'Doctor Who? It's just chicken-nugget TV'

Published on Wednesday 16 June 2010 01:29

BROADCASTER Stephen Fry has made an impassioned plea for more intellectually challenging programmes, describing much of the output as "chicken-nugget" TV.

Delivering the Bafta Annual Television Lecture last night, the QI host argued that heavily promoted shows such as Doctor Who, while being good programmes, are for children.

He also spoke of the "absurdity" of some compliance rules and said "fear" was everywhere in the television industry in this country.

In a question-and-answer session after his speech, Fry told the audience: "If I wanted to be angry… I would say infantilism's the problem.

"The number of times I turn on the television and I think, 'Gosh, children's television's gone on, that's a really good art documentary… Oh my God, it's nine o'clock in the evening. This is for grown-ups?' It's shocking.

"The only drama the BBC will boast about are Merlin and Doctor Who, which are fine, but they're children's programmes.

And they're very good children's programmes," he went on. "Don't get me wrong, they're wonderfully written… but they are not for adults.

"They are like a chicken nugget. Every now and again we all like it. Every now and again.

"But if you are an adult you want something surprising, savoury, sharp, unusual, cosmopolitan, alien, challenging, complex, ambiguous, possibly even slightly disturbing and wrong.

"You want to try those things, because that's what being adult means."

Fry told the audience he was not arguing that all television should be pompous, academic or intellectual.

"But they ought to surprise and to astonish and to make us feel perhaps the possibility there is a world outside that we know nothing of to provoke us, to provoke in the best sense of the word, sometimes in the worst sense," he said. "To surprise us, to outrage us."

He contrasted the situation with American television, where "they give it maturity and they give it surprise and shock and adulthood."

Fry received applause as he said: "I've always believed that the more television trusts that the British audience are not children… the more we trust that there is genuine intelligence… the better our television will be."

Fry highlighted a lack of confidence among producers.

He said: "I suspect they are simply lacking in confidence. They just don't have the confidence that any really remarkable suggestion they make will be accepted."

The comedian, presenter and actor said earlier: "My fear is that almost everyone I have encountered in production in the making of programmes is afraid."

He added: "Surely we can incentivise both the broadcaster and the independent to think bigger, better, richer and more internationally."