BBC lines up longer, US-style drama runs

Published Wednesday 18 October 2006 at 17:10 by Liz Thomas

BBC drama is shifting further towards the American style of longer runs, with the Corporation lining up as many as a 12-episode second series for conspiracy thriller The State Within before the show has even broadcast.

The high-octane series, which follows 17 days in the life of the British Ambassador to the USA, will run over six hour-long episodes and is understood to be scheduled for broadcast on Sunday evenings later this month.

Starring the Harry Potter films and Brotherhood’s Jason Isaacs, Cagney and Lacey actress Sharon Gless and Cutting It’s Ben Daniels, as well as Lennie James and Neil Pearson, insiders at the Corporation are confident the action-packed show will be a hit and have already started developing the next series.

A source told The Stage: “Of course it will depend on ratings but work has started creating the second series and it will be longer. It does feature some of the characters from the first run but not all of them make it.”

There has been a shift away from the traditional format of six or eight episodes for programmes, with big budget shows such as Doctor Who, Rome and Robin Hood already running to 12 or 13 shows, a move that was recommended as part of BBC director-general Mark Thompson’s Creative Futures policy blueprint for the Corporation’s future. It stated it was necessary to consolidate the number of titles broadcast and invest in fewer quality dramas that make an impact.

Earlier this year, BBC1 controller Peter Fincham said: “I don’t think what we are talking about here is like a 90-degree turn. I think that what we have found is that impact comes with scale and not necessarily just in drama - look at the success of Planet Earth.”

He added the intention was to raise the bar by ploughing cash into fewer titles with longer runs but insisted that BBC1 would still offer “an enormous range” in its drama output.