1 The British way with feelings

I think what makes British films exceptional is their ability to interweave pathos alongside comedy, so in Billy Elliot – one of my favourite films, we could have had quite a depressing portrayal of the miners’ strike but instead we get an uplifting movie about a boy learning ballet against all the odds.

Every scene in Billy Elliot is quotable, but the one which still makes me grin like a loon is when he's sitting down with friend Debbie who says, "If you want, I'll show you me fanny." Billy's reaction? "Nah, I'm all right."

2 Unexceptional-looking heroes

I've never been a fan of Alan Partridge, in fact I've actively avoided 'him' and when I sat down to watch Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, the opening credits rolled with a North Norfolk Digital logo and everyone sniggered. I rolled my eyes. Ninety minutes of in-jokes? No thanks.

Ninety minutes later, I was so happy to be wrong, it had everything I'd come to expect from a British comedy: an unexceptional-looking hero, inappropriate jokes and a hefty amount of self-deprecation.

3 They make me laugh more than any other comedies

But it's not just confined to the funny men. Look at Made in Dagenham, such a brilliant, feel good film. It's rousing in a way that only British films seem to be. It's a film that, when I have all my girls round, I stick on so we can all cheer when Sally Hawkins makes a stand (literally, she stands on the table to make her very valid argument for equal pay) or when Miranda Richardson screams abuse at her incompetent lackeys.

It's films like these, where the history of it should be common knowledge, that make me feel so incredibly proud of the filmmakers who bother to tell these stories.

4 Me and my mum can find a favourite we both love

When An Education came out, not only did it star the amazing Carey Mulligan in one of her earliest film roles as Jenny, the schoolgirl with big ambitions, but it was set in the 60s when my mum was also a schoolgirl, also smoking Sobranie cigarettes and speaking in French because she thought it sounded cool.

Basically, the film resonated with her. And after years of hearing stories about her childhood, I could actually picture it without the stereotype of the Swinging Sixties getting in the way, making it one of our staples to watch together.

5 They get you crying and that can only be good

If anyone has ever listened to my reviews on BBC Radio 1, they will know that I cry at anything, whether it's tragic, inspiring or hilarious (I've even been known to cry during a love scene - Kate Winslet really IS that good). Looking through the list of films being shown as part of BBC Films’ celebration across BBC Two, BBC Four and BBC iPlayer, there are barely any I haven't cried in.

But that's the power of cinema. Watching a brilliant woman's mind disintegrate (Iris); seeing a blind man welcome back the love of his life (Jane Eyre); learning the eventual fates of a group of hopeful Oxbridge-bound young men (The History Boys): these are all moments which have stayed with me because of the tears shed during viewing.

I'm thinking about streaming all of my favourites via BBC iPlayer, getting the popcorn in (because contrary to popular belief, as a film critic, I don't actually eat all that much of it) and creating my own film night.

Which films would you include?

Rhianna Dhillon is a film critic for BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra.

A celebration of 25 years of BBC Films starts on Saturday, 16 May on BBC Two. See the full list of upcoming BBC Films being shown on TV on the BBC Films website.

Some films will also be available to watch and download in BBC iPlayer for seven days after broadcast on TV. See what films are currently available in the Films section of BBC iPlayer.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

What was your process when writing this poem, or when writing in general?

I don’t really have a process, that’s the honest answer. In my day to day life, I’m constantly observing little things or having thoughts which I type into my phone or scribble on something, and when I get to sit down and write, it’s kind of about pulling it together. I like finding the meaning, the beauty, or the surprising in the everyday.

For Women Who Spit, I had a brief to work to, so the writing process was slightly different. I knew I wanted to explore mental health. So it involved a lot of walking around and sitting on tubes and busses and thinking of ways to represent this with words.

The feeling I get when I’ve finished something that I’m proud of, where I believe I’ve achieved what I wanted to say, is completely incomparable to anything else. I live for those moments. Seeing things making sense on a page and knowing you achieved that. That’s why I write really.

Watch Cecilia Knapp's Why I Write

What is your desire for change?

I would like to see our society fall back in love with itself. To stop abusing itself and to redefine home as a place of peace for all who reside within it. For the fridge to be open and full, so to speak. Mi casa su casa.

Our feelings and responsibility towards home could extend past our front doors and into the streets - we could reimagine space as something we have the power to shape. We have the potential to realise this earth as our home and to love it.

Watch Deanna Rodger's Spikes

Who are your role models and why are they important to you?

My role models are women I encounter every day, such as my university lecturers at King’s College London who are incomparably inspiring. They are brilliant at their jobs, dedicated to their students and juggle all the pleasures and pressures of family life, gender inequality in the workplace and being a woman in the 21st century.

