Hundreds sign appeal letter

A host of top comedians including Jack Whitehall, Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Greg Davies and Noel Fielding have joined the campaign to save BBC Three.

They have signed an open letter to the chairman of the BBC Trust,Rona Fairhead, and Tony Hall, the Director-General of the BBC, calling for the decision to move the channel online only to be reversed.

The move will cut the channel’s budget by £50million, part of a cost-cutting drive prompted by the government freezing the licence free, requiring savings of around £800million a year across the BBC.

A total of 750 actors, writers, agents and executives have signed the letter including Olivia Colman, Al Murray, Jimmy McGovern, Alan Bleasdale, Russell Howard and Hanif Kureishi – plus the managing directors of Avalon TV and Hat Trick Productions who launched an audacious bid to buy the channel.

The letter describes the decision to move the channel online as ‘disastrous’ and say it ‘will remove at a stroke a vitally important outlet for new talent’ as well as alienating young viewers.

‘Either the BBC can continue to cater predominantly for an increasingly elderly audience or it can take the lead and safeguard its position as a beloved and relevant public broadcaster by investing in the talent and the audiences who are the building blocks of the future,’ the letter said.

The letter follows a petition of 271,00 names handed to the BBC in February.
The BBC Trust is considering the proposals from senior managers, who concede the decision to move the channel online might not be popular, but described it as ‘the ‘least worst’ option’. The governing body is due to discuss its provisional findings at a meeting next Tuesday. 

The full text of the letter


Dear Rona Fairhead and Tony Hall,

We, the undersigned, wish to register our dismay at the BBC’s proposals to close BBC Three as a channel available to all and its planned reduction to a service only available online.  Disastrously the closure and move online will remove at a stroke a vitally important outlet for new talent and innovative ideas, where some of the most successful and influential names currently working in British television were given their first chance.

BBC3 Three has cost the licence fee payer over £1 billion over the last 10 years. Closure will write-off this investment, which would be unthinkable in a commercial environment. The BBC management proposes to use this valuable slot as a catch-up channel for BBC One, putting it in direct competition with the world’s best catch-up service, the iPlayer, on which the BBC has also spent millions of pounds.

The BBC has a duty of care to develop new talent and cater to all audiences. Currently, less than 1 per cent of the BBC budget is spent on programming for the 16-24 age group.  The management is now proposing to reduce this to under 0.6 per cent. To disenfranchise the young viewer and pull back from the funding of new ideas and new talent risks endangering the engagement of future generations with the BBC. 
The effect of this reduction will probably lead to a similar reduction by commercial broadcasters which no longer need to compete, with the consequence that the audience of the future will no longer include television as one of its major sources of entertainment.

We call upon the BBC to immediately reinstate the funding to the channel and halt its plans for closure. We believe it is vital that the BBC’s future should include more than tokenistic funding for a young, diverse audience and for new talent. 
We are facing a tipping point for British broadcasting. Either the BBC can continue to cater predominantly for an increasingly elderly audience or it can take the lead and safeguard its position as a beloved and relevant public broadcaster by investing in the talent and the audiences who are the building blocks of the future. Safeguarding the future of BBC3 as it currently exists is the key to this.

