Andrew Rushton

Credits

Merseyside Detectives
Liverpool 2022- Ashley dale & 9 yr old Olivia Platt are shot dead at home, victims of feuding gangs. Can the police bring the killers to justice?

L.A. Productions for Channel 4

Producer : Jamie Pickup

Exec producer : Emma Tutty

 

Stranger in My family
“This heartfelt documentary follows Luke Davies on a fascinating journey of heritage, family and love.. An emotionally intelligent and affecting one off documentary about identity and belonging” The Guardian 4 stars

Broadcast Best Documentary Nominee 2024

9 lives media for BBC3/ BBC 1

Producer : Sunny Kang

Exec producer : Cat Lewis, Jazz Gowans & Nic Gutteridge

BBC Comm Ed: Fran Baker

Hell Camp
Steve Cartisano had an answer to the moral panic which gripped American parent’s in the 1980’s, Wilderness Camps. He believed he could cure the drug use and reckless behaviour of youth with tough love in unforgiving terrains. Those who were kidnapped and sent hiking across the Utah desert tell a different story, one  of deprivation, beatings and avoidable death.

Story Films for Netflix

Producer : Liza Williams

Story Films  producers : Peter Beard and Bruce Fletcher

Catching a Predator
Inside the UKs largest rape trial and investigation, with the police and barristers who brought to justice Reynard Sinaga’s secret ten year assault on around 200 men in Manchester.

Minnow Films for BBC 2

Producer : Liza Williams

Series producer : Louise Malkinson

Exec producer : Sophie Jones & Morgan Matthews

The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe : The Real Story
The accompanying documentary to the well-received drama of John Darwin’s stranger than fiction attempt to fake his own death, pocket  the insurance money and start a new life in Panama.

“Occasionally, television gets so excited about a particular case it does a drama and a documentary about it, and sometimes the documentary wins…you could safely swerve The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe on ITV in favour of the same’s channel punchier swerve The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe; the real story” Jack Seale, The Guardian

ITV productions

Director: Nick Mattingly

Exec: Will Smith

24 Hours in A&E: Series 20: Going the Distance The Garden For Channel 4 Producer: Kate Walker Series Producer : Louise Bartmann

Lifting the Lockdown
Following cash strapped Salford Council as it begins the easing of the first wave of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. Rumour has it that this was the first Panorama in it’s 60+ year history to forego commentary for raw observation.

Minnow films for BBC One Panorama

Producer Steven Grandison

Exec Producers: Fiona Stourton & Morgan Matthews

1x 30min

Ambulance series 5 & 6
Story and finishing editor on the popular BBC series.

Dragonfly productions for BBC 1 Producers : Aoife Carey and Tom Reeves

Series Producer : Peter Wallis-Taylor

Educating Greater Manchester
Story and finishing editor on the much loved Channel 4 hit.

TwoFour productions for Channel 4

Dir/Prod: Faye Gibson

Exec: Tom Curry

Manchester Bomb: Our Story
12 months after the concert which would change their lives, this film follows 3 girls as they try to rebuild their lives.

Best Single Documentary 2018 RTS North West 2018

Shortlisted for The Broadcast Best Documentary Programme 2019

Blakeway North for BBC 1/ BBC 3

Dir/ Prod: Lizzie Kempton

Dur: 70 mins

Bill Cosby : The Fall Of an American Icon
As the reputation of one of the world’s best loved entertainers begins to unravel, this stylish documentary unpicks how Cosby’s house of cards came tumbling down. Told by those close to him and those who accuse him of abuse.

**** “Exemplary” The Telegraph

“gripping” The Sun

Sugar Films for BBC2

Dir/Prod Ricardo Pollack

Dur 59”

Building Homes in the Countryside:
2 part series in which Richard Macer walks the battle lines between those trying to protect their small slice of Albion and those who would seek to  build upon it.

“a delicately executed study of human nature and self preservation set to the theme of The Archers’’ The Times

Blast! Films for BBC2

Dir: Richard Macer

Dur 2x60’’

Cutting Edge: Battling The Bailiffs
Self appointed scourge of `bailiffs Chrissy Morris is on a mission to protect those forced to leave their  homes. But are his guerilla tactics what these vulnerable families need?

