Production resources

Access services

The Access Services team provide disability related assistance, advice and support to employees and line managers. Find out more on the Disability section of the BBC Diversity website. 

Visit the Contacts page for contacts in Access Services.

Action lines and audience support

Occasionally a programme will raise difficult issues which may require support, advice and additional information for the audience beyond the linear transmission. In these cases the BBC Audience Services team can provide a range of support options including:

• Contacting relevant organisations who can provide a range of information and advice.
• Drafting online information for the programme website to publish (for Commissioner sign off).
• Ensuring the BBC Actionline website points to this for a defined period.
• Providing recorded information on a dedicated phone line.

The on-air slide and continuity announcement will normally tell the audience how to go online for the information, or to hear recorded information as the second option. BBC Audience Services arrange this in consultation with the production for the transmission and any scheduled repeats.

Sufficient lead time is needed to organise this support. Commissioning executives will help productions contact the Audiences Services team. This is normally required at least 10 days before the programme transmission.

Audience appreciations, comments and complaints are also handled centrally by Audience Services and collated for reporting overnight on the daily audience logs. These are available via commissioning executives.

Audience complaints

Visit the complaints, bullying and harassment page for information about the process independent production companies should follow when receiving a complaint directly from a viewer.

Audience information

The BBC has a wealth of data and insights around programme performance and our audiences across two distinct websites. Find out more below.

Audience Insight website

The Audience Insight website allows independent production companies and BBC Studios teams access to a wealth of research articles and reporting about our audiences, enabling them to understand trends and be better informed to create their next big hit. The site is available to production companies and BBC Studios teams. Users with a BBC PiCoS account or BBC Login will automatically have access to the site.

Audience Performance website

The Audience Performance website allows production companies and BBC Studios teams online access to audience performance figures for programmes made by their company which have aired on linear TV.

Accounts

New company accounts

To request a new account please fill in the form with the following information:

• The company name
• The names, individual email addresses* and mobile numbers of those requiring access (please identify the person who will act as account administrator)
• The name of the programme(s)
• The programme UID (as noted in the delivery pack)

Adding new users to a company account

To request access please fill in the form with the following information:

• company name
• email address*
• mobile number

New BBC Studio users

To request access please fill in the form using your BBC login.

* Email addresses must be of the form of 'name@company.com'. Access will not be given to generic email addresses such as 'info@company.com' or generic domains such as Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, Mac, etc.

Audience interactivity

If a programme includes voting, competitions, awards, charity services or contestant lines the production must discuss their plans with the Interactive Technical Advice and Contracts Unit (ITACU) to ensure the programme complies with BBC, Ofcom, PhonepayPlus and other regulations.

Read the applicable BBC policy for audience interactivity on the Policies and guidelines page.

BBC archives

Please see the Archive, rights and clearances page for information about using BBC Archive.

BBC studios and post production facilities

BBC Studios and Post Production Ltd provide a range of HD TV studios, post production facilities and Digital Media Services to both BBC programme makers and the external market.

Visit the BBC Studios and Post Production website 

Phone: 020 3327 7400

studiosandpostproduction@bbc.co.uk

Finding a studio audience and contributors

The BBC Shows, Tours and Events website can market a show and help production teams find contestants and volunteers as well as musicians, dancers, actors or other performers. If a site with this information already exists it can be linked to from the homepage.

BBC Studio Audiences also provide the following services:

• Research and audience invitation.
• Design, print and distribution of tickets.
• Ensure audiences are looked after on their visit.
• Market the show on the Shows, Tours and Events website and through an email database of  people who have previously expressed interest.

Phone: 020 8756 1514

Email: BBC Studio Audiences

Please note, there is specific editorial guidance and BBC policies related to the use  of contributors or contestants in BBC Programmes.  See the Audience interactivity section further down this page for information.

There is specific guidance around using children and young people in BBC programmes. Go to the Safeguarding website for more information.

Find out about the BBC ticketing and stewarding code of practice on the Policies and guidelines page.

Pronunciation unit

The BBC Pronunciation unit is staffed by professional linguists who research and provide advice about pronunciations in any language. This advice is free of charge and is available exclusively to BBC staff, programme makers and independent production companies producing content for the BBC.

Pronunciation advice can be given over the phone and via email. When contacting the unit, programme makers are asked to provide programme details, context and to specify their deadline. Scripts should be sent with the required pronunciations clearly marked.

In exceptional circumstances (eg if child actors are involved) the unit may be able to supply spoken pronunciations as digital sound files.

Written pronunciations can be provided in either of two in-house respelling systems:

• BBC Modified Spelling (for BBC-internal use, requires a special BBC font)
• BBC Text Spelling (plain text, no special font required)

Telephone: 020 361 44700 (for the exclusive use of BBC staff, programme makers and independent production companies producing BBC content)

Email: pronunciation@bbc.co.uk

Please note: if you have a comment or complaint about a BBC programme please visit the dedicated BBC Complaints website. 

ScriptWriter

ScriptWriter is a free of charge script management tool available for all productions working on BBC commissioned content for the duration of the production.

This BBC developed software is an invaluable tool that can save productions time and money throughout pre-production, filming and post-production and can import scripts from Final Draft which eliminates the need to re-key script documents.

ScriptWriter is simple to use and contains all common word processing functions including cut and paste, font choice, text alignment, page break insertion and the capacity to search the script for specific text. In addition to the usual script view containing dialogue, stage directions and camera and sound information, you can also create post-production scripts or dialogue-only scripts. You will then be able to create a shooting order script which you can achieve through several simple steps and you can then export your scripts to various formats including pdf and text files in addition to creating camera-specific camera cards, running orders, character breakdown reports and story order reports. A particularly useful aspect of the system is the ability to add different filming elements to scripts including new scenes and sequences, camera shots with camera directions, vision elements such as captions and sound elements such as sound cues.

Other benefits of this system include automatic dialogue numbering for individual scenes or for the whole script and a ‘Lock Pages’ function which ensures that master page numbers remain the same when amendments to the script are made. For live programmes, there is a ‘Duration and Hit Time’ function to assist with the management of the overall duration of the recording.

Please email us to request immediate free access to ScriptWriter. A comprehensive user guide will be available.

Please note ScriptWriter has been developed for use on a PC and doesn’t currently work on Macs. Running ScriptWriter on Windows 7 or Windows 10 is recommended.