We Are England[1] is a regional current affairs documentary programme shown on BBC One.[2][3] The programme is made by six teams around England, based in Birmingham, London, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle and Norwich. The programme airs six original half-hour documentaries each week, with each week themed around a different topic; the first theme was Mental Health.[4] The programme replaced regional current affairs show Inside Out. A notable change was that each We Are England episode is a single half hour documentary, whereas Inside Out normally aired a collection of short-form pieces in its 30 minute slot. Another change is a cutback in the number of teams, from 11 regional hubs to six.
We Are England | |
---|---|
Genre | News, current affairs |
Country of origin | England |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | |
Release | 26 January 2022 present | –
Related | |
Broadcast
editAisling O'Connor, the head of TV commissioning for BBC England, commissioned 120 episodes to be broadcast in 2022, with the first being shown on 26 January 2022 at 7:30pm.[5][6][7][8][9] In-addition to being shown on BBC One and BBC iPlayer select episodes are also repeated on BBC News.[10]
The first four episodes of We Are England aired on Wednesdays at 7:30pm. After the fourth Farming England,[11][12][13] the series moved to a timeslot of 8:30pm. This move was due to the BBC's decision to schedule a new 'soap hour' over its two main channels with a regular timeslot for EastEnders on BBC One at 7.30pm.[14]
In May 2022, the BBC announced a raft of closures, restructures and cost-cutting measures.[15] One of these was the decision not to renew We Are England for a third series.[16]
In July 2022,[17] a number of documentaries from the We Are England strand (including ones featuring Bimini,[18][19] Jayde Adams[20][21] and Jassa Ahluwalia)[22][23] were repeated on BBC Three, alongside a number of similarly formatted 30 minute documentaries. However, rather than being grouped under the We Are England or Our Lives[24][25] brands, these new documentaries were now just being listed under one off titles such as Filthy Business[26][27] and Queen of Trucks[28][29] on the BBC iPlayer and in programme guides.
Episode list
editWe Are England launched on 26 January 2022, airing 60 original half hour documentaries over 10 weeks. In February 2022, an episode about a cryptocurrency[30][31] trader from the Bossing It theme (about young entrepreneurs) was pulled from broadcast at late notice, citing "editorial concerns".[32][33] Another episode was later taken down from BBC iPlayer, Unfiltered, a BBC Cambridgeshire and East documentary originally broadcast in that region on 26 January 2022, which featured 19 year old dancer Mia and had an appearance from TV personality Vicky Pattison.[34]
No. | Title | Subjects | Airdate |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Mental Health[35] |
|
26 January 2022 |
''Veterans Road to Recovery'' (Manchester) | |||
"Unfiltered" (Cambridge) | |||
Nature on My Mind (Somerset) | |||
Fighting My Phobia (Coventry) | |||
Cold Swim (Tynemouth) | |||
Becoming Dad (Watford) | |||
2 | The Night Shift[36] |
|
2 February 2022 |
Life Blood (London) | |||
Down at the Docks (Bristol) | |||
Night Nurses (Birmingham) | |||
Our Bin Lorry Life (Peterborough) | |||
One Night in Newcastle | |||
One Night at the Fish Market (Grimsby) | |||
3 | Bossing It[37] |
|
9 February 2022 |
Fighting for Fashion (Exeter) | |||
Steffi and the Chocolate Factory | |||
Photo Me Famous | |||
The Container King | |||
The Beauty Boss | |||
4 | Farming England[38] |
|
16 February 2022 |
When the Boats Come in (Falmouth) | |||
The Crisp Farmers (Hereford) | |||
My Norfolk Farm | |||
First Time Farmers | |||
Farming on the Spectrum (Oxfordshire) | |||
Crisis on the Farm | |||
5 | Belonging | Exploring the many ways community spirit and support changes our lives. | 23 February 2022 |
The Real Vicars of Dibley | |||
Our Skate Park Life (Hastings) | |||
Our Fight Club (Middlesbrough) | |||
Our Derby Dance School | |||
The Real Phoenix Nights (Clacton) | |||
Cornwall's Last Raceway | |||
6 | A Place Called Home | Six personal stories highlight the complex issues we face in finding a place to call home. | 7 March 2022 |
Hanging on to Home (London) | |||
Van Life (Bristol) | |||
Staying Afloat (Cambridgeshire) | |||
Homes for the Homeless (Nottingham) | |||
Students in Suburbia (Newcastle) | |||
