TV DRAMA


GENRE REPORT


TV drama production is well and truly booming in the UK right now, but


the challenge is sourcing the talent to make it. Tim Dams reports


DRAMA


Streamers and broadcasters are both trying to make up for last year’s lost time, and are focused on scripted in their ever more competitive battle to attract and retain audiences. The country has become the premier


A 38


international hub for drama shoots, with inward investment series from the likes of Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon, HBO and Disney+ attracted by the UK’s high-end TV tax credits as well as its talent, crews and facilities. An astonishing 174 high-end drama


productions started shooting in the first nine months of 2021, with a total UK spend of £3.31 billion, according to BFI figures. 99 of these were inward investment shows


and co-productions, such as Netflix’s The Crown and Havoc, with a spend of £2.75 million. 75 were domestic UK productions like Silent Witness, Shetland, Marriage and Funny Girl with a combined £553.5 million spend. The first nine months alone have a higher


spend than any other full 12-month calendar year on record - coming in 53% above the previous full year high of £2.16 billion in 2019. Both inward investment and domestic production levels are at record highs. Amid such a frenzied pace of productions,


there is a discernible sense of tiredness about the sector as 2021 draws to a close. For more than 18 months, everyone seems to have been working


televisual.com Winter 2021


fter the protracted Covid-19 shooting hiatus of 2020, the drama sector is well and truly booming. Production is running


at record levels in the UK.


in a heightened state. First came the dramatic shutdowns after March 2020, then the challenges around restarting safely with Covid protocols from summer 2020, and then an accelerating pace of production during 2021.


SET TO DROP “I think the scripted community is exhausted,” says


BBC senior drama commissioning editor Amanda Levin. “Keeping going at pace over the last couple of years has been really, really punishing for writers, developers, practitioners and producers alike.” “It’s really important in the middle of this


melee to try and exercise compassion. Nobody is at their best when they’re really shattered and stressed. Great work is still happening though – and it’s happening thanks to the tenacity, vision and resourcefulness of the authors, producers, cast and crews we rely on.” While the boom is positive in that there


is plenty of work around, the flip side is that there is an acute shortage of crews and facilities. Nicola Shindler, who set up Quay


Street Productions after leaving Red Production last year, says that this has been the hardest year of her working life in terms of getting projects made. “It is a very, very difficult time to actually produce,” says Shindler who has recently exec produced C4’s It’s A Sin, BBC One’s Ridley Road, Netflix’s upcoming Stay Close and ITV’s No Return. “Finding the talent to make the shows


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