I aspire to become an academic and I am lucky enough to be surrounded daily by successful women in the field I wish to pursue. They are physical embodiments of a potentially smashed glass ceiling!

I am also encouraged amazingly by the women on our screens and airwaves at the BBC and beyond, such as Mary Beard, Lauren Laverne, Jane Garvey, Bonnie Greer, Kirsty Wark and Kirsty Young, who inspire, enlighten and enliven. The more their voices (and more like them) are heard, the better. 

Watch Megan Beech's Broader Broadcasting Corporation

Your poem is very much about your own experiences, what would you like other people to take from it?

I’d love it if the piece gave young women confidence that your relationship with your body can get easier and that self-acceptance is achievable.

I’d also love for it to be a reminder to everyone that your relationship with your body is your own business, not anybody else’s.  And that, although I really wish that it wasn’t, it’s normal to feel insecure about the way you look.

We live in a society where women are valued first and foremost for their looks. I guess I want young women to understand that although I am a committed feminist, who grows her body hair, I still worry sometimes that my stomach isn’t flat enough.

Watch Jemima Foxtrot's Mirror

Why did you write this piece?

Anger and struggle is an important and inevitable part of feminism but I wanted to do a piece with a celebratory feeling. I know so many amazing women who have inspired me in all manner of ways and I guess this poem is partly a dedication to them.

I want women to watch the piece and breathe a sigh of relief – I think for a lot of people feminism can sometimes feel like a test you are constantly failing! We are humans before we are feminists and that means we have flaws and contradictions. It's more important that we care for and listen to each other rather than tear each other down.

Watch Vanessa Kisuule's Take Up Space

Cecilia, Deanna, Megan, Jemima and Vanessa each created a short film as part of Women Who Spit. 

The Women Who Spit short film collection is available to watch on BBC iPlayer from Monday, 4 May.

Find out more about the #AskHerMore movement.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

When we first met in person it was as if I already knew her so well, like we’d been friends for years. She overwhelmed me with warmth, modesty and awesomeness. She would probably hate that I am writing all those words, but it’s all true - just ask anyone who has ever met her! 

Being involved in this film was important to me on so many levels. Of course I was absolutely pooing my pants about being filmed, especially alongside one of my idols, Sheridan Smith. But it was an honour to have been asked and I know how important this film was to Lisa. We spoke about her meetings with the BBC long before she died, and how she longed for her book to be brought to life. I was so SO incredibly happy when I found out it was going ahead. 

As for my scenes, here is the thing. That time in Brighton never actually happened. Lisa, Ellie, Fran and I were four girls in the same boat - we got in contact with each other via Lisa’s blog, and all had the same type of breast cancer. We swapped notes about lows and highs of our cancer stories together, but mainly online. The four of us never met up together - it’s trickier than you think when our lives are dictated by hospital visits.

Ellie passed away quite suddenly, at which point I wrote to Fran and Lisa to say we should head to Brighton to toast to her on the beach. I had even written to Lisa’s husband, Pete, to check whether he thought it would be a good idea, me picking up his wife, throwing her wheelchair in my van, and just going to the beach for a day. He thought it was the best idea. 

That prompted Lisa to write a blog post about it, which then formed the ending to the film. Then Fran got poorly and we never managed to rearrange our Brighton date. You can guess what happened next. I am now left without the three of them.

To actually create a day that was supposed to happen, but never did, was without a doubt the most surreal moment of my life and one I will never, ever, forget. We filmed that scene as if I was with my three friends. We laughed, we downed whiskey and I actually forgot we were being filmed. My hope is that Lisa, Fran and Ellie were having a right ol’ knees up together somewhere too. 

Kris Hallenga appears as herself in The C Word. She is the founder of Coppafeel!  

Lisa Lynch was the author of The C Word book and the Alright Tit blog. This is Lisa's blog post about the plans for the Brighton day trip [contains strong language].

The C Word is broadcast on Sunday, 3 May at 9pm on BBC One and will be available in BBC iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast on TV.

More on The C Word

BBC Writersroom: Adapting Lisa Lynch's book and blog for television

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

How did you first become involved with the film?
 
Pete Bowker [the writer] came to see me at a hotel in Stoke - he said that he wanted a chat about possibly doing a drama about Neil Baldwin.

The hour meeting turned into a two-hour meeting, to three hours. It probably got to the four hour stage, and we were still talking about Neil!

He asked to come and see me again, with [the director] Julian Farino.

The more I talked, the more interested Julian got. And by the time they left, they’d probably convinced me that something was going to happen.

When I heard it was going ahead, I was delighted and surprised, and anxiously waited to see how it was going to come across on television.

