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first person
For an age to be Golden, does it always have to be the decade before last? I pondered this, and many other things of course, as we filmed Cambridge Spies just before Christmas. Tim Fywell was direct- ing sixty five days of autumn shooting about Philby, Burgess, Maclean and Blunt for showing on BBC2 in the spring.
The budget, which I am asked not to reveal, had lost eight thou- sand pounds just before pre-pro- duction as a result of a change in
tax laws and was extremely tight for a project ranging over four countries. Still, it was at the higher end of television drama costs.
“Aren’t you aware,” said someone, “how lucky you are to be in production at all with this kind of drama? Don’t you know, Mark, that there are less than twenty hours of mini-series on BBC2 this year and you’ve got a fifth of them?” (Never mind that it took three years from Peter Moffat writing the first treatment to get Cambridge Spies into pro-
duction, and four to screening). I had certainly noticed that
the output of non-soap drama on television had been dropping. I didn’t entirely subscribe to the accusations of dumbing-down on British television over the years. Much of the output had always been forgettable; now, with so many more hours and channels, quality is no easier to find.
But where were the figures, what was the real comparison, not just the vague impression? Suddenly, there came part of
the answer: last month David Bergg, ITV’s Director of Programme Strategy, came for- ward with research which showed the number of original programmes shown on all the terrestrial channels has dropped considerably, not just in drama, but across the board.
BBC2 showed only 418 original programmes in 2002, a slide of 40% since 1993. The amount of current affairs programming fell 35% in the last ten years and the number of arts shows has fallen
old gold standard
When was the Golden Age for “single and singular” television scripts? Independent producer Mark Shivas uncovers some revealing statistics.
01274 202030 www.bradfordfilmfestival.org.uk
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