title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The location for the series was partly inspired by the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, where Chibnall lived. Chibnall says that he initially did not have a location in mind for "Broadchurch", but work-related issues made setting the show in Dorset appealing. From 2006 to 2011, Chibnall had spent most of his time travelling about the U.K. and Ireland, working on "Torchwood", "", and "Camelot". Setting the show in Dorset meant Chibnall would not have to spend time away from his home and family. Chibnall's decision to set the show on the Jurassic Coast also helped him generate more ideas for the show and tighten the writing. For example, Dorset's most famous native son, poet and author Thomas Hardy, lent his last name to one of the main characters (DI Alec Hardy). Thomas Hardy's use of the term "Wessex" was used as the name of the fictional Wessex Police, and character Jack Marshall reads the Hardy novel "Jude the Obscure". Chibnall also drew heavily on Hardy's concept of a "wrathful god" for the series.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Even the title of the series came from the Dorset setting. Chibnall invented the name "Broadchurch" based on two towns in Dorset: "I thought a lot about the literary heritage of this county. In true Thomas Hardy style I came up with a compound location name of Broadchurch combining the West Dorset hamlets of Broadstone and Whitchurch."


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Chibnall wrote the script for "Broadchurch" on spec after his work on "Camelot" ended. Chibnall had a very unhappy experience working on "Camelot", and fell ill with pneumonia after leaving the show. While taking time off to recover, he began using whiteboards in May 2011 to create backgrounds for each character and craft the plot of "Broadchurch"—which he envisioned as being a trilogy. Series one was written to work both as the first part of a trilogy as well as a self-contained drama. The first series had to be self-contained, he felt, in case the show did not do well in the ratings and a second series was not commissioned.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Chibnall was adamant that "Broadchurch" not be a "whodunit". His concept was to show how a murder "makes victims of the whole community in all sorts of different ways. Some of them are able to deal with that and recover from that and build something from it; for some people it means they're destroyed by that so I wanted to look basically at a whole set of characters affected by this one devastating event and the different effects it had on people, so it really made sense of that and played straight into that central idea." His scripts then focused on what it would be like for each character to live through an actual murder investigation and its aftermath. This required removing as much police procedure from the scripts as possible, and focusing on character development.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Chibnall was assisted in the story process by his good friends Sam Hoyle (a television script executive) and television director James Strong. "Broadchurch" was influenced, Chibnall says, by two American television shows, "Twin Peaks" (created by Mark Frost and David Lynch) and "Murder One" (created by Steven Bochco, Charles H. Eglee, and Channing Gibson).


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The story was nearly finished on the whiteboards when Chibnall began writing the script. After about two weeks, Chibnall had a draft of the first few episodes. Ellie Miller was a lesbian in the first draft of the script, and there was no Joe Miller. But he felt that this did not work well narratively, so he changed the character to a married heterosexual. But he had not yet settled on a killer. "Often as a writer, you get your first draft out, and then you look and think, 'Now, what have I got here'," Chibnall said in an interview with "Entertainment Weekly". "You're really just throwing mud at the wall and then going, 'Oh, there's a pattern there.' " Chibnall knew, however, that the killer had to be someone close to Ellie. About two weeks later, Chibnall woke one morning and realised the murderer should be Joe Miller, DS Ellie Miller's husband. "[I]t was the lightbulb moment above my head—which you never get as a writer, frankly. I've never had it before, probably won't ever have it again. I was, like, 'Ohmygod, it's Joe. It can't be anyone else.' " By making Joe the killer, Chibnall focused the series more closely on Ellie Miller, and improved the narrative structure so that it became about two families (the Millers and the Latimers). He then redrafted the first script and re-plotted and re-outlined the series. The killer's identity was "embedded" (as Chibnall described it) into the script before he brought the project to ITV. However, Chibnall kept the script loose enough that he could choose another character as the murderer, in case his preferred solution leaked to the press during shooting.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Despite his confidence that he had the right solution to the murder mystery, Chibnall said that minutes before episode eight was to air in April 2013, he called executive producer Jane Featherstone and told her that he had got the ending completely wrong, before changing his mind twenty minutes later.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: There were three key elements in the writing process. First, Chibnall largely ignored traditional concepts about narrative structure when writing the teleplay. Instead, he focused on how the murder affected each character, and let each character's responses drive the story. His lone concession to narrative structure was driven by the need to insert a commercial break every 11 to 12 minutes. He chose to insert a surprising or shocking moment just before each break to encourage viewers to keep watching. This forced Chibnall to "aggressively plot" each episode, keeping the story as tight as possible so that he could focus on character development. Second, Chibnall emphasised the role of the local newspaper in the series. Having lived in the small Dorset town of Bridport, Chibnall saw how local newspapers had a major impact on their communities despite the prominence of new media such as the Internet. He created a fictional local newspaper, the "Broadchurch Echo", and made it not only an element of the story (revealing information to which characters react) but also a character in the story itself, motivated by the people who work there. Third, Chibnall planned for a visual rather than dialogue-driven finale. Chibnall wanted the final episode of "Broadchurch" to be different than the typical murder-mystery series. He observed that most finales saved major revelations until the final minutes of the final episode. He felt this led to poor writing, with loose plot threads "hastily" tied up and no way for the audience to adjust emotionally to the new information. Chibnall decided his "reveal" would occur early in the final episode, and more time would be given to depicting the impact of the reveal on the characters. He also wanted to avoid a revealing which was primarily verbal, as occurred in many detective novels. Chibnall wanted his reveal to be visual and highly cinematic, and for time to slow down during the reveal to heighten the audience's tension. This, he felt, would help the audience feel as if they were actually part of the drama, as if they were really experiencing these events themselves.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Only the first few episodes of "Broadchurch" series one were written before filming began. Chibnall waited until casting was complete and he saw the actors performing their roles. The later scripts were then shaped to take advantage of these performances.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Chibnall initially considered pitching "Broadchurch" to the pay-TV channel Sky Atlantic, but thought his project was good enough to sell to ITV, the biggest and most popular commercial television channel in the United Kingdom. Chibnall worried, however, that it would be difficult to convince ITV to turn over a substantial block of prime time programming hours to a series which would last eight episodes.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: In autumn 2011, Chibnall pitched "Broadchurch" to Laura Mackie, the Head of Drama at ITV, who proved very enthusiastic about the proposal. Just days after she finished reading the scripts, she suggested Chibnall work with Kudos Film and Television, a well-known production company. Kudos immediately agreed to produce the series. Mackie then brought the show to ITV Director of Television Peter Fincham, who green-lit the project almost immediately. ITV wanted the series to air in early 2013, which meant that filming had to occur in the summer of 2012. That gave "Broadchurch" a much shorter pre-production schedule than usual. ITV wanted a high-quality series despite the time constraint. According to Chibnall, ITV advised him to make the series as bold as possible and to ignore commercial considerations. Fincham and Chibnall discussed stripping "Broadchurch" over a series of four or five nights, rather than as a weekly program. But both men rejected the idea. Fincham was keen to allow speculation to build over time, and to give viewers a chance to engage in conversation about each episode before the next one aired.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Pre-production began almost immediately after "Broadchurch" was given the green light. Heads for each department of the production—cinematography and lighting, editing, casting, make-up and hair, costuming, locations, administration, sound, etc.—were hired, and research began in all areas of production. Test footage was shot and screened for ITV executives at a pre-shoot meeting, so they could see more clearly what the series' mood and style would be like. Although ITV made a sizeable financial investment in "Broadchurch", additional funds were needed because of the cost of the large ensemble cast. Additional funds were sought from international partners, who were given distribution rights in their territories in return. Before principal photography began, ZDF (German public-service television broadcaster) and BBC America (the American cable and satellite television network jointly owned by the BBC and AMC Networks) came aboard the production as financial partners.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Casting for "Broadchurch" series one was overseen by casting directors Kelly Valentine Hendry and Victor Jenkins of VHJ Casting.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Chibnall was inspired by ITV's hit show "Downton Abbey" to cast only top actors. "I said, 'We have to have cast as good as "Downton". ...That was absolutely my shameless aim, to go, 'Okay, you have to look at our poster and feel that's going to give "Downton" a run for its money.' " Executive producers Chibnall and Featherstone and producer Richard Stokes held extensive discussions with the casting directors, who then generated lists of potential actors to whom the producers might wish to offer roles or ask to audition. The casting directors also read all the finished scripts, met with location scouts to see photographs of the anticipated location shoots, and had long discussions with various production department heads to gather as much information as possible so they could choose the right performers to audition. A key rule for the casting team was "no wankers allowed", as Featherstone put it. The production team refused to consider egotistical, obnoxious, vain, temperamental, or arrogant actors for roles, as they felt it made it difficult for both cast and crew to do their best work.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The role of Reverend Paul Coates was written with actor Arthur Darvill in mind, and was the first role cast. Darvill was offered a role in "Broadchurch" in April 2012 while filming "The Angels Take Manhattan", his final appearance on "Doctor Who". Darvill accepted without knowing what role he was to play or having read any scripts. Only later did Chibnall tell Darvill that the role was that of a young Anglican priest struggling with alcoholism. Darvill says that, as Chibnall wrote the scripts, he would call Darvill and tell him what he was thinking of doing with the character of Coates. Chibnall's writing of the character was, in a way, collaborative: "We talked a lot about the role of a vicar in a community like that and what are the implications of the circumstances that the town is put in," said Darvill, "and what that means for someone in that position and certainly the responsibility of having to be a spiritual guide, a point of comfort, a figurehead, especially being quite young." Darvill was very interested in the way Coates always felt he was in the public spotlight (even in a private setting) and the burden that Coates felt in being a moral guide and trustworthy person. Darvill was also intrigued by the way Coates struggled to avoid letting his ego come into play once he became a spokesperson for the community, and the way Coates reacted when he became a police suspect. Darvill was also pleased that Chibnall said he would not permit any bad attitudes or diva-like behavior on the set. "Early on I knew it was going to be good because Chris said...[e]veryone has to be nice and good."