You’re played in the drama by Tony Curran – what was it like having you and Neil’s story as part of the film?

Tony, I believe, had been in Gladiator. I’d never seen him before. When I looked for his picture online, I thought, Bloody hell, he looks nothing like me!

But when I went to the shooting of the film at one of the football grounds, they’d cut his hair shorter and they’d done something with the colouring. He started to resemble me.

I asked him about the voice, and he told me he’d picked it up from the radio, and from Manchester United Television. He’d tried to get as close to it as he could.

I sat there watching him play me, sort of live, and I’ve got to be honest, I thought, Well, that’s not bad! That’s better than I thought it would be!

I went down to London to watch the premiere, not knowing what to expect.

I was never a nervous footballer. I had no fears of walking out into packed stadiums, whether it be Hampden Park, Celtic Park, or Old Trafford. But here I am, sitting years later in this film studio in South Bank, and I’m shaking. And I really was shaking!

I’m thinking, What the hell am I shaking for? I was going to see for the first time what they’d done with me. How they’d used me, and how they’d shown my kit man!

That was probably the most important thing - how he would come across.

When people have asked me what [the film] is like, I’ve said to them, "At the end of it, if you haven’t cried or you haven’t laughed, then you’re not human."

Looking at people round about me, there was laughter in that cinema in London.

And there were people crying, certainly [at the premiere] in Stoke on Trent.

How close to real life is the film?

Everything in it is true. From start to finish, everything happened. The bit I liked best starts with me getting the job at Stoke City...

The next scene is the team bus, outside the stadium. The players are standing outside the bus waiting to go for a game, and out comes Neil, with the kit.

In a chicken outfit!

I told [Pete Bowker] everything that had happened - and believe me, you couldn’t get everything into an hour and a half. I said to him I’m expecting Marvellous 2, Marvellous 3 and Marvellous 4 to come out, because there’s so much we couldn’t get in there.

So I’d like to keep stressing, this is real!

 

 

 

What was it like to catch up with Neil?

There’s no need to catch up - I’ve been in touch with him ever since we parted in terms of working together. He lives in Stoke, I live in Stoke.

When I’ve gone to some of the games at Stoke, he sits on a wall there before a game for about an hour and he’s holding court! People passing say, "How’s it going Nello?" and he chats to them.

I’ve never lost touch with him. I wouldn’t want to.

I took him on to work for me because I had a feeling that he was going to be good for me. The whole time I’ve known him, he’s been loyal. He’s everything you want in a person to work for you.

His mother came in to see me once, as she was a bit concerned about him [working at the football club].

I said to her, "He likes this. This is his environment. He loves being part of the team."

The team was 20 players, plus the coaches - and Neil.

Lou Macari is a former footballer and football manager and is played by Tony Curran in Marvellous.

Marvellous is available to watch and download in BBC iPlayer until 25 January 2015. It was first broadcast on Thursday, 25 September at 9pm on BBC Two and BBC Two HD.

More on Marvellous

BBC Two: Marvellous: Director Julian Farino and Gemma Jones share their "Marvellous" experience

 

BBC News: Clown and kit man: BBC film captures Neil 'Nello' Baldwin

 

BBC Midlands Today: Nello is simply Marvellous

 

The Guardian: How Neil Baldwin became Keele University's mascot

 

BBC Writersroom: Writing the "Marvellous" story of Neil Baldwin

 

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

 

Legacy is a 70s spy film so it instantly appealed to me because it's such a cool genre and there are many great soundtrack references from the time to draw on.

What makes it unique though is the story of betrayal, which begins when Charles discovers a devastating secret about his father. This became the source of inspiration for the music.

Pete and Stuart Gazzard (the editor) had created sequences of just pictures and music, to capture the pivotal emotional moments for Charles.

They had found some inspiring but daunting steers for the tone of the music.

To avoid panic I had to park the film for a while and just think about the story – about how obsessive and tormented Charles becomes.

A driving repetitive Russian piano tune came to me and almost drove me mad.

I thought this might work against the sequence of Charles searching through his dad's room.

I added a string section playing emotional chords and jagged rhythms on top to give the piece a yearning but also aggressive feeling.

The Gibson electric guitar became the signature sound for Charles, and the guitarist was able to give it a soulful and masculine quality.

The score gets quite epic at times to reflect Charles' inner feelings. The music also had to sustain the tension and capture the feel of the period.

Pete was after an East meets West modern day Ipcress File sound.

The harp gives a quintessentially English feel while the cimbalom reminds us of Eastern Europe and spy thrillers of the day.
 
The process of writing was fast and furious. Pete pretty much camped in my studio while I sweated over the notes.

He doesn't mince his words which is exactly what you need when the pressure is on.

