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Documentary storytelling sits at the very heart of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s offer to audiences and continues to be hugely popular with both iPlayer and linear viewers. Our commissions are typically narrative or character driven, where audiences engage with stories by feeling and experiencing them, reaching their own conclusions rather than being told what to think.

We’re looking for the next generation of series, limited series and single films that are relevant to broad audiences, timely in our changing world, creatively distinctive and which represent the very best of British storytelling.

Excellence: Documentary storytelling is a specialism that we actively support and grow right across the UK. We continue to find, nurture and work with the very best documentary making talent to create work that wins awards whilst connecting with huge audiences.

Relevance: We commission documentaries with purpose, that aim to go beyond purely compelling or appealing narratives to speak to viewers’ lives, helping make sense of our changing times and therefore resonating with the broadest possible audience.

Eye-level: We want the documentaries slate to reflect the broadest possible spectrum of lived experience from across the UK, so we aim to commission programmes that give a voice to people, perspectives and stories that have previously remained unheard. Even when our programmes feature well known-faces, they are at eye-level with the audience and not presenting in a way that sets them apart.

Brave: We continue to support risk taking with purpose, with films that provoke debate, challenge the status quo, move hearts and minds, and explore complex and important stories without agenda.

Innovation: We support documentary makers to develop new creative approaches to storytelling. We’re actively seeking fresh points of view and unique perspectives that have the potential to open up new ways to tell stories and evolve the culture and specialism of documentary making.

Most of all, we want to commission the documentaries that you are most passionate about making. What are the stories you believe need to be told now? What creative approaches, perspectives and experience can you bring to make them truly distinctive?

Working with us

We commission creative, complex and risky programmes and work with you to navigate the unique challenges that each project presents - from the first pitch through to broadcast and beyond. When you work with us you benefit from the support and collaboration of an array of different departments across the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ including legal and editorial policy, to help enable each documentary to reach the broadest possible iPlayer and broadcast audience.

We work closely with ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ teams in news, sport, radio, press and social - each bringing huge expertise and support. Together they can help to promote our key titles across TV, Radio, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Sounds, online and beyond to maximise UK-wide audience. We are also working with an array of external outlets in exciting, creative and far-reaching new ways to enhance and promote our documentary output.

To help elevate your work and to support ambitious storytelling and innovation we’re open to partnering with other broadcasters or streamers. We’re excited to be involved in co-productions with PBS, CNN and others, along with ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ commissioning teams in the Nations. For example, our highly acclaimed series Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland was a co-production with PBS and jointly commissioned with our colleagues in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Northern Ireland.

We’re actively seeking new returning series, limited series and single film ideas from companies based in the Nations and English regions.

Returnable mainstream series

These are our big, ambitious, British access series, driven by present tense actuality that have broad audience appeal. Crucially, they each have a distinctive tone and a unique iPlayer-first approach to storytelling. We see these as a gold standard in documentary making and they can be a big win for producers as we commission them in volume - between five and 10 episodes in each series run.

Current returnable documentary brands include Parole, Ambulance, Forensics: The Real CSI, Murder Trial and Murder 24/7, which reaches over 3.3m viewers including 1m on iPlayer. These contemporary series are each driven by real-world drama and designed to cut through on iPlayer - with accessible, immersive and relevant stories that connect to the broadest possible audience. Through these titles we’re able to enter the real lives and experiences of people across the UK and engage viewers with relevant and timely subjects such as mental health, the NHS and the human impact of crime, immigration, wealth and the cost of living. These titles have the potential to move around the country for each new series, drawing on and growing local talent throughout the production process.

We’re always looking for ways to renew and refresh these brands with new precincts and approaches. Some key things we consider for pitches in this space are:

• Access and observational filming are key, but they must also have a very distinctive way of telling the story. A clearly articulated approach is as important as the access itself.
• They should have a clear identity and distinctive offer to viewers, whether that’s in the contemporary formatted narrative of Parole, the multiple linked stories of Ambulance, the specialist factual science layer of Forensics: The Real CSI, the multi-perspective narratives of Murder 24/7 arced over more than one single episode or the uniquely privileged access to courtrooms of Murder Trial.
• Titles at the more popular factual end of our slate such as Sort Your Life Out still have authenticity, purpose and documentary sensibilities.

To broaden our range even further, we want to find new ways into a variety of new precincts - so what’s the next precinct beyond blue flashing lights and how can you bring a fresh approach and tone to it?

Limited series

Limited series - or box sets - are our multi-episode series that promise powerful storytelling and distinctive creative approaches, produced to keep audiences hooked from one episode to the next. They remain a hugely important part of our iPlayer-led strategy and enable us to tell vital British stories with real scale, authenticity and purpose. Some of our most successful recent limited series include Lucan, The Detectives and Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams: On Tour, which reached over 4m viewers per episode.