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The role of DS Ellie Miller was the second role cast. Producer Jane Featherstone first suggested Olivia Colman for the role of Ellie Miller, to which Chibnall (having also had her in mind) immediately agreed. Chibnall then specifically wrote the role of Ellie Miller for Colman, hoping she would agree to join the cast. There was consensus among the producers to offer the job to Colman without the need for an audition. Colman says she was immediately drawn to the role: "From the off I really liked the idea of the story, a hard story and an upsetting one, but I liked the idea of a whole community being affected by something and I liked the character of Ellie. ... And I liked Ellie. I find it hard to play a character if I can't feel any of me in them. Especially if you are going to be playing that person through the whole series you need to feel that connection." She was also highly impressed with the script she read, calling the script one she "couldn't put down" and that she turned the pages "frantically" because it was such a good read. Colman says she also had heard that David Tennant and actress Vicky McClure were under consideration for roles as well, and she wanted very much to work with them. She accepted the role immediately after reading the script.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The role of DI Alec Hardy was the third role cast. The producers "very early on" settled on David Tennant as their preferred choice. Tennant had worked with Chibnall and Strong on "Doctor Who", and was highly regarded by production executives. Once more, there was consensus among the producers to offer the part without the need for an audition. Tennant was given the scripts for the first two episodes. He agreed to take the role for several reasons, even though he knew an incomplete script was a professional gamble. First, he was deeply impressed with the writing. Second, he had worked with Chibnall and Strong (who had agreed to be the show's primary director) before and was keen to work with them again. Third, he learned that Olivia Colman had agreed to play DS Miller, and working with her was very appealing.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: All the remaining roles were cast around Colman and Tennant. All these roles were cast via auditions, which took several weeks. Although Chibnall had determined who the murderer was by the time casting began, those who auditioned for the program were not told the killer's identity.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Actor Andrew Buchan was attracted to the role of Mark Latimer by the authentic quality of the part. The way Chibnall showed how the community is affected by the murder, the newly unsettled relationships between the characters, and the disintegration of the bonds between people who once trusted one another also deeply attracted him to the project. Buchan says he was worried that he wouldn't get the part. His audition scene was where Mark Latimer must identify the body of his son in the Broadchurch morgue. To win the role, he worked himself up intensely and cried profusely. After winning the role, he researched the way parents react to a child's murder in order to treat the role with as much respect and accuracy as possible.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The role of Karen White was the other part cast early in the process. Actress Vicky McClure admitted, "It was quite a difficult role to take on and I had to think quite carefully about it." To help her get into character, McClure specifically asked that the hair designers give her artificial hair integrations.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Jodie Whittaker was cast as Beth Latimer, the mother of the murdered boy. She was hired after Buchan and McClure joined the series. Her audition consisted of several scenes from the first episode. Whittaker admitted that she was very nervous about accepting a role in a series whose scripts had not yet been completed. Chris Chibnall, however, told her that none of the actors would know who the murderer was (not even the actor who played the killer) until the last possible moment. She found that highly appealing, for it raised the anxiety level in the actors and reduced each actor's willingness to trust the other characters. She was also impressed by the heart-breaking way the first episode was written, and how many interesting characters there were in the series.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Actor Joe Sims was cast as Nigel "Nige" Carter, Mark Latimer's best friend and co-worker who has several secrets to hide. Sims says he was hired relatively early in the casting process. "Broadchurch" appealed to him because he had seen the television film "United", which had been written by Chris Chibnall and directed by James Strong. He loved their work, and very much wanted to be part of their next project. He got the chance to audition because he had met Sam Hoyle socially some years before, and this connection—along with heavy lobbying by his agents—won him a meeting with director Strong and casting directors Hendry and Jenkins. Sims admits that he was very nervous in his first audition, and auditioned several more times before getting the part. He believes his auditions improved each time, as he learned more about the plot at each audition (which involved reading new scenes).


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Matthew Gravelle was cast as Joe Miller, DS Miller's husband. Gravelle auditioned along with many other actors for the role, but Chibnall says that the casting team early on considered Gravelle their top choice for the role. The producers knew that this was a critical casting decision. Whoever they hired to play Joe Miller would need to step up their acting game significantly in the final episode, so they researched Gravelle's past acting roles and watched as many of his performances as they could find. Chibnall paid particularly close attention to the Welsh language television series "Teulu", in which Gravelle had recently played a lead role.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Australian actress Simone McAullay was cast as local hotelkeeper Becca Fisher, with whom Mark Latimer has an adulterous affair. Chibnall had long envisioned Becca as an Australian, which made her an outsider in the Broadchurch community. He also relied on the common assumption that Australians often seem bolder than most British, which gave the character licence to say things others might not. McAullay received the first two scripts from her agent, and a short written sketch of the Dorset setting. She videotaped an audition at her home in Sydney, and sent it to Chibnall.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Thirty-six-year-old actor Will Mellor was cast as telephone installer and alleged psychic Steve Connolly. Chibnall had written the Connolly character to be in his 50s. Mellor, however, auditioned for the role even though he was not the right age. He was cast, says Chibnall, because "Will came in and read and just blew it out the water. And it was just, well, you have to give the part to him because he's redefined it!'."


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Pauline Quirke was cast as secretive caravan resident Susan Wright. Chibnall had long been deeply impressed with her performance on the 1996 television series "The Sculptress", and he wrote the role of Susan Wright with Quirke in mind, although the role was not written specifically for her. Although Quirke was a well-known veteran television actress, she auditioned along with many others for the role. Her audition, like that of others, used scenes from the first two episodes. Chibnall says that the producers worried that such a big star might not wish to do justice to such small role, but found that Quirke delivered a superb performance.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Casting for "Broadchurch" was complete in late June 2012, and casting choices announced on 2 July 2012.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: James Strong directed five episodes of series one of "Broadchurch", while Euros Lyn directed three. Strong had helped Chibnall with the creative process of writing the story, and agreed to come aboard the project as director even before casting occurred. Matt Gray was hired as both director of photography and camera operator.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Most of "Broadchurch" series one was shot on location, which the producers felt would heighten the reality and intimacy of the series. Location shooting was also important because the Dorset coast was integral to setting the mood of the drama. Director James Strong said the goal was to make "Broadchurch" "look and feel different", "a world that was recognisable but in subtle extremis—an ordinary seaside town where events have upset the natural order of life. It is a lovely, beautiful place where something terrible has happened." Strong chose a visual style that emphasised contradictory elements, such as privacy and publicity, the natural and unnatural, or water and fire. Another part of the visual style was to connect the characters to the Dorset landscape. To achieve this, locations were chosen which would allow the characters to bring their private behaviors outside. A third element of the visual style was to use the change in seasons to help illuminate the way the emotional tenor of the drama changes during the series.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The first cast read-through occurred at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church in London on 7 August 2012. Principal photography began on interior sets at VISION Studios on 13 August 2012. Location shooting began the first week of September. Joel Holmes was the location manager, and he helped identify nearly all the locations used for shooting. Most location photography occurred in the town of Clevedon in North Somerset. The production's headquarters were located in the town's Salthouse Fields parking lot. Some scenes were also shot in the towns of Bridport and West Bay and in the surrounding district of West Dorset. Three locations were used in the area around the town of Yate, Gloucestershire, with the "Road to Nowhere" used for filming as well as the production's headquarters.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Not all shooting was done on location. Some sets were built at VISION Studios near Bristol (where the television series "Skins" had just finished filming). According to producer Richard Stokes, the studio sets were interiors, because equipment needs made it impractical to film on location, and included the Wessex Police Station. Two shots required "green screen" to composit images together. These green screen shots were filmed at Waterloo Film Studios in London.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: "Broadchurch" was shot in order. Very few scripted television programs are filmed in the order episodes are seen on the air. It is far more common to shoot out-of-order. Usually, scripts are broken down into their component scenes and shots. Scenes using the same locations or sets are shot at the same time, to minimise the time and expense of moving cameras and equipment. "Broadchurch", however, was shot in order to keep the identity of the murderer a secret until the end of the production.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Weather proved to be a hindrance to the production, and sometimes delayed shooting. Luckily, the sun shone during the first week of September 2012, which was also the first week of location shooting. But skies were partly or completely overcast for the remainder of the shoot. Additional location shooting occurred the last week of October and first week of November. The weather turned much colder, with heavy rain and gale-force winds these two weeks. Location shooting atop Harbour Cliff was scheduled for the first few days of November, but the weather created such safety concerns that this had to be cancelled. The production moved to Clevedon, and the clifftop filming was rescheduled for a few days later. (Luckily, the weather had cleared by then.)