If an idea didn't hit the mark I'd have a day to turn it around before presenting again.

It was intense but very collaborative and mostly fun – a fair share of laughter went on (more than the tears!)

Some ideas were instant hits while others were instantly binned.

Luckily he loved my main theme with the obsessive piano, but when I tried using a version of the same theme in the opening training day sequence it didn't work as well.

"It sounds like goblins dancing in an Edward Scissorhands movie," came the voice from behind my chair.

Early experiments using a vintage Russian synth were also scrapped: "it sounds like a pigeon trapped in a bin," proclaimed its death knell.

The "woodpecker in a coffin" (from the opening scene) survived though.

My tea making skills didn't help matters but once I'd got a stash of Yorkshire on the brew Pete was happier and things began to look up.

The score started coming together as we looked at where and how the different themes could go and argued over instrumentation.

'I'm bored of harp, stick it on the piano... no guitar... where have the strings gone... arghggh not that tune again!'

Then off to Air Studios to record the notes, mix the finished tracks and pass out... hair slightly singed.

Ruth Barrett is the composer for Legacy.

Legacy is on Thursday, 28 November at 9pm on BBC Two and BBC Two HD.

More on Legacy
BBC Media Centre: Interviews with the cast
BBC News: Romola Garai on Legacy and lads' mags

BBC Two: The Cold War Season

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC. 

The extraordinary power of film music is the subject of Sound of Cinema: The Music That Made The Movies, the series I’m producing for BBC Four.

Like our presenter Neil Brand and the rest of the production team, I’m a lifelong film devotee, and the series was a remarkable opportunity to meet and hear from some of the greatest talents of modern cinema.

The world of actors and directors tends to be a closely guarded one, but composers rarely get their share of the limelight, and our interviewees proved refreshingly open and approachable.

Amiably holding court in his studio - which resembles a high-class 19th Century bordello with synth components on the wall – Hans Zimmer recalled his own early days working for the BBC (remember the theme to the 80s game show Going for Gold?).

He discussed how comedies can be the hardest films to get right – he "agonises" over every note of a comedy soundtrack.

I was surprised when he claimed The Lion King is the most serious score he’s ever written, until he explained how its story reminded him of the early loss of his own father.
 
Zimmer was candid about how he still feels vulnerable when presenting a piece of music for the first time. Making the series really brought home to me just how tough a composer’s job can be.

Scripts and actors’ performances can be tweaked and worked on as they evolve; film scores are much more a matter of taste.

Being a well-established composer is no guarantee that your latest work won’t be rejected by a director or studio.

The series is told very much from the point of view of the composers, but we also approached Martin Scorsese, arguably the most musically literate of all directors.

I didn’t hold out much hope, but Scorsese turned out to be so keen to take part that he gave up a rare morning off from filming The Wolf Of Wall Street to talk to us.

He discussed his two classic 1970s films – Taxi Driver, scored by perhaps the greatest ever American film composer, Bernard Herrmann, and Mean Streets, which had no composer at all, just Scorsese’s favourite tracks from his own record collection. 

Scorsese was as sharp and fast-talking as we’d hoped – just like a character straight out of one of his movies. But when he recalled Mean Streets and its links to his own childhood, it brought out a more emotional side of him that I don’t think is often seen.

We were surprised to learn that for someone with such an instinctive feel for music, Scorsese can’t actually play an instrument himself.
 
We were taking on a huge subject, and we knew from the start that it would be impossible to include all the scores and composers we admired.

At all stages of making the series we faced painful decisions about what to leave out. I’ll never forget when the great Disney composer Richard Sherman performed his classic song Feed The Birds from Mary Poppins in Disney’s own recording studio for us.

It’s one of the most beautiful songs in the whole Disney canon, but for reasons of length we couldn’t include it in the finished documentary. But I’m pleased that you can watch it above although the clip ends before you can hear a crew of grown men, carried back to their childhoods, sniffing away tearfully off camera.
 
There was a similarly powerful moment when Vangelis turned to his keyboard when we were interviewing him and played us his sublime Blade Runner theme, segueing into Chariots Of Fire.

Hearing the two pieces brought together sent shivers down the spines of everyone in the room.

Like Zimmer and Sherman, Vangelis took us to thrilling, emotional places in just a few notes. Watching the series, I hope you’ll feel similarly transported.

John Das is the series producer of Sound Of Cinema: The Music That Made The Movies.

Sound Of Cinema: The Music That Made The Movies starts at 9pm on Thursday, 12 September on BBC Four. For further programme times, please see the episode guide.

The series is part of BBC radio and television's autumn season dedicated to the composers, songs and film scores that form the soundtrack to the big screen. Please see the Sound Of Cinema season page for details.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

It’s about two people who love each other deeply but cannot be together without destroying one another. We can all identify with that, that's why I was so passionate about producing it.

