Producer, Michael Sheehan and myself featured on Reality Life with Kate Casey, talking all things GOTMC! Link to listen in here
Cheers,
Marcus
THE GIRL ON THE MILK CARTON - OUT NOW
Very pleased to announce that The Girl on The Milk Carton is now available to stream worldwide on Prime, Peacock (US only), HAYU and NOW in the UK.
“a gripping new two-part series coming your way” - Collider.
Congrats to all the team and a special thank you to all the contributors who took part.
Cheers,
Marcus
ONLINE PLATFORMS
FIVE STAR REVIEW FOR WHO KILLED JILL DANDO?
Who Killed Jill Dando? Is now streaming on Netflix worldwide and has received a five start review from the Evening Standard, who called it a "flawless piece of work which is both a sensitive and balanced portrait of Dando’s life and a fast-paced investigation of her death".
The Telegraph gave it 4*, while The Guardian, Independent and The Times gave it a 3*.
Nigel Dando has appeared on Channel 4, BBC Radio 5 Breakfast, BBC Radio London, Lorraine and Channel 5 News talking about the series.
Who Killed Jill Dando? Out now
World's Collide is Nominated for a BAFTA!
World Collide: The Manchester Bombing has been nominated in the best factual series category at this years BAFTA Television Awards. The 69th annual TV awards will be held in May, and the full list of shows, actors and writers who have earned a nod has been announced. The full list is viewable here
Congratulations to all the team at Label1 and a huge thank you to our incredibly brave contributors!
Worlds Collide WINS BROADCAST AWARD 2023
Worlds Collide: The Manchester Bombing won Best Specialist Factual Programme at the 2023 Broadcast Awards. Congratulations to all the team at Label1 television. Here’s what the judges said:
Film-maker Marcus Plowright doesn’t take the asy route in this two-parter, which marks the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attack ont he Manchester arena. In telling the story of that day, World Collide both rewinds to show how the bomber became radicalised and spins forward to the 2022 public inquiry.
The judges were bowled over by a “beautifully crafted” series that uses the narrative language of premium drama and credits audiences with the intelligence to piece the story together.
They were also struck by the film’s strong journalism and fresh interview techniques, as well as it’s thoughtful use of CCTV footage and material from the the inquiry.
As the story of an event larged attended by families and young fans of Ariana Grande, Plowright is careful to speak to witnesses with sensitivity,.
Families who lost members on that day are given space to share their stories, while the series delves deeper into the role and response of the emergency services and MI5 0 and their failure to stop the bomber.
“It’s strength is its unstuffy, non-patronising, intelligent storytelling, which it brings to a young audience who would usually go online for this content”, said one judge.
Another praised it for making room for “important stories that will be lost to history very soon”.
Worlds Collide: The Manchester Bombing OUT NOW
Worlds Collide: The Manchester Bombing, a new two part series I directed for Label1 / ITV aired this week. It tells the story behind the worst terror attack of our generation, from the years and moments leading up to the attack (ep1) to its aftermath and lasting impact (ep2).
IN COLD BLOOD WINS AN EMMY!
In Cold Blood Wins International Emmy® for Current Affairs - https://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/cold-blood-wins-international-emmyr-current-affairs
“ Fourth win for ITV’s Exposure Strand in five years
ITV’s Exposure film In Cold Blood was last night awarded the International Emmy® for Current Affairs - the fourth Exposure film to take home the award in five years.
Produced by DSP for ITV Network, this feature-length documentary examined the biggest treatment disaster in NHS history. Directed by Grierson Award-winning and BAFTA-nominated documentary maker Marcus Plowright, this film told the story of how thousands of British haemophiliacs were infected and died from HIV and Hepatitis C after being prescribed infected blood products by the NHS. This landmark film offered viewers a vivid insight into the scale and impact of the tragedy.
The win follows a run of success for the ITV Current Affairs strand, which includes International Emmy® Current Affairs Award wins for four Exposure films, in five years - Undercover: Inside China’s Digital Gulag in 2020 (Hardcash productions) which investigating the plight of Uyghurs and other Muslims in China, White Right: Meeting The Enemy in 2018 (Fuuse Films) Deeyah Khan’s examination of the resurgence of far-right extremism in the USA, and Saudia Arabia Uncovered in 2017 (Hardcash Productions) looking at the hidden reality inside one of the world’s most secretive and strict Islamic regimes. Exposure’s Banaz A Love Story (Fuuse Films), Deeyah Khan’s film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, was also awarded the International Emmy® Current Affairs Award in 2013.
