The Stage

Exclusive: Mark Gatiss - ‘Golden age’ of TV pay has now passed

Published Wednesday 29 September 2010 at 14:14 by Matthew Hemley

Sherlock creator Mark Gatiss has complained that British actors working in television are being underpaid, claiming a “golden age” has passed in terms of performers’ earnings.

The actor and writer, who co-created the BBC1 series with Steven Moffat - which was broadcast over the summer - said budget cuts in television have left artists having to work for less than they deserve, which he described as “very disturbing”.

He said: “There is a general sense that a sort of golden age has passed, not because everyone had it easy, but because they [actors] were paid what they should be paid. I have friends who are getting less for a big part in a TV series than they got for their first job 30 years ago.

“There used to be a scale, where if you did more for one channel then you would reap some sort of benefit from it.”

Gatiss admitted that working for reduced budgets can “sharpen people’s wits fantastically” in terms of creating drama, but expressed concern that a continuous reduction could eventually result in the genre being dropped completely.

He added broadcasters requiring drama to be made on less money should not expect to be able to have too much creative control in the production process, claiming it must be “part of the deal that you don’t get meddled with to death”.

Speaking to The Stage, Gatiss - who is soon to be seen in BBC4’s The First Men in the Moon, which he has adapted from the HG Wells book - also said writers have a responsibility to create parts for older female actors. He revealed he had intentionally created an episode of his BBC4 drama Crooked House that was “female-centric” and added: “You have to consciously do things like that as there is such an imbalance.”