TV producer Jane Featherstone drops bombshell about ‘reality’ of BBC shows

An English television producer, Jane Featherstone, recently revealed that BBC is grappling with budget woes, leaving several scripted shows on its slate unfunded.

The 55-year-old head of Sister, the company behind Black Doves, shared that BBC has “multiple shows they can’t fund.”

Jane, who has worked on many BBC shows and Netflix hits, made the comment during a UK parliamentary inquiry into TV and film.

Sharing the details with the Culture, Media & Sport Committee (CMSC), she quipped, “The BBC can answer for this, but I am aware they have multiple shows which through no fault of their own they can’t fund,”

The maker of the film Pure added, “Which makes it very difficult to see further down the line because those shows take two to three years to come to screen.”

Moreover, per Deadline, some UK shows have reportedly been stuck in the “soft greenlight” stage, where they are approved but producers are told to secure most of the funding themselves.

Shedding light on this issue, Jane remarked, “The BBC give us the greenlight and now we go, ‘How are we going to fund it?’ because a greenlight is 30% of the budget, which is traditionally now what a [Public Service Broadcaster] can only afford to put in.”

“Each case is different, but it leaves us with gap of say 60% of the budget. We are now [in the UK] getting closer to that indie film model at the lower cost end,” she continued.

The Child of Mine maker went on to note that BBC and other Public Service Broadcasters like Channel 4 are adding “more money” into expensive shows that “don’t necessarily reflect British values.”

“The market itself won’t take care of British content, and that is the bit we need to look at; that is the bit at risk,” she concluded with a warning.