BBC boss welcomes plan for ‘distinctly British’ TV shows

The BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, has embraced the idea of requiring broadcasters to produce “distinctly British” content, after losing UK talent to deep-pocketed streaming services.

The likes of Netflix have invested enormous sums in producing UKbased programmes and hiring British creatives, but their shows usually need to appeal to an international audience. This can result in dramas, such as Sex Education, that are filmed in the UK with British actors but have US characteristics and tone.

Last week the government said it would introduce legislation requiring the UK’s public service broadcasters to make “distinctly British” shows. It said that otherwise programmes could become “indistinguishable from that produced elsewhere and less relevant for UK audiences”.

John Whittingdale, who was then media minister, held up Only Fools and Horses, The Great British Bake Off and Coronation Street as shows that reflected Britain.

Davie told the culture select committee he was unsure about having such a rule in law but broadly welcomed the approach: “Overall, the protection of British-made drama and locally produced drama with locally produced stories is vital. I also feel it’s where we’re most potent as the BBC.”

Davie said the official promotion of Britishness could balance the “wholly globalised algorithmic” commissioning of television shows by streaming companies: “I don’t in any way associate that with flagwaving or editorial control.”

Davie suggested that shows such as Call the Midwife, Small Axe, and Michaela Coel’s Emmy award-winning series I May Destroy You – which she wrote for the BBC after turning down Netflix – were examples of distinctly British BBC programmes: “This doesn’t restrict you from being a global hit. Normal People is stronger because of its location.”

The BBC and other British broadcasters increasingly partner with a global streaming company to share the ever-growing costs of making programmes. Yet this inevitably means giving up some editorial control and risks losing talent.

The BBC nurtured the Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge to enormous success, only for her to sign a giant deal with Amazon.

Davie said this was a growing challenge: “If you are a successful writer or an actor or a director, the demands on you have never been greater, and there are the opportunities for transformational wealth. The BBC needs to do things differently to other players.”

Davie also said BBC was increasingly choosing to retain the UK streaming rights to its popular shows for its iPlayer, meaning BBC shows were less likely to appear on Netflix.

With the government preparing to announce the amount the BBC can charge for the licence fee over the next five years, Davie said the BBC needed at least a small increase from the current annual £159: “We’ve gone up 1% this year and are down 30% in real terms since 2010.

“We need to make sure we’re not stripping this service, because we will then be into a spiral.”

‘I don’t in any way associate it with flag-waving or editorial control’

Tim Davie BBC director general