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The first read-through for "Broadchurch" series one occurred on Tuesday, 7 August 2012. Rehearsals were kept to a minimum. To heighten the raw and tension-filled tone of the show, actors were often prevented from seeing the space they were to perform in until shooting began. However, almost no improvisation of dialogue occurred on the set. This was a choice made by the actors. Olivia Colman said, "[Chibnall wrote] it so beautifully, so completely and utterly beautifully, that I would have felt faintly ridiculous approaching him and saying, 'Can I change it?' "


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The script laid out how characters were to move and behave, but the actors themselves chose how to bring these directions to life. For example, when Alec Hardy tells Ellie Miller that her husband is the murderer, the script called for Hardy to come round to Miller's side of the table and for Miller to vomit after the revelation. David Tennant was allowed to improvise how he came round the table and whether he sat or stood. Olivia Colman improvised the portrayal of nausea by rising, crouching, turning to the wall, and vomiting. Director James Strong knew that this put stress on his technical crew, who often had to guess what technical adjustments had to be made (such as lighting or the placement of microphones) in order to accommodate this unusual style of direction and acting. But he felt this spontaneity freed the cast and permitted them to deliver far more intense performances. A heavy reliance was also placed on getting the first take right, as Strong believed the first take was more spontaneous and more natural. Subsequently, most of what the viewer sees in "Broadchurch" series one are first takes.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Actor Matthew Gravelle took his role as murderer and possible paedophile Joe Miller very seriously. "You don't want to get it wrong with whoever you're playing. You try to be as true to somebody who might actually be like that as possible," Gravelle said. "Whatever happens, he's still ultimately not a good person and you've got to try and be sympathetic towards him just to see it from his point of view." He did not research paedophilia per se, but tried to discover research on individuals with pre-paedophiliac tendences. He found there was little scientific research in the area. Gravelle was therefore forced to come up with his own rationales for Joe's crimes. "The need to be loved was the root of it," he said. "Joe had love but he didn't have the attention in the way that he got it from Danny. It's probably an ego thing. ... He's not working. It's a self-worth issue."


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Filming the scene in which DS Miller confronts her murderous husband required some special care. The scene had been suggested by Olivia Colman. During her first meeting with Chibnall and Featherstone to discuss her character, she asked, "I just want to know, do we get him [the killer] and do I get to kick him in the balls?" Although no such scene had been written, they assured her it would be included (assuming Ellie Miller was not the murderer). Actors Olivia Colman and Matthew Gravelle were kept apart before the scene was filmed as a means of heightening the tension between the two during their meeting. The scene called for Colman to attack Gravelle, who would fall to the ground and allow Colman to kick him in the back. Gravelle's back was fitted with safety padding, but Colman's performance was so intense that she kicked him too hard and Gravelle was bruised for three weeks.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Director of photography Matt Gray said he approached "Broadchurch" as if it were a documentary film, rather than a television drama. Strong and Gray settled on a visual theory about "an emotional and physical landscape". Their goal was to depict the physical landscape in a way that differed visually from the emotions they were trying to depict. To do this, fixed television cameras were used to photograph the geographical landscape (beaches, cliffs, the estate field behind the Latimer house, etc.) and for establishing shots of interiors. A Steadicam or hand-held camera was used when the episode needed to depict the emotional relationships between people. This allowed the cinematographer to get very close to the actors without interfering with their performances.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Although Gray's cinematography was not nominated for a BAFTA Craft Award, it won high praise from Mike Hale in "The New York Times", who said "the cinematography of Matt Gray, whose shots from every possible angle of the dramatic cliffs behind the Broadchurch beach[,] are essential to the show's ambience." Allison Willmore at the industry publication "Indiewire" was equally effusive. "Broadchurch" series one was "wonderfully shot by cinematographer Matt Gray, who seems to make the oceanside backdrop only more beautiful as the characters in front of it fall apart."


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Visual clues to the killer's identity were given throughout the series. In the first episode, Mark Latimer walks along the Broadchurch High Street on his way to work in the morning. Director Strong asked actors Matthew Gravelle (Joe Miller) and Adam Wilson (Tom Miller) to improvise some father-son horseplay. Viewers could thus see Joe with his arm around Tom's neck, "strangling" him. The slug in the Miller household, first seen in episode two, is meant to indicate that there is something wrong in the Miller family. Joe's visits to the skatepark in episodes three and six indicate not only his link to Danny Latimer but also his desire to be around young boys with whom he could form a relationship similar to the one he had with Danny.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The producers and director James Strong paid particular attention to the visual style of the reveal. Chibnall wanted to expose the murderer's identity visually and dynamically, not through dialogue in a static scene on a set. During a location site visit prior to filming, Chibnall, Strong, and Holmes walked from the house at Lavington Close to the house on St Andrews Drive. As they crossed a footbridge over the Land Yeo, Chibnall—struck by the scenery of the area—realised that a single, uncut point of view shot of DI Hardy walking through the Miller house, through the garden, and into the garden shed was the way to reveal the killer's identity. Chibnall and Strong decided that the shot in the first episode of Mark Latimer walking through the Broadchurch High Street should mimic this reveal shot in the eighth episode.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Costumes for "Broadchurch" were designed by freelance costume designer Ray Holman. Holman worked with the actors portraying major characters to ensure that the costumes fit the character. He spent hours discussing the characters with the actors, and sometimes took the actors shopping or to costume suppliers to find the right look. Holman crafted the "old and saggy" look of Alec Hardy's character to reflect the fact that Hardy "didn't really care what he wore." Often arriving on the set at 6 a.m., Holman ensured that Tennant's suit was appropriately crumpled every day. Holman also designed Ellie Miller's "unflattering grey work suit". Holman and actress Olivia Colman agreed that Ellie was a person who had lived in a small town her entire life. Having been a uniformed police officer, she had worked her way up in the ranks but still retained an unconscious desire to appear in uniform. The grey trouser suit was critical to that look. "I did apologise to her about that, but it looked fantastic and characterised her," Holman said. Beth Lattimer's red dress, seen in episode one, was also Holman's idea. There was disagreement about it, but Holman said he insisted on the red dress. "I wanted the red dress because I knew it would move quite beautifully and she has to run on the beach and I wanted the red against the cliffs," he said.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Chibnall was determined to ensure that the identity of the killer did not leak until the final episode aired. One reason for the secrecy was obviously commercial, for it kept viewers watching. But Chibnall also believed it would enhance the acting. "There was a number of reasons for it, one of which was obviously that a lot of the story was driven from characters in the show not knowing, so it enables those characters to behave truthfully in that situation. And also what I wanted was for every performer to slightly suspect their character, and to really think about that, and to suspect each other. ... So what you get is ambiguity, and what it also means is that any of the performer or performers who are responsible for what happened aren't flagging it or signaling it in any way whatsoever." The producers discussed the need for secrecy at length during pre-production and agreed it was essential. Chibnall also discussed secrecy issues with directors James Strong and Euros Lyn, and they both agreed to its necessity before coming aboard the project. As roles were cast, Chibnall also explained to each actor that the killer's identity would be kept from them until near the end of the production.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Several means were employed to maintain secrecy. All scripts contained a watermark that ensured they could not be photocopied, and copies of scripts used on the set were kept in a safe. Only Chibnall and four other individuals knew at the start of production who the killer would be; even ITV Director of Television Peter Fincham was not told the killer's identity until the first few days of March 2013. All cast and crew were required to sign documents in which they agreed not to reveal the killer's identity.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: In part, secrecy was also maintained by the way scripts were written. Performers were given the first two scripts at the start of principal photography, but additional scripts were written only after Chibnall had observed the actors bringing their characters to life. Once the scripts for episodes six, seven, and eight were finished, they were released all at once—but only to those crew and cast who had a need to know. These three episodes were then shot together.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Olivia Colman was the first cast member to learn the killer's identity—having been informed during her first meeting with the producers. Colman told "Radio Times" that she asked who the killer was, and was told. An hour later, she was told that the killer's identity would remain a secret and that she should not tell anyone. Somehow, David Tennant's agent learned that Colman knew the murderer's identity, and told David Tennant midway through the production that Colman knew. Tennant did not believe it. Colman later said that Tennant was angry at learning the truth.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Actor Matthew Gravelle (who played murderer Joe Miller) was the second cast member to learn the killer's identity. Chibnall called to tell him two weeks before the final three scripts filmed. By this time, Gravelle was already on the set of another television production. Chibnall kept his revelation short, saying, "It's you." Gravelle paused for about 20 seconds, and then said, "Oh, brilllllliant." He was very enthused to be able to play what were going to be critical scenes at the end of the series. But he also admitted he had never guessed he was going to be the killer. Over the next few days, Chibnall and Gravelle had many long conversations to discuss Joe Miller's backstory and motivation, how to integrate the filmed performance with the upcoming performance, and how Gravelle could play the character going forward.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Although she was not told the murderer's identity, actress Jodie Whittaker was informed that it was not her character a short while before the release of the episode eight script. Whittaker approached Chibnall and said she feared she was the killer. Her concern was so strong, it might have affected her performance, so as filming got under way for episode six Chibnall assured her that she was not the killer. He later admitted it would have been "deceptive" to write the character of Beth Latimer as a powerfully grieving mother, only to have it revealed as a lie. "I couldn't have done that to an actor," he said.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Oskar McNamara (who played Danny Latimer) was the third actor to be told who the murderer was. Danny Latimer's death is very violent, which required telling McNamara about the killer's identity several days in advance so that the actor could prepare and the scene could be choreographed and rehearsed. McNamara's parents worked closely with director Strong to ensure their son's physical and emotional safety. The mother of Adam Wilson (who played Tom Miller) was told the killer's identity several days before the release of the final three scripts. She declined to tell her son who the murderer was. Wilson learned that his on-screen father was the killer just a few minutes before the scene was shot. Wilson's surprise helped him portray the shock Tom Miller felt at his mother's revelation.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: After three months of production, the crew and key cast members were given the final three scripts (the last of which revealed the murderer's identity) over a single weekend. One source says that key cast members received all three scripts at once, although Chibnall has been quoted as saying that the script for episode eight was held back until absolutely needed. Even after the final three scripts were distributed, just 29 people—including four cast members—knew the killer's identity while the final episodes were filmed.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Initially, Chibnall wanted to reveal the murderer's identity to the entire cast and crew at an all-hands meeting on the Harbour Cliffs Beach a few days before releasing the final three scripts. A short film of completed footage had been edited together to show the cast and crew how the series was coming together. It was his intent to reveal the secret at the end of the screen. The night before the meeting, the cast and crew filmed the "re-creation scene" where Tom Miller skateboards through Broadchurch in an attempt to jog people's memories. Reaction by the cast was mixed to his decision.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: "Broadchurch" creator Chris Chibnall had long been a fan of Icelandic composer and musician Ólafur Arnalds, and owned all of Ólafur's albums. While writing "Broadchurch", Chibnall listened constantly to Ólafur's music. He later told Ólafur that the "entire feel of the show was inspired by" Ólafur's music.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: In late 2012, Chibnall contacted Ólafur to ask him to compose the music for "Broadchurch". "The music is a narrative all of its own," Chibnall later said. "I'd heard Ólafur's music and it just broke my heart. I instinctively felt if we could get him, that would be amazing." Ólafur agreed to join the production, and his hiring was publicly announced in December 2012. Ólafur called working on "Broadchurch" series one "an absolute pleasure. The creators and directors gave me complete artistic freedom and encouraged me to be as bold as possible. Which is what every artist wants to hear."


