The Stage

Critique of Beeb could ‘cause young writers to self-censor’

Published Thursday 1 December 2011 at 14:02 by Matthew Hemley

Being Human creator Toby Whithouse has hit out at newspapers for portraying the BBC as “frightened of originality”, claiming the creativity of young television writers could be stifled as a result of the criticism.

The writer of BBC3’s drama starring Russell Tovey told The Stage that criticism of the BBC as a “place where ambition is frowned upon” could see writers “self-censor” as they try to second-guess what the Corporation is looking for in its drama output. He added that the “relentless and utterly contradictory abuse” the BBC faces could be detrimental to the industry as a whole.

“The worst thing that can happen is that writers might start to self-censor,” he said. “Believing that the BBC is a place where ambition is frowned upon will damage the entire industry, which is why the press’ distortion of the BBC is tiresome and dangerous. I have spent about 90% of my career working for the BBC and in that time I have never been told ‘You can’t do that story’. Sure there are notes and we might disagree over a story’s execution, but I’ve never been censored, never been warned off a subject and never been castigated for being too ambitious.”

Whithouse highlighted a recent article that claimed the BBC would not make a drama series like The Singing Detective today, and said it implied the Corporation was too “cautious and parochial to make such an extravagant drama now”.

However, he said commissions such as Sherlock and Exile demonstrate the BBC’s commitment to ambitious drama.

Whithouse added: “I am bewildered by some people’s perception of the BBC, and the drama department especially. The idea that the BBC is dismissive or frightened of invention and originality simply doesn’t tally with my experience of them.”