The Stage

BBC3 to develop online-only drama

Published Tuesday 29 January 2008 at 14:55 by Matthew Hemley

BBC3 is to develop drama series made especially for the internet as part of its plan to become a “multi-platform experience”.

Channel controller Danny Cohen told The Stage that the online-only dramas were included in a strategy to create a number of internet series that will transform BBC3 from being a television channel to a place where TV and the web are fully integrated.

He claimed BBC3’s web-focused content would be made with the “passion and production values” normally associated with television and cited Upstaged, a talent search show that will only be available online for the first five weeks of its eight-week run, as an example of this.

Cohen said: “The idea that young people are using the web instead of TV is not true. They can just do more than one thing at a time and what I want to do is begin to serve them with big ideas for the web as well as TV.

“We are looking at online-only dramas in a very detailed way. We’ve not confirmed any details yet, but I would like to do one.”

By producing drama series online, BBC3 will be following in the footsteps of social networking site Bebo, which has already successfully launched the drama KateModern.

BBC Vision controller of multi-platform Simon Nelson told The Stage no one had found the “holy grail” when it comes to making online drama, but claimed the Corporation was well placed to use its resources and talent base to produce quality content.