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: To compose the music for "Broadchurch", Ólafur read the show's scripts to put himself in the right mood. He also researched sounds which might be heard in Dorset as a means of inspiration. As with most of his music, he then improvised at the piano. He composed several themes, some for the series as a whole and some for specific characters. He then shared them with Chibnall, and together they picked out the themes they liked best. Using synthesizers or electronic sound generators, Ólafur also composed sounds to be heard when action occurred in certain spaces, such as the cliffs. Once he saw the completed footage for the first episode, he rearranged some themes to fit the imagery, and composed several new themes as well. Because there was so little time between his being hired and the air date, Ólafur composed very quickly and spent extraordinarily long days at work. He had just four months to generate about 30 minutes of sound and music for each episode, spending one-and-a-half to two weeks on each episode. Despite the time crunch, Ólafur credited Chibnall's relaxed attitude as the key to the music's success.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The music for "Broadchurch" deliberately avoided a typical orchestral score. Ólafur felt that an orchestra sounded too large and perfect. Music which was intimate and depicted the flawed lives of the characters was needed, so the score was written for a string quartet and piano, accompanied by electronic sound. Recording, which took just five days, was done in an empty church in Reykjavik.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The musical soundtrack to "Broadchurch" series one includes four songs: "So Close" (the only song to include lyrics), "Suspects", "Arcade", and "Broken". "So Close" plays at the end episodes one through seven. Ólafur collaborated on "So Close" with singer Arnór Dan of the Icelandic band Agent Fresco (with whom Ólafur had worked on his third studio album, "For Now I Am Winter", released in February 2013). Arnór wrote the vocal melody, while Ólafur wrote the rest of the music. Chris Chibnall contributed the lyrics, which hold clues to the killer's identity.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Ólafur Arnalds won a British Academy Television (BAFTA) Craft Award for Original Television Music in April 2014. It was his first composition for television. Ólafur's music was widely praised. Mike Hale, writing in "The New York Times", called it "a tasty icing of gloom and foreboding", and noted that the show leaned very heavily on the mood that the music created. Cast members were equally as impressed with the music. Actress Jodie Whittaker has said that "hearing the music by Ólafur Arnalds just broke me every time." Actor Andrew Buchan was equally effusive. "The power of music can draw people in more than they realise. I had never heard a piece of music like it. They deliberately went left-field with Ólafur Arnalds. I found it haunting, beautiful and desolate. It can make or break a show. If you think about your reasons for watching "The Killing", the music that swells at the end draws you into watching another one. Same with Broadchurch — the music can't be ignored."


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The "Broadchurch (Music From the Original Soundtrack)" extended play album was released on 15 April 2013 by Mercury Classics, a division of Decca Records. It contained six tracks:


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The newly founded company Sonorous provided audio post-production. "Broadchurch" was its first television project. Sonorous' Howard Bargroff was involved in the post-production process even before the first episode had been fully edited. Bargroff held meeting with the producers and post-production as every episode neared completion, and they jointly identified elements of the sound which were in good shape, and those which needed work. Sound mixing was done using PMC Ltd. TB2 speakers. The company delivered streaming QuickTime files to the producers to keep them up to date with mix changes. To maintain secrecy, actors had to loop dialogue without seeing the accompanying footage. This prevented workers at the audio post-production facility from seeing any critical visual information and leaking it to the press.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Series one of "Broadchurch" won near-universal praise. "Radio Times" named it the best television series of 2013, Matthew Bell of the industry journal "Television" called it "a cultural phenomenon", and "Entertainment Weekly" and the "Nottingham Post" called it a "national obsession" in the U.K. A typical critical assessment was made by Tirdad Derekhshani in "The Philadelphia Inquirer": "British TV writer Chris Chibnall achieved something special with the ITV show "Broadchurch": It's a tense, gripping murder mystery, for sure, but the eight-episode series that was shown on BBC America in August also is a brilliantly plotted, multilayered, intimate character study...[f]eaturing a brilliant ensemble cast..."


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: Not all reviews were rhapsodic. Mike Hale in "The New York Times", noted, "It's a pre-eminent example of what could be called the new International Style in television drama: a moody, slow-moving, complicated crime story with damaged heroes and not much redemption to go around." He found the characters "typical", and the show largely redeemed by the superb acting rather than any insightful writing or plotting. Although he praised "Broadchurch's" music, cinematography, and editing, he also pointed out that they were highly derivative of the 2007-2012 Danish murder-mystery "Forbrydelsen" and its 2011-2014 American remake "The Killing". Some reviews were even harsher. John Byrne at RTÉ called "Broadchurch" downright boring.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: "Broadchurch" series one also received a record-setting number of tweets on Twitter. Series one received a total of 470,000 tweets during its run, the largest number of tweets for an ITV program since Twitter began keeping records. About 260,000 tweets were sent while the final episode aired, with a peak of 8,942 tweets per minute.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The first episode of "Broadchurch" series one was seen by an average of 9.1 million viewers (31 percent audience share). This included 6.15 million live viewers (25.2 percent audience share), with another 716,000 viewers (4.4 percent) on time-delayed viewing via digital video recorder, timeshifted channels (+1), and similar media and technologies. It won its time-slot beating "Mayday" and "Embarrassing Bodies". This was the best premiere episode of a weekday new drama series in the United Kingdom since ITV's "Whitechapel" debuted in January 2009.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The second episode continued to perform well pulling in 5.78 million viewers (23.2 percent audience share), while another 606,000 viewers (3.7 percent) watching on time-delayed viewing. It once again won its competitive time slot beating "Embarrassing Bodies" and BBC One's "Shetland". The third episode climbed to its biggest audience so far pulling in 7.30 million viewers (30.9 percent audience share), adding 241,000 (1.1 percent) via time-delayed viewing. Once again it won its time slot. The fourth episode continued to draw a large audience, pulling in 6.88 million viewers (28.1 percent audience share), and further 308,000 viewers (1.79%) watching on time-delay. The fifth episode climbed in the ratings from the previous week to help give ITV a win over BBC One, overnight data revealed. The fifth episode attracted 6.29 million viewers (24.5 percent audience share) at 9 PM. A further 310,000 viewers tuned in via time-delay viewing. The sixth episode climbed once again in the ratings, overnight data revealed. Live viewers rose to 6.29 million (24.5 percent audience share) with 310,000 viewers tuning in via time-delay. The penultimate episode won an audience of 6.93 million (27.7 percent audience share) on ITV, with 342,000 (1.9 percent) tuning in on ITV+1.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: "Broadchurch" attracted an average weekly audience of 7.1 million "live" viewers during its run. After accounting for time-delayed viewing, "Broadchurch" averaged 9.2 million viewers per episode.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: "Broadchurch" series one was not a rating success in all countries, however. When it aired on BBC America in the United States, ratings were negligible. American consumption of the series on iTunes, Amazon.com, and other streaming video sites was also small.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: "Broadchurch" was nominated for seven BAFTA awards. Olivia Colman won Best Actress, David Bradley won Best Supporting Actor, and the show was named Best Drama Series. The show competed for the BAFTA Audience Award, but lost to "The Day of the Doctor" ("Doctor Who"), which also starred David Tennant. Ólafur Arnalds won Best Original Television Music, while James Strong was nominated for Best Director-Fiction for "Episode One", Mike Jones was nominated for Best Editing-Fiction for "Episode Eight", Catrin Meredydd was nominated for Best Production Design, and Chris Chibnall was nominated for Best Writer-Drama.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: "Broadchurch" series one subsequently aired in more than 135 countries. These include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, and a number of African nations.


