Stern & Wild (2025)

05/08/2025

We are thrilled for Stern & Wild filmmakers Vivienne Perry, Jasleen Kaur Sethi, Miles Blayden-Ryall and Stu Bernard on the success of BBC documentary CHLOE AYLING: MY UNBELIEVABLE KIDNAPPING which generated a huge press buzz when it launched this week.

The three-part doc is the latest project to explore the 2017 kidnapping ordeal of then 20-year-old glamour model Chloe Ayling, her escape and the ensuing media storm questioning the truth of her account. Featuring Chloe’s first documentary interview since the recent conviction of her abductors, the series looks at why so many people refused to believe her.

Vivienne Perry is Series Editor on the BBC Studios production, Jasleen Kaur Sethi is Edit Producer, Miles Blayden-Ryall is Director and Stu Bernard is Consultant Director.

The series received four-star reviews in the Daily Mail and the Sun; it was highlighted as one to watch in the Guardian, the Times, the Telegraph, the Sunday Times, the Sunday People and the Mail on Sunday; it was Pick of the Day in the i newspaper, The Daily Star and the Sun; and was also the Times’s Documentary Choice of the Week.

Chloe’s story and a potentially definitive theory of the case revealed in the series are discussed in an in-depth feature in today’s Daily Mail: https://ow.ly/Umex50WAfzx.

The series launched on BBC Three yesterday and is airing nightly at 9.00pm until Wednesday. All episodes will also air together on BBC One on Wednesday starting at 10.40pm. The whole series is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer: https://ow.ly/wtge50WAfzy.

01/08/2025

Congratulations to Stern & Wild filmmaker Adnan Ahmed and the whole team behind the hit Netflix hospital docuseries CRITICAL: BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. Grierson award-winner Adnan is a Shooting Director on the show, which is produced by The Garden, the makers of Channel 4’s award-winning medical docs 24 HOURS IN A&E and EMERGENCY.

Shot over 21 days across London’s four biggest trauma centres, the six-part series captures the incredible work of paramedics, doctors, nurses and surgeons as they battle to save the lives of critically injured patients. The series dropped last week and has been warmly received by critics and audiences. It has ranked among the streamer’s top 10 series in the UK since its launch and is currently ahead of the new season of SQUID GAME!

“CRITICAL: BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH landed on the platform on 23 July and is already being hailed as one of the streaming service’s most powerful releases of the year… Unlike fictional hospital dramas, this documentary does not cut away from the reality of trauma care. It’s raw, unfiltered, and difficult to watch at times.”
Edward Lauder, Hello! Magazine
https://ow.ly/8hgY50Wyz3y

“Netflix viewers are ‘in tears’ as they binge a brand-new documentary that has left them completely ‘hooked’.”
Aaliyah Rugg, The Mirror
https://ow.ly/cRAH50Wyz3v

“Some of the doctors featured on the new show are 24 HOURS IN A&E veterans and it is, in key respects, a very similar programme, albeit executed with added flair and – let’s be honest – a noticeable amount of extra West Coast wonga that makes for a slicker, faster-paced and irresistible watch.”
Ben Dowell, The Times
https://ow.ly/wQqS50Wyz3z

“Where CRITICAL does well is in reminding the viewer that highly qualified consultants and surgeons are human, too. In one episode, trauma consultant Maryam (doctors are introduced by first name only) is reduced to tears as she recalls a teenage friend dying in a car crash. ‘I could not comprehend or believe or accept it,’ she says. She explains that it was this event that made her want to become a doctor and help those involved in similar tragedies.”
Ed Power, The i
https://ow.ly/XVgv50Wyz3w

“CRITICAL beautifully captures the fragility and vulnerability of life — and the paradoxical resilience that can come from accepting its cruel randomness… Patients repeatedly express their gratitude to the NHS and say how cared for they feel, how supported, how relieved.”
Margaret Lyons, New York Times
https://ow.ly/F6KM50Wyz3x

31/07/2025

Congratulations to Stern & Wild filmmaker Katie Buchanan, Series and Executive Producer of the powerful two-part documentary INSIDE THE CULT OF THE JESUS ARMY which launched on BBC Two this week.

