Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Government treats BBC with contempt, says Russell T Davies

Post Thumbnail

Russell T Davies launched a stinging attack on the government for treating the BBC with “contempt” as he collected a lifetime achievement award.

The writer, producer and former Doctor Who showrunner, who was responsible for hits including Queer As Folk, Casanova and Cucumber, said he was finding it hard to know who to work for as he collected his prize at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

He said: “I don’t want to get all state of the industry standing here but it’s a tough time in a tough industry, seriously.

“We do have a government which treats the BBC with contempt, we actually have a government which is warding off the BBC with one hand while wanking off Rupert Murdoch with the other.

“It’s been genuinely hard to know who to work for, these days you can find yourself having to work for companies that don’t pay their tax, or having to work for companies that put Donald Trump in power, it’s getting dodgy out there.

“But I just want to say, because we can all have a good moan afterwards in the bar, but you look at the young people here and it’s more important to stand here and say I’ve had such a laugh in my job, I’ve had such a good time and it is a brilliant industry.

Davies joins a cyberman for a Christmas Doctor Who screening.
Davies joins a cyberman for a Christmas Doctor Who screening (Ian West/PA)

“I have worked with Daleks, Casanova, I’ve worked with gays, I’ve worked with Penelope Wilton, I worked on children’s programmes, I’ve worked in documentary, I worked on a quiz show with Terry Wogan, I worked with Jesus, I worked in Cardiff, Manchester, at Granada, I’ve worked with all sorts of shows, I’ve worked with David Tennant, Billie Piper, Freema Agyeman, I’m so lucky.

“I’ve been a presenter on Playschool, I’ve actually been to Norway with Keith Chegwin, I love my job and I hope you all grow up and get in the industry and love the job too.”

At the awards ceremony at the TV festival BBC 1 was named channel of the year, while Channel 4 drama National Treasure was named new programme of the year, beating Apple Tree Yard, The Crown, Interview With A Murderer and Slum Britain: 40 Years On and Flowers.

Best factual programme was awarded to Employable Me while the best international co-production gong went to The Tunnel: Sabotage.

Left Bank Pictures, the production company behind The Crown, The Replacement, Outlander, and The Halcyon was named production company of the year and the moment a young boy was given a pair of football boots on Rich House, Poor House was voted TV moment of the year.