This document outlines a proposed documentary series that will follow a crew traveling up the River Thames from Staines to Oxford. The first episode will focus on Runnymede and Staines, exploring the history of the Magna Carta signed at Runnymede and the history of Staines as an important Thames-side town. It will include interviews with historians and footage of the surrounding areas. The target audience is educated men and women over 35 who enjoy documentaries and geography, as well as geography students. Inspiration comes from other river-focused documentary series like Coast and contacts are provided for local museums and historical societies.

2. BBC 2
• Factual- main programme.
• Intelligent material and language.
• Rich in content.
• The BBC mainly have documentaries that
look to inform their audience and educate
them at a high level. They are ambitious
but not difficult to follow.

3. BBC 2- Policies and Guidelines
• Not permitted to carry advertising or
sponsorship on its public services.
• The BBC's core purpose is public service
broadcasting.
• Programmes need to appeal to the whole
of the UK not just certain regions.

4. Why documentary…
• We decided to go for documentary as it is
an easily exploited brief.
• It lets the producers enhance real truths
so that the demographic can understand
what happened in the situations.
For example; The time team, which is an
investigative archaeological team who go
looking for historical artefacts.

5. Narrative…
• A story is the narrative, or telling, of an
event or series of events, crafted in a way
to interest the audience.
• At its most basic, a story has a beginning,
middle, and end.
• It has compelling characters, rising
tension, and conflict that reaches some
sort of resolution.

6. Narrative…
• 1st series the River Thames starting at
Staines and ending near Oxford.
• 2nd series the River Wye in Wales.
• 3rd series the River Tay in Scotland.
• 4th series the River Bann in Northern
Ireland.

7. Narrative…
• In Staines we will look at the facts that
people may not know about.
• There will be interviews done with
historians that will give information on the
big history of Staines.

8. Sub Genre…
• Our sub genre is an expository
documentary which is also referred to as
‘voice of god’, we are going to use this as
we will be using footage of surrounding
areas and explain them for what there
relevance is.

9. Target Audience
• Our main audience will be men and
women over 35 with an educated
background. Also who are interested in
documentaries and geography.
• Our second demographic will be students
that are studying geography.

10. Our project….
• Our project is based around a series
which follows a crew of people travelling
up The River Thames
• Instead of going from the conventional
start to the end, our programme is going
from just outside London to Newbridge
near Oxford and which is going from the
end to the beginning…to the start.

11. Our episode….
• Film at Runnymede and Staines.
• Basing it on the Magna Carta and looking
at the history about it.
• History on Staines.

12. The Magna Carta….
• Issued on 15th June 1215.
• Laws.
• The first document forced onto an English
King.

13. Staines….
• Thames-side town in the Spelthorne
borough of Surrey.
• Crossing over the Thames since the
Romans.
• Staines was the major producer of
linoleum, a type of floor covering

14. Inspiration….
• Coast.
• The Boat That Guy Built.
• River Monsters.

15. Contacts….
• Spelthorne museum- 01784 461804
Education Team Leader: Rowena
Ferneley,
rferneley@spelthornemuseum.org.uk
• Egham-by-Runnymede historical society
General enquiries: Benard
Agar-bernard.agar@ntlworld.com
• Egham museum- 01784 434483