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So how much independent TV drama was made in Scotland in a year? IT IS no surprise that TV drama series Sea Of Souls, with its stellar Scottish cast including Bill Paterson, Dawn Steele and Iain Robertson, picked up a Scottish Bafta in 2005. Tomorrow, however, the programme will receive a far more dubious honour when it is named as the only independently produced drama made in Scotland and broadcast to the whole of the UK during 2007. A report from the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (Pact),
to be published tomorrow, will contain new figures detailing "deeply
disturbing" falls in the level of independent network television
production in Scotland in 2007. The figures will prompt renewed fears
that Scottish culture - and that of other regions of the UK - is being
shut out by a London-centric broadcasting industry. The Nations and Regions report reveals a picture of broadcasting decline. It shows that only two hours of independently produced drama made in Scotland was broadcast to the whole of the UK during 2007 - the paranormal drama Sea Of Souls starring Paterson which was made for BBC Scotland. A network programme is broadcast to the whole of the country, rather than just a particular nation or region. According to the report, state-owned but commercially-run broadcaster Channel 4 cut its Scottish output from 50 hours in 2006 to 41 hours in 2007, while ITV1's fell from 19 hours to just 9 in that time. BBC One, however, increased its hours from 55 in 2006 to 101 in 2007. Producer David Strachan, Pact's Scottish representative, said although the overall hours rose from 264 in 2006 to 298 in 2007, this was a fraction of what they should do to properly reflect the UK's population. Across all the major broadcasters, 10,661 hours of programmes were made in London. He said: "The figures show there is still a problem. This is about culture, it is about all the diverse cultures in Britain being shut out by a metropolitan elite." He said although the figures pre-date the investigative Scottish Broadcasting Commission - which led to substantial promises from the BBC and Channel 4 to up the level of production and called for the creation of a digital channel for Scotland - it was important to keep being "forensic about the details". Aileen Campbell, SNP MSP for the South of Scotland, said: "These figures will add to the real concern over Scotland's broadcasting industry highlighted by the Broadcasting Commission, and add further weight to their recommendation for a Scottish digital channel. "The report proves UK broadcasting remains hugely London-centric, which is clearly damaging the sector in Scotland. In particular, the fact only two hours of independent drama came from Scotland in 2007 is deeply disturbing." Stuart Cosgrove, Channel 4's head of nations and regions, refused to recognise Pact's figures. He said: "Contrary to Pact's report, our official figures to the regulator state that we actually increased our Scottish hours from 2006 to 2007 - from 43 to 45 hours. We have been very clear that we are engaged in improving and diversifying production in Scotland." Channel 4 and Pact figures differ because the broadcaster counts the advertising breaks while Pact does not. Channel 4 is said to have signed off the Pact figures before realising its mistake. A BBC Scotland spokesman said promises already made would lead to a further increase in broadcasting hours. He said: "The out-of-London strategy will mean significantly more business coming to production centres such as Glasgow. An important part of the recent announcement of the Network Supply Review was the strengthening of the commissioning talent in Pacific Quay and other production centres. "The BBC has a commitment to develop its partnerships with the independent sector in its ambition of achieving a 17% target of network production from the nations by 2016." An ITV1 spokesman declined to comment.
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