Tina Fey and Graham Norton Headline Friday In Conversation Events

While Munya Chawawa Delivers the Alternative MacTaggart

as The Edinburgh TV Festival Reveals Programme Highlights for 50th Anniversary Edition

The Edinburgh TV Festival brought to you by Screen Scotland, has today revealed the key programme highlights for the 2025 Festival. Helmed by Creative Director, Rowan Woods, and this year’s Advisory Chair, Bad Wolf CEO Jane Tranter, the line-up for the 50th anniversary edition includes masterclasses, In Conversation events, the ever-popular Spotlight Controller sessions, and keynote speeches including the prestigious James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture.

The final day of the Festival (Friday 22nd August) will provide three key speakers In Conversation, discussing their incredible careers in acting, writing and producing on both sides of the Atlantic.

Multi-award-winning screenwriter, actor, producer, and author Tina Fey has created some of the most unforgettable moments in comedy and pop culture. She began her career as head writer and performer on the legendary Saturday Night Live before going on to create, produce and star in Mean Girls, 30 Rock, The Four Seasons, and co-create and produce Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. One of the sharpest, funniest, and most fearless comedic voices of our time, Fey brings her distinct charm, wit and insight to this lively conversation with beloved broadcaster Graham Norton.

Writer and creator of Black Mirror – one of the UK’s most lauded and innovative dramas that has had a global impact – Charlie Brooker will take part in a playful and provocative In Conversation event. Brooker is also the creator of Cunk on Earth and zombie horror Dead Set, and as a writer-presenter, he entertained and dismayed viewers for years with his series of Wipe shows for the BBC. Twenty years after his groundbreaking series Nathan Barley was first broadcast on Channel 4, Charlie will be the subject of a wide ranging interview that will cover everything from comedy, AI, evil product design and the TV shows that made him.

CEO of Studio Lambert, the indie behind some of the UK’s biggest entertainment shows including The Traitors, Gogglebox and Squid Game: The Challenge, Stephen Lambert will record a special edition of the podcast The Town, hosted by US entertainment journalist Matt Belloni. Lambert is one of Britain’s best-known creative executives and will discuss his career and work – and how that work has shaped the UK and US TV industry.

The ALTERNATIVE MACTAGGART will be given by satirist, comedian, writer and actor Munya Chawawa, who will make the case for why broadcasters underestimate digital creatives at their peril and will issue a call to arms for creative risk.

Across the wider programme, the Festival combines urgent conversations about the state of the industry with sessions designed to offer practical advice and learning in challenging times. Highlights include the Festival’s OPENING DEBATE: TV’S PLACE IN THE NEW WORLD ORDER, once again moderated by the BBC’s Analysis Editor, Ros Atkins, a panel of industry leaders look ahead to explore the challenges and opportunities of the next five years; TRUTH UNDER ATTACK explores the loss of trust in mainstream media and what the TV industry can do about it. YOUTUBE: THE FUTURE OR THE END OF TV AS WE KNOW IT? asks what the rise of YouTube means for traditional broadcasters; and as broadcasters – and increasingly streamers – lean into the idea of British content, we explore WHAT IS BRITISH? – who gets to define it and what does this mean for creatives, producers and the viewing public here in the UK and across the world. The Festival’s WORLDVIEW address will be given by Sony President of International Production, Wayne Garvie, who will explore the international landscape and the future of global storytelling.

Practical sessions include exploring innovative ways through the scripted and unscripted funding crisis in UNSCRIPTED: HOW TO BEAT THE FUNDING BLUES! and MONEY FOR SOMETHING: FUNDING UK DRAMA’S NEXT CHAPTER. Development has been a hot topic this year and in THE HIT FACTORY: SECRETS OF DEVELOPMENT unscripted development experts from across the industry reveal their recipes for success; acclaimed writer and Founder of the TV Access Project, Jack Thorne, will sit down with Chris Bryant MP to explore the creative challenges facing the industry in THE STATE WE’RE IN; and in FUTURE-PROOFING INDIES a lively group of indie bosses will discuss how they’re navigating the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead and practical ways to innovate and leverage business growth to fuel further investment.

Creative masterclasses include deep dives into the making of the biggest scripted and unscripted UK shows of the year so far in ADOLESCENCE and LAST ONE LAUGHING. Elsewhere we celebrate RIVALS: THE REVIVAL OF THE BONKBUSTER with a live script read, and mark 25 years in the Big Brother House with HOW BIG BROTHER CHANGED TV FOREVER.

BAFTA-winning broadcaster Rylan will headline a session that explores the twin pillars of modern media success: relatability and reinvention.

The programme will also include the usual Spotlight On… sessions with channel controllers and their commissioning teams.

The full line up, including additional sessions, will be announced on the 30th July.

Previously announced speakers include Shonda Rhimes, who will be receiving the inaugural Edinburgh Fellowship, Sir Lenny Henry, who will receive the Outstanding Achievement Award, Michael Sheen, who will be in conversation with Advisory Chair Jane Tranter, and James Harding, Editor-In-Chief of The Observer and Founder of Tortoise Media, who will be delivering the prestigious MacTaggart Lecture.

Creative Director of the Festival, Rowan Woods, and Advisory Chair, Jane Tranter said: “This year’s programme contains all the attributes and tonal variations of great TV: it’s inspiring, thought-provoking, entertaining, attitudinal, glamorous, inclusive and actively relevant to our current challenging landscape. The 50th anniversary is a moment to look back and celebrate how far we’ve come, and the many people who’ve contributed to this remarkable legacy; but it’s also an opportunity to look forward and ask what the future of British television looks like, how we define it, protect it and evolve it to meet the challenges ahead. We can’t wait to see you in Edinburgh in August!”

The Festival will once again take place at the EICC in Edinburgh from 2pm on Tuesday 19 August to 2pm on Friday 22 August and the full programme will be published at the end of July.

For 2025, the cost of passes to the Edinburgh TV Festival have been frozen, reduced for underrepresented groups and a new, more affordable, introduced for small indies, joining our flexible freelancer rate to ensure everyone can be involved in the most important forum for debate and celebration in television.

To purchase passes for the Festival go to www.thetvfestival.com/passes