We all wanted to aim high with casting. What would be better than having two film stars playing two film stars?

I'm delighted we were successful in securing my first choices of Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West.

Everything moves so fast when you're working on a low budget, with no room for error, no second chances.

So filming in 18 days was a huge challenge to keep the creative standards up, especially in light of it being a period film, set in 1983, and also the vast majority being set in New York.

We had to make sure all the London locations we used to recreate New York felt right, even down to the street furniture, plugs and light switches.

If you have a good script and the right creative people, you can achieve almost anything. It's of course a drama, but authenticity was very important to us.

So for example we knew Richard attended Liz's birthday party while he was in London for a poetry recital and returned to her townhouse following the party.

It was mentioned in numerous newspaper articles, as well as Alexander Walker’s biography of Elizabeth Taylor.

The critics’ reviews Liz quotes in the scene in the diner are a small excerpt from one of the many reviews of the play published at the time.

The big question I always had was why did Richard agree to take part in the play with Elizabeth?

He was after all in a happy relationship with the woman who will later become his wife, Sally, and professionally he was also doing well.

Much has been written about Elizabeth’s larger than life personality, her joie de vivre, her charms and power which made it impossible to say no to her.

But I think the answer perhaps lies in their addictive personalities: when one is addicted to something, the lure, the temptation to go back is always there. Which is why they couldn’t ultimately be together.

Having seen the film, would you agree?

Lachlan MacKinnon is the producer of Burton And Taylor.

Burton And Taylor is on at 9pm on Monday, 22 July on BBC Four. For further programme times, please see the upcoming broadcasts page.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

The first thing was to explore what was out there. One of the things that I really wanted to do was take away what the industry calls the voice-of-God commentary and instead let the people who were there do the talking, including Bowie himself.

So we employed a team of people who went through hours and hours of Bowie material and transcripts from radio, TV, journalist interviews, promotional material from the record labels, rushes and outtakes.

I then used the synch highlights from this trawl as a backbone to construct a narrative.

I chose Five Years because I believe there are five key years in the 70s and early 80s where he’s changing direction pretty radically.

I fully expect and welcome absolutely everyone who watches this programme to tell me that they would have chosen other years. This is a healthy debate to have and as a fan I understand it completely!

There are loads of tracks, I would have loved to have done: Aladdin Sane, Drive-In Saturday, We Are The Dead, the list is endless. But with such a wealth of material I had to sadly be selective.

Where did the unseen footage come from?
The unseen footage comes from private collectors, archives around the world and even the BBC vaults where some of the best material had been forgotten!

Do you know why it hadn’t been seen before?
It’s difficult to know why David Bowie hadn’t been tackled as a subject, really comprehensively before.

We’ve had documentaries on Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Queen, Bob Marley, on so many major artists, and yet for some reason Bowie had been rather left out. I don’t understand why.

There have obviously been documentaries, Cracked Actor, the Alan Yentob film in 1975 for example, which was utterly brilliant but there hadn’t been anything that was a longer portrait.

And because of his absence for 10 years I think there was an appetite that’s been, extraordinarily, only partly sated by the V&A exhibition and the new album. I think there’s still a desire for more.

Was there a goose-pimple moment for you during filming?
Yes it’s the best part of my job! I was sitting opposite people whose names I’d read on the back of albums when I was a teenager, so there was Carlos Alomar, and Earl Slick and Warren Peace.

People who were legends to me, and suddenly I was interviewing them and they were playing the music that I loved sitting opposite me and that is a huge, huge privilege.

And what was so nice is that everyone I asked to be interviewed said yes, without exception, and that’s rare.

That’s a testament to their loyalty to Bowie, actually, and the fact that he is able to time and time again surround himself by the very best people in the industry.

Were there any moments in the footage where you felt you got a real insight into Bowie’s character?
When you see him in the Young Americans tour rehearsal footage in black and white interacting with Luther Vandross and Robin Clark and Ava Cherry and the rest of them, you realise what a perfectionist he is, the respect he’s held in, how much work he puts in.

Although it was what he called the plastic soul album it wasn’t him pretending, it was him celebrating that genre of music. And I think in that footage you really see him working with a group of musicians who totally respect him.

Francis Whately is the director and producer of David Bowie – Five Years.

David Bowie – Five Years is being repeated on Monday, 11 January at 11.15pm on BBC Two. It will be available to watch in BBC iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast on TV.

It was originally shown on Saturday, 25 May at 9.20pm on BBC Two.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

Iqbal: When I met Marc for the first time, I knew he was someone I could work with. I had already seen his documentary, All White In Barking, and liked his work.

