To work as a television producer and director, as I have done, involves taking on planning in spades. In the pre-production stages the producer/director needs vision and the ability to sell it, to persuade the doubters. Come shooting, budgets, deadlines, crews, equipment, performers, contributors, accommodation, food, transport, props, locations, permissions, risk assessments, bad weather and other contingencies all have to be dealt with to avoid collecting embarrassing and expensive egg on ones face, and to ensure that the many individuals who contribute to a programme are all given fair opportunity to make their contribution. And leadership also plays an important role because in the shooting stage (and to a certain degree in post production) few people have the overview and vision that the producer and/or director has, so the crew and performers have to have confidence that they’re involved in a meaningful exercise – especially if being asked to do something a bit different. A film shoot can often seem like organised chaos, and it requires the leadership of the director to inject the belief, discipline and organisation that takes it where it’s meant to go.