Yesterday was the last in the series of It Pays To Watch. Actually technically it was the end of the second series as we were recommissioned early on, and did 2 x 10 programmes in a row.
Looking back it was quite a challenge. The programme was commissioned by Five around six weeks before it went on air, and this was over the Christmas period so we lost a fortnight. This is a ridiculously short time, but as January is the key month for money it was necessary.
Over the 20-show run, the programme has morphed quite dramatically; most importantly we’ve gradually tried to cram less in each show to give it a bit more breathing space (it’s still frantic, but more manageably so).
Overall it’s worked well, the ratings have been good, and the feedback from people who’ve saved is wonderful… But I’m more than happy to have a few months’ break to take a holiday and focus on my other work (especially here on the site). The next series starts in mid-September.
No It Pays To Watch at the IPTW Wrap Party
To celebrate, in typical TV tradition we had a wrap party to thank the crew and production team; the 30 or so people behind the camera who nobody sees. Now, doing this on a night when there are two English teams in the European Cup Final isn’t the easiest. We were based in a room above a pub; and Princess Productions – who provide the facilities for IPTW – had ensured a couple of TV screens were there.
Yet even though it was the IPTW wrap party they were firmly tuned into the football. Admittedly everyone there had seen the programme as we were filiming it (its done two hours before transmission) but still rather bizarre to be at a wrap party without the programme itself on.
