成人论坛

Re-generation isn't something exclusive to Time Lords. It can apply to whole communities and cultures too, helping shift them out of the old and into the new. Sometimes television programmes benefit and can be transformed too.

I've had first-hand experience of major economic and cultural regeneration, driven by 成人论坛 investment outside London, itself one of the world's great creative powerhouses. It was a privilege to lead the 成人论坛's move to Salford that helped create Media City UK, now one of the leading digital production communities in the world. Licence fee investment there has triggered nearly 7,000 jobs and over 250 new companies on an old, derelict dockside. Over the past few weeks I’ve been further afield.

At our drama centre in Roath Lock in Cardiff I saw the impact of another 成人论坛 re-generation story on old dockland, now home to the likes of Doctor Who, Casualty and Pobol y Cwm - much of it catalysed by the vision of one of my great creative heroes, the writer and producer Russell T Davies. Among the seagulls, film sets, graphics houses and cycle routes, I met Russell - Doctor Who's re-inventor - on the studio floor of his latest production Midsummer Night's Dream, 成人论坛 Wales new film for 成人论坛1. That's me and Russell catching up below, while somewhere on set Matt Lucas wanders among fake foliage replete with donkey's ears.

Roath Lock is a key UK centre of excellence for 成人论坛 in-house drama where productions share and develop skills and where success has helped to strengthen the wider creative economy. Recently the likes of Pinewood, Dragon and Swansea’s Bay Studios have become new additions to a successful global drama story that's unfolding out of Wales.

Our first-ever, non-London skills cluster is just across the Severn Bridge in Bristol, where for more than 50 years the same impact has been catalysed by the 成人论坛's renowned Natural History Unit, at the heart of a city-wide eco-system of world-beating facilities, freelancers and indies. Further up the M5 motorway the 成人论坛 Birmingham base is becoming central to more re-generation, also in drama.

This week our Midlands team's latest production The Coroner aired on 成人论坛 One daytime - part of 130 hours of output a year made in the city from the producers of Father Brown and Doctors, neighbours to 成人论坛 Radio 4's weekday drama serial The Archers.  

Little wonder 58% of 成人论坛 Television spend is now spread across seven bases - an investment record that's great for UK-wide creativity and good for jobs and skills too. It's a policy that's at the heart of the new 成人论坛 Studios proposals and we are working hard with partners in Scotland and Northern Ireland to build their story too, centred on drama and a strong specialist factual slate. I’m in both Glasgow and Belfast in the next fortnight.

The television market is now more global, more digital and more competitive than ever with audience expectations increasing as they navigate through a wealth of content choices. The UK production sector is intimately linked to the world market and in particular the US, through ownership of many of our best independent companies. 

These changes bring challenge and opportunity: there is much to be gained from greater creative ambition, new investment and new international markets but we must also safeguard the UK’s unique environment for programme making. 

All this raises fundamental questions for the 成人论坛: how to remain one of the world’s great programme-makers ourselves when we have less money than ever before; how to help the sector respond to global demand, while meeting the expectations of a devolving United Kingdom, way beyond London; and how to ensure that the British public gets the best possible return on the money it invests in the 成人论坛 through the licence fee?

What's so impressive about Cardiff is the quality of craft and production expertise. On the Casualty set I saw it first hand - if you'll pardon a terrible pun - where hair and makeup designer, Kirstie Stanway, was creating the life-like prosthetic injuries that have been at the heart of the drama series Saturday success story for nearly 30 years. Through 成人论坛 Digital, Kirstie was sharing her craft skills with vlogger Hannah Leigh in – an online project from giving tips for a spooky  makeover.  

It's not just about diverse story-telling, jobs, skills and training though. Having a strong in-house production arm - pun absolutely intended - within the 成人论坛 is also a strategic asset to licence fee payers that isn't fully replicated by a successful independent production sector. The regeneration of ballroom dancing - from Come Dancing to Strictly Come Dancing - is one example.  Sold to over 40 different territories around the world, Strictly regularly has an audience on 成人论坛 One reaching 10m viewers every week. It's also the hottest audience show in town - 4.8m people applied for tickets to see Strictly this year alone and I was lucky enough to be among them - see picture below with Jeremy 'Legs' Vine.  

The fact that huge hits such as Strictly Come Dancing - and Doctor Who too - were made in-house gives the 成人论坛, together with 成人论坛 Worldwide, the greatest flexibility in managing and promoting them in the UK and around the world and guarantees that 100% of the value from them returns back to the 成人论坛 and the public.  

These are strengths and benefits that the 成人论坛 wants to preserve and to do that we must change too, or be left behind by much bigger media conglomerates – a key factor in our proposals to create a strengthened 成人论坛 Studios alongside a booming indie sector.

No doubt there will be lots of television production companies active in the UK in the future. But only one of them is guaranteed to be owned in this country and operated on behalf of the British public, working right across the UK.

All focused on reflecting and representing different cultures, needs and interests and fostering local creative economies, committed to returning full value for reinvestment in the UK creative economy. You don't have to be a Time Lord to think this is a thrilling and important mission and it's fun to be at the controls at a crucial time.

Peter Salmon is Director, 成人论坛 Studios

An extended version of this blog will be featured in an upcoming IPPR publication.