Directed by Ellena Wood, the series charts the rise and fall of the Jesus Fellowship, an evangelical Christian church led by charismatic preacher Noel Stanton which began as a small group of idealistic worshippers in rural Northamptonshire in 1969 and developed over the following decades to become one the UK’s most abusive cults. By the 1980s the movement had over 3,000 members living in a network of puritanically run communal homes and had become widely known for the work of its outreach group the Jesus Army whose brightly coloured battle buses and gaudily dressed recruiters were used to attract young people, the homeless and drug addicts. Beneath the ‘happy-clappy’ façade, however, was a history of unreported physical and s*xual abuse of hundreds of women and children which was covered up by the church’s leadership. Investigations into the abuse led to the closure of the Jesus Fellowship Church in 2019.

Filmed over three years, this gripping series charts the history of the church interspersed with filmed counselling sessions with former members conducted by psychotherapist Gillie Jenkinson, who was once in a cult herself. For the series, Ellena interviewed more than 80 survivors, in addition to relatives and family members. One of the former members who appears in the series is Philippa Barnes, who was interviewed recently for the Guardian’s Long Read section and attended the premiere of the series at last month’s Sheffield DocFest. “The feeling of relief was immense,” she is quoted as saying of watching the story unfold on screen. “I had been carrying that burden by myself for all that time.” Read the Guardian piece here: https://ow.ly/USVV50WxYqX.

The series is a Big Sister Films and Docsville Studios production for BBC Two. In addition to Katie as Series and Exec Producer, Helen Littleboy is Exec Producer. Ellena is a Producer as well as Director; other Producers are Esme Ash, Polina Borshchevska and Sophie Daniel.

Episode 2 of the series will air on BBC Two on Sunday 3 August at 9:00pm while both episodes are available to stream on BBC iPlayer here: https://ow.ly/h6vZ50WxYqZ. The story also features in the newly launched BBC podcast series THE JESUS ARMY CULT which is available at BBC Sounds here: https://ow.ly/hpkM50WxYr0.

22/07/2025

Congratulations to Stern & Wild filmmaker Ricardo Pollack who has been appointed to one of two newly created executive producer roles at ITN Productions’ Leeds office.

A super talented exec producer and director, Ricardo has worked across docuseries, single films and feature docs. He is known for award-winning series HOSPITAL and THE MET for the BBC, BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES: INDIA for Netflix, and most recently the feature doc and series versions of TWITTER: BREAKING THE BIRD for the BBC and CNN.

Ricardo will join the Leeds operation alongside fellow new appointee Nicola Addyman (GROOMED: A NATIONAL SCANDAL for Channel 4) in September. The creation of the roles is part of ITN Productions’ push to grow its factual slate outside of London and expand its production capabilities in the region.

He said: “I’m delighted to be joining the team at ITN Productions who have such a fantastic global reputation for brilliant journalism and telling some of the world's biggest stories. I'm looking forward to working with a range of networks and streamers across a broad slate of premium content.”

21/07/2025

We are delighted to announce that seven productions made by Stern & Wild clients have been longlisted for this year’s Grierson Awards. In total nine Stern & Wild filmmakers were involved with the selected productions which are spread over six award categories.

The investigative tour de force UNDERCOVER: EXPOSING THE FAR RIGHT (Tigerlily Films / Marking Films Inc / HiddenLight / Doc Society – Channel 4) directed, filmed and produced by Havana Marking is longlisted for the Envy Best Single Documentary – Domestic award.

