Loading How do you come up with a topic to focus on and find the people willing to go on the show? "I think there's a number of reasons why it's successful and, first and foremost, it's the candidness and the honesty with which the people speak." I think it's the playfulness and the humour, which makes it really accessible. "You Can't Ask That could have easily been a show that, I think, could be really worthy or really boring if you're being too careful with it. It's a challenging world making content and it has to remain relevant. We had to really campaign hard to get a second season, third and fourth season. "So, it's really cool to see it all around the world but it wasn't easy. "For example, Italy did a transgender episode in their first season similar to us and it was very, very different. "That's as exciting as it gets for us because it's one thing to sell your show overseas and people watch our content - that's a nice pat on the back – but what's great about the show is it's localised, it's local, misunderstood groups, answering local questions so when you see it pop up in other countries they have their own curiosities and their own things that you can't ask. "It's the most successful ABC format in history, it's one of the most successful Australian formats in history. "And there's now something like 35 different seasons of the show around the world in nine different languages.
It takes about six months of research, filming, editing and post-production to complete an eight-episode series of the show.
"When we were making it, internally, the ABC went 'Wow, there is something in this' and they decided to put it on the main channel and it went from there. "So, it was a combination of all those things that came together and, at the time, iview was commissioning content and we got a 10-by-10 minute slot. "We wanted to tackle that environment and, rather than shy away from having these big conversations, actually confront them head-on and pass the mic to the person who never gets a voice and let them speak for themselves, as opposed to experts or commentators speaking on behalf of misunderstood and marginalised people. "People with the big voices, politicians or celebrities or people with big social media presences, explained to us how we should or shouldn't behave. Everyone was really worried about what to say and how do you address people for fear of causing offence. "And, in 2015, if you remember, political correctness was a really a hot topic. "So, we really loved this sort of format, and we were also captivated by this sort of 'ask me anything' type thing that was happening on online at the time. Kirk Docker filming vox pops for Hungry Beast.