They can come in all shapes and sizes and be talent, narrative or character driven. Across our slate, we’re looking for a variety of subject areas and tones so that we have something to offer everyone who comes to iPlayer. We don’t just want true crime narratives or identikit box sets that feel formulaic or like they are echoing a house style. We want unique stories with bold new creative approaches that enable us to hear from new voices and perspectives. This is a hugely exciting area where we want to continue to experiment and showcase creative ambition.

What new stories or subject areas could be given a narrative box set approach? Are there uplifting stories that could work in this space? Is there a new perspective on a well-known story that could unlock it as a limited series? Which stories could overlap with the biggest concerns of our time to resonate with broadest possible audience?

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Three box sets

Our limited series box sets aimed at young audiences on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Three are often produced with shorter durations of 30-45 minutes. They explore a variety of subject areas with a range of approaches, but they’re united by a driving narrative at their core.

With access to PSNI’s Cyber Crime Centre, Teen Predator/Online Killer tells the story of the high-profile investigation into Alexander McCartney – one of the UK’s most prolific online child sex abusers. The series also features interviews with victims and people who knew McCartney who are attempting to come to terms with his crimes. The 3x30 series was co-commissioned with ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Northern Ireland.

Filmed eight months before the UK’s worst riots in over a decade, Small Town, Big Riot follows award-winning journalist Mobeen Azhar as he heads to Merseyside to investigate why a ‘peaceful’ protest outside an asylum seeker hotel turned into a riot. Over 2x60 episodes he becomes immersed in this timely story and a community which, like the rest of the UK, has polarised views around the housing of asylum seekers, uncovering how local concerns became amplified by members of the far right.

Filmed over one summer season, Ibiza: Secrets of the Party Island features Zara McDermott as she follows the money to discover what makes Ibiza tick. With privileged access to clubs, villas and yachts as well as police and emergency services and a rich cast of characters, the 4x45 series seeks to understand the phenomenon behind this popular destination and how the island is changing as it looks to attract more upmarket clientele.

High impact single films

Audience impact sits at the heart of every decision we make, and sometimes the best way to bring a huge audience to a new and creatively distinctive story - without compromising on the approach - is with a single film. We usually commission these as 60 minutes, but will look at feature-length durations too, depending on the needs of the story.

Our slate of single documentaries reflects the audience’s appetite for big, complex and important stories, and we work with suppliers carefully over time to deliver sensitive stories that have huge public interest. Films like The Search for Nicola Bulley demonstrate the huge impact these films can make on the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.

We’re looking for single stories that feel timely, important and that help us to understand the extraordinary times in which we’re living. For example, Hell Jumper followed the experiences of young British volunteers in Ukraine risking their lives to rescue civilians trapped in a warzone. With an extraordinary love story at its heart, the feature-length film used a distinctive new approach to documentary storytelling to unlock one of the most important stories of our time.

Sometimes experience in the present can offer fresh perspectives and a deeper insight into our past. So we’re also interested in anniversary pieces if they still resonate with contemporary concerns and shine a light on our world today. Helmand: Tour of Duty featured the raw and shocking testimony of 10 soldiers from the Welsh Guards speaking for the first time about their six-month tour of Afghanistan during the armed forces’ bloodiest summer in over half a century. It was a co-commission with ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Wales and gave a unique and authentic portrayal of what they and their families experienced and how the events of that tour continue to shape their lives a decade later.

Although we primarily feature UK stories, when an international story is so big that it affects the lives of our audience we will always consider it. Feature-lengh Atomic People gathered the testimony of some of the last ‘Hibakusha’, the Japanese term for survivors of the two atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They are the only remaining survivors of a nuclear bomb and recount in powerful detail their memories from the time and share how the experience shaped every aspect of their lives.

New Documentary Directors' Initiative

Our new director’s initiative nurtures and champions up and coming talent to make their first film. Much like our other singles, these films have real range in subject matter, storytelling and tackle the same subjects as established film makers.

Danielle Spears’ film Bad Love: Why Did Fri Kill Kyle? tells the story of 21-year-old Fri Martin who was convicted for murdering the father of her children Kyle Farrell. Fri was later granted an appeal claiming she was a victim of domestic violence. With privileged access to both Fri and Kyle’s family and friends during the run up to the trial, the film charts the story from multiple perspectives. It tackles important questions about domestic abuse and asks whether Fri could be a victim as well as a killer?

Marian Mohamed’s Defending Digga D is a present tense film following the rapper at a pivotal point in his career as he was released from prison and set to return to the music industry, but with a Criminal Behaviour Order that controlled his creative output. It brought new audiences to iPlayer and won a breakthrough Bafta for Marian.

We have a raft of new director titles coming soon.

Unscripted on iPlayer

Read about how we commission unscripted content in an iPlayer first-world, along with advice and further resources to maximise the impact of your programme on the platform.

Aisling O’Connor sits within the documentaries team and also works with the other unscripted genres, with a special focus on indies in the English regions.