Two productions made by Stern & Wild clients are longlisted in the Best Arts and Music Documentary category. Firstly, the deeply moving IN MY OWN WORDS: ALISON LAPPER (Chalk Productions – BBC), a wonderful episode of the BBC series exploring the life and work of some of the UK’s leading cultural figures which was executive produced by Kira Phillips. Also on the longlist is the brilliant six-part series IN VOGUE: THE 90S (Raw TV / Vogue Studios – Disney+) which tells the ‘definitive story’ of the fashion industry in the decade when fashion and mainstream culture collided. Two Stern & Wild filmmakers were Directors on the series: Matt Hill and Jane Preston.

Along with Stern & Wild filmmaker Marion Milne, Matt Hill was also a Director of the fascinating retrospective six-part docuseries DAVID FROST VS… (Paradine Productions, White Horse Pictures, Sky Studios – Sky Docs) which is longlisted in the Netflix Best Documentary Series category. Matt directed the opening episode "FROST vs THE BEATLES while Marion directed the finale "FROST vs THE MIDDLE EAST.

Also on the longlist for Netflix Best Documentary Series is BIBAA & NICOLE: MURDER IN THE PARK (True Vision Productions – Sky Docs) which was directed by Stern & Wild’s Alex Thomas. The harrowing three-part docuseries investigates the shocking killings of sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman in 2020, and the police misconduct that followed. The series is one of 12 projects longlisted in two different categories. The first episode of the series is also longlisted in a new category for the awards – Best Crime and Justice Documentary.

The opening episode of the wonderful three-part series GAME OF THROWS: INSIDE DARTS (Dorothy St Pictures / Meadowlark Media – Sky Docs) is longlisted for the Best Sports Documentary award. Stern & Wild filmmaker Chris Wilson was Series Director on the show which centred on the 2024 PDC World Darts Championships and the sport’s leading players and supporters. Stern & Wild’s Toby Trackman was Consulting Director.

Our final longlisted hopeful is the first episode of the brilliant three-part series SURVIVING BLACK HAWK DOWN (RSA for Netflix – Netflix) which is listed in the Best History Documentary category. The gripping series explores the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia from the perspective of both sides of the conflict. Stern & Wild’s Sally Brindle was Series Producer.

Nominations will be announced on 22 September and winners will be announced at the awards ceremony which will be held on 18 November at the Roundhouse in Camden, London. Fingers crossed for everyone.

For the complete longlist, click here: https://ow.ly/B2PP50WsWNS

21/07/2025

Nat Geo has released the official trailer for Stern & Wild filmmaker Tom Beard’s riveting new six-part docuseries NAMING THE DEAD which captures the relentless pursuit by an extraordinary group of people to name and seek justice for some of the 50,000 unidentified bodies found in the United States.

Produced by Wall to Wall for Nat Geo, the project has been a true labour of love for Series Director Tom who was brought in at the very outset to create the style, tone and look of this ambitious series. Huge congratulations to Tom on the amazing result of almost two years’ hard work from first conception to final edit. It looks fantastic.

With unprecedented access to active investigations, the series tells the stories of six unforgotten victims as it follows the groundbreaking work of the non-profit DNA Doe Project, a voluntary group of scientists, investigators and researchers who use investigative genetic genealogy to help law enforcement crack some of the country’s most confounding cold cases.

The series launches in the US on the Nat Geo channel on 2 August and will be available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu the following day.

Watch the trailer here: https://ow.ly/InH950WsxFx

17/07/2025

Many congratulations to Duncan Coates, Showrunner and Co-Executive Producer of the chilling Netflix series ATTACK ON LONDON: HUNTING THE 7/7 BOMBERS which has received a slew of great reviews and commentary in the press since its launch at the start of the month. The four-part series provides an immersive minute-by-minute account of events surrounding the July 2005 terror attacks and the hunt to find those responsible. It features exclusive interviews, unseen archive and powerful first-person accounts – including from survivors, victim’s families, people who knew the bombers, police investigators, and the authorities responsible for the government’s response including then head of MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller and Prime Minister Tony Blair. The series is available to stream now on Netflix.

