Insiders: The TV Podcast

Comedy producer Ash Atalla joins Jimmy Mulville and Peter Fincham to tell the inside story of The Office, his struggles trying to sell the IT Crowd and what the worst TV show he ever made was…

In this episode:
•How The Office got off the ground — and why nobody was guaranteed to believe in it
•Why Ash left the BBC and founded Roughcut Television
•The tough reality of trying to sell shows like The IT Crowd
•What the worst TV show Ash ever made was and what he learned from it
•Why streamers will buy shows like How to Get to Heaven from Belfast but not Big Boys
•What the future holds for the TV industry
•PLUS: The BBC, Channel 4, Netflix, new comedy, old-school commissioning, and more

Have a question, opinion or suggestion? Leave a comment on Spotify or YouTube, find us on socials @InsidersTVPod, or email us at podcasts@hattrick.com.

If you enjoyed the episode, please give us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share the podcast with a friend – it really helps us grow.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Coming Up...
01:53 Unearthing The Office, Big Boys and Stath Lets Flats
10:10 Joining Talkback & Starting Rough Cut
19:10 The Worst Show Ash Ever Made
22:45 How to Sell Shows Today
29:54 The Future of TV

#TheOffice #AshAtalla #JimmyMulville #PeterFincham #TVPodcast #BritishComedy #BBC #Channel4 #RoughcutTelevision #TheITCrowd #PeopleJustDoNothing #StathLetsFlats #BigBoys #Television #Comedy
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"What has the BBC ever done for me...?" TV Insiders Peter Fincham and Jimmy Mulville take on the BBC's much-debated new advert, dig into Hollywood's revolt against the $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery merger, and ask whether anyone can ‘Beat Luke Littler’ in his new Netflix show…

In this episode:
Is the BBC's "What Has The BBC Ever Done For Me?" advert a costly own goal?
Hollywood stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming and Benedict Wong speak out against the Paramount-WBD merger
A new report revealing UK TV's diversity promises that haven't delivered
The latest on Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC
Luke Littler’s new Netflix show with £501,000 prize pot
PLUS: Chris Martin's baffling cameo, Count Binface’s election chances and why Peter reckons he's more "Luke Littler" than "Mo Farah"

Have a question, opinion or suggestion? Leave a comment on Spotify or YouTube, find us on socials @InsidersTVPod, or email us at podcasts@hattrick.com.

If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share it with a friend – it really helps us grow!

#BBC #RomeshRanganathan #BBCFundedByAllOfUs #ThisIsOurBBC #BBCAdvert #Advert #LicenceFee #2026 #Paramount #WarnerBrosDiscovery #LukeLittler #Diversity #DonaldTrump #Podcast #Television #Netflix #TVNews #InsidersPodcast

Jimmy Mulville is the co-founder and Chief Executive of Hat Trick Productions. His list of hit shows includes Have I Got News For You, Father Ted, Derry Girls, Outnumbered, and Episodes. In the US Hat Trick launched Whose Line Is It Anyway in 1997 which ran on ABC for seven years and was the first British series to be recreated for American network television by a British producer.

Peter Fincham ran TalkBack, where he executive produced many of their biggest shows including I'm Alan Partridge, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and Da Ali G Show. He went on to be Controller of BBC1, then he was Director of Television at ITV, before returning to the independent sector as the co-CEO of Expectation, the company behind Clarkson's Farm and Alma's Not Normal. New episodes every Friday.

YouTube: @insiderstvpodcast
Email: podcasts@hattrick.com
Instagram: @InsidersTVPod
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TV Insiders Peter Fincham and Jimmy Mulville answer listener questions on Channel 4 and Netflix removing classic sitcom episodes, the secret scheduling battle between the BBC and ITV and why some revived formats soar while others flop.

Correction: It was actually Matt Berry's character of Douglas who dates April, not Chris O'Dowd's character Roy. You'll forgive us for getting this mistaken – we obviously couldn't watch the episode to check!

