AFTER 24 years on the box, the BBC is taking the axe to River City – with the latest episodes due to air next year.
And – despite promises of new shows on the way – experts reckon closing the doors on one of Scotland’s gateways for emerging talent will be a massive blow to the TV industry.
Fans and insiders are gutted about the loss of the show[/caption]
Fans and stars alike have bemoaned the demise of the show after bosses said punters are sick of soaps, with cash now being ploughed into shorter-running dramas.
But Peter Strachan, a Scots producer and director who’s worked on shows like Don’t Tell the Bride and Panorama and who sits on the board of members organisation Directors UK, said it’s a massive blow for emerging, homegrown talent, both in front of and behind the camera.
Today Peter, who is also founder of Speaking Up for Scotland’s Screen Talent, writes for the Scottish Sun on the loss.
RIVER City, Scotland’s current longest running drama series is being axed by the BBC with its final series to be aired in Autumn 2026.
Devastating news, it is another cruel blow for Scotland’s already struggling production community.
It’s sad to learn as many as 200 talented people will be made unemployed by this decision, further adding to the growing number of film and TV freelancers currently out of work.
More than two thirds haven’t had a job in months, in one or two years for some.
Many have been forced to leave the industry that they’ve worked so hard to be part of yet seems to care so little about them.
Meanwhile, unlike for oil refinery or steel workers, and despite the billions we’ve contributed to the economy, there is shamefully zero financial assistance for film and TV freelancers to help the transition into alternative careers.
River City has been the only consistent drama gig for years, employing hundreds of Scottish based actors, writers, script editors, producers, directors, directors of photography, camera operators, sound recordists, make-up, wardrobe specialists as well as many of the other creative and craft roles required to make television drama.
The BBC will move River City’s £9 million budget into three new dramas with much shorter runs. It’s doubtful this will help sustain careers in the same way.
New opportunities across the independent production sector are being promised with a total investment in BBC drama from Scotland over the next three years rising to over £95m cumulatively, an increase of 25 per cent on the current level. But when it comes to who will benefit, will this future investment result in jobs for Scotland’s film and TV freelancers? The current evidence suggests, not as much as the BBC would have us believe.
On successive series of The Traitors, a BBC Network ‘Scottish’ commission awarded to a production company head quartered in London, made with licence fee money earmarked for Scotland, the percentage of the production team based in Scotland has decreased from a mere seven per cent to just five per cent.
Excluding one commissioning editor, no other senior roles were filled by Scottish talent. Almost none of the supporting services and facilities were Scottish. Used to justify the BBC’s eight per cent spend here, this means a substantial amount of this ‘investment’ has left Scotland.
The BBC’s River City press release drew attention to three current Scripted productions, Granite Harbour, Shetland and Vigil, two of which are made by companies HQ-ed in London. Crucially, this means the intellectual property rights (IP) that allows companies to benefit from their work, develop other projects, even keep some staff on, are going to outfits based in London.
Just like The Traitors, left it’s yet another case of money earmarked for Scotland leaving the country.
A vital training ground, River City has been an all too rare entry point for new production talent. This is now being axed.
Famous faces who flocked to Shieldinch
River City superfan Lorraine Kelly isn’t the only star to turn up unexpectedly in the long-running soap.
Chart-topping singer Susan Boyle might give the morning telly favourite a run for her money as the biggest celebrity fan of the show.
SuBo, 63, made a surprise appearance as herself in 2021, modelling for a charity photoshoot to raise money for Molly’s Corner Cafe.
She said: “I had a brilliant time filming River City.
“All the cast and crew were so kind and welcoming, it was a great atmosphere.
“I’m a huge fan of the show and always watch it, so to be a part of it and on set was fantastic.”
Since it launched more than two decades ago, celeb fans have been eager to try their hand at acting in the drama series, from singers to radio stars.
And soap legend Stefan Dennis was among them.
Famous for his iconic role as ruthless businessman Paul Robinson in Aussie favourite Neighbours, he took on another evil character in Dr Marcus McKenzie in the Scots staple.
The actor, who married Scot Gail Easdale, starred in the show from 2002 to 2003 and loved his time in Glasgow, saying: “I spent 12 years in the UK and just before we decided to come back to Australia, I received a call offering me a part on River City.
“When we realised it meant spending six months in Scotland, we knew it was too good an opportunity to pass up.”
Lorraine made her River City debut in 2006, playing herself as a guest at a wedding.
She said: “It is so well written and acted and has fantastic dramatic storylines as well as a deft way with comedy.”
Singer Simon Webbe, 46, also did a stint as a former soldier during a hiatus from his boyband Blue in 2016.
And Radio 2 breakfast host Scott Mills also secured a guest appearance after praising the soap on his show and even campaigned for it to be screened outside of Scotland.
What’s more, its demise means the end of the only established career pipeline for Scottish based talent to acquire the necessary experience to reach senior positions and find work on bigger drama productions.
Analysis of the 2023 Ofcom Made Out of London Titles Register, (2024 will be published later this year), shows that just 43 per cent of directors working on all Scottish drama productions made by the UK’s public service broadcasters, excluding River City which isn’t listed, were based in Scotland.
Of the drama directors based outside Scotland, more than three quarters were based in London.
On Vigil, only 28 per cent of the senior roles, none of the directing jobs, were filled by people based in Scotland.
When it comes to Unscripted directors, working on documentaries and other factual or entertainment productions, 57 per cent were based outside Scotland.
Whether by design or accident, how can careers and livelihoods be sustained here with so little opportunity to show our worth?
The media landscape is changing but there must still be a fair allocation of resources. Scotland’s production talent is, to a worrying extent, being systematically side-lined.
I fear the axing of River City is just another brutal step in this shocking trend.
The BBC has a responsibility not just to film things in Scotland but provide meaningful levels employment, at all levels, for Scotland’s production community.
The stats reveal this isn’t happening to the extent it should be.
In a bid to compete with the likes of Netflix, the BBC is gravitating into another homogenised streaming giant. But at what cost to Scottish talent, stories and voices?
With its Charter renewal on the horizon in 2025, it’s now time for an urgent conversation about what Scotland wants and deserves from public service broadcasting.
