‘Sherwood’ Writer James Graham: Streamers Are “Perplexed” By UK Government Threat To BBC & Channel 4
deadline.comStreamers such as Netflix, Prime Video and Paramount+ are “perplexed” by government threats to the UK’s Public Service Broadcasters (PSB), according to Sherwood scribe James Graham.
Graham, one of Britain’s foremost TV and theater writers, flagged the example of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who broke through the theater system to create the BBC’s Fleabag before being snapped up by Amazon in a ‘Golden Handcuffs’ deal.
He was reflecting on the BBC’s funding struggles due to the government’s freezing of the licence fee for two years, along with threats to Channel 4’s position as a public broadcaster, although this was recently reversed. “We’ve got the best of both worlds [in the UK],” said Graham, in conversation with Banijay UK Chair Patrick Holland at today’s Freeview Outside the Box 2023 event. “Streamers benefit from PSB development.
The likes of Amazon would be utterly perplexed by the threat to that pipeline.” Graham said his hit BBC One drama Sherwood set during the 1980s miners’ strikes in Nottinghamshire would never have been commissioned by a streamer.
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