Fighting for Our Homes (Leeds) | |||
7 | Sporting Heroes | We meet sporting heroes across England who are challenging the status quo. | 14 March 2022 |
Swim School | |||
Mick Walks for England | |||
Make Me a Jockey | |||
Fighting for Me | |||
Football Fat Fighters | |||
Bouncing Back | |||
8 | Made in England | Stories that champion England’s manufacturing and craftmanship. | 21 March 2022 |
The 007 Shoe Factory | |||
Make Mine a 99 | |||
Inside the Jet Engine Factory | |||
A Very British Bike Factory | |||
Our Northern Jacket Empire | |||
The Biggest Smallest Car Company | |||
9 | True Crime | Discovering new evidence in unsolved murder cases in England. | 28 March 2022 |
Finding Michelle Bettles | |||
Who Killed Barry Rubery? | |||
Knife Angels | |||
Who Killed Dad? | |||
Our Adam | |||
Why Did My Brother End Up Dead? | |||
10 | My Hometown | Six celebrities take us on a personal journey of discovery in their hometowns. | 4 April 2022 |
Graft: Uncovering My Roots | |||
Bimini Bon Boulash: Homecoming Queen | |||
Jassa Ahluwalia: Am I English? | |||
Livvy Haydock: My Hometown | |||
Kema Kay: My Hometown |
References
edit- ^ Tonja (27 August 2014). "CIRCOM Regional". CIRCOM Regional. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England - Available now".
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England".
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England, Mental Health, Unfiltered - Cambridge".
- ^ "BBC commissions 120 We Are England documentaries". 6 January 2022.
- ^ "We Are England replaces Inside Out on BBC One". 7 January 2022.
- ^ "BBC England launches new current affairs programme as platform for underserved audiences". 10 January 2022.
- ^ "We Are England to redraw BBC TV regions". 25 January 2022.
- ^ "BBC announces new regional current affairs strand for England". 6 January 2022.
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England, Mental Health, Cold Swim - Tynemouth".
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England, Farming England, My Norfolk Farm". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England, Farming England, When the Boats Come In - Falmouth". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England, Farming England, The Crisp Farmers - Hereford". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "BBC launches new soap hour". RXTV info. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "BBC announces raft of closures with CBBC and BBC Four to be online only". The Guardian. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ "BBC to move CBBC and BBC Four online". BBC News. 26 May 2022.
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England".
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England, My Hometown, Bimini Bon Boulash: Homecoming Queen".
- ^ "We Are England - My Hometown: Bimini Bon Boulash: Homecoming Queen".
- ^ "We Are England - My Hometown: Jayde Adams: Coming Home".
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England, My Hometown, Jayde Adams: Coming Home".
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England, My Hometown, Jassa Ahluwalia: Am I English?".
- ^ "We Are England - My Hometown: Jassa Ahluwalia: Am I English?".
- ^ "BBC One - Our Lives".
- ^ "BBC One - Our Lives - Available now".
- ^ "Filthy Business".
- ^ "BBC Three - Filthy Business".
- ^ "BBC Three - Queen of Trucks".
- ^ "Queen of Trucks".
- ^ Stephanie Balloo (9 February 2022). "BBC pull documentary on young refugee Hanad Hassan who claims he turned £37 into £5.9m - Birmingham Live". birminghammail.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "BBC pulls We Are England episode | News". Broadcast. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "BBC pulls another episode of We Are England current affairs show". the Guardian. 14 February 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- ^ "BBC cryptocurrency documentary pulled from air at last minute". TheGuardian.com. 10 February 2022.
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England, Mental Health, Unfiltered - Cambridge". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England, Mental Health". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England, The Night Shift". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England, Bossing It". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "BBC One - We Are England, Farming England". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2022.