from the last two years, were huge successes in reaching the very audience that those seasons were about. While Minds Matter engaged the mainstream with the stigma of mental health and Shakespeare Lives, brought the Bard into homes across the country.
What seasons excel at is providing a critical mass of content – they are moments in the schedule that are hard to miss, with something for everyone.
With the Big British Asian Summer we have worked hard to reflect the diversity and complexity of the community – with multiple countries of origin, religions and attitudes – and we hope that British Asians will find something that speaks to them and the specificity of their experience. But we want the season to be so much more than that – and extend an invitation to everyone in Britain, whatever their race, face or where they see their home-place, to enjoy a rich offer of programmes with simply compelling stories.
From moving tales of relocation in A Passage to Britain and extraordinary emotional reunions in Searching for Mum. The secrets of home cooking in Recipes That Made Me to aspirational brothers Kash and Shabs, who love their cars but love their family even more, in Supercar, Superfam. From the joy of Pump Up the Bhangra to the difficult questions in Mehreen Baig’s film Lost Boys? Across the season there is content that could sit in the schedule at any time, but by curating it in a tightly focused moment I hope we have delivered something more than the sum of its parts.
Fatima Salaria is Commissioning Editor, Specialist Factual