Monica Dolan, The First Actress This Decade To Be Nommed For Two TV BAFTAs In One Year, Says Industry Is “Plagued By Fear”

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Monica Dolan, the double-BAFTA-nominated star of Mr Bates vs the Post Office, has raised concerns that the TV industry is “plagued by fear” due to the drama funding crisis.

Dolan, who last Thursday became the first actress this decade to be nominated for two TV BAFTAs in one year, said “creativity has to come from risk, belief and bravery” as she reflected on the outsized success of local stories like ITV’s six-time BAFTA-nommed Mr Bates. “I think really what we are plagued by is fear and unfortunately in a lot of rooms that are supposed to be creative there’s talk that we’re scared of it being this or that or don’t want it to be X, Y or Z,” she told Deadline. “But if you are starting from a place of fear then you might as well forget about it really.” Dolan stressed that the “fear is understandable in a climate where funding has shrunk because everyone is worried about losing money” but countered that in a risky business, TV gatekeepers have to “go for it, because that is where the biggest rewards are.” The rewards have certainly been flowing in for Mr Bates, in which Dolan played Jo Hamilton, a former subpostmaster and campaigner who was wrongly prosecuted for financial shortfalls caused by faulty Post Office software, which was the spark for one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history.

Dolan, who is still in contact with the real-life Hamilton, said a show about the British Post Office and an admin fault may have been deemed “not very interesting” by commissioners but “being specific is better because the audience likes to learn and listen to particular worlds.” “I believe that with a story you can be as specific as you like,” she added. “Something can resonate with someone in Africa