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The established stars that have graced the Drama Village are too numerous to mention but what I'm even more proud of are the opportunities we have created both in front of and behind the camera for new talent. Many directors on the series, nurtured under the umbrella of the Drama Village, have gone on to enjoy career acclaim on shows including Broadchurch, Doctor Who and Hollywood's Grey's Anatomy. Not content with delivering high quality contemporary...
Birmingham base's output has put drama at heart of daytime and nurtured many careers, says Will Trotter
They laughed when I said I was going to make a high quality continuing drama series for BBC1 Daytime.
Fifteen years on and three thousand episodes later, Doctors still peaks at 2 million viewers and averages a 24% share. Created by the incredibly talented and loyal team at Birmingham's Drama Village, the show has launched a thousand careers.
The village turns ten years old this year. Here we make quality TV drama at a prolific and highly cost-effective rate. This year alone, we have produced 220 episodes of Doctors, but that's only the beginning of the story. Filmed in the Cotswolds, Father Brown has been a global smash hit - we've just delivered a fourth series of 10 episodes. Arriving next year is The Coroner, a gripping new ten part series set in Devon.
The established stars that have graced the Drama Village are too numerous to mention but what I'm even more proud of are the opportunities we have created both in front of and behind the camera for new talent.
Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne and Game of Thrones star Emila Clarke are just two of many who secured their first gig on Doctors. Many directors on the series, nurtured under the umbrella of the Drama Village, have gone on to enjoy career acclaim on shows including Broadchurch, Doctor Who and Hollywood's Grey's Anatomy.
Writers, producers and production teams too have gained their flying hours working on Doctors - a series that consistently pushes the boundaries with hard-hitting storylines. It was the first soap to portray a legal gay wedding, and we scooped three major soap awards for an unflinching storyline about the rape of a spinster receptionist. The hour-long three thousandth episode, which aired earlier this month, was the finale of a long running story exposing a paedophile ring.
The Drama Village team is technically innovative too. Doctors was the first BBC continuing drama to have the film effect applied, the first to go fully HD and tapeless. The Coroner will be the first TV drama shot in 4K.
Not content with delivering high quality contemporary drama for daytime tariffs, we produced the first period daytime drama Land Girls, which went on to be a hit returning show.
Producing for daytime and based in the regions, we need to be strategically agile and commercially savvy. Father Brown was the first drama to be co-produced with BBC Worldwide - it's currently screened in 95 countries across the globe.
Looking at this slate, and reflecting on my original proposition for BBC daytime, I like to think of the late, great Bob Monkhouse's joke: "They laughed when I told them I was going to be a comedian. Well, they are not laughing now..."
Copyright Media Business Insight Sep 14, 2015