The Stage

Drama to flourish as ITV gains £20m programming boost

Published Tuesday 26 July 2005 at 13:45 by Liz Thomas

Drama will dominate ITV’s autumn schedule, with 12 new productions and more than five returning series, following an extra £20 million investment in programming by the Network.

The additional cash has been made available following last month’s announcement by industry watchdog Ofcom that the broadcaster’s annual licence payments will be slashed by £135 million. Nigel Pickard, ITV’s director of programmes, has decided to invest more in high-quality drama and star-led productions in order to win back dwindling audiences.

He told The Stage: “Drama has always been ITV’s strongest suit and it is fitting that in our 50th anniversary year we are putting our energies into the genre that made the channel great from day one. ITV remains committed to being the number one broadcaster of original, UK productions.

“The line up of stars on ITV this autumn reads like a Who’s Who of British acting - Ray Winstone, Caroline Quentin, Martin Clunes, Robert Carlyle, David Tennant, Andrew Lincoln, Joanne Whalley, Stephen Tomkinson, Tamzin Outhwaite and Mark Strong, to name just a few. This tremendous roster of names bears testimony to ITV’s commitment to the very best in British drama.”

The broadcaster has come under fire for its over reliance on celebrity and reality television, with high profile flops such as Celebrity Wrestling and Fat Families. The Network’s Saturday evening audience figures also suffered badly following the success of the BBC’s family drama Doctor Who. In June, ITV1’s share of viewing fell to a record low of just 19%, a figure the broadcaster blames on the increasing prevalence of digital television. Almost 60% of UK households now have access to digital channels but the network has also faced criticism over the quality of its programming in recent months.

As well as more one-off single productions, there are also original series including Robert Lindsay’s police show Jericho and ex-Coronation Street star Suranne Jones’ detective drama Vincent, while James Dreyfus returns to screens with a new sitcom. ITV stalwarts Doc Martin, Foyle’s War and Rose and Maloney are back. Reality favourites do feature, with new runs of X-Factor and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!

Chief executive Charles Allen has promised the savings from the licence payments will allow a greater commitment to new programmes with as much as an extra £1 billion set aside for the development of both its digital and analogue channels.