Yours sincerely,

Full list of Signatories

ACTORS, PRESENTERS AND COMEDIANS

Adam Drake
Adam Godley
Adam Hess
Ade Oyefeso
Adelayo Adedayo
Adrian Lester
Ahir Shah
Aidan Turner
Al Murray
Alastair McGowan
Alex Horne
Alex Jordan-Mills
Alex Reece
Alex Smith
Alexa Morden
Alexandra Roach
Alfred Hoffman
Ali Bastian
Alice Felgate
Alice Merivale
Alice Sykes
Alisa Joy
AlisonSteadman
Alys Metcalf
Amanda Donahoe
Amanda Reed
Amelia Zadarnowski
Amir El-Masry
Ana Maria Maskell
Anabel Barnston
Andrew Gower
Andrew McDonald
Andy Samberg
Andy Zaltzman
Anna Morris
Anna Woolhouse
Anneka Harry
Arnold Oceng
Ava Vidal
Ayesha Casely-Hayford
Barry Ferns
Ben Ashton
Ben Fox
Ben Miller
Ben Willbond
Benjamin McMillan
Benjamin South
Brenda Dempsey
Brenda Gilhooly
Cameron Harris
Carl Donnelly
Carl Hutchinson
Charlotte McKinney
Charlotte Peters
Charlotte Ritchie
Charlotte Sparey
Chris Addison
Chris Martin
Chris Ramsay
Chris Waller
Christine Bottomley
Christopher Parker
Claudia Grant
Corrine Wicks
Cory Peterson
Craig Parkinson
Dai Tabuchi
Daisy Haggard
Damian Kell
Dan Atkinson
Dani Moseley
Daniel Ings
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Sharman
Danny Webb
Darren Evans
Dave Berry
Dave Gorman
David Anderson
David Menkin
Davood Ghadami
Debbie Kurup
Denise Kennedy
Derek Riddell
Dickon Gough
Dr James Logan
Dr Linda Papadopoulos
Ed Eales-White
Ed Gamble
Ed Stewart-Day
Edward Halsted
Elaine Cassidy
Eleanor Chaganis
Eline Powell
Elizabeth Hume-Dawson
Ellie Taylor
Esther Smith
Eugenia Low
Eva Magyar
Ewan Bailey
Fady Elsayed
Fern Britton
Francesca Mango
Fred MacAulay
Gaby Roslin
Gareth Richards
Gary Davis
Gavin Inskip
Geneviève Lemon
George Johnston
Georgie Ainslie
Georgina Campbell
Glenn Moore
Grainne Maguire
Greg Davies
Greg McHugh
Hannah Murray
Hannah Rae
Haruke Abe
Hasan Dixon
Hayley Ellis
Helen Colley
Helen Russell-Clark
Helena Raeburn
Heydon Prowse
Imelda Staunton
Jack Barry
Jack Whitehall
Jackie Dixon
Jadie Rose Hobson
Jaime Winstone
Jamal Hadjkura
James Allenby Kirk
James Alper
James El- Sharawy
James Nesbitt
James Phoon
Jamie Demetriou
Janet Fullerlove
Janet Greaves
Jassa Ahluwalia
Jean Leppard
Jenny Eclair
Jessica Fostekew
Jessica Martin
Jimmy Johnston
Jo Elvin
Joan Blackham
Joanna Page
Joe Dunlop
Johanne Murdock
John O’Mahony
John Thomson
Johnny Vegas
Joivan Wade
Jolyon Rubinstein
Jon Richardson
Jonathan Howard
Jonathan Hyde
Jonathan Kydd
Jonathan Whittaker
Jonny Lennard
Jonny Sweet
Josh Casswell
Joshua Oakes-Rogers
Judy Lester
Julian Deane
Julie Teal
Junade Khan
Karen Gillan
Karen Taylor
Karla Chrome
Kassius Nelson
Kate Staddon
Katherine Ryan
Katie Mulgrew
Keeley Hawes
Kerry Shale
Kevin Quinn
Kieran Boyd
Ladi Emeruwa
Laura Kirman
Lee Ross
Leila Hoffman
Lena Headey
Lesley Sharp
Letty Butler
Lewis Reeves
Libertie Kiing
Livi Sloyan
Lizzie Stables
Lois Deeny
Lolly Adefope
Louise Donald
Louise Hulland
Lucy Beaumont
Lucy Grattan
Luke McQueen
Luke Newberry
Luke Roskell
Mabel Clements
Maeve O’Sullivan
Mandeep Dhillon
Manpreet Bachu
Margaret Jackman
Mark Brown
Mark Rush
Mark Smith
Martin Dickinson
Martine Knight
Mathew Horne
Matt Smith
Matt Winning
Matthew McGreevy
Matthew Skillington
Max Wilson
Maxine Peake
Michael Klesic
Michael Lapham
Michael Rees
Mike Noble
Mimi Ferrer
Modupe Adeyeye
Mona Yousefi
Montserrat Lombard
Nadine Mulkerrin
Natasha Jonas
Nathan Armarkwei
Nathan Hamilton
Neil Stuke
Nick Helm
Nick Malinowski
Nigel Barber
Nikita Mehta
Noa Bodner
Noel Fielding
Norma Atallah
Oliver Malam
Olivia Colman
Omar Khan
Owen Findlay
Ozzie Yue
Pádraig Lynch
Pascale Wilson
Paul Clayton
Paul Kemp
Peter Craze
Peter Dukes
Peter Mair
Peter Mooney
Phil Wang
Pippa Bennett-Warner
Pollyanna Woodward
Poppy Corby-Tuech
Rachel Parris
Ranjit Krishnamma
Rebecca Durbin
Rebecca Gilliland
Rhodri Miles
Ric Bacon
Richard E Grant
Richard Emerson
Richard Graham
Richard Hardisty
Richard Herring
Rikki Chamberlain
Rob Auton
Rob Brydon
Rob Delaney
Robert Maskell
Roberto Cavazos
Robin Morgan
Robyn Moore
Roisin Conaty
Roisin Hogan
Rosalind Lonsdale
Rosemary Ashe
Rosie Day
Russell Howard
Russell Tovey
Ruth Pickett
Ryan Howes
Sally Ann Rhodes
Sandhil Ramamurthy
Sarah Annis
Sarah Parish
Scott Garnham
Shane McDaid
Shane O’Meara
Sharon Horgan
Sharon Rooney
Shaun Dingwall
Shelley King
Simon Brodkin
Simon Coleman
Simon Nock
Sophie Abelson
Stefanie Martini
Steph and Dom Parker
Stephanie O’Keeffe
Stephen Bellamy
Stephen Lord
Steve Bugeja
Steve Coogan
Steve Hall
Steve Williams
Stuart Wilde
Susan Mcardle
Susie Fugle
Suzann McLean
Suzanne Procter
Tania Rodrigues
Tasha Ferguson
Terri-Ann Brumby
Tessie Orange-Turner
The Rubberbandits
Thomas Wright
Tiff Stevenson
Toby (comedy duo)
Tom Craine
Tom Davis
Tom Parry
Tom Radford
Tom Reed
Tom Turner
Tommy Rowson
Tony Millan
Tracy Bargate
Tristan Pate
Tristram Wymark
Vanessa Russell
Warren Brown
Will Collier
Will Hartley
Yve Blake
Zoe Lister
Zoe Rainey

