BBC increases drama output

Published Tuesday 8 July 2008 at 15:30 by Matthew Hemley

BBC1 increased its drama output by more than 25 hours last year, according to the Corporation’s annual report.

The report said that the number of hours of drama broadcast on the flagship channel was up to 1,114 in 2007/8 from 1,088 in 2006/7.

BBC2’s drama output was also higher, although the number of hours of drama broadcast on BBC3 and BBC4 was down.

“It has been an outstanding year for drama, with distinctive singles on both BBC1 and BBC2, including Mark Haddon’s Coming Down the Mountain and Stephen Poliakoff’s Joe’s Palace. BBC1 shone as the top channel for drama with extremely high audience appreciation levels,” the report said.

It added: “The enormous popularity of Cranford spilled over to other successful series including Oliver Twist and Lark Rise to Candleford.”

Elsewhere, drama output across all of the BBC radio was down, dropping from 4,695 hours in 2006/7 to 4,660 hours in 2007/8.

The Corporation said BBC Radio 4 remained “the biggest commissioner of radio drama” and added: “Our aim is to increase the impact of drama, with more series rather than single plays, and sustainable returning series.”

In relation to comedy, the report claimed BBC Vision - the department responsible for all of the Corporation’s visual output - “continues to be the biggest investor in original British comedy” and cited Gavin and Stacey as one of its biggest successes.

A breakdown of BBC television spend by nation showed that £339 million was spent in England, compared with £97 million in Scotland, £60 million in Wales and £38 million in Northern Ireland.

In the report, Life on Mars producer Kudos Film and Television - which is also behind the dramas Ashes to Ashes, Hustle and Spooks - was the number one supplier to BBC Vision in relation to spend by the department, which is responsible for the Corporation’s visual output across all platforms.

Also in the top ten in the 2007 calendar year were Tiger Aspect Productions, Endemol, Hat Trick Productions, Talkback Thames, Lion Television, Shed Productions and Carnival Films.

BBC Vision has a statutory right requirement for 25% of eligible hours to be produced by independent companies. In the 2007 calendar year, however, independents actually produced 39% of all the eligible hours across all channels.