What Bupa’s Health or Hype? says about where visualised podcasts are heading

Joe Wicks filming Bupa's Health or Hype? at Mount Pleasant Studio, London Bupa's new series Health or Hype? launched in September, with Joe Wicks putting popular health advice to the test. The interviews that run through the series were filmed here at Mount Pleasant with one build/prelight day and three shoot days, and I'm very pleased with how it has turned out. The premise is straightforward. Joe takes a health claim, tries it on himself and lets the experts tell him whether it stands up. Over five episodes he covers movement, nature, nutrition, sleep and mental wellbeing, guided by neuroscientists, nutritionists, movement coaches and psychotherapists. Some of it is fairly punishing. He spends three days limited to 2,000 steps, goes short of sleep and spends 24 hours on his own in a forest cabin. There is also more about fibre intake than I was expecting, which I'll leave you to discover for yourself. The experiments happen out in the world. The conversations that make sense of them happened on our stage.

Credit where it's due

The series was produced by Story Studio, and they have made something that feels like a programme. The set is beautifully designed and lit, nothing like a podcast table with a few cameras pointed at it, and that matters when a brand like Bupa puts its name to something. It's part of a global Bupa campaign, so it's reaching audiences well beyond the UK.

How it's been received

Joe has described it himself as "more like a TV documentary than a podcast", which is about the best review a studio could ask for. The public seems to agree; it reached Number 1 in Apple Podcasts’ UK Health & Fitness chart within days of launch and made the top ten across all podcast categories. It’s rated 4.8 out of 5 on Apple Podcasts, with reviews such as “Genuinely inspired me to move more” and “Informative, fun and inspiring”. A lot of that is down to Joe being willing to look uncomfortable on camera, whether he's dancing with Katya Jones from Strictly or being shut inside a small box for the mental wellbeing episode. That kind of openness only works if the people talking to him afterwards have a calm, quiet studio space to do it in.

Why brands are making programmes instead of TV commercials

Bupa could have made a thirty-second commercial. It chose to make five episodes that people will actually sit down and watch, fronted by the man who got half the country exercising in their living rooms during lockdown. Brands’ marketing budgets are being diverted from TV to influencers and sponsored content, and we're seeing more brands and agencies doing exactly this. We're hosting more and more visualised podcasts, and the ambition behind them has changed noticeably. Now we see built sets, multi-camera coverage, considered lighting and production values that match most TV shows. The audience is watching on YouTube, and increasingly on a large television, and they notice when something looks – or sounds – cheap. Behind the scenes of the Health or Hype? set build and lighting at Mount Pleasant Studio

What a series like this needs from a studio

Sound comes first. We're in central London, with traffic, sirens and building works all around us, and the stage is fully soundproofed, which is a different thing from acoustically treated. For long-form discussions, where every word needs to be usable, and with a minimum of interruptions to the flow of conversation, that can be the difference between a straightforward post-production schedule and delay and aggravation in the edit. Then there's the talent. Someone like Joe has a tightly managed diary, and so do the experts who feature. They need to get here easily (for those taking public transport, we're a short walk from Farringdon and Chancery Lane tube stations), have somewhere decent to wait and go through make-up without being squeezed into a corner. Every hire includes a large Green Room, make-up and dressing rooms and a shower room. And there's space. The stage is 41ft deep and 31ft wide, with 15ft to the grid. That leaves room for several camera positions and a built set, and there’s a raised area overlooking the stage, with comfortable sofas, where the client team can watch the monitors.

Bring your own crew, or use ours

Some production companies arrive with their whole team and just need the room. Others would like us to look after more of it. We can do either. Alongside the stage and our pre-rigged Nanlux and Iris One lighting, we can supply highly experienced crew members with high-end camera kit. It’s rare that anything more is needed, but if it is, we have accounts with the main camera and lighting houses so it comes through us at 25% off rate card. There's also a fibre connection for live streaming or remote viewing if the client can't be in the room. If you're planning a full series, it's worth talking to us early. Shooting several episodes back to back, or in blocks over a few weeks, is where a bit of planning saves a good deal of money.

Planning a series?

If you're working on a visualised podcast, whether it's a pilot or a run of episodes for a brand, do get in touch. Simon looks after bookings and you can reach him at simon@mountpleasantstudio.com or on 020 7837 1957. You're very welcome to come and look round first. There's more detail on our visualised podcast page. You can watch Health or Hype? on YouTube. This is episode one.