WRITERS

Adrian Hodges
Alan Bleasdale
Alastair Siddons
Allan Cubitt
Allan Shiach
Amy Shindler
Andrew Davies
Barnaby Slater
Bernadette Davis
Beth Chalmers
Bryony Kimmings
Carmel Morgan
D C Moore
David Cummings
Dennis Kelly
Dominic Stone
Greig Johnson
Hanif Kureishi
Hannah George
Hatty Ashdown)
James Moran
Jeremy Brock
Jimmy McGovern
Joe Dives
Jon Brown
Jon Harvey
Joshua St Johnston
Lilah Vandenburgh
Lucy Gannon MBE
Marcelo Dos Santos
Mark Davies
Melanie Spencer
Molly Davies
Oliver Refson
Paul Sassienie
Paula Milne
Paven Virk
Peter Berry
Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Rob Fraser
Roger Hadfield
Rona Munro
Sarah Dollard
Sebastian Backiewicz
Simon Ashdown
Stephen Morrison
Tallulah Brown
Tina Walker
Toby Whithouse
Tom Bidwell
Tom MacRae
Tony Grounds
William Boyd

OFF SCREEN TALENT

Adam Miller
Alan Mercer
Alex Kalymnios
Andrea Pelaez
Andy Dugdale
Andy Harries
Angela Sinden
Ashley McMorrow
Ben Anthony
Ben Hall
Ben Taylor
Ben Wheeler
Cahal Bannon
Caryl Benée
Charlie Hanson
Charlotte Lee
Chris Monk
Christine Gernon
Christopher Monk
Claire Broughton
Claire Collinson-Jones
Colin Barr
Dan Patterson
David Elstein
David Granger
David Mortimer
Denise O’Donoghue
Denman Rooke
Ed Bazalgette
Elliot Hegarty
Emma Louise-Burke
Gilliane Seaborne
Guy Templeton
Harry Wootliff
Helen Williams
Henry Normal
Hettie MacDonald
James Mill
Jane Berthoud
Jane Lush
Jessica Sharkey
Jim Allen
Jim Poyser
Jimmy Mulville
Jo Crawley
Joanna Beresford
Joe Wade
John Douglas
Jon Richards
Karen Smith
Kate Rhodes James
Kate Wilson
Kathy Hale
Kenneth Collard
Kenton Allen
Laura Djanogly
Louisa Fitzgerald
Louise Golbey
Mark Iddon Mark Redhead
Mark Talbot Martin Dance
Michelle Welch
Mollie Freedman Berthoud
Nicolas Kent
Paul Cohen
Paul Schlesinger
Rebecca Singer
Richard Grocock
Richard Laxton
Richard Wilson
Sarah Cartwright
Sarah Tong
Sasha Ransome
Sile Parkinson
Stefan Georgiou
Steph Harris
Steve Madden
Steve Roberts
Stu Mather
Thom Hammond
Tim Dowd
Tom Jordan
Tristram Shapeero
Victoria Mosss
Will Macdonald
Zoe Rocha

AGENTS

Abby Singer
Adrianna Tsigara
Ahsha Osborne-Sutton
Aileen McEwan
Alec Drysdale
Alex France
Alex Irwin
Alexander Cooke
Alice Dunne
Alison Finch
Amanda Davis
Amy O’Neill
Angela Cummiskey
Anita Gilbert
Anna Dudley
Anna Fywell
Anna Hird
Anne Coulter
Annie Rose
Becky Williams
Ben Hanley
Bethan Evans
Caitlin Birley
Camilla Young
Carly Peters
Caroline de Wolfe
Carrie Matthews
Catherine Gagon
Cathy King
Charlotte Knight
Chloe Brayfield
Chloe Bruchez
Chris Davis
Christian Hoddell
Christian Knowles
Christina Cooke
Christine Glover
Claire Moaroussas
ClaireNightingale
Clare Vidal-Hall
Dallas Smith
David Kayser
David Marsden
Debbie Jenkins
Debi Allen
Deborah Willey
Delphine Manley
Denee de Emmony
Diana Tyler
Dione Inman
Donna French
Duncan Hayes
Duncan Heath
Dylan Hearn
Edward Hughes
