The first episode of Line of Duty, shown on 26th June 2012 on BBC2, reached 3.76m after seven days catch-up viewing. The latest (last ?) episode of Line of Duty reached 12.8m in the overnight ratings, taking a 56.2% share of live tv viewing. (The 18th April episode moved from 9.9m in the overnights to 13.5m after seven days).
Director of Content Charlotte Moore is justifiably proud of this success, and, like Jed Mercurio, thinks it's worth having a chat about more.
Will she be as keen to talk about the future of BBC Radio Drama ? Last week, with a fanfare largely from Woman's Hour presenter Emma Barnett, the magazine show expanded to squeeze the regular 15minute drama/serial/reading from the R4 schedule. In history, ownership of this slot has been contested. Woman's Hour used to enjoy producing it, with a team of their own. In 1998, central BBC Radio Drama made a successful landgrab, though Women's Hour was charged with announcing it; a sort of lukewarm embrace, to keep the conceit of an Hour alive.
It's along time since the BBC made specific commitments in terms of hours to drama on Radio 4, and quite a long time since Ofcom flexed its muscles in this area. 65 hours of output have been lost in this most recent move, but the erosion of expensive drama has been steady. The accountants prefer programmes where one person interviews another, not those requiring writers, producers, directors, actors and sound engineers.
The Writer's Guild has just secured a 1% rise in fees from BBC Radio. For 14 minutes, a new writer would get £570.22 for one transmission, and an established writer £859.74. Not much, but the Woman's Hour slot has been cheaper for years, using book adaptations rather than anything original, at 1/5th of the fee for original writing.......
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