Learn to create television of the highest quality at Middlesex University where we are teaching the next generation of studio and location directors, producers, camera, sound and lighting technicians and editors, researchers and production managers. We offer highly skilled training and teach you all you need to know for the fast-paced world of TV. The industry needs skilled graduates like ours, with the knowledge and experience to make the next live TV hit, blockbuster series or award-winning documentary.
We are based in London, the heart of the UK television industry and this course been developed in close consultation with industry experts and is one of the most practical and career-focused television degrees in the UK.
Over the course of your degree, you will make sitcoms, dramas, documentaries, game shows, quiz shows, corporate videos, children’s television, chat shows and many other types of programmes. You will learn to write scripts and develop formats, all within fantastic facilities such as our state-of-the-art television studio, using industry standard Avid editing suites and top of the range equipment.
You will also have regular masterclasses from top professionals as well as get the opportunity to visit live productions to see them at work. You will gain networking skills and connections and for the past three, our final year students have pitched their graduation project programme ideas to top executives at the BBC.
This is a future-facing degree where you will learn everything you need to know about broadcasting, streaming, and video on demand. Our recent graduates have found employment with: BBC, Endemol, ITV, Disney, Sky TV, E4, Tiger Lily Films, MTV, Lime Pictures, Talkback Thames, Shine Group, all3 Media, October Films, Sundog Pictures, IMG Sport, Applause Store, NRK, Arena Television and National Geographic.
Throughout your 3 years, you’ll be working across different genres from music videos, sitcoms, talent shows and quiz shows to one-off and serial dramas and observational documentaries, always in state-of-the-art facilities with the support of industry experts.
You will gain substantial practical production skills in single and multi-camera projects that will train you in the multiple skills the industry demands today. You will have the opportunity to specialise in production roles and genres with optional modules in television production and post-production technologies, documentary, drama, studio entertainment and making productions on demand for real clients. Your skills, talent and vision come to fruition when you produce your graduation showreel in Year 3. Work placements and a career focused module ensure you have all the tools necessary to work in television.
This course allows you to specialise in a variety of technical operating roles. Specialist TV studio and location roles taught include, amongst others, Studio Director, Floor Manager, Gallery Production Assistant, Vision Mixer, Camera, Lighting, Sound, Editing and Vision Control
This module aims to enable you to develop industry knowledge and equips you with the expertise necessary to understand how the current broadcasting structures, production practices and programme forms came about and continue to develop. It also provides an opportunity for you to investigate in depth an aspect of the industry, its technology, production practices or programme forms which you wish to study in greater detail and in which you may ultimately desire to work.
This module aims to enable you to learn how TV programme-makers communicate using sound and image. It aims to introduce the medium's most significant and distinctive programmes and programme forms, and to ways of thinking about the forms that television production, both linear and multi-platform, take - and to ask why they have evolved in the ways they have.
This module aims to enable you to acquire a knowledge of the technical and creative processes involved in single-camera production. It will engage you in a range of individual and small group workshops and exercises including camera, lighting, sound and editing. You will script, plan and shoot a short single-camera drama and a documentary on location. You will also be introduced to the concepts of programme structure, production management, and ethical and legal constraints.
This module aims to enable you to acquire a broad understanding of the key concepts associated with Television Studio Production in our custom built professional TV studio facility. It will engage you in a range of group workshops and exercises, including multi-camera operation, set design, studio lighting, direction, autocue and vision mixing. You will also learn the skills necessary to plan and shoot a range of multi-camera programmes, from chat shows and music recordings to entertainment and drama, in the TV Studio.
This module aims to enable you to identify and evaluate contemporary debates in television in a global context. You will study television genres and explore key moments and movements in the history, development and current practice of television as an art and as an industry.
This module aims to introduce you to television drama, exploring key movements and critical ideas in the history, development and practice of the form. Using both British and international examples it enables you to get an insight into the diversity of dramatic forms on television. It allows you to work in small groups and build on your production and technical skills to write, produce and direct your own short dramas. The module will enable you to develop the skills, knowledge, teamwork and professionalism involved in drama production from first concept to final cut.
This module will enable you to produce short documentaries of your own, working in small production teams, from pre-production research through to post-production. You will also explore key movements in the history and development of documentary using national and international examples as well as the diversity and range of contemporary documentary programme making.
