The Stage

ITV discards golden handcuffs

Published Tuesday 6 April 2004 at 11:25

ITV director of programmes Nigel Pickard has abandoned the station’s policy of buying up performers on exclusive ‘golden handcuff’ agreements, signalling the end of an era at the broadcaster.

Pickard confirmed that the two remaining deals with Martin Kemp and Ross Kemp would not be renewed when they end later this year and all of the network’s stars will now be given the freedom to work for other broadcasters.

He added, however, that popular ITV actors such as Caroline Quentin, Martin Clunes and Ant and Dec would be given so much work on the channel they would not be able to work elsewhere - making the need for exclusive deals redundant.

Said Pickard: “Martin Clunes is not on an exclusive contract for us but I don’t think he will be doing shows for anybody else this year. By the time he has done another William and Mary and another Booze Cruise, he won’t have time to do anything else. That is the best way of using these guys. Offer them good shows and they want to work for us.”

Since the late nineties ITV has spent millions of pounds to keep top stars such as Sarah Lancashire, the late John Thaw and Robson Green from straying to other stations.

Lancashire ended a £1.3 million deal with ITV in 2002 and since then she has made her directorial debut with the BBC Afternoon Play Viva Las Blackpool.

Both Thaw and Green delivered high ratings hits for the network including Green’s Reckless, Touching Evil and Grafters and Thaw’s Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC.

Ross Kemp’s SAS drama, Ultimate Force, made it to a second series last year but has not grown into a big ratings-winner for the channel. The former EastEnders actor still has a number of hours of drama left to fulfil under his contract but currently has no projects for ITV in the pipeline.