In this episode:

Why Channel 4 removed “The Speech” episode of The IT Crowd
Why Netflix removed episodes of Little Britain, Come Fly with Me & The Mighty Boosh
The Fawlty Towers, Father Ted and Peep Show scenes that got cut or pulled entirely
Whether broadcasters should be editing TV history
How the BBC and ITV secretly traded schedules ahead of the Radio Times deadline and why the ITV's Christmas strategy was always to "lose with honour"
Forgotten TV creatives, like Brian Clemens, who never get mentioned today
Why revivals like Gladiators and Blankety Blank succeeded as revivals when Challenge Anneka and Blind Date didn't
The real story behind Have I Got News for You's rotating host, and how QI almost had a very different presenter
How actors fake smoking, drinking and eating on screen

Have a question or opinion? Leave a comment on Spotify, find us on socials (@InsidersTVPod), or email us at podcasts@hattrick.com.

If you enjoyed the episode, please give us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, it really helps us grow.

#BBC #ITV #Channel4 #Netflix #ITCrowd #FawltyTowers #FatherTed #PeepShow #LittleBritain #TVPodcast #BritishTV #Television #InsidersTVPod #HaveIGotNewsForYou #QI #Gladiators #PublicServiceBroadcasting #Streaming #Podcast
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Ben Powell-Jones and Thom Gulseven of Strongwatch Studios join Peter Fincham and Jimmy Mulville to reveal what it was really like to work at LADbible when it was booming, why they had to turn down Tom Hanks and whether the UK's proposed social media ban for under-16s can actually work.

In this episode:
•Why they said no to Tom Hanks's agent (and almost turned down Billie Eilish)
•How a £500 video made £80k overnight (and why platform ad revenue can vanish just as fast)
•Building LADbible's YouTube channel from zero to millions of views
•Why Patreon and direct-to-consumer content is the future of monetisation, from Fin vs History to Time Team
•Why focus groups lie (and what LADbible's data really showed about who was watching Love Island)
•How TV and YouTube are merging, from Rest Is Football's move to Netflix to broadcasters commissioning entire YouTube channels
•Their honest take on the UK's proposed social media ban for under-16s

Have a question or opinion? Leave a comment, find us on socials (@InsidersTVPod), or email us at podcasts@hattrick.com.

If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a review 5-star review, share it with a friend and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!

CHAPTERS
00:00 Meet Strongwatch Studios
04:37 Building LADbible's YouTube Empire
09:44 Snubbing Tom Hanks and (almost) Billie Eilish
12:40 Starting a Company in a Constantly Changing Digital World
15:30 Patreon and the Rise of Direct-to-Consumer Content
22:10 Data in Digital versus TV and why Focus Groups Lie
23:07 TV as ‘Secondary Distribution for YouTube’
26:05 Broadcasters Now Commissioning YouTube Channels
33:20 The Social Media Ban for Under-16s

#YouTube #LADbible #SocialMediaBan #StrongwatchStudios #ContentCreator #Patreon #TVPodcast #BritishTV #DigitalMedia #InsidersTVPod #TomHanks #BillieEilish #CreatorEconomy #Streaming #Podcast
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TV Insiders Peter Fincham and Jimmy Mulville discuss Count Binface, the BBC's World Cup cost saving efforts, Sky's ITV purchase, and Peppa Pig using A.I.

Topics discussed:

Farage vs Count Binface
BBC not going to the US in the World Cup Quarter Finals
The Sky/ITV deal
Peppa Pig using A.I. for its younger voice actors

Chapters:

00:00 Intro
01:12 Farage vs Count Binface
03:20 The BBC's World Cup cost saving efforts
09:27 Sky's ITV deal
29:19 Peppa Pig + A.I.

Have a question, opinion or suggestion? Leave a comment on Spotify or YouTube, find us on socials @InsidersTVPod, or email us at podcasts@hattrick.com.

If you enjoyed the episode, please like, subscribe, and share the podcast with a friend — it really helps us grow.

#CountBinface #NigelFarage #BBC #ITV #FifaWorldCup2026 #Sky #ITV #PeppaPig #GeneWilder

Jimmy Mulville is the co-founder and Chief Executive of Hat Trick Productions. His list of hit shows includes Have I Got News For You, Father Ted, Derry Girls, Outnumbered, and Episodes. In the US Hat Trick launched Whose Line Is It Anyway in 1997 which ran on ABC for seven years and was the first British series to be recreated for American network television by a British producer.

Peter Fincham ran TalkBack, where he executive produced many of their biggest shows including I’m Alan Partridge, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and Da Ali G Show. He went on to be Controller of BBC1, then he was Director of Television at ITV, before returning to the independent sector as the co-CEO of Expectation, the company behind Clarkson's Farm and Alma's Not Normal. New episodes every Friday.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.