What expectations did you have, if any, when you started filming together?
Iqbal: It gave me a chance to look at myself from the outside and reminded me of Robert Burns' verse – "To see ourselves as others see us".

Marc: I hoped and prayed that his wife would come over in time for me to film and she did of course but that was uncertain for a long time during the filming. One day he just went off to India and within a week he had returned with her. Perfect!!

What was it like actually filming together?
Marc: Iqbal was quite a shy person and filming him in public locations such as his hotel reception was quite difficult. I wanted to get closer to him to really understand how he felt about not having his wife here in London with him.

I discovered they spoke regularly on Skype so decided to film a typical Skype conversation between the two of them. To capture the emotion and atmosphere, the lighting has to be correct, the mood has to be just right so it does take a good deal of planning.

I approached the scene in the film where Iqbal is making the double bed in the hotel room in a similar way, in the sense that, whilst he does often do this task, I set this up for the purpose of the film in order that I could create a quiet and intimate space for him to talk about the emotional pain he was going through because of his wife's absence.

The hotel room and the double bed was suggestive and a good way to visually deal with his situation in the film. For me, this is what documentary film is all about. I am looking for the poetry in people's lives and not just dealing with facts.

Iqbal: Marc would usually ring me a few days in advance and ask if I was free for the filming at the weekend. He knew I worked on the weekends and would usually choose a Sunday evening when the hotel wasn’t very busy so that his filming wouldn't interfere much with my tasks at work.

I found it totally different from the filming of a drama or a feature film at our hotel when the entire lobby area is taken over by a film crew. I was surprised in the beginning to see Marc arriving at the hotel with just one assistant.

What is it like to take part such a personal documentary?
Iqbal: In the beginning you are conscious of being filmed but after some time you become oblivious of the camera and say what you want to say.

Marc: It's a deep privilege to be able to share these moments with people and I am always grateful that the people I film with feel willing to let me in to their lives in this way.

It is a very intimate experience if somebody shares with you things they usually keep to themselves. As a filmmaker, you develop very special relationships with your contributors and you have to respect that at all times.

Did the contributors know about each other?
Marc: I was filming everyone at the same time but they never met each other although they knew of each other’s existence. They have now met at screenings together. I didn't feel it correct to bring them together in the film itself.

In one of my previous films, I did bring two characters together, but that was motivated by the subject matter of prejudice and people's fears. I am not at all against this method but it has to be for the correct reasons.

It takes me two years to make a film sometimes and this is a process of discovery - an exciting process which I want the audience to feel in the finished film.

Iqbal: I was aware of other contributors' stories but I hadn’t met them. I actually met them when the documentary was screened at the BFI Southbank. It felt like our lives were different strands of the same story and other contributors seemed familiar when I met them again.

Can you tell us a bit more about Iqbal's writing credit on the film?
Iqbal: Marc had read my book and wanted me to write the narration for his documentary. But I was a bit preoccupied during that time as I was trying to get a visa for my wife, and in the end, I agreed that Mark could film me at work and home. I'm not sure I merited the writing credit I got for the documentary but I'm very happy to have been given it.

Marc: I met him with the thought of him helping me with my narration because he is a writer but once it became obvious that he'd make a brilliant contributor, that became his main role in the film rather than the writing element, which he was happy with.

Marc Isaacs is the director and Iqbal Ahmed a contributor and co-writer of The Road, A Story Of Life And Death.

The Road, A Story Of Life And Death is part of Storyville on BBC Four at 7pm on Sunday, 31 March.

More on The Road, A Story Of Life And Death
DocGeeks: In conversation with documentarian Marc Isaacs
The Guardian: The Road: A Story Of Life And Death - review
Totally Dublin: That Transient Space - Interview with Marc Isaacs

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

The painstaking journey of one man who, ignoring terminal cancer, searched for the answers that a shocked nation was waiting for, is explored in The Challenger, an ambitious new factual drama to be shown on BBC Two.

The real-life Challenger investigation involved an impressive array of experts. But since many of them were associated with powerful agencies (such as Nasa or the Air Force), a strong independent voice was needed.

This role went to maverick Nobel-winning physicist Dr Richard Feynman, (played superbly by William Hurt in the drama), who reluctantly agreed to swap the relaxed world of California academia for the furore of Washington politics.

As the film's researcher, I wanted to know Feynman's story. How did he accomplish his task, how did he cut through Washington's red tape and intrigue, and why did he take part at all?

Over two years, and working closely with executive producer Mark Hedgecoe and writer Kate Gartside, I built relationships with Feynman's family, (the man himself died in 1988) and with those directly involved in the investigation, especially Air Force general Don Kutyna and whistle-blower Allan McDonald.

