The UK TV industry is facing a crisis, with directors and producers warning that public service broadcasters are struggling to afford high-end British dramas due to rising production costs. Wolf Hall director Peter Kosminsky argues that filming his drama was nearly cancelled weeks before it started due to budget pressures.
Kosminsky claims that the BBC and ITV can no longer afford to make period dramas like Wolf Hall, which required significant cuts in exterior scenes to save money. He is now calling for a 5% levy on UK subscription streaming revenues to be used for a British cultural fund.
The issue is exacerbated by factors such as COVID-19, the US actors’ and writers’ strikes, and higher energy costs, which have driven up production costs. Kosminsky believes that traditional broadcasters cannot keep up with these rising costs and may not even be able to commission popular shows like Adolescence, a Netflix drama about a teenager accused of murder.
Other industry figures, including executive producer Patrick Spence, are also sounding the alarm. They argue that the international funding model for high-end dramas has dried up, making it difficult to produce shows like Mr Bates vs the Post Office, which explored the real-life story of Sir Alan Bates’ wrongful conviction.
As a result, Kosminsky warns that if something is not done, British audiences may lose access to these types of programmes in the future. He believes that the UK should follow other European countries in using streaming revenue levies to fund domestic content, but faces resistance from some quarters due to concerns about “one-sided, anti-competitive policies” that could impact US streaming services.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3w10816en3o