“This is terrific… An extraordinary character study” The Times.

Nine Lives Media for CH4

Dir/Prod Colin Stone

Dur 47”

Milton Keynes & Me
Film maker Richard Macer returns to the city of his upbringing as it and he turns 50.

Was it really as bad as he remembers?

Platform Productions for for BBC4

Dir/Prod Richard Macer

Dur 59”

Extraordinary Teens: Young, Gifted and Broke
Shane Thomas was hailed a British Mozart at the age of 10. Now 18 and managed by  his overbearing father, Shane faces up to his troubled family history and attempts to achieve the success which has so far eluded him.

Libra Television for Channel 4

Dir/prod: David Barnes / Louise lynch

Dur:47’’

House of Lords
Ep2

Privileged access into the second house of governance at a pivotal moment in the Lords history.

With the Commons threatening to curb the powers of the unelected Lords, neither side are willing to give up without a fight. Characterful insight into the peculiarities of British government.

Top Hat Media for BBC2

Dir/Prod Tim Stirzaker

Dur: 59”

Sex, Drugs and Murder: Life in the Red Light Zone
Episode 1: Welcome To Holbeck

Following the working girls of Leeds’ decriminalized red light zone.

BBC3

Dir/Prod: Nick Mattingly

Dur:17”

Demolition : The Wrecking Crew
Filmed over a year, this BBC Two observational documentary series explores the work of demolition contractors around the UK.

“This entertaining series takes us right into the heart of blowing things up and it’s irresistible” Radio Times

“A smashing documentary…fascinating” The Guardian

BBC Entertainment for BBC2

Dir/ Prod: Adam Hopkins

Dur: 60mins

Eps 1+3.

Walking Wounded: Return to the Frontline
Minnow films for Channel 4

Documenting photographer and triple amputee Giles Duley’s courageous return to Afghanistan as he undertakes his first major assignment since the explosion which almost claimed his life, in the country where it all happened.
“The Telegraph called it the best 60-minute documentary of the year; the Radio Times called it “inspirational”; and it moved The Independent’s TV critic Tom Sutcliffe to tears.” The Independent.

Winner: 2013 FPA Media Awards Tv Doc/ Feature story of the year

                 2013 AIB International Current affairs TV Documentary

Nominated:  Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme at the 2013 Griersons

                           RTS Television Journalism Awards Current Affairs International

Dir/ Prod: Siobhan Sinnerton

Exec Producer: Morgan Matthews
Dur: 60mins

The Traffickers: Gold
Journalist Nelufar Hedayat takes an unflinching look at the processes, personalities and routes that move black-market goods around the world. In this episode the illegal supply chains that bring blood stained gold into the international market and ultimately to be adorned around our necks and used in our mobile phones, tablets and computers.

Dir/Prod: Andrew Carter

Lightbox For the Fusion TV Network/ Netflix

Dur:43 mins

Who’s the Boss?
Known for its punk image, love of beards and dislike of suits, Scottish brewer Brewdog is the enfant terrible  of the craft beer explosion. But their commitment to the radical is sorely tested when head honcho James Watt, hands over hiring decisions to his entire company in a unique week-long recruitment experiment.

But can James truly relinquish control and let his staff do the hiring?

Dir/Prod: Chris Salt

BBC 2 Entertainment

Dur: 60 MIns

Stoked up in Stoke
Following two amateur cage fighters on the road to the Night of the Gladiators , Stoke on Trent’s premier mixed martial arts bout.

A story told without commentary, foregrounding the voice of the two young protagonists as they reveal the motivations that lead them to enter the cage.

Dir/Prod: Steven Grandison

BBC 3

Dur: 60 MIns

Racing legends
Racing legends: Barry Sheene (ep.1)

Racing legends: John Surtees (ep.3)

BBC2

Rare archive and home movies are weaved together to bring an intimate and enthralling look at these two heroes of motorsport.

Dir/Prod: Jonathon Megson/ Pierro Sfredda

Dur: 60 mins

Dragon’s Den.
Series 10/11/14 of the long running business show.

BBC2

4x 60 mns

Sacred Rivers: The Yangtze (TX September 2014)
BBC4

Simon Reeve journeys the mighty Yangtze river charting the spiritual history of China from a dragon worshipping through Mao’s shutdown of religion through to the emergence of what is predicted to be the world’s largest Christian community.