Edward Rumfitt
Elaine Steel
Elinor Burns
Elizabeth Dench
Ellen Gallagher
Ellie Blackford
Emma Bloomfield
Emma Obank
Fay Davie
Faye Timby
Fiona Keddie-Ord
Fiona Williams
Frances Arnold
Frances Stevenson
Frances Zealander
Gary Wild
Gemma Allsopp
Gemma Hirst
Gemma McAvoy
Geoff Stanton
Georgina Ruffhead
Giles Smart
Grainne Montgomery
Grainne Perkins
Graziella Baccega
Hannah Boulton
Hannah Chambers
Hannah Clarke
Hannah Linnen
Hannah O’Sullivan
Harriet Long
Harriet Pennington-Legh
Hattie Grunewald
Hattie Windsor
Helen Mumby
Helena Bumpas
Hugo Young
Ian Devlin
Ikenna Obiekwe
Ikki El-Amriti
Imogen Sarre
India Sinclair
Isabella Riggs
Isobel Pietsch
Jack Buckley
Jack Collins
Jack Thomas
James Penford
James Taylor
Jamie Sampson
Jane Epstein
Jane Lehrer
Jane Shepperd
Jane Villiers
Jasmine Daines Pilgrem
Jeanette Hunter
Jenne Casarotto
Jennie Miller
Jennifer Withers
Jess Molloy
Jessica Carney
Jessica Jackson
Jessica Sykes
Jill Foster
Jill Lepper
Jo Winbourne
Jodie Hatley
Joe Phillips
John Markham
Jon Thoday
Jonathan Arun
Jonathan Kinnersley
Jonty Brook
Judy Daish
Julia Tyrrell
Julia Wyatt
Julie Hamilton
Juliet Kirby
Juliet Pickering
Kat Oliver
Kate Brower
Kate Bryden
Kathryn Kirton
Katie Churchill
Katie Haines
Katie Langridge
Katie May
Katie Threlfall
Kelly Knatchbull
Kevin Brady
Kim Donovan
Laura Hill
Laura Newman
Ligeia Marsh
Lindsay Kutner
Lisa Stark
Lisa Toogood
Lizanne Crowther
Lorna Fallowfield
Lorraine Berchie
Lucy Doyle
Lucy Nooshin
Lucy O’Meara
Madeleine Dewhirst
Malcolm Browning
Mandy Ward
Marc Berlin
MariaGirod-Roux
Mark Casarotto
Mark Pollard
Marvin Godfrey
Matthew Bates
Matthew Dench
Maureen Vincent
Max Latimer
Meg Davis
Melanie Rockcliffe
Mia Thomson
Michael Ford
Michael Hallett
Michael McCoy
Michel Duff
Micheline Steinberg
Michelle Barlow
Michelle Braidman
Mike Cater
Miranda Heffernan
Monique Campbell
Natalicio Barretto
Natasha Stevenson
Nicholas Gall
Nicholas Young
Nick Barron
Nick Canham
Nicki va Gelder
Nicola Bailey- James
Nish Panchal
Oliver Slinger
Olivia Guest
Ollie Azis
Paul Martin
Penny Wesson
Perry Antoniou
Peter Brooks
Peter Cleall
Peter Suddell
Philip Bell
Philippa Howell
Rachael Swanston
Rachel Hopkin
Rachel Taylor
Rebecca Blond
Rebecca Watson
Richard Allen-Turner
Richard Moore
Rob Aslett
Rob Groves
Rob Sandy
Roger Davidson
Romany Hoyland
Rose Cobbe
Roxana Adle
Rozzy Wyatt
Sally Hope
Samantha Boyd
Samira Higham
Sammy Kate Smith
Sarah Barnfield
Sarah Camlett
Sarah McNair
Shepperd Fox
Sian Smyth
Simon Blakey
Sophie Chapman
Sophie Holden
Sophie Laurimore
Stephanie Moore
Stephen Durbridge
Steve Nealon
Steven Paling
Sue Greenleaves
Sue Latimer
Sue Rodgers
Tania Hurst- Brown
Tara Lynch
Tom Christensen
Tom Reed
Tracey Elliston
Tracey Gittins
Valerie Hoskins
Valli Dakshinmaurthi
Vic Murray
Victoria Williams
Wendy Scozzaro
Will Hollinshead
Zoe Stoker

