BBC Three
Fake Friend: The Ticket Scammer
A 60-minute current affairs documentary for BBC Three, originated by Method and produced with Spun Gold.
Trailer
A very modern scam. An old-fashioned confidence trick.
The Challenge
What started with a tip from our production co-ordinator quickly became something much bigger. We began finding people who had paid for sought-after festival tickets that never arrived. Every conversation led to another person, another story and another trail of evidence. The challenge was turning a sprawling investigation, full of messages, recordings, photographs, different timelines and first-hand accounts, into a film that was clear, compelling and accessible to a BBC Three audience.
The Method
We originated the story and teamed up with fellow Birmingham indie Spun Gold to develop it for television. Support from the West Midlands IP Fund gave us proper development time to research the story, find contributors, verify information and work out whether there really was an hour of television in it. Once commissioned, we combined rigorous journalism with a bold visual approach. With no presenter or traditional voiceover, it was the interviews, archive, secret recordings, messages and motion graphics that had to do the storytelling. Around a third of the finished programme was graphic-led, helping turn a mountain of digital evidence into something the audience could follow without slowing the story down.
1.02 million viewers.6.7 million social views.
- 1.86M BBC online page views
- Nearly 40% watched on demand
What We Delivered
A 60-minute current affairs documentary for BBC Three with the pace and visual ambition of a premium streamer. First broadcast on BBC Three, it was subsequently shown on BBC One. Its lifetime audience reached 1.02 million, with nearly 40% watching on demand. The accompanying TikTok and Instagram content generated a combined 6.7 million views, while the BBC’s online article attracted 1.86 million page views. More importantly, it showed what can happen when a strong idea is given the time, collaboration and ambition to become something much bigger.
A lot of evidence DISTILLED INTO One clear story.
Related services
Next Project
The World Starts Here
University College Birmingham
