Why BBC needs to stop snubbing Scottish TV and film producers

Scotland’s film and TV production sector is a success, built on the long-term presence of BBC Scotland and STV, and bolstered by public funding and commercial investment into studios and production.

This success is visible on our screens and streets. Glasgow regularly doubles for New York. Aberdeen and Edinburgh were the gothic backdrop for Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein this summer. Meanwhile, on Orkney, Saoirse Ronan conducted the waves in The Outrun.

Scotland’s screen sector supports over 10,000 jobs, from craft, technical and artistic roles, to visual effects and post-production. Timber yards and hotels are big winners when a production comes to town. When they stay for multiple series, like Outlander, they develop the skills and infrastructure that make Scotland an ever-more attractive filming destination.

‘Normal telly’

We should celebrate this success, but keep in mind the sector’s sustainability requires the continued involvement of the UK’s public service broadcasters. ‘Normal telly’ is still the backbone of our industry, it’s where most production companies win commissions for their ideas, and those ideas are what successful TV businesses are built on.

But the BBC, C4 and ITV are having their challenges. The advertising revenue downturn and BBC funding cuts have a profound impact on what’s getting made, and audiences are moving away from linear viewing.

These trends will mean that our broadcasters require fewer new shows and focus more of their budgets on the most-watched genres – meaning more competition for fewer commissions. Competition is good, but it should be fair and open, particularly when the commissioning broadcaster is publicly owned.

Edinburgh provided a gothic backdrop for the filming of Frankenstein, directed by Guillermo Del Toro, earlier this year (Picture: Lisa Ferguson) | LISA FERGUSON

Stark findings of new research

Screen Scotland published new research last week showing for the first time that the TV commissioning playing field has become profoundly uneven, with Scotland-based programme-makers at a distinct disadvantage.

The research, from O&O, looked at patterns of commissioning by the BBC, C4, ITV and C5 from Scotland between 2014 and 2022. ‘Volume’, which translates as number of episodes, is one of the main measures broadcasting regulator Ofcom uses when counting ‘Scottish qualifying’ programmes. O&O reviewed Ofcom data on projects that qualified as ‘Scottish’. The top 15 producers of programmes allocated to Scotland by volume were identified, revealing some stark findings for the Scottish production sector.

Only five of those top 15 were headquartered in Scotland. The other ten were headquartered in London. Of the 11 suppliers mainly used by the BBC in the top 15, only two were formed in and run from Scotland.

An existential issue

This matters: it shows that across the last decade, in terms of volume, the BBC has more often offered Scotland-based TV makers an opportunity to work on shows developed and owned in London, than commissions for their own programme ideas. That’s an existential issue for producers and Scotland’s reputation as a producer of high-quality programmes.

That said, past performance doesn’t necessarily predict the future. The BBC’s Charter – its UK Government mandate to operate – renews in 2027 and will be negotiated over the next two years. Perhaps with that in mind, the BBC has started to discuss altering its commissioning priorities to improve economic and creative opportunities across the UK.

Screen Scotland, with the support of the Scottish Government, looks forward to hearing the detail and working with the BBC to deliver those better outcomes for entrepreneurial producers and crew working in Scotland.

David Smith, director of Screen Scotland