As trust developed, the phone calls grew longer and the number of questions increased. But as is always the way, it was only when I was able to spend a few days in the States and meet everyone face-to-face that I could properly get to know people.

Integrity and a commitment to accuracy are critical, and it's hard to persuade someone of this if you're not looking them in the eye.

Only once you've done this can you ask the hard questions that will unearth the emotions and turning points that Mark and Kate would need when squeezing a story that unfolded over months into a 90-minute film.

I suppose this is the essence of the job, it's certainly one of the things I enjoy the most.

Feynman's books, and the transcripts from the investigation, only go so far. If you want to understand how someone stands up in front of their colleagues and says "These people were warned about the dangers but they launched the spacecraft anyway" then you have to spend a little time in their home.

In Allan McDonald's mountainside house in Utah, I joined him, his wife and a friend for lunch. We talked about kids, skiing, the weather. We left the difficult stuff for later.

It's good to take things slowly, build trust, wait for the story. Eventually we left the house, and during a sightseeing drive through the Rockies, Allan – picking his words carefully – recalled his long-held concerns over the basic design of the shuttle's solid rocket boosters.

But it was only when I crossed the mountains and spent a few days in Colorado with General Kutyna that a bigger picture emerged. Kutyna, every inch an elegant and distinguished senior officer, is a Vietnam fighter ace and former test pilot whose most recent job title was no less than Commander, Air Force Space Command.

I told him about McDonald's concerns. "Never mind that," he replied, "that shuttle was covered in ice. You got to ask yourself why did they launch?"

"Why did they launch?" I asked, slightly chastened.

"Damn good question," he replied. "Feynman wanted to know the same thing. I gave him a classified presentation at the Pentagon. Come down to the den and I’ll give the same to you."

Slightly in awe, I followed him to an office strewn with pictures of himself alongside Thatcher, Reagan and others, and began to take notes on an incredible story. 

This was the first we knew of this briefing, and Kutyna's revelations quickly came to influence the shape of our drama.

When Mark and Kate chose to recreate the briefing in a scene in the film, Kutyna further helped us with broad details about the room (a secure basement lecture theatre) and with general information about Pentagon security, the type of thing we would need when dressing the set.

Step by step, the drama came to explore an intriguing relationship as Kutyna nudges Feynman toward the dark truth underlying the explosion.

It's a story that embroiled McDonald and also astronaut Sally Ride – which we only came to realise following her passing in July last year – as hopefully you’ll come to discover for yourself, once you see the film. 

Dan Parry is the researcher on The Challenger.

The Challenger is on BBC Two and BBC HD on Monday, 18 March at 9pm.

BBC Archive Fun To Imagine: Watch the 1983 BBC series featuring the real Dr Richard Feynman.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

Sometime later, I stand in the finished set and am awestruck by the superb skill and attention to detail that our carpenters, painters and set decorators have delivered.

I then remind myself that it was me, the director, and my designer who insisted the dimensions be virtually no bigger than the real thing - and that was cramped!

Outside hang the huge green screens which, by the wizardry of computer-generated imagery, will enable suitable backgrounds, which we have previously shot on the Croatian coast, to appear to whizz by with complete credibility.

Now for me it is a toss up which to be more anxious about: creating the necessary illusions and drama in this wonderful tight space, or following in the footsteps of Hitch!!

Fast forward a little more and the illusions are a joy in themselves. Light effects flash past, curtains sway gently on hidden wires, even the actors have been schooled to never quite stand still; think trying to carry two cups of coffee down a modern express train without spillage and you’ll have the idea.

We have even mastered the problem of squeezing several actors, sound recordists and a hand-held camera down the corridors all at the same time without the equivalent of a motorway pile-up.

I hope you’ll enjoy the result. If you should wonder whether this director makes a very fleeting appearance himself as Hitch used to; well yes, of course - it would be rude not to!

Diarmuid Lawrence is the director of The Lady Vanishes.

The Lady Vanishes is on at 8.30pm on Sunday, 17 March on BBC One and BBC One HD.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

 

So naturally I seized the chance to make Boxing At The Movies: Kings Of The Ring, a documentary that tells the story of the boxing film from the earliest days of the motion picture through the hardscrabble 30s, the noir 50s, on into the present day.

Given my age, my first big-screen experience would come with a definitively 80s flavour – Rocky III, with Sylvester Stallone's much-loved hero facing brutal challenger Clubber Lang.

But while I would see more critically admired fight films in years to come, I still remember the jolt it sent through the shabby cinema, the charge of emotion and adrenalin every boxing movie has in its make-up.

Three decades later, I found myself filming at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, at the foot of what are known around the world after their use by Stallone as the Rocky Steps.

