The Stage

Indies warn that lack of writing talent is threatening TV drama

Published Wednesday 7 September 2005 at 13:40 by Liz Thomas

British television drama production is being threatened by a failure to nurture new writing skills, executives from leading independent production companies are warning.

Key figures from companies including Carnival Films, Red Productions and Wall to Wall are calling on the industry to do more to attract people who can write long-lasting contemporary drama at a time when the genre is more popular with broadcasters than ever.

Gareth Neame, managing director of Poirot producer Carnival Films, said that it was vital to the development of the genre that production companies found new writers. The former head of drama commissioning at the BBC added: “There is a sense from all of us that we each want to find the writing talent. At the moment we are tripping over each other to use the same few people.”

In a recent interview with The Stage Red Production’s chief executive Nicola Shindler said she felt there were very few really good scriptwriters around at the moment, while acclaimed director and writer Stephen Poliakoff also criticised the lack of authored drama on screens and warned that talented young writers were drawn to film rather than television. He added: “The industry needs to do more to attract people who want to write indelible drama.”

The issue will become increasingly important as all the major broadcasters have promised more investment and commitment to drama in a bid to attract audiences.

Alex Graham, chief executive of New Tricks producer Wall to Wall, said: “There is a shortage of writers, more than ever before, and it is getting harder to find the quality of writers that we want. We do need to create more training mechanisms. At the moment we rely on the soaps. They do a magnificent job of training and we plunder them all the time.”

The BBC has simultaneously pledged to make savings of 15% in every department and improve the quality of programming as part of its blueprint for charter renewal. However, BBC controller of continuing drama series John Yorke believes investment in writers is key if the proposals are to be successful in his department.

He said: “In the last three years the drama series department has expanded its output to such an extent that every year we now make more hours of drama than all the Hollywood studios combined… It is clear that without investing in new writing talent, we will jeopardise the extraordinary gains we’ve made. With growing investment in drama as a whole, it is vital we focus some of that money and effort on the writers that create them.”

The concerns follow criticism about the health of television drama by former director-general John Birt, who last week branded the genre stereotypical and formulaic.