Jack Davenport (who will forever be Steve from “Coupling” for me, but is probably Norrington from “Pirates of the Caribbean” for others) recently did an interview with The Daily Telegraph where he talked about his new ABC show “FlashForward”, which is performing really well for a new show and might actually be his “breaking America” role beyond the supporting movie role. But even more interesting is his thoughts about TV dramas in Britain and the US.
“Somewhere in the last 10 years, somewhere around The Sopranos or Six Feet Under on HBO, American [TV] drama became – easily – the best in the world,†Davenport says. “And now pretty much all big-budget movies are family films. If you want to tell any stories that are about adult relationships, television seems to be the only place to do it.†By contrast, Davenport sees a lack of creative ambition in modern British television drama. “We really are at the sharp end of multiculturalism: it’s a tiny country and people from all over the world now live in the UK. From a dramatist’s point of view, what a brilliant stew of stuff to explore,†he says. “And yet, you know, it’s all about The X Factor. We can mine Charles Dickens’s back catalogue for a little while longer, but there’s a reluctance to commission things that hold a mirror up to nature. I think we’re missing a trick.â€
He has a point. Having recently gotten real time access to British telly in real-time from UKTV2C.com (which works GREAT with a SlingPlayer on an iPod Touch, FYI) the drama pickings seem to be slim without “Torchwood” around. “Waking the Dead”, “Kingdom” and British soaps seem to dominate the serial shows unless you’re really into Agatha Christie. Everything else weighty seems to be a documentary.
But the simple math is that both the BBC and ITV are having major budget troubles. Even keeping the talent for their main staple du jour – reality shows and game shows – has gotten painful. Graham Norton had to take a 500,000 pound paycut to stay at the BBC, and it’s rumored in the tabs that Ant and Dec will either do the same at ITV or go it alone with their production company. Carol Voldeman, who I would compare in stature with Paula Abdul in the UK but who has not done anything remotely controversial, left “Countdown” (a gameshow that’s been on for a loooooong time in England) left the show earlier this year after Channel 4 bosses demanded that she take a 90 percent paycut to stay on the show.
And these are happening with formats that are relatively cheap to produce. Dramas demand location shoots, much more crew and paying for talent that is good enough to handle the material. There is a reason that “Doctor Who” and “Torchwood” have been made by BBC Wales – Cardiff is a cheaper place to shoot. Moreover, those two shows have basically gotten half-series orders for the year – partly to accommodate the schedules of David Tennant (halfway out the door and having done a West End play and a movie) and John Barrowman (he’s hosted at least two game shows and one documentary) and more likely because they just need to save the money.
But there’s one way to completely reboot the way that dramas and other shows are made for UK networks – split the cost with an American co-production company.
The following announcement was made on Facebook by BBC America this morning:
Primeval will be returning for another season on BBC America. For those who want more details: Original co-production partners ITV, ProSieben and BBC Worldwide return to co-fund the new series, with BBC Worldwide becoming the majority funding partner. BBC AMERICA, takes on a full co-production credit for the first time and UKTV becomes a first-time investor.
If you keep up with such things, “Primeval” was canceled by ITV just a couple of months ago, with budget cuts being blamed. “Primeval”, much like “Torchwood”, was a bigger American hit than it was in the UK, and judging from the reaction of fans at Dragon*Con, there was a lot of disappointment.
BBC America recently changed their strategy with how they deal with British programming by only having a couple of week’s lag time between the UK and US on established shows, so this seems like the first investment they’re making in actually taking over and funding a drama to keep it on the air on both continents, hopefully on the same airing schedule.
While I’m not a “Primeval” fan, I am thrilled with the news. For one thing, the BBC is willing to invest in a show that originated and will be aired by a rival. Second, it indicates that the network behind BBC America – the Discovery Channel – is willing to drop a chunk of change into a show to keep it on the air.
For British dramas, this might be just the thing that’s needed to pump up the number on the air. Such a deal could easily fund a full order of “Torchwood”, although with the way the “Children of Earth” miniseries ended, that could prompt some major changes in cast and venue (another puzzle piece – John Barrowman’s golden handcuffs deal with the BBC is almost over.) Other popular BBC America staples like “Ashes To Ashes” could get a jumpstart with their own deals.
The possibilities are endless for the comedy side of things. Could the new show that Ant and Dec’s own production company are readying for this winter get a chance at both BBC America and ITV? Considering how popular they’ve proven themselves to be in the UK, they deserve more of a chance than they got at ABC. And have I mentioned Stephen Fry yet? He’s got a huge following in the US, has two BBC travelogue shows that have never aired in the States (one of which is ABOUT America) and has an ITV show that’s also not aired here. Give him a deal, bring “Kingdom” over and then start mining that gold mine of material that he and Hugh Laurie have in their back catalogues.
A lot of this is wishful thinking and conjuration on my part. However, for those of us who have stuck by BBCA through the years of endless “Ground Force” and “Changing Rooms” marathons, any flash of light is good. And maybe in time the bigger American networks will notice the audiences that UK talent bring in and will actually invest in the original instead of trying to remake it and failing. *bows head for “Life On Mars” and “Coupling”*
About Dana Franks
British Pound Exchange Rate
Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia was started to get us back to the UK for a trip and it did that in 2009. Now, the goal is for Anglotopia to make our dreams of traveling to the UK whenever we want a reality.
Nice and informative post. One correction — Doctor Who and Torchwood not having full seasons had nothing whatever to do with David or John’s other work schedules. David did Hamlet because of the break, not the other way around, and didn’t start even preliminary talks until the break was known. The reason for the shortened seasons was largely budgetary (Upper Boat studios were cut from two production teams to one, meaning they could no longer shoot DW and Torchwood simultaneously), and also partly to ease the transition, with a new showrunner and producers and of course new Doctor starting for season 5. For Torchwood, a big part was the move to BBC1, as they wanted ‘event TV’ 5 eps in a week, if season 3 had been 13 episodes it wouldn’t have gotten on BBC1.
From what I understood – there was only a break because they wanted to give David breathing room to do what he wanted (this was when they were still trying to keep him happy and in costume). I could be wrong.
We’ve had similar conversations lately. I disagree on American television being better. In fact most all popular American television shows have some vague precursor in the form of a British show. (Torchwood = Fringe) (The Office = The office) (Lost = Lost Horizon [book])
But what we were discussing days ago about the reason like shows like “Life on Mars” can’t make it in it’s original form got reduced down to one simple concept. Most Americans are either a) too ignorant or b) unwilling to set aside the patriotic nationality in lieu of something foreign being worth watching. A concept Europeans have no problem with at surrending to foreign programming.
Lastly despite what you’ve heard, the BBC is the largest broadcaster in the world. Budget crisis or not, I think they’ll do fine in the long run. I think their current expansion into the U.S. market will yield some very nice television and possible movies that will eventually reverse back to U.K. markets. I think with Julie Gardner (BBC Wales former head honcho) now in L.A., along with R.T.D. and possibly other T.W. and Dr W. actors, I think we’re very likely to see the next big thing to be a Doctor Who Movie. If they can expand that franchise to Americans, then you’re talking billions of dollars for the BBC.