title: Broadchurch (series 1)

text: The first series of "Broadchurch" was released on DVD in the United Kingdom by Acorn Media UK on 20 May 2013. Subsequently, a Special Edition Blu-ray, containing audio commentaries and deleted scenes in addition to the special features found on the DVD, was released in the UK on 4 November 2013.


title: Prospero

text: Prospero ( ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of William Shakespeare's play "The Tempest".


title: Prospero

text: Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, whose usurping brother, Antonio, had put him (with his three-year-old daughter, Miranda) to sea on a "rotten carcass" of a boat to die, twelve years before the play begins. Prospero and Miranda had survived and found exile on a small island. He has learned sorcery from books, and uses it while on the island to protect Miranda and control the other characters.


title: Prospero

text: Before the play has begun, Prospero has freed the magical spirit Ariel from entrapment within "a cloven pine". Ariel is beholden to Prospero after he is freed from his imprisonment inside the pine tree. Prospero then takes Ariel as a slave. Prospero's sorcery is sufficiently powerful to control Ariel and other spirits, as well as to alter weather and even raise the dead: "Graves at my command have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth, by my so potent Art." - Act V, scene 1.


title: Prospero

text: On the island, Prospero becomes master of the monster Caliban (the son of Sycorax, a malevolent witch) and forces Caliban into submission by punishing him with magic if he does not obey.


title: Prospero

text: At the end of the play, Prospero intends to drown his books and renounce magic. In the view of the audience, this may have been required to make the ending unambiguously happy, as magic was associated with diabolical works.


title: Prospero

text: "The Tempest" is believed to be the last play Shakespeare wrote alone. In this play there are two candidate soliloquies by Prospero which critics have taken to be Shakespeare's own "retirement speech".


title: Gato-class submarine

text: The "Gato" class of submarines was built for the United States Navy and launched in 1941–1943; they were the first mass-production U.S. submarine class of World War II. Together with their near-sisters the and es, their design formed the majority of the United States Navy's World War II submarine fleet. Named after the lead ship of the class, , the "Gato"s and their successors formed the core of the submarine service that was largely responsible for the destruction of the Japanese merchant marine and a large portion of the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. "Gato"s name comes from a species of small catshark. Like most other U.S. Navy submarines of the period, boats of the "Gato" class were given the names of marine creatures. In some references, the "Gato"s are combined with their successors, especially the "Balao" class.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: The "Gato"-class boats were considered to be 'fleet submarines', designed to operate as adjuncts to the main battle fleet, based on standard-type battleships since World War I. They were to scout out ahead of the fleet and report on the enemy fleet's composition, speed, and course, then they were to attack and whittle down the enemy in preparation for the main fleet action, a titanic gun battle between battleships and cruisers. This was an operational concept born from experience in World War I. To operate effectively in this role, a submarine had to have high surface speed, long range and endurance, and heavy armament. Limitations in submarine design and construction in the 1920s and 1930s made this combination of qualities very difficult to achieve. The U.S. Navy experimented constantly with this concept in the post-World War I years, producing a series of submarines with less than stellar qualities and reliability, the (also known as the T class) and the V-boats, of which "V-1" through "V-3" were an unsuccessful attempt to produce a fleet submarine.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: By 1931, the experimental phase of fleet submarine development was over and the Navy began to make solid progress towards what would eventually be the "Gato" class. By 1940, a much better developed industrial base and experience gained from the "Porpoise"-, -, and boats resulted in the "Tambor" and "Gar" classes. Finally, the U.S. Navy had hit the right combination of factors and now had the long-desired fleet submarine.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: Timing, however, conspired against the actual use of these boats in their assigned role. The attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 destroyed the Pacific Fleet battle line and along with it the concept of the battleship-led gun battle, as well as 20 years of submarine strategic concept development. It left the fleet submarine without a mission. Fortunately, the same capabilities that would have enabled these submarines to operate with the fleet made them superbly qualified for their new mission of commerce raiding against the Japanese Empire.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: Timing, however, also conspired to make the "Gato"s a mass-produced class of submarines. Six units were planned in FY41. In the immediate aftermath of the Two-Ocean Navy Act 48 additional units were ordered. By the end of 1941, 33 "Gato" keels had been laid.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: The "Gato"-class design, with a top range of 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km), was a near-duplicate of the preceding "Tambor"- and "Gar"-class boats. The only significant differences were an increase in diving depth from to , and an extra five feet in length to allow the addition of a watertight bulkhead dividing the one large engine room in two, with two diesel generators in each room. The "Gato"s, along with nearly all of the U.S. Navy fleet-type submarines of World War II, were of partial double-hulled construction. The inner pressure-resisting hull was wrapped by an outer, hydrodynamic hull. The voids between the two hulls provided space for fuel and ballast tanks. The outer hull merged with the pressure hull at both ends in the area of the torpedo room bulkheads, hence the "partial" double hull. Operational experience with earlier boats led the naval architects and engineers at the Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair to believe that they had been unduly conservative in their estimates of hull strength. Without changing the construction or thickness of the pressure hull steel, they decided that the "Gato"-class boats would be fully capable of routinely operating at 300 feet, a increase in test depth over the preceding classes.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: The "Gato"s were slow divers when compared to some German and British designs, but that was mostly because the "Gato"s were significantly larger boats. Sufficient fuel bunkerage to provide the range necessary for 75-day patrols from Hawaii to Japan and back could be obtained only with a larger boat, which would take longer to submerge than a smaller one. Acknowledging this limitation, the bureau designers incorporated a negative (sometimes called a "down express") tank into the design, which was flooded to provide a large amount of negative buoyancy at the start of the dive. Based on later wartime experience, the tank was normally kept full or nearly full at the surface, then emptied to a certain mark after the boat was submerged to restore neutral buoyancy. At the start of the war, these boats could go from fully surfaced to periscope depth in about 45–50 seconds. The superstructure that sat atop the pressure hull provided the main walking deck when the boat was surfaced and was free-flooding and full of water when the boat was submerged. When the dive began, the boat would "hang" for a few extra seconds while this superstructure filled with water. In an attempt to speed this process, additional limber, or free-flooding, holes were drilled and cut into the superstructure to allow it to flood faster. By midwar, these measures combined with improved crew training got dive times down to 30–35 seconds, very fast for such a large boat and acceptable to the boat's crew.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: The large size of these boats did negatively affect both surfaced and underwater maneuverability when compared to smaller submarines. No practical fix for this was available due to the limitations of the installed hydraulic systems used to move the rudder. Although a point of concern, the turning radius was still acceptable. After the war, a few fleet boats were fitted with an additional rudder topside at the very stern.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: The class of boats had numerous crew comforts including air conditioning, refrigerated storage for food, generous freshwater distilling units, clothes washers, and bunks for nearly every crew member; these were luxuries virtually unheard of in other navies. The bureau designers felt that if a crew of 60–80 men were to be expected to conduct 75-day patrols in the warm waters of the Pacific, these types of features were vital to the health and efficiency of the crew. They could be added without impact to the boat's war fighting abilities due to the extra room of the big fleet boat. The air conditioning in particular had a very practical application, too, besides comfort. Should a submarine submerge for any length of time, the heat generated by the recently shut-down engines, electronic gear, and 70 warm bodies will quickly raise internal temperatures above . High humidity generated by tropical waters will quickly condense and begin dripping into equipment, eventually causing electrical shorts and fires. Air conditioning, acting mostly as a dehumidifier, virtually eliminates this problem and greatly increases mechanical and electrical reliability. It proved to be a key factor in the success of these boats during World War II.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: Like the previous Tambor/Gar classes, the Gato class could substitute mines in place of torpedoes. For the Mk 10 and Mk 12 type mines used in World War II, each torpedo could be replaced by as many as two mines, giving the submarine a true maximum capacity of 48 mines. However, doctrine was to retain at least four torpedoes on mine laying missions, which further limits the capacity to 40 mines, and this is often stated as the maximum in various publications. In practice during the war, submarines went out with at least 8 torpedoes, and the largest minefields laid were 32 mines. Post-war, the Mk 49 mine replaced the Mk 12, while the larger Mk 27 mine was also carried which only allowed one mine replacing one torpedo.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: Twelve submarines of this class built by Electric Boat received what would be the final installations of the Hooven-Owens-Rentschler (HOR) double-acting diesel engine. The Navy had been tinkering with this engine off and on since 1937 because its unique design promised nearly twice the horsepower in a package the same size as other diesel engine types. Unfortunately, the HOR company ran into severe design and manufacturing problems, and these engines proved to be operational and maintenance nightmares. Frequent breakdowns and utter unreliability had destroyed these engines' reputation with the Navy and they were all removed at the first opportunity and replaced by General Motors Cleveland


title: Gato-class submarine

text: 16-278A V-type diesels. The other "Gato"-class boats received either the Fairbanks-Morse 38D 8-1/8 nine-cylinder opposed-piston engine or the