Dir/Prod: Dominic Ozanne

Dur: 60 mins

Dispatches: Nigeria’s Hidden War.
Ch4

Hardhitting investigation into human rights abuses in Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram

 

2015 Emmy winner – Outstanding investigative journalism

2015 Broadcast best current affairs programme

Dir/ Prod: Evan Williams/ Ed Watts/ Daniel Bogado

Production Company: EWP

Dur: 60 mins

Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities
BBC4

Simon Sebag Montefiore explores modern Istanbul in search of the last desperate centuries of Christian Byzantium, in which the once glorious city was buffeted by enemies in both East and West, and yet still produced a golden artistic renaissance.

Dir/Prod:Jack MacInnes

Dur: 60 mins

The Busiest Maternity Hospital in the World
BBC2

On a busy day, a hundred babies are born at the Jose Fabella hospital and women in labour lie four or five to a bed. Anita Rani travels to the crazy crowded capital of the Philippines, to see how the countries of the developing world are facing a future with a rapidly growing population by following the lives of three different women.

Dir/Prod: Elena Costantina

Dur: 60 mins

Digby Jones: The New Troubleshooter
Ep.3

BBC2

Digby Jones rolls up his sleeves and sets about helping an electronics manufacturer in County Durham who intend to build a new production line from scratch and launch the only UK made chest freezer. Expect ruffled feathers and bruised egos as he gets stuck in and delivers his analysis and advice.

Dir/ Prod: Irshad Ashraf

Dur:60 mins

Cocaine Capital of the World
Watershed media for BBC3

Stacey Dooley  travels to Peru the new frontline in the global cocaine trade.

Dropping in on British drug mules locked up in Peruvian prisons, farmers who grow the valuable crop and  the authorities trying and failing to stop the tide.

Dir/Prod: Steven Grandison

Dur: 60 mins

Rome: A History of the Eternal City
BBC4

Simon Sebag Montefiore charts Rome's rise from the abandonment and neglect of the 14th century into the debauchery and decadence of the Renaissance, the horrors of the Sack of Rome and the Catholic Reformation, through to the arrival of fascism and the creation of the Vatican State.

Dir/Prod:Emily Davis

Dur: 60 mins

Return to Forgotten Britain
BBC2

Twelve years ago Fergal Keane visited parts of Britain untouched by the economic boom. Following the worst recession since the war, he’s reurned to find out what has become of the inspiring families he met back then.

“A bracing insight into real lives simply ignored by most of television”, The Times

“Human and real and moving… an uplifting tale”, The Radio Times

Dir: Alice Perman.

Dur:60mins

Drugland: White Paradise
BBC2
A glimpse into the dark side of Ibiza. The film follows undercover cops busting British gangs fighting for turf . Dealers reveal the extent of the operation accompanied by substantial undercover filming dealers at work, all the while

paramedics patrol the island trying to pick up the pieces.

Dir/ Prod: Steven Grandison & Benito Montorio
Dur: 60mins

Dispatches - Inside the Secret World Of Mr & Mrs Al-Assad
 

CH4

Charts how western powers were blinded by the Al-Assads progressive veneer,

a hope for reform which never came. Over a decade later with a growing death toll in his name, this film details Bashaar Al-Assads command structure and his direct role in sanctioning the violent repression of his citizens.

Dur 28mins

ITV Productions

Prod/Dir Andrew Carter

I Never Said Yes
BBC3

A woman is raped every ten minutes in the UK yet thousands of rapes go unreported and conviction rates remain low. Through emotive personal testimony and challenging those trusted to  prosecute , the film explores why conviction rates remain so low.

Dir/Prod Elizabeth Byrne

Dur:60mins

This World: Lethal Solution
BBC2
A dark road movie through a modern America wrestling with whether the lethal injection system of execution, contravenes a constitutional ruling on the use of cruel & unusual punishment. Is this most American of practises Un-American? A macabre, atmospheric film catching a country caught in moral uncertainty.
Dir/ Prod: Steven Grandison
Dur: 50mns

To Catch A Pedophile
ITV 1

Following the Met’s child protection unit from sting, to bust and

into the interview rooms with offenders.