“Netflix is not always known for its restraint in the documentary genre, but with its outstanding recent film ‘Grenfell: Uncovered’, and now Attack on London: Hunting the 7/7 Bombers’, it appears to be finding a new maturity and seriousness in the field… This is not simply a police procedural – and that strengthens it greatly. It is impressively comprehensive, taking in the political and media climate of the time.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian ★ ★ ★ ★

“Rather than simply recount the horrors, ‘Attack on London’ examines their impact on the city and culture at large. Through survivor testimony, previously unseen footage and plain-speaking narration, the documentary goes on to trace the investigation that followed, and the social and political aftershocks that still ripple across British society and reshaped the place of Muslims within it.”
Leila Latif, Hyphen (not rated)

“Often Netflix documentaries feel aimed for an international audience, but this felt true to the heightened experiences of all Londoners: the sheer confusion, screams, dust and wretched smoke from those directly affected alongside everybody’s real fears of another attack.”
Ben Dowell, The Times ★ ★ ★ ★

“A commuter, Dan Biddle… describes in vivid detail how he felt his life ebbing away, alone in the tunnel, only to be saved by a fellow passenger and ex-military medic who found him there and refused to leave his side. The documentary takes us back to a very dark place, but is also a testament to kindness and courage.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph ★ ★ ★ ★

“This carefully considered documentary, directed by Liza Williams, conveys the unimaginable while stopping short of the sensational… these terrible events and their extensive aftermath deserve to be thoughtfully and carefully documented, and this series does it with exceptional poise.”
Miranda Collinge, Esquire Magazine (not rated)

17/07/2025

Stern & Wild filmmakers Vivienne Perry, Jasleen Kaur Sethi, Miles Blayden Ryall and new client Stu Bernard are part of the talent-packed team behind the newly announced three-part BBC docuseries CHLOE AYLING: MY UNBELIEVABLE KIDNAPPING.

In the summer of 2017, it was reported that 20-year-old glamour model Chloe Ayling had been kidnapped in Italy by an international criminal gang known as Black Death and was told she had six days before she would be sold as s*x slave as part of a dark web auction. Despite the terrifying circumstances, she was able to convince her captors to let her walk free and into the hands of the local authorities. However, in the immediate aftermath Chloe became the subject of global media speculation. Were the allegations true? Or was the crime in fact a publicity stunt to further Chloe’s modelling career?

Giving her first documentary interview since the conviction of her abductors Lukasz and Michal Herba, Chloe recounts the ordeal of her kidnapping and tries to come to terms with what happened to her, the media reaction and why many people refused to believe her.

Vivienne Perry is Series Editor on the production, Jasleen Kaur Sethi is Edit Producer, and Miles Blayden Ryall and Stu Bernard are Directors. The series is produced by BBC Studios Documentary Unit for BBC Three and iPlayer. It was commissioned by Clare Sillery, Head of Commissioning, BBC Documentaries and Fiona Campbell, Controller for Youth Audiences. Tom Pullen is Commissioning Editor.

The series is set to air on BBC Three and iPlayer in August.

16/07/2025

We are delighted to announce that two productions involving Stern & Wild filmmakers have been nominated for this year’s Primetime Emmys.

Idris Elba is nominated in the Outstanding Narrator category for the D-Day episode in the four-part Nat Geo docuseries ERASED: WW2’S HEROES OF COLOUR. This extraordinary series reveals the untold stories of some of the eight million soldiers of colour who fought for the Allies during the Second World War. The screen star, whose own grandfather fought in the war, is both Narrator and an Exec Producer. It is produced by October Films in collaboration with Elba’s production company 22Summers. Four Stern & Wild clients had key roles on the production: Johanna Gibbon is Exec Producer, Annabel Hobley is Co-Exec Producer, and George Amponsah and Alex Thomas are Directors. Annabel was part of the team producing the narration sessions with the super talented actor.

