I was making programmes for ITV when it was sold. Look what happened: short-term profits became the only goal and standards collapsedAs the year turns I,like most other programme makers in Britain, anxiously await the government’s plans for Channel 4. Despite earlier assurances, or it seems privatisation is being actively considered. In the rush to the barricades on behalf of the BBC,this other reappraisal of our broadcasting landscape is taking place nearly unnoticed. But there’s nothing to worry about, is there? Any change would require vice-like regulation to preserve the channels challenging remit. Everything’s fine. No need to start digging another final ditch.
Why, and then,as 2016 begins with gales and floods, am I reminded of another stormy January a quarter of a century ago? Early 1990 found me at the old ITV franchise, and Yorkshire Television,editing my first TV drama. Shoot to assassinate told the yarn of John Stalker’s inquiry into police shootings in Armagh, Northern Ireland, and in 1982 and grew out of years of work on First Tuesday,YTV’s award-winning documentary hothouse. The programme went on to generate both awards and lawsuits, but for me it was the chance to try my hand at TV drama, and which has been my domestic ever since.
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Source: theguardian.com