Q&A: The Syndicate, panel talk with Kay Mellor, Yvonne Francas and Gaynor Holmes

Join WFTV for a special panel talk with the executive team behind the new fourth series of The Syndicate.

Set between Yorkshire and Monaco, the story follows a group of low paid kennel workers who think they’ve won the lottery but have been robbed of their ticket. The chase to confront the culprit takes us to the wealthy French Riviera where the young syndicate find themselves well out of their depth.

For this WFTV event hosted by Ria Hebden, we’ll be joined by BAFTA award-winning writer Kay Mellor, Rollem Productions’ executive producer Yvonne Francas and executive producer for the BBC, Gaynor Holmes.

The panel will share behind the scenes insight into the making of the fourth series: from the inspiration for the story and new characters to the challenges faced in production filming during lockdown.

The new series of The Syndicate will begin on Tuesday 30 March at 21:00 on BBC1.

Kay Mellor OBE is a Leeds born and bred Writer, Director and Actress best known for her work on several successful and ground-breaking drama series including Fat Friends, Band of Gold, Girlfriends and The Syndicate.

Outside of television, Kay has written several feature films including Girls Night; she both wrote and directed feature film Fanny and Elvis; and one-off drama Some Kind of Life.

Kay is the recipient of numerous awards, in 2014 she was awarded the Writers Guild Award for Outstanding Contribution to Writing and received a Fellowship for significant contribution to television from the Royal Television Society in November 2016. In February 2020, Kay was awarded the Broadcast Special Recognition Award, which coincided with the announcement of her latest commission for BBC1 – a fourth series of the hit lottery winner drama, The Syndicate.

Yvonne Francas is an executive producer on series 4 of The Syndicate.

Her television career started at Yorkshire Television, working on a raft of factual programmes before moving into scripted drama. Working initially in development and then as an associate producer, Yvonne's first producer credit was for Fat Friends. Since then, she has produced and exec-produced most of Rollem's production slate, including subsequent series of Fat Friends, Between the Sheets, Strictly Confidential, A Passionate Woman, The Syndicate amongst others.

Yvonne has also produced Our Girl, Death in Paradise, Love Life and the first series of ITV’s Scott & Bailey. When she is not in production Yvonne develops new TV projects for Rollem.

Gaynor Holmes is one of Scotland’s most experienced TV executives. In a BBC career spanning over 20 years, Gaynor’s drama credits include TV productions such as multi-award-winning single film Elizabeth is Missing, and other series such as The Cry, The Victim, Shetland and Waterloo Road amongst many others.

Gaynor’s upcoming BBC Dramas include, the much anticipated fourth series of Kay Mellor’s hit series The Syndicate and Vigil, a high-octane crime thriller set on a nuclear submarine, starring Suranne Jones.

Ria Hebden, Host

Ria Hebden is a TV Presenter and founder of production company, Carpe Diem Media Productions, where she presents and produces the digital talk show Wonder Women TV, podcast and annual event Wonder Women Live!

Ria regularly presents the Entertainment news on ITV’s Lorraineand is passionate about telling stories that celebrate diversity, champion women and inspire the next generation. Ria has presented Sunday Morning Liveon BBC One, delivered live OB’s for This Morning, appeared as a Friday night panellist on BBC Two’s Strictly It Takes Two and broadcasted live for BBC Radio London. She has interviewed a host of celebrities including Sandi Toksvig, Kim Cattrall, Ruby Wax, Idris Elba and John Boyega amongst others.

Ria also hosts live events and industry awards for the Royal Television Society, MIPCOM, the Jack Petchey Foundation and the Media Production Show. She is also a mentor for the Media Trust and a former mentee of the WFTV (UK) mentoring scheme.

Event Schedule:

17:55: Please join the webinar waiting room

18:00: Host-led panel discussion

18:45: Audience Q&A

19:00: Finish

How will the online event work?

This event will be live streamed via Zoom.us. Viewing details will be sent via your confirmation.

Attending participants will not be visible to others and will be muted throughout the session. After the talk, there will be an opportunity for audience members to ask their questions to the panel by using the Q&A feature.

This event is for existing WFTV members only.

Members please log-in to your account and sign up below this listing.

If you are not a member and would like to join, membership costs just £100 + VAT/yr , please click here or email admin@wftv.org.uk.

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