Controller of Current Affairs, Tom Giles said:
“This is fantastic recognition for a beautifully-made film and for an important record of an underreported national scandal. It’s also a real testament to the strength of filmmaking that ITV Exposure now attracts that it’s the strand's fifth International Emmy - four of those won in the last five years.”
Launched in 2011 by ITV’s Director of News and Current Affairs Michael Jermey, the multi-award winning Exposure strand also includes The Other Side of Jimmy Savile (commissioned by Jermey), which was broadcast in October 2012, and won numerous awards across the board, including Scoop of the Year at The RTS Journalism Awards.
ITV’s Exposure strand has also taken home the Current Affairs Award at the BAFTA TV Awards for the past two years running, with America’s War on Abortion (Deeyah Khan and Fuuse Films) receiving the honour at this year’s ceremony.”
In Cold Blood Nominated for a Grierson Award
Having been shortlisted for two categories at the 2021 Grierson Awards, very pleased to announce that In Cold Blood has got through to the final round of Nominations for Best Current Affairs. Congratulations to all the team and of course all the nominees.
Marcus Plowright, Celia Watson, Diene Petterle, Nina Davies, Leigh Brzeski & Alex Parsons
Darlow Smithson Productions – ITV
This new 90-minute feature-length documentary for ITV's Exposure strand examines the biggest treatment disaster in NHS history. In the 1970s, a new treatment for haemophilia known as Factor VIII was prescribed on the NHS. It infected over 1,300 people with HIV, more than 4,000 people with Hepatitis C and killed more people than Grenfell, Hillsborough, 7/7 and the Birmingham bombings combined. Yet its scale and impact has until now been relatively understated in Britain.
REVIEWS - FRED AND ROSE WEST: REOPENED
The reviews are in for Fred and Rose West: Reopened….
“Everything about the Wests is seedy and stomach-churning, but the programme’s team of investigators was led by Sir Trevor McDonald, who provided some much-needed dignity, sympathy and gravitas…The pro- gramme offered a compelling argu- ment that up to 20 victims of the Wests, who officially killed 12 young women, are yet to be discovered.”
Roland White - Daily Mail
”Filmed like an episode of Silent Witness, all shadowy and overlain with creepy music, Fred and Rose: Reopened offers a sense of fear that even the familiar and homely voice of Sir Trevor can’t dispel.”
Sean O’Grady, The Independent Daily Edition
CLIPPINGS
In Cold Blood shortlist for a Grierson
In Cold Blood has been shortlisted for two awards at the 2021 Grierson Trust Awards, Best Historial Documentary and Best Current Affairs Documentary. The Trust celebrates the best documentary filmmaking from Britain and around the world.
Congratulations to all the team and participants. Nominees and winners will be announced later in the year.
In Cold Blood nominated for Amnesty International Media Award
Very pleased to announce that In Cold Blood has been nominated for best documentary at this year’s Amnesty International Media Awards. Congratulations to all the team and big special thanks to Jason Evans and the Factor 8 Campaign.
The winners of this year’s awards will be announced at a virtual event on Wednesday 28 April.
The 11 award categories celebrate excellence in human rights journalism over the past year and applaud the courage and determination of journalists and editors who sometimes put their lives on the line to report on vital human rights issues.
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/amnesty-international-uk-media-awards-2021-finalists-announced
In Cold Blood nominated for an RTS Journalism Award
In Cold Blood has been nominated for Best Current Affairs Documentary (Home) at the 2021 Royal Television Society Awards. Congratulations to all the team and especially the contributors for their bravery in taking part in the film. With the inquiry in the scandal still on going, public awareness about this topic continues to grow. Watch this space.
IN COLD BLOOD NOMINATED FOR a WCSFP History Awards
In Cold Blood has been nominated for Best History Program / Content - Long Format at this years World Congress of Science and Factual Producers. Congratulations to all the nominees (full listing below) and the team at Darlow Smithson Productions.
