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Hold The Front Page

Blog · Behind the scenes · Sky Max

Hold The Front Page

One of the absolute joys of flying drones professionally for TV is getting to work with some very funny people and the TV show “Hold The Front Page” on Sky Max was no exception.

BroadcasterSky Max
PresentersJosh Widdicombe and Nish Kumar
Production companyCPL Productions
SeriesOne and Two, Devon to Scotland
The show

It’s Josh Widdicombe and Nish Kumar

My brief was to capture stunning general views of the locations we travelled through on the comics mission to find a headline story for the front page of the local newspapers. https://www.cplproductions.co.uk/production/hold-the-front-page/

It very rarely happened as the boys fumbled around Britain on their quest.

Meet the presenters

Josh Widdicombe

Born in 1983 and raised in Haytor Vale on Dartmoor, Josh studied in Manchester before an MA in magazine journalism at City, University of London, and worked as a sports journalist at The Guardian. That background made Hold The Front Page the perfect fit, and it brought the show to his home patch of Dartmoor in series two.

He has been a regular on Channel 4’s The Last Leg since 2012, won the very first series of Taskmaster and its first Champion of Champions, wrote and starred in the BBC Three sitcom Josh, and co-hosts the hit podcast Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett. In May 2026 the BBC announced him as one of the new hosts of Strictly Come Dancing, alongside Emma Willis and Johannes Radebe.

“By far the worst journalist on the Guardian sports desk”Josh on his old day job, via Chortle
Now hosting Strictly Come DancingThe Last LegTaskmaster championParenting Hell
Meet the presenters

Nish Kumar

Born in London in 1985 and raised in Croydon, Nish read English and History at Durham University, where he cut his teeth in the Durham Revue. His 2015 Edinburgh Fringe show earned a nomination for the Edinburgh Comedy Award, the biggest prize in British stand-up.

He fronted the BBC’s satirical The Mash Report from 2017 and its follow-up Late Night Mash on Dave, appeared on series five of Taskmaster, and since 2023 has co-hosted the podcast Pod Save the UK with Coco Khan. Nish and Josh go back years: he was a regular on Josh’s XFM and Radio X show from 2013 to 2015, with his own feature, “Nishipedia”.

“I’m excited to return to work with Josh celebrating local newspapers.”Nish on series two, via CPL Productions
The Mash ReportEdinburgh Comedy Award nomineePod Save the UKTaskmaster

Sources: Josh Widdicombe, Nish Kumar, Chortle, RTS and CPL / Seven.One Studios.

Drone kit

Firstly, let’s talk about drone kit.

On Hold The Front Page I used the DJI Mavic 3 Cine as this records in ProRes in beautiful 4K which matched the camera crews Sony FX6 and FX9 cameras perfectly. It’s important that before any job you always speak to the DOP about file formats and ask if they need the files in Log or as Rec 709. Log or in our case DLog is where the camera shoots a flat image with hardly any colour but with a high dynamic range where the editor can control the final colours as they grade the footage.

Rec 709 is classed as a normal colour setting on the DJI Mavic 3 and is where the image looks nice and colourful straight out of the aircraft.

Hold The Front Page, drone footage by Phil FearnleyPlay film

For the more technical drone pilots out there I always fly with the white balance fixed, there’s no way I can use auto white balance as the shift in colour when you go from a head down to a sky shot is unacceptable when in the edit.

Also, you must check what frame rate you should be at with the DOP, generally it’s 25fps with a shutter speed of 50th sec then using the iris to get the perfect exposure when looking at the waveform or the histogram.

You might need to pop an ND filter on in bright conditions to keep the exposure down to the sweet spot. I usually never have the aperture fully closed, it’s usually around the f5.6 / F8 mark

But remember this will change constantly when the light gets sunnier, or a cloud comes over.

My advice is to know the technical side of photography inside out before you even learn to fly. Never fly in full auto, it just doesn’t cut it.

In my drone kit bag is always spare equipment and, in this case, I had a DJI Mavic 3 Pro, DJI Mavic Mini3 Pro, the DJI Mavic 3 Cine and to top it off a DJI Inspire 2 with a full set of prime lenses.

To keep the vast number of batteries topped up I have an Ecoflow Mini power bank in my 4x4 which can be topped up from the car whilst travelling and then at night given a full charge along with the batteries.

The director, Tom Levinge expects to see the shots as I am flying so the RC Pro controller connects to my 7-inch Black Magic directors monitor via HDMI. This works great as it has no lag on the picture and no interference from the other ground cameras who are using WiFi on their monitors.

Phil Fearnley and Roy Walker on the set of SKY Max, Hold the front Page
Crew wrap party
On location

Now to the shoot.

I worked on both series One and Two of Hold The Front Page filming all over the United Kingdom from Devon to Scotland.

Some of the locations were relatively close to my home base of Halifax in West Yorkshire, places such as Blackpool, Preston and Leeds whilst others such as Edinburgh were a good few hours away.

All locations had very comprehensive risk assessments to ensure the safety of the public and the crew, with our insurance increased to £10m just to be on the safe side and recommended by the production company CPL.

