Acclaimed producer slates BBC Three move

The BBC will find it harder to sign up talented new comics now BBC Three is heading online, a respected comedy producer has claimed.

Charlie Hanson, whose credits include Extras and Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place, added that Corporation budgets were so low that comedians might as well fund their own projects, especially without the benefit of broadcast exposure.

Hanson, now a producer and director at Tantrum Films, told the Chortle Conference that the BBC ‘used to be the first port of call for any new talent but I don’t think I can say that any more.’

He said he was working with the comedy group Mandem On The Wall, which had built up a following of 70,000 subscribers on YouTube. But instead of going to the BBC they secured funding from Film London to make a short film.

Hanson also told yesterday’s event that shows he had previously worked on, such as Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher’s Snuffbox, would probably not get commissioned by the BBC any more.

But BBC comedy commissioner Chris Sussman disagreed – saying the Corporation remained committed to new shows.

‘BBC Three is where we develop talent both onscreen and offscreen. It;s for putting money into new writers, new performers and new producers to go away and make stuff,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t matter about the platform, If you put good stuff out people will find it. Netflix has shown us that.’

And he said that although DIY production costs have come down, most comics ‘cannot afford to make their own 6 x 30-minute series’.

He also vowed that BBC Three would still produce up to ten comedy shows a year– with the benefit of some of them landing broadcast slots on BBC One and BBC Two.

On the same panel, BBC radio comedy executive producer Alison Vernon-Smith said radio remained an easier route for comedians to get a foothold in broadcasting, with her department producing more than 180 hours of original comedy each year, including such open-access shows as Radio 4 Extra’s Newsjack, which returns in the autumn.

Published: 10 Jul 2015