Sir Tony Robinson has partnered with WTFN Group’s Radar Studios on Tony Robinson Rewrites History, a new project spanning YouTube and television.
A dedicated YouTube channel is due to launch later this year with an initial 12 half-hour episodes. Australia-based Radar Studios is also developing a six-part, hour-long television series, which it will introduce to international buyers at MIPCOM.
The series will revisit events from ancient history to the modern era, examining the decisions and moments of chance that shaped their outcomes. Each story will also consider a point at which events could have taken a different course. Subjects will range from the Spanish Armada to the emergence of Covid-19.
“I’ve known the team at WTFN for more than 15 years and we’ve made some terrific television together, so the opportunity to do something genuinely new with Radar Studios was irresistible,” said Robinson (pictured). “History is about the way things were, isn’t it? It’s written in stone and it couldn’t have happened any other way. Well, no! It’s actually full of tiny moments where everything hung in the balance. One different decision, one mistake, even a gust of wind and you have to rewrite history.”
He added: “And the great thing about this partnership is that we’re no longer thinking about history as something that has to fit into one particular TV slot. We can tell stories in different ways, for different audiences and across different platforms. There is an enormous amount to explore and I’m hoping these first six hours are just the beginning.”
Robinson’s relationship with parent company WTFN Group stretches back more than 15 years and includes the TV series Tony Robinson’s Time Walks and Tony Robinson’s Tour of Duty. Radar Studios also runs the history channel Time Travels on YouTube, which has 40,000 subscribers and carries earlier programming featuring Robinson.
WTFN Group chief commercial officer Derek Dyson said the project was the first to emerge from Radar Studios’ new originals strategy. “Instead of making a series and then deciding where it might live, we are developing IP from the outset with multiple audiences, platforms and distribution opportunities in mind. We are creating original content for a dedicated, managed YouTube channel; developing additional digital opportunities around that content; and producing a standalone six-part television series for international buyers.”
The partnership follows WTFN Group’s launch of Radar Studios earlier this month. The new business combines its digital operation Radar with international distributor Fred Media; both names are being retired as standalone entities. Radar Studios, led by Dyson, will make its official debut at MIPCOM in October.
The company has been organised into three divisions. Network manages its owned and operated FAST and digital channels; Distribution represents owned and third-party programming internationally; and Content acquires, funds, develops and creates programming for the other two divisions.
Explaining the restructuring, Dyson said: “Content supply is one of the major challenges in our business today, so we’ve developed Radar Studios to reduce potential risk and help provide a pipeline for a more sustainable model. We will continue to maximise the enviable legacy IP that we have in the business – most fully-owned by WTFN – and have also recently established a new fund to invest in and acquire high-quality third-party content.”
Other recent digital-first moves from Radar include the launch of YouTube channel Ice Pilots.
