How the BBC is primed to contribute to Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture - Katrina Bunker

Bradford is steeped in a rich industrial heritage, and with a wonderful mix of cultures calling it home – it’s no wonder that this city is home to one of the most underrated creative, vibrant, and powerful cultural scenes in the UK. Not only that, but it’s the people that live here – the very lifeblood of the city, that makes this creativity flow.

I was born and raised in Yorkshire, and when I was younger, I always dreamed of working at the BBC. By the age of 17, I was volunteering at BBC Radio Sheffield and found it so exciting, I stayed. 25 years on, I’ve been lucky enough to work in many different jobs at the BBC and through all that time I’ve remained proudly based in Yorkshire.

Now, as Senior Head of Production for the county, I am proud to be part of the BBC’s efforts to better represent and invest in the region. Places like Bradford have always been powerhouses in their own right but by just speaking to local people you get the real sense that it’s a city which often feels overlooked.

Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture is a fantastic opportunity to remedy that, to celebrate this great city, its vibrant communities and its unique and inspirational character. The boost in confidence and optimism for the city and its people could be as important as the extra investment and programming.

Throughout the year, the BBC is commissioning a raft of new content across arts, education, radio, drama and factual – all to showcase Bradford’s outstanding creative contribution to the UK.

I’m really excited about the new BBC crime drama Virdee, which is set and filmed in Bradford. This really demonstrates the best in homegrown storytelling. The series follows Detective Harry Virdee, a cop disowned by his Sikh family for marrying Saima, who is Muslim. His personal life in chaos, he must now hunt down a serial killer targeting the Asian community.

And it is not just about drama. Some of the BBC’s most-loved programmes are coming to the city, from Countryfile and Bargain Hunt, to Radio 4’s Front Row and Dance Passion, showcasing more regional voices and talent, and placing the BBC closer to local communities.

Two CBBC My Live episodes featuring young people from across the local area will highlight the diversity of young lives here in the city.

The BBC New Comedy Awards and the Contains Strong Language Festival – which champions and supports new local writing talent, poets and spoken word artists in their careers, will come here too.

We’ve already had a great start to building a presence in the city, kicking off with BBC Asian Network Certified back in February this year. The station’s flagship event was really well received and was an exciting evening of live music, incredible energy and talent that represents British Asian identity and culture.

Glow Up: Britain’s next Make-Up Star gave students at two colleges in Bradford an exclusive behind the scenes in April. Scores of young people got great inside knowledge about what it takes to make it in the make-up industry.

Naturally, the BBC will also provide significant regional and national coverage of the Bradford celebrations – boosting its profile to the world.

BBC Radio Leeds and BBC Look North will be at the centre of the UK’s City of Culture 2025 celebrations – broadcasting the latest news and special programmes throughout the year and bringing events to audiences.

Connecting with the audience in Bradford will take time and careful planning, and we are not and can’t do this alone. We are delighted to be an official broadcast partner with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and we’ll be working closely with them to ensure we make the biggest impact possible.

All of this activity will support growth for the creative sector, widen access and opportunities for the best creative talent and storytellers and ensure that Yorkshire continues to punch above its weight on a national and global stage.

Most importantly this is about celebrating local pride with the people of Bradford and District. That local pride that is already so evident when you talk to local people. Now is the time for that passion and that pride to shine on the biggest of stages. If we can harness the positivity and energy the year ahead will bring together, hopefully Bradford can go into 2026 with confidence and a swagger that will be the best legacy of all.

Katrina Bunker is the BBC’s senior head of content production for Yorkshire.