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 ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
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...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiativ...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Docume...
02/07/2026
Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables
Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026
0 Comments
An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...
02/07/2026
Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...
Philip Stevens discovers how social distancing has been implemented for Later...With Jools Holland