The production company usually gains landowners permission but it’s my job to get permission from any closed off airspace and in this case, I had to deal with Blackpool Airport whilst filming at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and the Police in Plymouth when filming next door to the Plymouth Argyle Football stadium on a match day.

Hold The Front Page, drone footage by Phil FearnleyPlay film

I must say they were both very accommodating and helped immensely especially the police.

Filming days are always long and one such day was filming in Scotland starting at 5am in Edinburgh capturing the sunrise and then on to West Scotland, Tarbert to capture the ferry crossings. A full on 15-hour day with a lot of driving in between but the views were simply stunning and worth all the effort.

As you’ll see from the photos there was lots going on and the usual filming chaos, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

The locations

From the Blackpool seafront to the Forth bridges

LancashireBlackpoolSeries one opened at the Blackpool Gazette. From the air the Pleasure Beach, the Tower and the seafront are spectacular, but Blackpool Airport is right next door, so every flight over the Pleasure Beach had to be agreed with the airport first.
West YorkshireLeedsLeeds is home to the Yorkshire Post, the paper Josh and Nish worked for in series one, and only a short drive from our base in Halifax. Big city centres like this need careful planning around crowds, roads and buildings.
ScotlandEdinburghThe Scotsman episode was filmed during the Edinburgh Fringe. We started at 5am to catch the sun rising over Edinburgh Castle and Calton Hill, before the city filled up.
ScotlandThe Forth bridgesThree bridges from three centuries: the Forth Bridge, opened in 1890 and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the 1964 Forth Road Bridge, and the Queensferry Crossing, opened in 2017 and the longest three-tower cable-stayed bridge in the world.
West ScotlandTarbertFrom Edinburgh we drove west to Tarbert to film the ferry crossings, a full day of sea lochs, hills and long drives, with the light changing all the way.
DevonDartmoor and PlymouthSeries two took the boys to Dartmoor for The Moorlander, a one-person local paper on Josh’s home turf. Down in Plymouth, filming next to Plymouth Argyle’s stadium on a match day meant working closely with the police.

Sources: British Comedy Guide episode list and UNESCO, the Forth Bridge.

From the air

Life as a creative drone pilot is just the best job in the world!

Leeds
The Queensferry Crossing
The Forth Bridge
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle at daybreak
Edinburgh Castle at daybreak
Edinburgh Castle at daybreak
Edinburgh Castle at daybreak
Edinburgh Castle at daybreak
Edinburgh Castle at daybreak
Calton Hill, Edinburgh
Calton Hill, Edinburgh
The series at a glance

Twelve local papers, two series

Hold The Front Page was made by CPL Productions for Sky Max and NOW. Each week Josh and Nish, with almost no journalistic experience, joined a different local newspaper and tried to find a story good enough for the front page. Series one aired from January 2023 and series two from April 2024, six one-hour episodes each.

Series one · 2023

  1. Blackpool GazetteSeafront vox pops, a strongman world record attempt and sea survival training.
  2. West Sussex GazetteThe south coast, including a 70-year-old’s charity skydive.
  3. Yorkshire PostCaving, unusual cars and a visit to the Emmerdale set for its 50th anniversary.
  4. Farming LifeAn agricultural show in Northern Ireland.
  5. Northamptonshire TelegraphDownhill skiing, extreme fishing and a bee-rescue story.
  6. The ScotsmanEdinburgh during the Fringe, chasing a world exclusive.

Series two · 2024

  1. Isle of Wight County PressA royal visit and a very unusual museum.
  2. Westmorland GazetteCumbria, the “Beast of Cumbria” and the World Gurning Championships.
  3. Euro Weekly NewsThe show’s first trip abroad, to the Costa Blanca.
  4. The MoorlanderDartmoor, Devon: a one-person paper on Josh’s home turf.
  5. Telegraph & ArgusGood-news stories in Bradford, from curry to ice hockey.
  6. South Wales ArgusNewport, and a guerrilla gig with Charlotte Church.

Sources: British Comedy Guide and CPL / Seven.One Studios.

Quick answers

Frequently asked questions

Who presents Hold The Front Page?

Comedians Josh Widdicombe and Nish Kumar. Each episode they join a different local newspaper and try to land a front-page story.

What channel is Hold The Front Page on?

It was made by CPL Productions for Sky Max and the NOW streaming service.

How many series of Hold The Front Page are there?

Two series of six one-hour episodes: series one aired from January 2023 and series two from April 2024.

Where was Hold The Front Page filmed?

All over the UK, from Devon to Scotland. Local papers included the Blackpool Gazette, the Yorkshire Post, The Scotsman in Edinburgh, The Moorlander on Dartmoor and the Telegraph & Argus in Bradford, and series two included a trip to the Costa Blanca.

Who filmed the drone shots on Hold The Front Page?

Phil Fearnley of Halo Vue Aerial Photography filmed aerials on both series, using DJI drones including the Mavic 3 Cine shooting in ProRes.

Is Josh Widdicombe presenting Strictly Come Dancing?

Yes. In May 2026 the BBC announced Josh Widdicombe, Emma Willis and Johannes Radebe as the new hosts of Strictly Come Dancing.

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