The one-off ITV/CBS show AN EVENING WITH DUA LIPA is nominated in the Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Special category. The show centres on a concert recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in October 2024, where global star Dua Lipa is accompanied by the 53-piece Heritage Orchestra, a 14-strong choir and her own seven-piece band. The concert footage is interspersed with interviews with the singer as she reflects on the pivotal moments that have shaped her life and career. The special is produced by Fulwell 73 and Radical22 Productions. Stern & Wild filmmaker Marcus Liversedge directed the show’s documentary segments. His team included Olly Wiggins and Ben Bee on Camera and Ben Brosnan on Sound.

The awards will be presented on 14 September at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles and will air live on CBS and Paramount+. (In the UK, the ceremony starts on 15 September at 1.00am BST.)

14/07/2025

Congratulations to Stern & Wild filmmaker Iain ‘Thompy’ Thompson Showrunner of the thrilling new reality series SHARK! CELEBRITY INFESTED WATERS which launches on ITV1 tonight.

The five-part series sees seven ocean-phobic celebrities confront their greatest fear – sharks. Filmed in the Bahamas, the shark capital of the world, the show will push the celebrities to their limits having them dive and interact with a variety of different sharks including Hammerheads, Bull sharks and Tiger sharks. The line-up comprises Ade Adepitan, Helen George, Sir Lenny Henry, Ross Noble, Dougie Poynter, Lucy Punch and Rachel Riley.

The series is produced by Plimsoll Productions and draws on its strengths in both Natural History and Premium Unscripted production. Its launch coincides with the 50th anniversary of the release of Steven Spielberg’s JAWS, which defined the shark for a generation of filmgoers as an indiscriminate killer, but aims to disprove the stereotype and help both celebrities and viewers to fall in love with one of the ocean’s top predators and recognise their vital place in both the food chain and our ecosystem.

SHARK! CELEBRITY INFESTED WATERS is tipped to be one of the hits of the summer. Plimsoll’s Creative Director of Factual Entertainment Andrea Jackson and Head of Factual Entertainment Karen Plumb discuss the show’s genesis in the latest ‘Behind the Scenes’ feature in Broadcast: https://ow.ly/wzlQ50Wp8jJ while on the other side of the screen, the Guardian’s Rhik Samadder picked the show for his weekly column ‘The watcher’: https://ow.ly/TvTe50Wp8jI

It launches on ITV1 and STV tonight (14 July) at 9.00pm and is available to stream on ITVX and STV Player. Watch the trailer here: https://ow.ly/w5QV50Wp8jH

07/07/2025

Massive congratulations to Stern & Wild filmmaker Natalie Hewit and the whole team behind the fantastic feature doc ENDURANCE, winner of the Best Documentary Programme award at the 2025 Broadcast Digital Awards which were announced last week.

The 100-minute film tells the story of polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew’s extraordinary feat of survival during the ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-1917) and the search by modern-day explorers to find his sunken ship. It is a Nat Geo Doc Films, Little Dot Studios, History Hit, Consequential & Little Monster Films production for Disney+.

The film is co-directed by Natalie alongside Oscar-winning directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. Natalie and Elizabeth won a 2025 Gracie Award for the film, while Natalie’s’ documentation of the expedition to find the wreck of the Endurance in 2022 secured Reach the World’s Cronkite Award for Exploration and Storytelling.

For a list of all the Award winners, click here: https://ow.ly/nK2l50WlHSH

03/07/2025

Netflix has released the official trailer for its upcoming docuseries CRITICAL: BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH which gives an access-all-areas look at trauma care in London.

Stern & Wild filmmaker Adnan Ahmed is a Shooting Director on the show which is produced by the makers of Channel 4’s award-winning medical docs 24 HOURS IN A&E and EMERGENCY.

Shot over 21 days across the capital's four biggest trauma centres, the six-part series follows the work of paramedics, doctors, nurses and surgeons as they bring patients back from the brink of catastrophe. The series reveals not only the life-saving interventions of the major trauma teams but also the personal, emotional, and sometimes traumatic reasons that inspire those on the NHS frontline to do a job where every second counts.

The series launches on Netflix on 23 July. Watch the trailer on YouTube here: https://ow.ly/6muy50WkwqE

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