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Then, Now, Next

Annika Allen

70 years of Black British television, told by the people who built it.


Then, Now, Next traces seven decades of Black British life on screen; from the first Black reporter on screen, Barbara Blake Hannah and the racist caricatures of The Black and White Minstrel Show, through Channel 4's multicultural unit who had £8M to spend on Black and Asian programming, the era defining Desmond's, and the rise of Black women as commissioners and show runners, the popularity of music television, including MTV's The Lick, to the making of today's Black led shows such as Supacell and Dreaming Whilst Black.


Host Annika Allen Gray (All3Media's Head of Diversity) talks to the presenters, producers and commissioners, who fought for space on the small screen, and the ones now building their own platforms instead of waiting for a green light. Each episode moves through a different chapter: the fight to be seen, the fight to be heard, and the fight to own the story.


Featured in this series are: Trisha Goddard, Richard Blackwood, Tamara Howe, June Sarpong, Sheila Nortley, Trevor Nelson, Shurwin Beckford, Trix Worrell, Sarah Asante and many more.


The 8 episode series launches on 16th September.


You can watch the interviews with the contributors in full in the Black Leaders in TV YouTube Channel.


For more information visit blackleadersintv.com/ and follow us on Instagram @blackleadersintv


Then, Now, Next is funded by the Royal Television Society's Shiers Trust Award.


Hosted by Annika Allen Gray (@annikaallen) and produced by Leanne Alie (@leannealie).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  • 9 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 37 min
  • English

Episodes 9

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  • S1 · E8
    Wednesday · 44 min

    8. The Next Generation

    First we fought for a place on screen. Then we fought to tell our stories our way. Now we’re building the screens ourselves. In the series finale, we meet the creators who stopped waiting for permission and started owning their platforms, their audiences and their narratives. Adjani Salmon self-funded Dreaming Whilst Black as a web series. It’s now in its second season on the BBC, proof that the online-to-broadcast pipeline is real. Producer Sheila Nortley went from founding her first production company and working with digital talent to producing Netflix’s Supacell and Stay Close. And Joivan Wade and Percelle Scott of Wall of Entertainment have spent more than a decade of building original content on YouTube, long before the industry was paying attention. The struggles are real, but so are the wins. This episode is about celebrating the future of Black British TV and digital content. Then, Now, Next traces seven decades of Black British life on screen; from the first Black reporter on screen, Barbara Blake Hannah and the racist caricatures of The Black and White Minstrel Show, through Channel 4's multicultural unit who had £8M to spend on Black and Asian programming, the era defining Desmond's, and the rise of Black women as commissioners and show runners, the popularity of music television, including MTV's The Lick, to the making of today's Black led shows such as Supacell and Dreaming Whilst Black. Host Annika Allen Gray (All3Media's Head of Diversity) talks to the presenters, producers and commissioners, who fought for space on the small screen, and the ones now building their own platforms instead of waiting for a green light. Each episode moves through a different chapter: the fight to be seen, the fight to be heard, and the fight to own the story. You can watch the interviews with the contributors in full in the Black Leaders in TV YouTube Channel. For more information visit blackleadersintv.com/ and follow us on Instagram @blackleadersintv Then, Now, Next is funded by the Royal Television Society's Shiers Trust Award. Hosted by Annika Allen Gray (@annikaallen) and produced by Leanne Alie (@leannealie). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E7
    October 28 · 46 min

    7. Power & Authorship

    On 25 May 2020, the murder of George Floyd shook the world, and the British media industry was no exception. In the weeks that followed, broadcasters lined up to make pledges: more Black talent on screen, more Black people behind the camera, more Black-owned companies getting commissions. Six years on, how many of those promises were kept? We put that question to two production company founders who’ve lived it. Andy Mundy-Castle of Doc Heart talks about why ownership isn’t enough without authorship, and how White Nanny, Black Child, his BAFTA-winning documentary, changed the course of his career. Luti Fagbenle of Osun Group traces his path from actor to music video producer to taking Blue Therapy from YouTube to Channel 4 and then to Netflix. He’s also one of the few to benefit directly from a broadcaster pledge, through Channel 4’s Black to Front programming, so in this episode we explore what changed, what didn’t, and who gets to tell our stories next. Then, Now, Next traces seven decades of Black British life on screen, shaped by the people who made it both in front of and behind the camera. Host Annika Allen Gray (All3Media's Head of Diversity) talks to the presenters, producers and commissioners, who fought for space on the small screen, and the ones now building their own platforms instead of waiting for a green light. Each episode moves through a different chapter: the fight to be seen, the fight to be heard, and the fight to own the story. You can watch the interviews with the contributors in full in the Black Leaders in TV YouTube Channel. For more information visit blackleadersintv.com/ and follow us on Instagram @blackleadersintv Then, Now, Next is funded by the Royal Television Society's Shiers Trust Award. Hosted by Annika Allen Gray (@annikaallen) and produced by Leanne Alie (@leannealie). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E6
    October 21 · 56 min

