Philip Stevens discovers how social distancing has been implemented for Later...With Jools Holland
By Philip Stevens
Published: May 22, 2020
Philip Stevens discovers how social distancing has been implemented for Later With Jools Holland
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> Philip Stevens discovers how social distancing has been implemented for Later With Jools Holland
https://www.tvbeurope.com/production-post/making-music-at-a-distance title=Share via Email class=share-email>
Later with Jools Holland has been the home of live music for almost 28 years on BBC Two, having started back in 1992 and with over 350 shows to date. It is known over the world for its live performance format with all the artists in the studio at the same time, taking it in turns to perform with Jools at the helm. It is also known for giving a TV platform to brand new artists as well as established names and in recent years has offered up TV debuts to the likes of Adele, Amy Winehouse, Arctic Monkeys, Ed Sheeran, Stormzy, Gregory Porter, Christine & The Queens and many more!
But, like many programmes, Later with Jools Holland has needed to adapt to the lockdown restrictions in the current situation surrounding Covid-19. So, what changes have been implemented with the new series that started on 15th May?
We had to move away from Television Centre in west London, explains Alison Howe, executive producer, BBC Studios. But we are lucky in that Jools has his own studio based in south London. This is his musical home, it's where he rehearses, where he records and where he collaborates with artists. He opened that up for us to do the shows from there, because it would have been difficult to find an alternative natural home for the show's format. It feels in keeping with what we'd normally do, but also gives the audience an insight into Jools' own music world.
Howe points out that the studio show is normally transmitted live (or as live) so this has been a whole new experience for the production team. We decided that we wanted to match the production values of our usual show where we could, so pre-recording the show gives us the chance to make sure the sound and pictures are the best they could possibly be.
New look The revised approach meant the team had to rethink the production format for the show. We need to fill the time differently and engage the audience with someone's personal story and the archives, for the first show this was Christine and the Queens. Laura Marling also shot a performance herself, we gave her a style guide of how we want to do performances in terms of the look, sound, camera angles etc.
For a future programme the team worked with Lianne La Havas from her home, again with guidance and technical help in terms of what was needed to deliver the best possible performance within each show.
One of the things we were all quite keen on achieving in getting these specially shot performances is that they were of the highest possible quality, explains Howe. A lot of work was put into how they're captured, what they're recorded on and the sound quality, so it's all in keeping with the normal high levels of production that we achieve when we make the show in the studio. We've put a lot of effort working with artists in the delivery to ensure we're all collectively creating something with which we are all proud.
She adds, This is a 45-minute show and we want to hear as much detail as we can about our guest's musical story so it feels about right to feature a single artist.
Howe says she is keen to see if performances from Holland's studio space can be included but, at the moment, that is not possible because of social distancing.
On the ground at that studio there is a two-person crew filming and capturing the guest interviews that take place over Zoom, and recording the links needed to be included in other parts of the show. Two cameras are used, one locked off, the other manned with an operator maintaining social distancing. Normally, we would have a full multi camera operation, a full sound team and a floor and design team. The audience normally comprises 250 to 300 people, and five or six artists and interviews. It's a very full busy show and we know how to do that. But something different was needed for these unusual times.
She concludes, It was challenging, and indeed a little scary, to start with as we had never made the show any other way than in a regular studio. However, it's been incredibly exciting to almost start again, learn how to do things differently and offer the audience a different type of Later with Jools Holland. A small team of people have worked very hard to bring an established music show to the BBC Two schedule in a new way and so far after one show, the response has been terrific. The mix of Jools with a great and interesting guest with stories to tell, unrivalled archive as well as some new performances has offered up a real visual and sonic treat at a time when its most needed.
SubscribeFor more stories like this, and to keep up to date with all our market leading news, features and analysis, sign up to our newsletter here.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Philip Stevens discovers how social distancing has been implemented for Later...With Jools Holland
