The Hack producer claims there’s no longer enough money to make limited dramas for UK broadcasters

The Hack stars David Tennant and Robert Carlyle

The executive producer behind Mr Bates vs The Post Office and new ITV drama The Hack says that he will no longer develop limited series because there simply isn’t enough money available in the UK to fund them.

Industry veteran Patrick Spence, who has also EP’d shows such as Litvinenko and A Spy Among Friends, says that he can’t finance shows costing around £2.5 million (US$3.3m) to £3m an hour because broadcasters will only provide one-third of the production budget.

“I’m not alone in saying that I’m not developing any more of these limited series because they can’t be funded anymore,” said Pence.

“I started working on Mr Bates… and The Hack in 2020 but I wouldn’t develop them from scratch again now because those shows were hard to make on a much lower budget.

“There are some shows that can be made for £1.5m an hour but the moment you want to spend £2.5m to £3m an hour, you can no longer get hold of that money – and most dramas cost that now.”

Spence is one of several producers and executives who have highlighted the ongoing scripted financing crisis in the UK recently.

Earlier this year, Sister co-founder and chief creative officer Jane Featherstone told the UK Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMSC) about the funding challenges facing the indie sector.

She explained that pubcasters are contributing less funding to commissioned shows, usually capped at around 30 to 40% of the total budget, and that distribution advances – which previously contributed up to £600,000 – have largely become a thing of the past.

Featherstone believes that this has led to a situation where pubcasters can’t afford to commission high-end TV (HETV) shows and indie prodcos can’t raise the finance to make them even if such projects are greenlit.

In another blow to producers, the government this summer rejected the CMSC’s recommendation to boost the country’s HETV Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit. The committee wanted to see the tax rebate of about 25% given a “targeted uplift” for shows costing between £1m (US$1.37m) and £3m per hour.

Now producers fear that scripted projects falling just below the HETV budgeting threshold will not be able to attract enough financing to get made.

Spence told Radio 4’s The Media show: “Ten years ago, the average British contemporary drama might cost about £1.3m an hour, which was fine because the BBC, ITV or Channel 4 would give you about £900,000 an hour, which meant you only needed to find £400,000 an hour to make the show and that was quite easy because the tax break would provide maybe £250,000.

“You’ve only sold to the UK and therefore take a tiny advance on the rest of the world for maybe £150,000 to £200,000.

“These days you’re turning to distributors for an advance against international sales and you’re asking for £1m to £1.5m.

“There are no terrestrial broadcasters out there who don’t want these dramas to be made, but they’re only putting in one-third of the budget. The future will look very different.”