The World Congress of Science and Factual Producers (WCSFP) is a member-driven organisation formed by science and factual producers, broadcasters and content providers from around the world.
Each year, members gather for an annual conference in a different country to connect with colleagues through meetings and social events, learn about new industry trends as well as celebrate and be inspired by the smart content we produce and distribute.
Best History Program/Content - Long Format
Sponsored by British Pathé
9/11 KIDS
Broadcaster: documentary Channel/CBC
Production company: Saloon Media/Blue Ant Studios
AFGHANISTAN - THE WOUNDED LAND
Broadcaster: ARTE
Production companies: LOOKSfilm in co-production with NDR and Aljazeera Documentary Channel, CT, Format TV, in association with DR, Knowledge Network, MEDIAWAN THEMATICS for TOUTE L’HISTOIRE, NRK, VPRO, in collaboration with ARTE, with the support of the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the European Union, MDM
BLOOD AND TEARS, FRENCH DECOLONIZATIONS
Broadcaster: France Télévisions
Production companies: Cinetévé, with the participation of France Télévisions
ENSLAVED: THE LOST HISTORY OF THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
Broadcasters: EPIX, CBC
Production company: Associated Producers/Cornelia Street Productions
EXPOSURE: IN COLD BLOOD
Broadcaster: ITV
Production company: Darlow Smithson Productions
THE GREAT WORLD THEATRE – SALZBURG AND ITS FESTIVAL
Broadcasters: ORF, ARTE G.E.I.E.. BR
Production companies: Pre TV in coproduction with ORF, ARTE G.E.I.E. and BR
THE HISTORY OF HOME
Broadcaster: CuriosityStream
Production company: Roller Coaster Road Productions
NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS: THE AGE OF THE BUILDERS
Broadcaster: France Télévisions
Production companies: Program 33, in co-production with AT-Doc, Circus and Solidanim, with the participation of France Télévisions
ONCE UPON A TIME IN IRAQ
Broadcasters: BBC Two, PBS Frontline
Production company: KEO Films
SURVIVING THE MOUNT ST. HELENS DISASTER
Broadcaster: National Geographic
Production company: Off the Fence for National Geographic
TERRA X: PLANET OF TREASURES - THE WONDERS OF AFRICA
Broadcaster: ZDF
Production company: Interscience Film GmbH
ULTIMATE BLITZKRIEG: WW2 BATTLE OF CRETE
Broadcaster: History Channel UK
Production company: Pilot Film and Television Productions
Five star reviews for IN COLD BLOOD
THE INDEPENDENT, ED CUMMING, 28 SEPTEMBER 2020
***** 5 STARS
There are no frills whatsoever to this doc about the 1970s and 1980s contaminated blood scandal – but that only makes it hit harder.
The documentary director Marcus Plowright was recently nominated for a Bafta for 2019's The Murder of Jill Dando, a patient and gripping examination of a killing that shook the nation. With In Cold Blood (ITV), he turns his attention to the contaminated blood scandal, another decades-old front-page story whose memory has faded with time. Blood treatments given by the NHS during the Seventies and Eighties infected at least 1,300 people with HIV and 4,000 with Hepatitis C.
Over 1,500 have died.The film’s title, irresistible given the subject, invites comparisons with Truman Capote’s true-crime book of the same name. Where that was a study of a Kansas killing spree, this is a story of institutional malpractice and alleged cover-ups, a scandal with thousands of victims, many perpetrators and which will most likely never be truly resolved.The film is based on the work of Jason Evans, a campaigner whose father died of Aids after receiving contaminated blood products. As he points out, the death toll from the scandal is greater than Hillsborough, Grenfell and all the terror attacks on British soil combined, but with nothing like the same public awareness. In France and Canada, health officials were eventually jailed, but while the British government has made payments to some of the victims, nobody has ever been held accountable. Yet, as is clear from the film, patients continued to receive Factor VIII long after suspicions were first raised. In subsequent investigations over the years, it has been discovered that crucial documents were destroyed, often around the same time as information came to light about who knew what when. It was only in 2017 that Theresa May finally ordered a public enquiry, which reopened this month.
