Virdee, Bantam of the Opera and Bradford, Brass and The Beatles: BBC's Katrina Bunker on Bradford 2025 and showcasing the city
Just like the crowd in the city’s Centenary Square, Katrina Bunker couldn’t help but cheer. Like thousands from across the nation, she was watching the announcement live on The One Show from the comfort of her sofa. “The winner of the UK City of Culture 2025 is…Bradford.”
It was May 2022 and Bunker was the editor at BBC Radio Sheffield. She’d been in that same role when Hull had its turn in the spotlight back in 2017 and had taken listeners along to East Yorkshire for an outside broadcast and a taste of what the city had to offer. She was hopeful that now it was Bradford’s time to be championed.
“Having seen what a difference it made for Hull and what an exciting year it was, I really hoped Bradford would get it,” Bunker says. “I could see what a great opportunity it would be for a city like Bradford that is so diverse and so full of talent, but talent that doesn’t always get championed. You could see the potential.”
She didn’t know it then but Bunker has been at the fore of harnessing that opportunity. Since 2023, she has been head of the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire region for the BBC, looking after all the local and regional programming, TV and radio news and the area’s online output.
She also manages the partnership between the Bradford City of Culture team and the BBC, which is the official broadcast partner of Bradford 2025.
“It’s such an opportunity to showcase a city that up until now hasn’t been showcased as much as it perhaps should be on the BBC,” Bunker says.
“It’s not just about covering some of the events that the City of Culture are putting on,” she adds, “It’s also about what the BBC can bring to town to have an impact throughout the year as well.”
That has included commissioning a raft of new content, as well as creating programmes featuring Bradford people and projects, and bringing some of the BBC’s staple shows to the city.
Antiques Roadshow will be filming at Lister Park and Cartwright Hall in the summer, for example, and two BBC Radio 4 shows – Jay Rayner’s The Kitchen Cabinet and Gardeners’ Question Time - have already recorded programmes at the University of Bradford Stadium.
Bradford is also taking a starring role in the new BBC crime drama Virdee, based on AA Dhand’s much-loved books, which have been adapted by him for the screen.
To celebrate the launch of the new show, which is set and filmed in Bradford, nearly 800 people came together for a red carpet event at St George’s Hall.
“A city like Bradford doesn’t always get red carpet premieres and it really felt like we were bringing a bit of Hollywood to Bradford,” Bunker says. “It was absolutely the right thing to do. The writer wrote Virdee in Bradford, it was filmed in Bradford, there was lots of local talent involved in the cast and behind the scenes. We couldn’t have done the premiere anywhere other than Bradford.”
Other highlights include the BBC Radio Leeds ‘Bantam of the Opera’ campaign. The station is seeing if a group of Bradford City fans can be taught to sing opera and will be following their journey as they go from singing on the terraces to performing as a choir at events throughout the year.
Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, opera singer Lesley Garrett, and sports commentator and TV presenter Chris Kamara, have all also pledged their support to the campaign.
“Part of the aim of City of Culture is to connect more people in the district with the arts in some way, and Bantam of the Opera just feels like a relevant and relatable project for people,” Bunker says.
She’s also looking forward to The Big Brass Blowout weekend in April, bringing together a variety of brass acts for three days and nights of music across Bradford district.
Radio 2’s Zoe Ball will present a host of performers to kick off the weekend, with a Radio 2 Loves Brass concert at St George’s Hall.
Jeremy Vine will also be broadcasting his show live from Bradford, celebrating the city’s rich history of brass bands, rooted in the success of its mills and factories.
There’ll also be a show focused on Bradford, Brass and The Beatles, with presenter Tony Blackburn looking back to an incredible music story in Bradford’s history - a concert in the city in 1963 that marked the start of what was to officially become known as ‘Beatlemania!’
It’s great to see Bradford’s character, history and the people who make it shining on the local and national stage, Bunker says.
“One of the things that Shanaz Gulzar (the creative director of Bradford UK City of Culture 2025) was really keen to do was help Bradford rise up from negative perceptions and stereotypes that it’s perhaps had and show to the rest of the region and the world what a great place it is,” Bunker says. “And that’s something the BBC can really help to do. We also wanted to show as the BBC that we are there for everybody.”
“Speaking to audiences in Bradford, what they were telling us is that they don’t see and hear enough people like themselves in the media,” Bunker continues. “So we knew if we were going to connect with people with our coverage throughout the year, we would need to be finding and involving some local talent.”
That’s where the organisation’s New Voices Bradford scheme comes in. Well over 100 people applied to be at the heart of the BBC’s coverage of the UK City of Culture year.
The three winners of the talent search now have a foot in the door at the BBC, working alongside well-known presenters.
“They’ve been great voices and personalities on BBC Look North, on Radio Leeds, they’ve been on The One Show, they’re appearing in various coverage. We’ll continue to use them, train them and develop them throughout the year,” Bunker says.
It’s only February, but already, she feels there has been a change in the city, a buzz, a confidence.
“I already think there’s been a little bit of a shift in perceptions of Bradford too but also the way that the people of Bradford feel about the BBC.”
“We’re really showcasing the people of Bradford in all their glory,” she continues, “and how friendly and full of character and creativity the place is. I hope by the end of this year, the BBC will have reset its relationship with the people of Bradford and people feel more positive about the BBC and the value they can get from it.
“I hope that it continues. It absolutely shouldn’t be the case that the BBC is in Bradford this year and then disappears. I hope through the relationships we’ve formed, more programmes continue to go to Bradford after this year and film episodes there or use characters from Bradford when putting programmes together…I hope there’s a real legacy.”
As for Bradford itself? “I hope it continues to be famous for what it should be famous for,” she says. “What we’re seeing at the moment is great creativity, a lot of brilliant local characters, great diversity, and community…I hope we continue to see Bradford portrayed for all of that.”