BBC under fire for lack of Scotland-based production talent in ‘The Traitors’

nme.com:

BBC have received some criticism about the lack of Scotland-based talent in the production team for their hit show The Traitors, despite it being filmed there.The Traitors is shot near Alness in the Scottish Highlands, and as such is classed as a Scottish production.The BBC is required to spend at least 8 per cent of their expenditure making shows in Scotland.

This requirement, according to media regulator Ofcom, is in place to “support and strengthen the television production sector and creative economies of the UK’s nations and regions” outside of London.But the show has come under fire this week after it was claimed that only around 6 per cent of workers on the production team of the 2025 series are actually based in Scotland.As reported by BBC Scotland News, factual TV producer and director Peter Strachan has spoken out about the issue, saying that The Traitors’ contribution to the Scottish TV economy should consist of more than “a pretty castle” and putting up contestants in hotels.He said: “Is it acceptable that the BBC should be using money that’s earmarked to promote growth and jobs in Scotland and spending it on a series that is basically not doing that, a Scottish commission on which hardly anyone based in Scotland is working?”BBC Scotland News spoke to two people based in Scotland who worked on previous series of The Traitors, both of whom had concerns about how few Scots are hired for the show.One said: “As a Scottish freelancer in TV it was so frustrating… especially considering how much we are struggling for work up here.”Another shared: “I quickly learned that many of my peers had never spent much time in Scotland outside of working on the show.”According to Stephen Lambert, chief executive of Studio.