Forty years after most of the infections took place, there is a lot of ground to go over. For many years, Britain’s thousands of haemophiliacs thought Factor VIII was a wonder drug. They could keep it in the fridge and inject themselves to help control their bleeding, with no need for doctors or hospitals. As the drug’s popularity soared, the NHS started importing Factor VIII from America. The treatment was made from concentrated plasma, so each batch contained blood from many thousands of donors. American donor standards were less rigorous. Blood infected with hepatitis, and later HIV, made its way into the supply chain. Warning bells were being sounded as early as 1983, but as documents show, NHS officials were slow to respond to the threat. There’s a special terror in the thought that the blood you are injecting as a cure might contain an even worse illness.
The Times, James Jackson, 28th September 2020
**** 4 STARS
This week a public inquiry into the infected blood scandal reopens, and it would be unfortunate in the extreme if it were overshadowed by the Covid crisis. Let’s hope that In Cold Blood, Marcus Plowright’s damning film, spanning decades of malfeasance, will help that to not be the case.
It may be three decades since British haemophiliacs were given plasma infected with HIV and hepatitis C — killing thousands and hitting the lives of thousands more — but the depth of the scandal is still coming to light. The dogged work of the campaigner Jason Evans, who lost his father to HIV/Aids as a result of contaminated blood, has turned up numerous “destruction receipts” in Department of Health files about the safety of blood — suggestions of a possible cover-up that would be, frankly, criminal.
While this was a film full of dignified fury, its success could be measured by how much anger it induced in the viewer. I’ve seen few documentaries that have made me angrier.
THE TELEGRAPH, ANITA SINGH, 27 SEPTEMBER 2020
****4 stars
The infected blood scandal is recognised as the biggest NHS disaster in history. You may be old enough to remember the story breaking in the 1980s. This newspaper has carried coverage over the years. At least 1,500 victims have died. In Cold Blood (ITV), a documentary timed to coincide with the reopening of an official inquiry, contained the horrifying statistic that the infected continue to die at a rate of one every four days. Yet the case does not have the nationwide recognition of other British tragedies, and many victims feel they have been forgotten. Is that because the case has dragged on for so long, with no one prepared to accept the blame? Or because the victims were tainted in those early days by the stigma around Aids?
For those unfamiliar with the details, the documentary laid them out. In the 1970s, the NHS began prescribing factor VIII, a new treatment for haemophilia. The clotting agent was seen as a wonder drug, improving the lives of patients because it was so easy to use: a little bottle kept in the fridge, self-administered via an injection to the back of the hand. But as demand rapidly outstripped supply, the Department of Health made the decision to import factor VIII from the US, where people from high-risk groups were paid to donate plasma. Thousands of these donations were pooled to make batches of the drug; it took only one donation tainted with HIV or Hepatitis C to infect hundreds or thousands of vials.
What followed was a staggering account of a cover-up, much of it unearthed by Jason Evans, whose father was infected and later died. His dogged investigations uncovered document after document which showed that the fatal risks of factor VIII were known to the authorities long before they were made public. One doctor from a haemophilia centre recalled sending off samples for HIV testing after the news filtered out. “Thirty-five brown envelopes came back. I opened them one by one, and all but one of them were positive.” A number of his patients were children.
It was a heavy-going 90 minutes, but throughout you could feel that the programme-makers (led by award-winning director Marcus Plowright) took very seriously their responsibilities to the victims and families. Many were featured here, including the parents of Lee Turton, who was infected, like many, with both HIV and Hepatitis C. They vividly recalled the gut punch of hearing the news, and Lee saying how scared he was. Only late in the film did we discover that Lee was just four years old; he died aged 10. It was impossible to watch without feeling a cold fury. Let's hope that the inquiry will, at least, bring these families some justice.
PREVIEWS
The Times
Kaya Burgess 22 September 2020
Tainted blood scandal: Officials ‘knew of hepatitis risk from US blood in 1980’
New evidence has emerged that health officials were aware of the risk that blood products imported into Britain from the United States were contaminated with hepatitis and HIV years before they were withdrawn from use on the NHS.
The contaminated blood scandal led to the deaths of more than 2,400 people and thousands more were infected with one or both of the deadly viruses through NHS treatment in the 1970s and 80s.
