The Stage

BBC: Top TV writers looking to radio for work

Published Thursday 1 April 2010 at 11:50 by Matthew Hemley

BBC Radio 4 drama commissioner Jeremy Howe has claimed that screenwriters are turning their back on television and coming to him with ideas, because they are frustrated by the lack of variety the small screen affords them.

The commissioner said TV drama is “basically just Casualty, Holby and EastEnders” and that this had led to established writers looking to radio.

Speaking at this month’s Radio Production in the North conference, held in Salford Quays, Howe said, “I have worked in TV and worked in radio and I think one of the shifts I have noticed since I have been commissioning for Radio 4 is we are getting very experienced TV writers wanting to come back to write for radio, basically because TV drama is just Casualty, Holby and EastEnders.” He named Francesca Joseph, whose credits include Mistresses, as one such writer who is now developing drama with Radio 4. Howe also claimed radio was the place for new talent and said almost a quarter of Afternoon Play commissions go to first-time writers.

The drama commissioner’s comments follow news that Radio 4 is to axe the long-running Friday Play strand from next year.

Addressing the issue at this year’s conference, Howe said the station had been tasked with making efficiency savings and that he had decided, along with Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer, that “the way not to do it was to salami slice budgets”.

He said the Friday Play has the smallest audience of any of the BBC Radio 4 drama strands and that cutting it would have the “least impact”.

The Radio Production in the North conference was organised by independent company Made in Manchester. Speaking at the event, Made in Manchester’s creative director, Ashley Byrne, called on the BBC, the commercial sector and independent companies to promote radio comedy and drama.

He said he was concerned that the industry needed to find “new ways” to introduce people to radio offerings to protects its future. Meanwhile, Conservative shadow culture minister Ed Vaizey used the conference to emphasise his party’s plans for the medium going forward.

Vaizey said he wanted radio to be deregulated as much as possible in order to “encourage more independent production” and added that the BBC had to be more transparent about how much it spends.

He also warned the BBC about its “footprint” and said “it needs to be careful [about] how and where it expands, so it does not crowd out the private sector”.