Should we worry about BBC1's Drama Giants?

Drama might seem like a luxury in the current climate – so how should we describe a lot of drama? In recent weeks on BBC1 we have had five consecutive nights of Torchwood and three nights of Occupation. The former fared better, in audience terms, with an average of 6.4 million/27% share, compared with 4 million/17% share for the Iraq drama.

That’s a lot of drama by anyone’s standard. Torchwood was remarkably consistent, even if the climax of the week fell short of the penultimate episode – there were 6.7 million, vs 6.5 million. Each night Torchwood saw off ITV1’s offering – Hannah’s Killer, Ladette to Lady, Trial and Retribution (twice) and Doc Martin.

You could say that the BBC got its scheduling strategy absolutely right, taking advantage of a make-weight ITV1 summer schedule to ensure maximum ratings for an important drama. It also took advantage of the weakness of Big Brother on Channel 4.

But there is a question about Torchwood which is difficult to answer – why strip it across five nights in the middle of July? One answer is in the primetime share figures – 24% Monday vs 26% ITV1, 22% vs 14% Tuesday, 23% vs 24% Wednesday, 27% vs 17% on Thursday and 25% vs 23% on Friday. Three out of five wins, and two narrow losses – highly competitive.

Torchwood was also assisted by the final for Celebrity MasterChef starting on Wednesday onBBc1 it was 4.8 million/23% share, Thursday 5.6 million/26% and Friday 4.7 million/21% share. Those figures assisted Torchwood and contributed to BBC1’s strong week. Isn’t that what BBC1 should be doing – competing in a robust fashion with its commercial rival?

But I wonder whether the success in July of Torchwood – and Celebrity Masterchef for that matter – does not raise a question about BBC1’s attitude towards competition. It was able to strip an original drama across five nights in July because it wanted to – no commercial broadcaster could afford the luxury. And it has been able to develop Torchwood from its origins on a digital channel, through its second terrestrial channel, and into primetime on its general entertainment channel – again no terrestrial or digital channel has the option.

For fans of Torchwood, the reaction is probably so what – they’re delighted by the programme’s success. But for those who watch the ecology of broadcasting, there’s a clear warning of how broadcasting’s ecology is changing.

This fact was underlined for me by a speech made by Channel 4’s Julian Bellamy at last week’s Televisual Intelligent Factual conference. Bellamy looked at the week which I had thought of as Torchwood week, from the perspective of Channel 4’s factual output.

On Monday at 9pm Channel 4 had Inside Nature’s Giants – the second in a series of animal autopsies, with 1.7 million/7.5% share. Clearly regarded as ground-breaking natural history programming, this show was presented as Channel 4 doing what it does best. Earlier on Monday, he cited Teenagers Fighting Cancer at 8pm, with 890,000/4% share, and on Wednesday at 8pm Channel 4 had Embarassing Teenage Bodies with 1.8 million/9% share. On Thursday at 9pm Gerry’s Big Decision – a factual business programme – had 1.7 million/7% share.

Clearly Inside Nature’s Giants is Channel 4’s big project in this week – but consider it in comparison to the riches required to fund Torchwood across five nights. I’m not suggesting that Channel 4 should be competing with BBC1, but the gap in terms of resources is striking. You’ll notice that I have made no reference to ITV1 – traditionally the commercial competitor for BBC1 – it simply wasn’t at the races during this particular week.

So what’s going on? There was no competitive imperative which required BBC1 to blast all the commercial opposition with a five night drama. Perhaps these mega-projects are conceived with a different audience in mind – the international sales audience. Something that does as well as Torchwood is bound to have value in the international market. A format like Masterchef is as much a commercial proposition as a domestic programme. BBC1 might not carry advertising – but it is generating a lot of popular programming which has considerable commercial value.