Dir/Prod: Lesley Gardener

2x 50 mins

A Life without Work
BBC2

Taking a hundred year old Rowntree study of  unemployment, we compare it with those out of work today. Using elegant reconstruction and intimate observational actuality the film asks, a century on, what has changed for those experiencing a life without work?

Dir/ Prod: Guy Smith

Dur: 60 mins  

A Truant’s Mum
BBC2
A gritty and intimate portrait of Patricia Amos, the first parent ever to be jailed for their child’s truanting. The film follows her in the run up to the jail sentence, the battles with her daughter and the social services

Forgoing written  commentary to tell the story in Patricia’s own words.
Dir/ Prod: Steven Grandison
Dur.>: 30mins

Indian Ocean
 (Ep 1 & 3)

BBC2  

Covering an area of 28,350,000sq miles the Indian Ocean contains multitudes. In his latest adventure, Simon Reeves encounters the people, wildlife and warzones along this historically rich part of the world.

Dir./ Prod: Andrew Carter

Dur: 60 mins

Divine Women
BBC2

Historian Bettany Hughes journeys into the hidden and controversial history of women's place in religion, uncovering the lost era of the priestess. She delves into the ancient Greek worship of the goddess of sex, Aphrodite. Heads to ancient Rome, where the fate of the civilisation lay in the hands of six sacred virgins. Returning to the crucial early years of Christianity, she finds evidence that overturns centuries of Church teaching and challenges the belief that women should not be priests.

Dir./ Prod: Emily Davis

Dur: 60 mins

Blood On The Turntables: Hip-Hop Wars
BBC3
Detailing the stories behind two of the eighties biggest hip hop music battles,
when Ice –T + 2 Live Crew‘s taboo busting patter found itself  threatened with censorship and charges of treason.
A fast, furious and funky look at a defining moment in musical history.   
Archive based documentary.
Dir: Molly Mathieson
Dur.>: 60mns

Trouble at the Top: Luton in Crisis
BBC2
When John Gurney takes over the struggling club, Luton F.C., he sees it as an opportunity to extend his property empire. Unfortunately for him the club’s supporters do not share his vision. The stage is set for an epic battle between the interests of commerce and those of the fans.
Dir: Molly Mathieson
Dur.>: 50mins

On The Edge
ITV 1
Children on the most deprived estate in England talk of the dangers and pitfalls of life there, whilst a group of former bouncers + security men claim to police it. Former football hooligans, sex industry workers, anarchist squatters and ex cons attempting to go straight, contribute to a revealing portrait of contemporary Manchester and it’s hidden corners.
Dir/ Prod: Robin Anderson
Production Company: Clearcut Communications
Dur.>: 8x 30mins

My Breasts Or My Life
ITV 1
A touching observational film following the story of  a 21 yr. facing the toughest decision of her young life: whether to go through  with a double mastectomy operation. A procedure which could save her the fate which has afflicted so many of her family
Dir/ Prod: Siobhan Sinnerton
Dur: 50mns

Nick Goes To Nollywood
BBC3
Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels lead, Nick Moran, journeys to the heart of the Nigerian film industry, Nollywood, intent on directing his magnum opus Uncooperative stars, threats of violence & his own perfectionism threaten to scupper the feature length film he has to make in 3 weeks.
Dir/ Prod: Alicia Arce
Dur.>: 45mns

Junior Paramedics (Episode 1)
BBC3

What if your first day on the job really was a matter of life and death?

This series follows the lives of nine student paramedics as they go on their first ever placement with the East Midlands Ambulance Service. After just a few weeks in university they are thrown on to the emergency frontline at the busiest time of year - the six weeks leading up to Christmas when the ambulance service is pushed to breaking point.

Dir: Mike Fox.

Dur:60mins

Young, British & Angry
BBC3

Ben Anderson gets exclusive access to the English Defence League, a movement born from the more violent fringes of the football terraces, set up to protest against what it sees as the dangerous spread of militant Islam in Britain.

Dir./ Prod: Steven  Grandison

Dur: 60 mins

Production Company: October Films

Tony Robinson’s Gods & Monsters
CH4

Tony Robinson delves back through 2000 years of British history, from the Iron Age to the beginning of the Twentieth Century to investigate the superstitions  of our ancestors. Explores the funny, strange and frightening things we have believed throughout history, and the imprint they have left on modern culture.

