BBC Drama Commissions 11 Series, Throwing "Peak Caution" to the Wind
It was only a few weeks ago that the head of BBC Comedy, Jon Petrie, announced it was commissioning six series for 2024, the same number as it had the year before. It was a cautious group of series as well; half of the shows involved were renewals for second, third, and even fifth seasons. Compare that to Lindsay Salt, the head of BBC drama, who came out roaring this week with a slate of a dozen commissions, only one of which was a renewal. As she put it, “While others might become more cautious, we will go further and take the risks others won’t.”
“I worry that risk-taking is becoming a dirty word," Salt told the roomful of assembled guests at the event for the unveiling of the eleven brand new drama series, most of which are coming directly from BBC Studios with no co-producers out of America to help bear the costs. "In less than a decade, the industry might be moving from Peak TV to Peak Caution. But not the BBC... there’s something about this moment, the current climate in our industry, that makes our approach to risk even more essential," Salt declared. “Over the next few years, I want the BBC to redefine ‘state of the nation’ drama."
Salt cited I May Destroy You, which aired on HBO in the States and made a big splash on both sides of the pond, and This is Going to Hurt, which was sadly lost on AMC+ and Sundance Now over here, as examples of the sort of shows she meant by this. Other, lesser-known-to-Americans-audiences shows she cited included State of Play, Three Girls, and Our Friends in the North.