Even at dusk the nearby statue of his most famous character had drawn a queue of visitors eager to have their picture taken with it, kids, grandparents and groups of muscle-bound dudes all hoisting their arms aloft besides the bronze Italian Stallion.

But for all Rocky's adoration, if the boxing film has a spiritual home, it's not Philadelphia – but 100 miles north in New York.

There, the cast of the boxing movie story includes gangsters, cinematic pioneers, political radicals, and everyone from Mike Tyson to Stanley Kubrick. And of course Martin Scorsese, creator of the peerless Raging Bull.

To make our documentary, director Angus McIntyre and I criss-crossed Manhattan from Harlem to the Lower East Side – and just as every writer, fighter or filmmaker we talked to wanted to discuss Scorsese's masterpiece, so everywhere we went, someone claimed a moment from it had been filmed where we stood.

An elderly attendant in a cramped parking lot swore blind to us that a major scene had been shot right there on the tarmac, though he seemed uncertain as to which.

Re-watching the movie for the umpteenth time that night in my hotel room, I confess I couldn't find it either.

Maybe I should look again – with a film this good, the search would never be a chore. And for old times' sake I might just look out Rocky III as well.

Danny Leigh is the presenter of Boxing At The Movies: Kings Of The Ring.

Boxing At The Movies: Kings Of The Ring is on BBC Four at 9pm on Sunday, 3 March. For further programme times, please see the upcoming broadcasts page.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

The bond within these platoons is particularly intense. The attack still sends shock waves through the young men who survived and the relatives of those killed.

Some carry wounds in their minds, or in medical parlance they have post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.

I wanted to tell their story. Better still, I wanted them to tell their story. To this end, I entered their lives very quietly.

I wanted them to see me as someone they could talk to, as someone who would listen, and I wanted them to be comfortable with the small camera on my shoulder.

For some of the grander shoots we hired an expert craft cameraman, but my aim generally was for the audience to feel like they had dropped in on an honest, intimate conversation. 

I wanted them to hear these young men talk openly about how they live with the pain. Luckily for me, we had a brilliant team on the project here at BBC Northern Ireland. 

Film making is a team sport, and everyone was superb.  The film is the result of all our efforts.

I began last May by getting to know some of those who had survived the attack. We would meet in pubs and cafes and front rooms and just chat. I had a notebook out but no camera.

I think the time I spent embedded with British forces in Helmand in 2009 and 2011 helped me connect with them. 

I understand soldiers’ lingo and have some appreciation, to a tiny extent really, about what they had experienced out there.

My aim was for them to relax around the camera, to have them talk to me and forget that it was there.

So over a cup of tea perhaps, I showed them how it worked and what the buttons did, and they would start to lose their fear of being filmed.

And then we would start talking about anything and I would raise it to my shoulder and start recording.

It would vary as to how long it would take before they forgot it was there. Some were instantly comfortable with it, but for others it took a few days.

Then most of them would then talk and talk and talk. And sometimes they could not.

I would arrive at their house as planned, knock on the door, and when they answered see the blankness in their eyes. If they were up to it I might do a bit of filming. 

The silences would say more than their words. Some days I left the camera in the boot and we just had a chat.

The last thing I wanted to do was take them back to the day of the attack and cause them additional pain. I would just ask them about how they were doing now. 

Some could take us back there. For others it would have been too much.

There was plenty of laughter along the way. Army banter is like a tonic they conjure up to boost morale. They were very funny when they wanted to be. The camera would wobble as my shoulders shook.

But it was tough as well. The hardest interviews were those with Allan’s mother and sister. 

Even in the edit weeks later, as we stitched the pictures together, I could not watch them back without getting a lump in my throat.

Allan had been 18 when he was out in Helmand in 2009 with his platoon. He survived the day of the attacks and all the other IEDs and bullets and rockets during that grisly tour.

The way his mother and sister talked about him he was still around. They told me about his humour and his foibles, his generosity and his love of life. I got to know him through their stories.

I started to think he would suddenly walk in, crack open a beer and give us all a big grin. We would laugh at what they remembered.

But they also talked about how he was changed by Helmand. It was all too much for Allan.

On 2 May 2011, nearly 18 months after he got back, at the age of 20, he took his own life. I was looking into his mother’s eyes as she told me this. The pain uncurled within her and I put the camera down.

Michael Price filmed and produced Life After Death: Haunted by Helmand.

Life After Death: Haunted by Helmand is on Wednesday, 23 January at 9pm on BBC Three. For further programme times, please see the upcoming broadcasts page.

If you, or someone you know, is affected by the issues raised in this programme, please see the information and support page for details of organisations which can help (available until Monday, 4 March).

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.