ORGANISATIONS AND MISCLLANEOUS

Avalon
BWA Agency
Byron’s Management Agency
Casarotto Ramsay & Associates Ltd.
Hartswood Films
Hat Trick Productions
Helen Mitchell
Jono Read
JPA Associates
Mrs Jordan Associates
National Youth Theatre
PMA (Personal Managers’ Association)
Rochelle Stevens Ltd
Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance
The Actors Guild of Great Britain
The British Comedy Guide
The Oxford School of Drama
United Agents
Writer’s Guild of Great Britain
Belinda Morgan
Ben Holmes
Carol Cleveland
Claire Rushbrook
Damian Bond
Deborah Horgan
Edward Oconnel
Ewan Thomson
Garth Tucker
Hannah Croft
Howard Ricklow
Ian Thornton
Jacquetta May
James Davies
James Dormer
James Lynch
Jamie Crichton
Jay Khan
Jennifer Corner
Kate Comaish
Laetitia Butler
Laura Borderick
Leigh Campbell
Linda Mawcliffe
Lindy Heymann
Lyndsey Marshal
Martin Troakes
Mary Nelson
Matthew Johnson
Muke McQueen
Nicholas Greaves
Nicola Biltoo
Nicola Burley
Paul Byram
Paul Lloyd
Pauline Asper
Rob Phillips
Robert Ashby
Robyn Milne
Roger Woods
Sam Douglas
Samuel Dutton
Sara Dunlop
Sara Moore
Sarah Deery
Sebastian Barry
Shane Collins
Stewart Rohan
Vicki Bradford

Published: 8 Jun 2015