title: Gato-class submarine

text: General Motors Cleveland 16-248 V-type as original installations. These engines were hardy, rugged, and well liked by the crews and served the boats quite well.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: At the beginning of the war, "Gato"-class boats, as well as the "Gar" and "Tambor" classes, had fully shrouded fairwaters visually similar to modern nuclear submarines. Experience during the war led to the progressive reduction of this structure to reduce visibility and radar profile at the expense of underwater performance and foul-weather operating comfort. Most of the subs in postwar movies show the final result of these modifications. A side benefit of these modifications was the creation of convenient locations for antiaircraft guns.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: Seventy-seven of these boats were commissioned from November 1941 () through April 1944 (). Twenty of the 52 U.S. submarines lost in World War II were of this class, plus , a damaged boat that returned to the U.S., but was considered a constructive total loss and not repaired.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: Occasionally, some confusion arises as to the number of "Gato"-class submarines built, with some sources listing the total as 73, due to the transitional nature of the first four boats (SS-361 through SS-364) constructed under the second contract by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. These were originally intended to be "Balao"-class subs and were assigned hull numbers that fall in the middle of the range of numbers for the "Balao" class (SS-285 to SS-416, SS-425, and S-426). Manitowoc was a designated follow-on yard to Electric Boat; they used construction blueprints and plans supplied by Electric Boat and used many of the same suppliers. The government-owned shipyards (Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Mare Island Naval Shipyard) began to make the transition to the new "Balao" design in the summer of 1942. Electric Boat, due to the huge backlog of "Gato"-class construction, was not ready to make the transition to the new design until January 1943. Manitowoc had already completed their allotted production run of "Gato"s and could not switch over to the "Balao" design until Electric Boat supplied them with the plans. Faced with a work stoppage while they waited for Electric Boat to catch up, managers at Manitowoc got permission to complete four additional boats (SS-361 through SS-364) to Electric Boat's "Gato"-class plans. Manitowoc's first "Balao"-class boat was .


title: Gato-class submarine

text: The "Gato" boats were authorized in appropriations for Fiscal Year 1941, as part of President Franklin Roosevelt's proclamation of "limited emergency" in September 1939. The first boat laid down was actually at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 11 September 1940. She was commissioned on 1 November 1941, and was the only "Gato"-class boat in commission when the war started. "Gato" herself was laid down on 5 October 1940 by the Electric Boat Company at Groton, Connecticut, and commissioned 31 December 1941. Due to their large construction capacity, more than half (41) of the class was built at Electric Boat facilities; three new slipways were added to the north yard and four slipways were added to the south yard to accommodate their production. In addition, the government purchased an old foundry downstream from the main yard, constructed 10 slipways, and turned the yard over to Electric Boat. Called the Victory Yard, it became an integral part of Electric Boat operations. A total of 77 "Gato"s were built at four different locations (Electric Boat, Manitowoc, Portsmouth, and Mare Island).


title: Gato-class submarine

text: All of the "Gato"s (with one exception, ) would eventually fight in the Pacific Theater of Operations. However, in the summer of 1942, six new "Gato"s were assigned to Submarine Squadron 50 and sent to Rosneath, Scotland, to patrol the Bay of Biscay and to assist in the Operation Torch landings in North Africa. All in all, they conducted 27 war patrols, but could not claim any verified sinkings. Considered a waste of valuable resources, in mid-1943, all six boats were recalled and transferred to the Pacific.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: Once they began to arrive in theater in large numbers in mid-to-late 1942, the "Gato"s were in the thick of the fight against the Japanese. Many of these boats racked up impressive war records: , , and were second, third, and fourth based on tonnage sunk by U.S. submarines. , "Flasher", and were third, fourth, and seventh place on the list for the number of ships sunk. "Gato"-class boats sank four Japanese submarines: , , , and ; while only losing one in exchange, to .


title: Gato-class submarine

text: Their principal weapon was the steam-powered Mark 14 torpedo in the early war years, with the electric Mark 18 torpedo supplementing the Mark 14 in late 1943. Due to a stunted research-and-development phase in the Depression-era 1930s, and in great part due to the arrogance and stubbornness of its designer, the Naval Torpedo Station Newport under the Bureau of Ordnance, the "wonder weapon" Mark 14 proved to be full of bugs and very unreliable. They tended to run too deep, explode prematurely, run erratically, or fail to detonate. Bowing to pressure from the submariners in the Pacific, the bureau eventually acknowledged the problems in the Mark 14 and largely corrected them by late 1943. The Mark 18 electric torpedo was a hastily copied version of captured German G7e torpedo weapons and was rushed into service in the fall of 1943. Unfortunately, it also was full of faults, the most dangerous being a tendency to run in a circular pattern and come back at the sub that fired it. Once perfected, both types of torpedoes proved to be reliable and effective weapons, allowing the "Gato"s and other submarines to sink an enormous amount of Japanese shipping by the end of the war.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: The "Gato"s were subjected to numerous exterior configuration changes during their careers, with most of these changes centered on the conning tower fairwater. The large, bulky original configuration proved to be too easy to spot when the boat was surfaced; it needed to be smaller. Secondly, the desire to incorporate new masts for surface- and air-search radars drove changes to the fairwater and periscope shears. Third, additional gun armament was needed, and cutting down the fairwater provided excellent mounting locations for machine guns and antiaircraft cannon. The modifications (or mods) to the "Gato"-class conning tower fairwaters were fairly uniform in nature and they can be grouped together based on what was done when:


title: Gato-class submarine

text: Variations on the above mods included the 1A (shortened navigation bridge), 2A (plating removed from periscope shears), and the 3A and 4A (which moved the SJ radar mast aft of the periscopes). The conning tower fairwater of "Flasher" is preserved in Groton, Connecticut, in the mod 4A configuration, with two single 40 mm Bofors mounts.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: Deck guns varied during the war. Many targets in the Pacific War were sampans or otherwise not worth a torpedo, so the deck gun was an important weapon. Most boats began the war with a 3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber Mk. 17 gun (although some boats received older Mk. 6 mounts due to shortages). The 3-inch gun was the model originally specified for the "Gato" class, but war experience led to the removal of 4-inch (102 mm)/50 caliber Mk. 9 guns from old S-class submarines to equip front-line boats. Beginning in late 1943, almost all were refitted with a 5-inch (127 mm)/25 caliber Mk. 17 gun, and some boats had two of these weapons. Additional antiaircraft guns included single 40 mm Bofors and twin 20 mm Oerlikon mounts, usually one of each.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: At the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy found itself in an awkward position. The 56 remaining "Gato"-class submarines, designed to fight an enemy that no longer existed, were largely obsolete, despite the fact they were only two to four years old. Such was the pace of technological development during the war that a submarine with only a 300-foot test depth was going to be of little use, despite being modern in most other aspects. Enough of the "Balao" and "Tench" boats, with their greater diving depth, remained that the "Gato"s were superfluous for front-line missions. The Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program (GUPPY) modernization program of the late 1940s largely passed these boats by. Only and received GUPPY conversions; these were austere GUPPY IB modernizations under project SCB 47A prior to their transfer to the Italian Navy. However, the U.S. Navy found itself new missions to perform, and for some of these the "Gato"s were well suited. The last two "Gato"-class boats active in the U.S. Navy were and , which were both decommissioned on 13 September 1969 and sold for scrap.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: The advent of the "kamikaze" demonstrated the need for a long-range radar umbrella around the fleet. Surface ships refitted with powerful radar suites were put into service, but they proved vulnerable in this role, as they could be attacked as well, leaving the fleet blind. A submarine, though, could dive and escape aerial attack. Two "Gato"-class boats ( and ) received rudimentary conversions to radar pickets before the end of World War II, but were not used in this role. After further experimenting with the concept on four "Balao" and "Tench"-class boats under Projects Migraine I and II, and realizing that a deep diving depth was not overly important in this role, six "Gato"s were taken in hand (, , , , , and ) for conversion under Project Migraine III (aka SCB 12A). They were lengthened by to provide additional space for an air control center and had powerful air-search and height-finding radars installed, with the after torpedo room converted into an electronics space with torpedoes and tubes removed. They also received a streamlined "sail" in place of the traditional conning tower fairwater. Redesignated as SSRs, these boats were only moderately successful in this role, as the radars themselves proved troublesome and somewhat unreliable. The radars were removed and the boats temporarily reverted to general-purpose submarines after 1959.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: The threat of the Soviet Navy building hundreds of Type XXI-derived submarines (eventually the 215-strong and dozens of others) in the Atlantic led the U.S. Navy to adapt submarines to specifically hunt other submarines, a radically new role for the 1950s. Concluding that this role did not require a fast or deep-diving submarine (this line of thought would quickly change with the advent of nuclear power), seven "Gato"s were converted to SSKs (hunter-killer submarines) between 1951 and 1953, joining three purpose-built "K-1"-class SSKs entering service at that time. The "Gato" class was chosen because large numbers were available in the reserve fleet should rapid mobilization become necessary, and the deeper-diving classes were more suitable for GUPPY rather than SSK conversions. A streamlined GUPPY-style sail was installed, a large sonar array was wrapped around the bow (losing two torpedo tubes in the process), the boats were extensively silenced including the removal of the two forward diesel engines, and they received a snorkel. was converted under project SCB 58 as the test boat for the concept, having her sonar array at the forward end of the sail instead of the better position at the bow. The other boats in the program included , , , , , and .


