Dennis Potter would not make it in today's BBC, which prefers to nurture managers over writers
On the face of it, the news that Dennis Potter's masterpiece The Singing Detective will not be repeated to mark its 25th anniversary because the BBC is unwilling to stump up what amounts to less than a week's pay for one of its senior executives (�5,000 to you and me) is bewildering. In the context of its current policy of imposing 20% cuts ? and despite a last-minute offer to make up the difference from the Labour peer Lord Hollick ? it is less surprising.
Since I joined the BBC drama department as a trainee script editor in 1989, the corporation has altered the balance of its budgets radically, reducing the number of producers, editorial and production staff to a fraction of what it was when Potter was alive and criticising John Birt in memorable terms. (If you're too young to remember, he called the then-BBC director general a croak-voiced Dalek.) The number of managers has, meanwhile, proliferated endlessly.
I was expected to talent-scout for new writers, for whom there were many more slots available back then. I remember being knocked out by an unsolicited screenplay from the comedian Owen O'Neill, Arise and Go Now ? I loved his poignant and hilarious take on the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and my enthusiasm helped it become a BBC2 film directed by Danny Boyle. This doesn't happen today.
Drama takes a long time to nurture. Writers are not born brilliant; they need to learn their craft by doing it, the same as any other artist or worker. New writers need room to fail. This concept used to be common currency but I haven't heard it mentioned for many years. Potter himself required years of writing Plays for Today ? when he was permitted to explore and offend in the name of art and free speech ? to develop the skills which enabled him to create The Singing Detective. Without those early hits and misses, he would never have risen to such heights.
So where are the young Dennis Potters now? The BBC likes to say it offers new writers a start by giving them an episode of a soap or a series, but this is disingenuous. It's a good way to make sure you have a plentiful supply of writers for soaps and series, that's all. It doesn't lead anywhere.
By the time I left the BBC, I'd become disheartened by the destruction of what had been an astonishing source of intelligent, entertaining and controversial television drama for several decades. Instead it was becoming a supermarket-style production line for long-running crime or hospital series and soaps. Serials were reduced to classy but predictable period adaptations, with the occasional depressing contemporary exploration of social problems. Single dramas almost disappeared entirely, while development of new writing was slashed to the brink of extinction. David Attenborough wouldn't have let that happen when he was a controller.
These days the next generation of original writers are working in comedy, fiction, or low-budget film ? very often only available on YouTube or Amazon Studios. A prime example is Helen Griffin's superb script about racism, Little White Lies: perfect for television, but the slots aren't there. The director Caradog James has made a terrific low-budget film of it, but he can't find a distributor, like so many other film-makers.
It's tempting to suggest that the BBC management didn't really want to re-broadcast The Singing Detective anyway, because to show it again would risk exposing the stagnation of the corporation's drama output in the 25 years since it was made. Of course there have been a few great dramas, but I can't remember anything as original and shattering as this serial was when it first appeared.
BBC management seems to be suffering from the Liberal Democrat problem of prioritising its own interests over those of the public whom it is supposed to serve. The Lib Dems decided that the alternative vote was a more important issue than tuition fees when they negotiated the coalition, prioritising their own electoral interests over the needs of the population, and they will likely lose everything at the next election as a result. The BBC similarly risks losing its future audience, contributors and reputation, and as a nation we risk losing a vital part of our cultural heritage.
BBC managers have perpetuated their own kind and trebled their own salaries while disposing of the BBC's talent, skills, resources, and now even Television Centre ? everything that went into making BBC programmes the envy of the world for so many years. Unfortunately, we can't vote them out.
? Heather Peace is the author of All to Play For, a new novel about the BBC
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/17/bbc-singing-detective-potter-managers
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