"I promise you I would not develop Mr Bates today" – Is it all over for British-made drama?

The prime minister has been watching the show with his children and furious debate rages about whether schools should screen it for their pupils. Unmissable TV has spearheaded a national conversation; in short, it is “this year’s Post Office”.

Given its illustrious award-winning predecessor Mr Bates vs the Post Office is nominated in six categories at the BAFTAs in May, it comes as a shock to hear the creative talents behind both that and Adolescence fear that they might never get to do such significant work again.

Adolescence writer Jack Thorne laments “a crumbling culture of storytelling”, while Mr Bates producer Patrick Spence claims he won’t be attempting anything similar in future – “it’s too heartbreaking”. Add comments by Peter Kosminsky that his celebrated period piece Wolf Hall wouldn’t get made now and clearly there is a problem. But what is it?

The challenge, as explained to me by Spence, is two-fold. The first is an increase in the price of production, inflated by deep-pocketed streamers like Netflix, Apple and Amazon’s willingness to pay top dollar for talent, and British broadcasters having to follow suit.

Ten years ago, according to Spence, the average UK drama cost about £1.3 million, the first million coming from a licence by the BBC, ITV or Channel 4, with the remainder found in tax breaks and advances by distributors. Now, that average price is anywhere between £1.6m and £2.5m, with the gap to fill a more prohibitive £800k–£1m/hour for so-called premium dramas like Line of Duty. Spence stresses that British broadcasters remain eager to commission the kind of home-grown drama that has always made this country proud; the problem is the deficit.

Previously, that money would come from international buyers, but the second challenge is now the American market, keen to buy only returning crime drama and little else, certainly not large-scale four-part dramas interrogating British society and its many pitfalls.

Kosminsky revealed recently that the second series of Wolf Hall only got made with a reduced costume budget, outdoor scenes cut and stars like Mark Rylance willing to take a lower wage. Spence shares that, two years ago, a drama about subpostmasters and a faulty computer system wasn’t nearly sexy enough to raise adequate funding and the Mr Bates cast also accepted less than their usual fee, while Spence and other producers worked for free.

Even for someone of his pedigree (Peaky Blinders, Marvellous), the costs are prohibitive. He says: “I’m no longer developing short-run material like Mr Bates. It’s too hard a mountain to climb. I’ve said ‘No more.’”

Solutions proposed include increased tax relief on UK productions and a levy on streamers to help fund domestic content. And we could ask, if Netflix is able to tell a British story as effectively as in Adolescence, Toxic Town and, let’s not forget, Baby Reindeer, why should we care that we have to shift our eyeballs away from the BBC et al to enjoy it?

“They’re the exceptions that prove the rule,” says Spence, pointing to falling numbers of these shows across the board. The four-part TV drama, like 2023’s The Sixth Commandment, is a uniquely British format for telling important stories. Spence says: “I promise you I would not develop Mr Bates today, which means those postmasters would not have the voice they have.”

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