The Times has seen memos sent by officials within what was then the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) showing that the risk of hepatitis in American blood products was known as early as 1980, while the risk of HIV was known in 1983.
However, the government said that there was no “conclusive” proof of a link and the use of infected products on the NHS continued well into 1985 when they were replaced by products treated in a way to kill viruses. Most of those treated have said they were never told of any infection risk.
Thousands of haemophiliacs were infected through a clotting agent called Factor VIII, largely created from blood given by American donors. In the US donors were paid, leading drug users and prostitutes, groups with a higher risk of blood-borne infections, to donate in large numbers.
Up to 25,000 people in Britain may have been infected and one victim still dies every four days.
The infected blood inquiry restarts today to uncover when the government became aware of the risk and whether they could have acted sooner to withdraw potentially infected products.
In early 1982, doctors noted that haemophiliacs had started dying of Aids. By 1983, this had been linked to Factor VIII.
An article in The Guardian in November 1983, headlined “US blood caused Aids”, cited a study in The Lancet, stating: “The British haemophiliac who died from Aids almost certainly caught the disease from contaminated supplies of the blood-clotting agent Factor VIII, imported from the US.” An ITV documentary called In Cold Blood, to air next Sunday at 10.20pm, will show that a copy of this article was sent to Dr Diana Walford, then a DHSS official.
A note from an unnamed civil servant asked her: “Is it ok for us to continue to say: ‘There is no conclusive proof that the disease has been transmitted by American blood products?’”
A handwritten reply from Dr Walford noted: “Thanks. Yes it is ok.” In that same week, Ken Clarke, now Lord Clarke of Nottingham and then a health minister, also told MPs that there was “no conclusive evidence”. Dr Walford confirmed in 2011 that the note was in her hand.
She told the Penrose inquiry, a private inquiry in Scotland to examine the scandal, in 2011: “Given the state of knowledge about Aids and its causative agent at that time, this was the appropriate answer.” A government document from 1987 states that it was “strictly true” to say this, as conclusive evidence only came in April 1984 “when the AIDS virus was isolated”.
An earlier letter from Dr Walford in 1980 stated that it was important to prevent the contamination of “UK material with imported hepatitis viruses”, adding that health officials were aware of “post-transfusion [and blood-product infusion] hepatitis in the USA [which] can be rapidly fatal”.
Jason Evans, the campaigner whose father died as a result of the scandal, said: “There was clearly more than enough evidence [to withdraw the products]. It felt like everyone knew [about the risk] except the people receiving Factor VIII, and that can’t be right.”
Dr Walford has never spoken in detail about the scandal. She told The Times yesterday that she would be “happy to assist” the inquiry and provide “a full account of events”, but declined to comment further as the inquiry is “the proper forum for me to discuss those events and my involvement in them”.
The Department of Health and Social Care has been co-operating with the inquiry, describing the scandal as a “tragedy”.
The inquiry will hear from Lord Owen, health minister from 1974 to 1976, today. He is expected to discuss his unsuccessful attempts to end Britain’s reliance on imported blood products and his suspicions that key documents from his time in office have been destroyed.
The Times, Kaya Burgess, 22 September 2020
Tainted blood scandal inquiry reopens
Evidence has emerged that health officials were aware of the risk that blood products imported into Britain from the US were contaminated with hepatitis and HIV years before they were withdrawn from use on the NHS.
More than 2,400 people died and thousands more were infected with one or both of the deadly viruses through NHS treatment in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Times has seen memos sent by officials within the health department showing that the risk of hepatitis in American blood products was known as early as 1980 and the risk of HIV was known in 1983. The government said, however, that there was no "conclusive" proof of a link and their use continued into 1985. Up to 25,000 people in Britain may have been infected and one victim still dies every four days. The Infected Blood Inquiry restarts today to uncover when the government became aware of the risk and whether it could have acted sooner.
The Guardian, Owen Bowcott - 21 September 2020
Infected blood scandal: Treasury refuses to publish key documents
Response to FoI request from victim’s son says disclosure may attract ‘disruptive’ media coverage
The Treasury is refusing to publish key documents about the treatment of haemophiliacs infected by the NHS with HIV on the grounds that it would be “disruptive” and material might be “distorted” by the media.
