Blue Heads Into War Zone With Taking The Flak

A part of the Prime Focus Group, blue, has completed post-production on Taking the Flak, a new sitcom from the BBC, which airs on BBC Two on July 8 at 9pm.
The seven-part series follows a team of BBC journalists who've been sent out to
Karibu - a fictional oil-rich African country - to cover an escalating war for the Ten O'Clock News, and charts their daily lives in a war zone.
Local 'fixer' Harry sees the fast developing story as his big break into the competitive world of news journalism but is soon 'bigfooted' when a BBC News senior foreign correspondent and his production team and an experienced World Service reporter arrive. With so many obstacles in the war zone including football-mad boy soliders, intestinal discomfort and huge egos, not to mention unexploded landmines, who'll get to tell the story for 'the Ten'.
The series stars Doon Mackichan (Smack the Pony) and Martin Jarvis (Titanic) among others and features guest appearances from Ruby Wax, George Alagiah, Sophie Raworth and Bill Turnbull.
Shot on location in Kenya by a news cameraman in an ENG (electronic newsgathering) style, Taking the Flak was created, co-written and co-produced by experienced, award-winning journalists.
Graeme Hayes, who graded the sitcom, said: "Most of the series if set and shot in Africa so it required a golden-red sunny and warm look, but this was contrasted by some scenes of an office back in the UK, which had to have a cooler icy blue feel.
"There were lots of vista shots of the African environment in the establishing scenes, so I graded those to look picture postcard. There were also lots of interiors as many of the scenes were in the local hotel where the correspondents are staying, so this involved switching between the exterior vista shots and then to a hotel interior which needed to look rich and sumptuous. There's a night scene where they're in danger, so i just added to the darkness to emphasise the seriousness of the situation."
Barrie Pease provided online for the project at blue.
(KMcA/BMcc)