    6. Front and Center: The TV Presenters that Influenced the Nation

    TV presenters are the people we welcome into our living room, day in and day out. We see their familiar faces on TV more than we see our own friends and family sometimes and being a TV presenter in the UK represents historic visibility and cultural shifting in the media landscape. In this episode we hear from the presenters who have had longevity in the industry and have set the standard for who gets to be a personality driven entertainer on screen. We hear from TV legend Trisha Goddard to talks about being the first Black presenter in Australia, to having her own show for 12 seasons, multi-talented Richard Blackwood who went from the comedy circuit to MTV to being one of the first Black presenters to have his own late night TV show. We also hear from June Sarpong who raised a generation on T4 and has gone on to make institutional change at the BBC as their Head of Diversity and Ade Adepitan who shows us that diversity is intersectional and is building further opportunities for disabled creatives through his production company Bola Media. The highs, the lows, the challenges. This is their story. Then, Now, Next traces seven decades of Black British life on screen, shaped by the people who made it both in front of and behind the camera. Host Annika Allen Gray (All3Media's Head of Diversity) talks to the presenters, producers and commissioners, who fought for space on the small screen, and the ones now building their own platforms instead of waiting for a green light. Each episode moves through a different chapter: the fight to be seen, the fight to be heard, and the fight to own the story. You can watch the interviews with the contributors in full in the Black Leaders in TV YouTube Channel. For more information visit blackleadersintv.com/ and follow us on Instagram @blackleadersintv Then, Now, Next is funded by the Royal Television Society's Shiers Trust Award. Hosted by Annika Allen Gray (@annikaallen) and produced by Leanne Alie (@leannealie). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E5
    October 14 · 42 min

    5. Black Women Leading The Way Behind The Scenes

    When Channel 4 shut down its multicultural unit in 2002, Black British stories became something TV offered once a decade, if at all. But Black British women weren’t waiting for permission. In this episode of Then, Now, Next, Annika Allen Gray traces how Black women moved from being on screen to controlling what gets made. From the all-Black female cast of 3 Non-Blondes to Michaela Coel’s fight for ownership of I May Destroy You and Nicole Lecky’s leap from stage to screen with Mood, we follow the writers and performers who claimed authorship of their own stories. We also go behind the camera and profile the Black female powerhouses that green light and make the shows we see on screen. Former BBC commissioner Sarah Asante, the decision-maker behind Dreaming Whilst Black, explains what a commissioner actually does from pitch to screen. Tamara Howe, Managing Director of 22 Summers, reflects on 40 years in the industry, starting on Channel 4’s groundbreaking The Bandung File. And Angela Ferreira, MD of Douglas Road, shares her journey from BBC researcher to running Douglas Road. This is a story about leadership, legacy, and the women who made room for Black womanhood to be soft, funny, flawed and expansive on British screens. Then, Now, Next traces seven decades of Black British life on screen, shaped by the people who made it both in front of and behind the camera. Host Annika Allen Gray (All3Media's Head of Diversity) talks to the presenters, producers and commissioners, who fought for space on the small screen, and the ones now building their own platforms instead of waiting for a green light. Each episode moves through a different chapter: the fight to be seen, the fight to be heard, and the fight to own the story. You can watch the interviews with the contributors in full in the Black Leaders in TV YouTube Channel. For more information visit blackleadersintv.com/ and follow us on Instagram @blackleadersintv Then, Now, Next is funded by the Royal Television Society's Shiers Trust Award. Hosted by Annika Allen Gray (@annikaallen) and produced by Leanne Alie (@leannealie). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • S1 · E1
    September 16 · 31 min

    1. Breaking Through

    The first Black British Broadcaster, Assimilationist TV and the pioneering work of Trevor McDonald, Rudolph Walker and Barbara Blake Hannah

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