The unusual reasons cited by officials for refusing a Freedom of Information (FoI) request have emerged before a new round of public hearings at the Infected Blood Inquiry
Jason Evans, whose father died after receiving contaminated blood and founded the Factor 8 campaign, has been an effective and energetic excavator of hidden Whitehall files.
Nine months ago he asked for further pages from a file dating back to 1989 entitled Haemophiliacs with AIDS/HIV: Macfarlane Trust and Social Security. The Treasury released pages 1-35 of the file last year.
Evans sent eight further letters and appealed to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) before he received a reply. Most files of that era should by now have been released to the National Archives in Kew and be available to view.
In their eventual refusal letter, the Treasury said some of the material covered “personal data of living individuals” and some would “prejudice the administration of justice”. It said the material had been handed over to the inquiry.
The letter finished: “We consider that the piecemeal disclosure of material and the consequent media coverage that it attracts is disruptive to the proper workings/process of the inquiry itself.
“Where information already held by, and under consideration by, the inquiry is released under the FoI Act, there is a real risk of that information being quoted from selectively in the media, with the result that the roles of particular individuals, their decisions and actions may be presented in a distorted way.”
Evans told the Guardian: “It’s outrageous that the government won’t disclose files to me concerning what happened to my father because, basically, they are concerned I might show those documents to the press.
“Yes, there is an inquiry going but it’s not a court case. It’s 30 years overdue ... All of the families affected by this deserve transparency and not withholding of information because of what the press may report.
“If the Treasury doesn’t send me these documents by the end of the week, I’ll have no choice but to lodge another challenge against them with the ICO ... It’s not acceptable ... to hide information because they’re scared of the media. I thought this was supposed to be a country that stood by freedom of the press?”
Des Collins, a partner at Collins Solicitors who represents more than 1,400 families infected and affected by the contaminated blood scandal, said: “Our clients are very concerned that this may be the beginning of yet another cover-up some 40 years after the first and they are determined not to let that happen.
“The Treasury’s response to what is on any basis a good faith request is, to say the very least, disappointing. We have every right to expect the government’s transparency pledge to all those affected by the contaminated blood scandal to be upheld.
“This unwillingness to disclose the requested files does beg the question as to their contents and also whether the government is genuinely committed to transparency.”
The infected blood inquiry, set up in 2017, reopens in London on Tuesday. Its hearings will be broadcast live online.
The inquiry is examining how as many as 30,000 people became severely ill after being given contaminated blood products, imported from the US, in the 1970s and 80s; about 3,000 haemophiliacs have since died.
The first witness will be Lord Owen, who was health minister from 1974 to 1976. He has alleged that maladministration by his former department contributed to the scandal and questioned why a promise he made – that Britain would become self-sufficient in supplies of clotting factors – was not fulfilled.
A spokesperson for the inquiry declined to comment on the FoI refusal or whether the inquiry was consulted.
A Treasury spokesperson said: “It’s important that those affected by this tragedy get the answers they deserve and lessons are learned – which is why the independent inquiry has been established.
“We’ve been fully transparent and supplied the inquiry with all relevant files, including the specific information referred to here.
“But it’s important the inquiry can carry out its responsibilities effectively and be able to dictate the timetable for consideration and disclosure to the public of any records or information.”
BAFTA - NOMINATION
The Murder of Jill Dando has been nominated for a BAFTA Cymru Award!
Read More
COMING SOON TO ITV
IN COLD BLOOD - a 90 MINUTE FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY
IN COLD BLOOD - ANNOUNCED
A new feature length documentary about the Factor VIII contaminated blood scandal
Read MorePRINCE WILLIAM AND OUR MENTAL HEALTH - PRESS
CLIPPINGS
REVIEWS
THIS IS OUR FAMILY - OUT NOW on SKY ATLANTIC
THIS IS OUR FAMILY, a series about modern family life in Britain is out now on Sky Atlantic as a full boxset. Check out the trailer below and happy watching!
Directed by Marcus Plowright
Produced by Alana Moreno
Composed by Alex Parsons
THIS IS OUR FAMILY - PRESS
PREVIEWS AND REVIEWS