This module aims to enable you to enhance your studio production skills, by creating a range of different forms of entertainment output, for both linear and multiplatform delivery. It also explores key movements in the history, development and current practice of the form. Drawing on examples from national and international television output, the module gives you an insight into the diversity and range of contemporary studio entertainment formats.
This module aims to enable you to gain experience of working in real-life 'client-led' video production. It enables you to get an insight into working with clients in a professional context in order to enhance your transition into the moving image industry. The module will also provide production opportunities with both actual clients and in-house University productions.
This module aims to enhance your skills with camera, sound and lighting technologies and advance your technical knowledge. You will explore key movements in the history and development of practice both on location and in the studio. Drawing on examples from national and international television as well as film output, the module will give you an insight into the diversity and range of contemporary production techniques and professional practices.
This module aims to enhance your familiarity with post-production technologies and craft skills in our industry standard Avid Editing Suites. Drawing on examples from national and international television as well as film output, the module gives you an insight into the diversity and range of contemporary post-production techniques, formats, workflows and professional practices.
This module aims to focus on the development of your television expertise and industry knowledge. You are equipped with the expertise necessary to research about a specific aspect of television including areas such as industry, technology or programming. This is an opportunity to investigate, in depth, an aspect of television that interests you.
This module aims to prepare you for the world of work. As well as providing opportunities for work experience in the industry, this module also equips you with the skills necessary for successful CV writing, job interviews and industry networking.
This module aims to consolidate your production skills with a major graduation project which could be a documentary, drama or studio show. You will be able to harness all the creative, technical and editorial skills learnt throughout the degree to produce a work that you can use, together with your showreel, as a calling card for industry. You can also enter your final production into competitions, festivals and upload it for online viewing in order to showcase your talents.
You can find more information about this course in the programme specification. Module and programme information is indicative and may be subject to change.
Television Production students at Middlesex begin creating their own shows and films in their first year and have a track record of making award-winning work during their degrees. Some examples of their work can be seen below:
The UK television industry, with over 50,000 employees, is one of the strongest in the world and amongst the largest sectors of the UK creative industries. The creative media industries workforce earn 24% more than the mean average income of the UK working population*.
Because of the diverse nature of the degree, a wide range of television roles will be open to you including scriptwriter, director, editor, producer, camera operator, researcher, sound and lighting technician and/or floor manager for companies including:
Our recent graduates have worked on such shows as Storage Hunters UK, The Only Way is Essex, Geordie Shore, Big Brother, Celebrity Juice, X Factor, Animal Attraction, Never Ever Do This At Home, Norway's Toughest, Fonejacker, Grand Designs, Location, Location, Location, Shop Well for Less, A Cabbie Abroad, Jamie Oliver's Dream School, What Britain Earns, MPs Behind Closed Doors, Who’s Afraid of Conceptual Art?, The Truth About Alcohol, On Benefits: Life On The Dole, Say Yes to the Dress, Masterchef.
*Source: Creative Skillset Employment Census of the Creative Media Industries (2012)
BA Television Production has been awarded the Creative Skillset Tick, the industry kitemark of quality, following a rigorous assessment process by experts working in the Creative Industries. The Creative Skillset Tick is awarded to practice-based courses which best prepare students for a career in the industry.
We have some of the finest television production and post-production facilities in UK higher education. Sony has designed the TV production suite for us with two TV studios at its centre, which includes state of the art galleries for Production, Lighting and Sound, in which we are able to run multi-camera productions in full High Definition XD Cam 50Mbps. The studio facility also benefits from having an Avid Isis 5000 server in conjunction with 2 x 4 Channel Airspeed Multi-streams, which also support our Post Production editing suites and News studio and gives us central storage in a tapeless environment.
Paul is an award-winning television producer who has made dozens of programmes for the BBC and Channel Four as well as many international co-productions. He is also the author and editor of a number of books and articles on television and film.
Tom is an award-winning television director who has made a variety of productions for both Broadcast and Business TV. His specialist research interests include factual programming and developing media practice.
Basil is programme leader for BA Television Production. He has published on various aspects of television in numerous books and journals with particular research interests in TV around the world and horror.
Start: October 2018, EU/International induction: September 2018
Duration: 3 years full-time, Usually 6 years part-time
Code: P303
Start: October 2018, International induction: September 2018
Duration: 3 years full-time, Normally 5 years part-time
Code: W614
Start: October 2018, EU/International induction: September 2018
Duration: 3 years full-time
Code: WP15