title: Gato-class submarine

text: Eventually more advanced sonars were installed on the new nuclear boats: , commissioned in 1960, introduced the bow-mounted sonar sphere. "Tullibee" was an attempt to develop a slow but ultra-quiet nuclear-powered SSK equivalent; no others were built due to her unexpectedly high cost relative to the more capable , and the SSK mission was folded into the regular attack submarine role. The slow and less capable diesel SSKs were decommissioned or reassigned to other roles in 1959, and all except "Croaker" and "Cavalla" (eventually preserved as memorials) were scrapped in 1968 and 1969.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: The Regulus nuclear cruise missile program of the 1950s provided the U.S. Navy with its first strategic missile capability. was converted under SCB 28 in 1953 to house and fire this large surface-launched missile and was designated SSG (guided-missile submarine). She could carry two of the missiles in a cylindrical hangar on the aft deck. She made strategic deterrent patrols with Regulus until 1964, when the program was discontinued in favor of Polaris.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: With the retirement of the Regulus missile system in 1965, was converted into a troop transport in 1966. She was redesignated as an APSS (transport submarine), replacing in this role. Her Regulus hangar became a lockout chamber for UDT, SEAL, and Marine Force Recon teams in the Vietnam War. On 1 January 1969, "Tunny"s designation was changed to LPSS (amphibious transport submarine); however, she was replaced by and decommissioned in June of that year.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: was converted under SCB 39 to a SSO in 1950 to carry fuel oil, gasoline, and cargo to amphibious beachheads. She received additional "saddle" tanks wrapped around her outer hull to carry these fuels and a streamlined sail. After a few tests, the concept was dropped in 1951 as impractical, and "Guavina" served in the test role for a few years under the designation AGSS. In 1957, she converted back to the oiler/tanker role and carried the designation AOSS. This time, she experimented with refueling seaplanes at sea, which was potentially important, as refueling the nuclear-capable Martin P6M Seamaster at sea could improve the Navy's strategic strike capabilities. However, this mission, too, was dropped and "Guavina" was decommissioned.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: The development of advanced sonar systems took on a great deal of importance in the 1950s, and several fleet boats were outfitted with various strange-looking sonar transducer arrays and performed extensive tests. Two "Gato"s, and (previously the prototype hunter-killer boat) were assigned to these duties and proved to be key players in the development of new sonar capabilities. "Grouper" had all her forward torpedo tubes removed and the space was used as berthing for technicians and as a sonar lab. "Flying Fish" was decommissioned in 1954, but "Grouper" continued in the test role until 1968.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: Interested in maintaining a ready pool of trained reservists, the Navy assigned numerous fleet boats to various coastal and inland ports (even in Great Lakes ports such as Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit) where they served as a training platform during the reservists' weekend drills. Twenty-eight "Gato"-class boats served in this capacity, some as late as 1971. In this role, the boats were rendered incapable of diving and had their propellers removed. They were used strictly as pierside trainers. These were in commission, but classed as "in commission in reserve", thus some were decommissioned and recommissioned on the same day to reflect the change in status.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: The large numbers of relatively modern, but surplus U.S. fleet submarines proved to be popular in sales, loans, or leases to allied foreign navies. While most of these boats were of the more capable "Balao" and "Tench" classes, some "Gato"s went overseas, as well. Italy received two ( and ), which received the only GUPPY conversions given to "Gato"-class boats (Guppy IB). Japan received one (), Brazil two ( and ), Greece two ( and ), and Turkey two ( and ). The boats transferred to Japan and Brazil did not receive any modernizations (streamlining and snorkels) prior to transfer, but the four boats sent to Greece and Turkey did receive snorkels and partial streamlining to the fairwater.


title: Gato-class submarine

text: Six "Gato"-class submarines are open to public viewing. They primarily depend on revenue generated by visitors to keep them operational and up to U.S. Navy standards; each boat gets a yearly inspection and a "report card". Some boats, such as "Cod" and "Silversides", have been used in film production.


title: National Geographic Society

text: The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world.


title: National Geographic Society

text: Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. The National Geographic Society's logo is a yellow portrait frame—rectangular in shape—which appears on the margins surrounding the front covers of its magazines and as its television channel logo. Through National Geographic Partners (a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company), the Society operates the magazine, TV channels, a website, worldwide events, and other media operations.


title: National Geographic Society

text: The National Geographic Society was founded on 13 January 1888 "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge". It is governed by a board of trustees whose 33 members include distinguished educators, business executives, former government officials and conservationists. The organization sponsors and funds scientific research and exploration. National Geographic maintains a museum for the public in its Washington, D.C., headquarters.


title: National Geographic Society

text: It has helped to sponsor popular traveling exhibits, such as the early 2010s "King Tut" exhibit featuring artifacts from the tomb of the young Egyptian Pharaoh. Its Education Foundation gives grants to education organizations and individuals to improve geography education. Its Committee for Research and Exploration has awarded more than 11,000 grants for scientific research and exploration.


title: National Geographic Society

text: National Geographic has retail stores in Washington, D.C., London, Sydney, and Panama. The locations outside of the United States are operated by Worldwide Retail Store S.L., a Spanish holding company.


title: National Geographic Society

text: The Society's media arm is National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Society, which publishes a journal, "National Geographic" in English and nearly 40 local-language editions. It also publishes other magazines, books, school products, maps, and Web and film products in numerous languages and countries. National Geographic's various media properties reach more than 280 million people monthly. Its efforts are supported by a wide range of individual, charitable, governmental and corporate donors, including the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lockheed Martin, Pfizer, National Endowment for the Humanities and many others.


title: National Geographic Society

text: The National Geographic Society began as a club for an elite group of academics and wealthy patrons interested in travel and exploration. On January 13, 1888, 33 explorers and scientists gathered at the Cosmos Club, a private club then located on Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., to organize "a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge." After preparing a constitution and a plan of organization, the National Geographic Society was incorporated two weeks later on January 27. Gardiner Greene Hubbard (co-founder of AT&T) became its first president and his son-in-law, Alexander Graham Bell (also co-founder of AT&T), succeeded him in 1897.


title: National Geographic Society

text: In 1899, Bell's son-in-law Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor was named the first full-time editor of National Geographic magazine and served the organization for fifty-five years (until 1954), and members of the Grosvenor family have played important roles in the organization since. Bell and Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor devised the successful marketing notion of Society membership and the first major use of photographs to tell stories in magazines.


title: National Geographic Society

text: The chairman of the National Geographic Society currently is Jean Case. Michael Ulica is president. Jill Tiefenthaler is the chief executive officer. The editor-in-chief of National Geographic magazine is Susan Goldberg. Gilbert Melville Grosvenor, a former chairman, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 for his leadership in geography education.


title: National Geographic Society

text: In 2004, the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., was one of the first buildings to receive a "Green" certification from Global Green USA. The National Geographic received the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities in October 2006 in Oviedo, Spain.


title: National Geographic Society

text: National Geographic Expeditions was launched in 1999 to fulfill one of its mission and for the proceeds to go towards its mission.


title: National Geographic Society

text: In 2006, the society purchased "Hampton-Brown", an English-as-a-second-language educational material publisher, using a good part of its endowments. However, the publisher did not generate much profits. By 2009, the society's endowments were about $200 million.


title: National Geographic Society

text: National Geographic Ventures, its commercial arm, launched a music division, National Geographic Music and Radio, in 2007. The society formed in October 2007 National Geographic Entertainment division to include its entertainment units.


title: National Geographic Society

text: In 2013 the society was investigated for possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act relating to their close association with an Egyptian government official responsible for antiquities.


title: National Geographic Society

text: On September 9, 2015, the Society announced that it would re-organize its media properties and publications into a new company known as National Geographic Partners, which would be majority-owned by 21st Century Fox (21CF) with a 73% stake. This new, for-profit corporation, would own "National Geographic" and other magazines, as well as its affiliated television networks—most of which were already owned in joint ventures with 21CF. As a consequence, the Society and 21st Century Fox announced on November 2, 2015, that 9 percent of National Geographic's 2,000 employees, approximately 180 people, would be laid off, constituting the biggest staff reduction in the Society's history. Later, The Walt Disney Company assumed 21CF's share in National Geographic Partners, following the completion of Disney's acquisition of most of 21CF assets on March 20, 2019.


title: National Geographic Society

text: Although Alexander Graham Bell is sometimes discussed as a founder, he was actually the second president, elected on January 7, 1898, and serving until 1903.


title: National Geographic Society

text: The Hubbard Medal is awarded by the National Geographic Society for distinction in exploration, discovery, and research. The medal is named for Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the first National Geographic Society president. The Hubbard Medal has been presented 44 times , the most recent award going to Peter H. Raven.


title: National Geographic Society

text: The National Geographic Society also awards, rarely, the Alexander Graham Bell Medal, for exceptional contributions to geographic research. The award is named after Alexander Graham Bell, scientist, inventor of the telephone and the second president of the NGS. Up to mid-2011, the medal has been twice presented:


title: National Geographic Society

text: The Society operates the National Geographic Museum, located at 1145 17th Street, NW (17th and M), in Washington, D.C. The museum features changing exhibitions featuring the work of National Geographic explorers, photographers, and scientists. There are also changing exhibits related to natural history, culture, history or society. Permanent exhibits include artifacts like the camera Robert Peary used at the North Pole and pottery that Jacques Cousteau recovered from a shipwreck.


title: National Geographic Society

text: National Geographic Partners, a for-profit joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a 73% stake) and the Society (which owns 27%), was established in 2015 to handle commercial activities of the Society, including television channels worldwide (which were already co-owned by the Society and Fox) and magazine publications. The Walt Disney Company assumed 21CF's share of National Geographic Partners in March 2019.