Drama recon.

Dir/Prod: Ben Steele

Production Company: Wildfire Productions

2 x 47min

How God Made The English
BBC2

An exploration into how English identity has slowly been shaped by the interplay of Church and State over the last 1,400 years.  Arguing that the changes to English identity are a result, not of  politics, wars and economics, but of religion, and asks, where does Englishness go in a modern nation of many faiths and none?

Dir/Prod: Anna Cox

Dur:60mins

Gandhi: His Life and Legacy (Prog. 3 of 3)
BBC2

A definitive and in-depth series about the political and spiritual leader who led the fight for Indian independence. The final film in this series charts Gandhi’s role in the build up to partition and it’s bloody aftermath,  leading to his untimely demise at an assassin’s hand.

Dir./ Prod: Emily Davis  

Dur: 60 mins

Outrageous Fortunes - The Bacardi Family
BBC3
Uncovering the deceit, greed and allegations of sponsoring terrorism attached to one of the world’s largest alcoholic drink distributors. From Miami to Cuba, the film attempts to uncover the hypocrisy that lies behind a company that advertises itself as the Cuban spirit, despite its historical links to terrorist attacks upon the island
Prdcr>:Mike Radford
Dur.>: 50mns

Tropic of Cancer (Prog 5)
BBC2

The 22,835 mile long Tropic of Cancer marks the northern border of the Tropics, on this leg of the journey Simon Reeve takes a slow boat through Bangladesh, meeting villagers whose land is being devoured by the sea, catching glimpses of the endangered Langur before making a break into the secret kingdom of Burma.

Dir./ Prod: Andrew Carter

Dur: 60 mins

Did Darwin Kill God?
BBC 2
As part of BBC`s Darwin series, theologian and philosopher, Connor Cunnigham explores whether the theory of evolution effectively destroyed the belief in a divine creator.
Dir./ Prod : Emily Davis
Dur: 60 mins

Bush Family Fortunes
BBC3
Following American journalist Greg Palast’s investigation into the Bush family’s will to power. Presenting allegations of draft dodging, the Bush’s debt to Saudi oil money, corporate corruption and how war is all part of the family business.

A fast paced  mix of archive & actuality.
Dir/ Prod: Steven Grandison
Dur: 60mns

Am I Normal?
( 2 episodes of a 4 part series)
BBC2
Spirituality & Body Image
Dr. Tanya Byron explores  the boundaries between accepted behaviour & those which transgress society’s norms  and become labelled as mad. How normal is normal?
Dir/Prod: Eamonn O’Connor
Production Company: Liberty Bell
Dur: 60mns

Unreported World
Channel 4

10+ episodes of channel 4’s flagship multi award winning Foreign Affairs strand for

Quicksilver productions

Highlights include:

 

Bush Knives & Black Magic (Dir/ Prod: Katherine Churcher)

The Great Escape. (Dir/ Prod: Sam Farmer)

Cult of The Thugs (Dir./ Prod.: James Brabazon)
Valley Of The Lost. (Dir/ Prod: Alex Nott)
Mugabe’s Reign Of Terror (Dir/ Prod: Siobhan Sinnerton & Evan Wiliams)

Panorama
BBC1.

Many episodes of BBC 1’s primetime current affairs show

Highlights include:

 

Obama & The Ayatollah

Jane Corbin returns to Iran, a country once included in George W Bush's "axis of evil" capturing the mood of the voters and weighing the chances of Obama's direct plea to Iranians for greater understanding. Cut on location.

Dir/ Prod: Maziar Bahari
Dur: 30 mns

 

China’s Olympic Promise
Four days before the Olympic torch reaches Beijing, reporter John Sweeney travels across China, to discover if the Chinese have honoured their commitment to allow foreign journalists to report freely.  A frenetic journey in the observational style.
Dir/ Prod: Steven Grandison
Dur: 30 mns

No More Mandelas
Fergal Keane returns to South Africa 13yrs after Mandela’s election promised to change the country’s destiny, finding a country blighted by a violent gang culture, an A.I.D.s  timebomb and a political elite having lost it’s moral compass.
Dir/ Prod: Darren Kemp
Dur: 30 mns