title: National Geographic Society

text: Most of National Geographic Partners' businesses predate the establishment in 2015, and even the launch of National Geographic Channel in Asia and Europe by the original News Corporation (of which 21st Century Fox is one of the successors) in the late 1990s.


title: National Geographic Society

text: The society formed in October 2007 National Geographic Entertainment division to include Cinema Ventures, Feature Films, Kids Entertainment, Home Entertainment and Music & Radio divisions. Music and Radio division president David Beal was appointed head of Nat Geo Entertainment.


title: National Geographic Society

text: "The National Geographic Magazine", later shortened to "National Geographic", published its first issue in October 1888, nine months after the Society was founded, as the Society's official journal, a benefit for joining the tax-exempt National Geographic Society. Starting with the February 1910 (Vol XXI, No. 2) issue, the magazine began using its now famous trademarked yellow border around the edge of its covers.


title: National Geographic Society

text: There are 12 monthly issues of "National Geographic" per year. The magazine contains articles about geography, popular science, world history, culture, current events and photography of places and things all over the world and universe. "National Geographic" magazine is currently published in 40 local-language editions in many countries around the world. Combined English and other language circulation is around 6.8 million monthly, with some 60 million readers.


title: National Geographic Society

text: Additionally, the Society publishes atlases, books, and maps through National Geographic Books and National Geographic Maps, commercial publishing divisions of National Geographic Partners. It previously published and co-published other magazines, including "National Geographic Adventure", "National Geographic Research" (a scientific journal), and others, and continues to publish special issues of various magazines.


title: National Geographic Society

text: The Society published a series of books about natural remedies and medicinal herbs. Titles include "Guide to Medicinal Herbs," "Complete Guide to Natural Home Remedies," "Nature's Best Remedies," "Healing Remedies," and "Natural Home Remedies." The books make claims to describe, among other things, plants, herbs, and essential oils purported to help treat diseases and ailments. While giving some appropriate warnings about such concerns as anecdotal evidence and side effects are given, the books have been criticized from a medical perspective for a number of reasons. These include making recommendations that lack scientific evidence, inconsistent claims from one book to the next as well as internal contradictions, and failure to mention effective and safe alternatives. The journal "Skeptical Inquirer" devoted thirty-four pages in 2019 discussing these books. Experts such as Harriet Hall, Joe Nickell, Cees Renckens and Barry Kosmin addressed each subject in the series of books. Summing up the series, Hall wrote in a review of the series that, "The author Nancy J. Hajeski is a fiction and nonfiction writer with no medical or scientific credentials. The forward is by Tieraona Low Dog, MD, an integrative medicine specialist. ... which is a marketing term designed to infiltrate quackery into science-based medicine."


title: National Geographic Society

text: National Geographic Films appointed Adam Leipzig as president in 2004. The society formed in October 2007 National Geographic Entertainment division to include Cinema Ventures and Feature Films. In 2008, the film division and Image Nation formed a $100 million fund to develop, produce, finance and acquire over five years 10-15 films. The first film the fund invested in was "The Way Back".


title: National Geographic Society

text: Leipzig left the company in January 2010. On March 15, 2010, former Miramax president Daniel Battsek started as National Geographic Films president. Basttsek ended up also over seeing Nat Geo Cinema Ventures distribution and big screen production before he left in 2012 becoming president of Cohen Media Group.


title: National Geographic Society

text: In 2005, the National Geographic Society acquired the film distribution arm of Destination Cinema and entered the film distribution business.


title: National Geographic Society

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, National Geographic partnered with pharmaceutical company Pfizer to produce a sponsored documentary chronicling the development of Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine.


title: National Geographic Society

text: National Geographic Cinema Ventures (NGCV) was a giant-screen, 3D and specialty films production and distribution company operated under National Geographic Entertainment.


title: National Geographic Society

text: At the late 2011 American Alliance of Museums conference, National Geographic Cinema Ventures launched the Museum Partnership Program as museums want a brand for their giant screen theaters. Starting on February 1, 2018, Cosmic Pictures gained distribution rights to a number of the NGCV library.


title: National Geographic Society

text: The Museum Partnership Program is the branding and content program of National Geographic Cinema Ventures. Partner museums would receive immediate market exclusivity on their 2 new digital 3D films per year and gain access to the National Geographic organization from members to exhibition to television.


title: National Geographic Society

text: Television programs produced by the National Geographic Society are also broadcast on television. National Geographic television specials and series have been aired on PBS and other networks in the United States and globally for many years. The "Geographic" series in the U.S. started on CBS in 1964, moved to ABC in 1973, shifted to PBS (produced by WQED, Pittsburgh) in 1975, shifted to NBC in 1995, and returned to PBS in 2000. It moved to National Geographic Channel in 2005.


title: National Geographic Society

text: It has featured stories on numerous scientific figures such as Jacques Cousteau, Jane Goodall, and Louis Leakey that not only featured their work but as well helped make them world-famous and accessible to millions. Most of the specials were narrated by various actors, including Glenn Close, Linda Hunt, Stacy Keach, Richard Kiley, Burgess Meredith, Susan Sarandon, Alexander Scourby, Martin Sheen, and Peter Strauss. The specials' theme music, by Elmer Bernstein, was also adopted by the National Geographic Channel.


title: National Geographic Society

text: The original News Corporation launched National Geographic Channel in Asia and Europe in the late 1990s, in partnership with the Society. The Society provides programming to the National Geographic-branded channels worldwide, while, as of March 2019, The Walt Disney Company's subsidiaries (Walt Disney Television in the United States and Fox Networks Group outside the United States) handle distribution of the channels and advertisement sales. The National Geographic Channel has begun to launch a number of sub-branded channels in international markets, such as Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo People and Nat Geo Kids.


title: National Geographic Society

text: The U.S. domestic version of National Geographic Channel was launched in January 2001 as a joint venture of National Geographic and Fox Cable Networks.


title: National Geographic Society

text: National Geographic Music and Radio (NGMR) is the music and radio division of National Geographic Ventures. The scope of the division includes National Geographic Live! events, digital music distribution, music publishing, radio content, Nat Geo Music TV channel (available in parts of Asia and Europe) and film and TV music. Clear Channel, Salem Communications and NPR were distribution partners.


title: National Geographic Society

text: In early August 2007, National Geographic Ventures announced the existence of the then-recently formed division. The division was already creating music for its feature film and kids units. Initially hired to run the division were Mark Bauman, executive vice president of radio and video production, and David Beal, head of music labels, publishing and radio operations. With National Geographic Channels, Music and Radio on October 15, 2007, launched the Nat Geo Music channel in Italy.


title: National Geographic Society

text: The society formed in October 2007 National Geographic Entertainment division to include the Music & Radio division and promoted the division president David Beal was appointed head of Nat Geo Entertainment. In 2009, the division became a full-service record label as Nat Geo Music with Mat Whittington appointed as president.


title: Pedro Porro

text: Pedro Antonio Porro Sauceda (; born 13 September 1999) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right back or right winger for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP and the Spain national team.


title: Pedro Porro

text: He started his career with Girona's reserve team Peralda, before being promoted to the first-team in 2017. In 2019, Porro signed for Premier League side Manchester City for a reported fee of €13 million (£11 million). He was consecutively loaned to La Liga side Real Valladolid and Portuguese Primeira Liga club Sporting CP on an initial two-year loan deal, where he won a double of the Primeira Liga and Taça da Liga, while being named in the Primeira Liga Team of the Year; it was made permanent at the end of his second season.


title: Pedro Porro

text: Porro first appeared with the Spain under-21s in March 2019, aged 19. He made his senior international debut in 2021 and was included in the squad for the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals in Italy, which Spain finished as runner-up.


title: Pedro Porro

text: Born in Don Benito, Badajoz, Extremadura, Porro represented Gimnástico de Don Benito and Rayo Vallecano before joining Girona on 10 August 2017. He reportedly rejected Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich to sign for the Catalans.


title: Pedro Porro

text: On 28 November 2017, before even appearing with the reserves, Porro made his first team debut by coming on as a late substitute for goalscorer Johan Mojica in a 1–1 away draw against Levante, for the season's Copa del Rey. He made his first appearance for the B-side five days later, playing the last seven minutes in a 0–0 Segunda División B draw at Ebro.


title: Pedro Porro

text: Porro scored his first senior goals on 6 May 2018, netting a brace in a 3–0 away win against Villarreal B. On 2 July, he renewed his contract until 2022, and featured the most of the pre-season as a right back.


title: Pedro Porro

text: Porro made his La Liga debut on 17 August 2018, starting in the right back in a 0–0 home draw against Real Valladolid. The following day, he extended his contract for a further year.


title: Pedro Porro

text: Porro established himself as a starter under Eusebio Sacristán, being a first-choice ahead of Aday Benítez and replacing departed Pablo Maffeo. He scored his first professional goal on 31 January 2019, netting his team's only in a 1–3 cup loss at Real Madrid.


title: Pedro Porro

text: On 8 August 2019, Porro signed for Manchester City, for a reported fee of £11 million. Upon signing for Manchester City, Porro was immediately loaned to Real Valladolid in La Liga for one season. The side had an option to make a permanent move, and after playing 13 league games, helping the "Pucelanos" to a 13th place finish, Real Valladolid opted to not exercise their buy to sign Porro.