Julia Davis calls on TV execs to be less conservative

Julia Davis has called on TV executives to be bolder in commissioning a wider variety of comedy shows.

In an interview with Metro to promote the DVD release of her Sky series Hunderby, she said broadcasters tend to want to clone successful programmes, rather than encouraging original work.

‘There should be more variety,’ she told the paper: ‘You get something like Miranda – which I personally love – but what happens is people go: “Oh, we want everything like that.” Whereas really, you just want quality stuff.

‘The main thing is to believe writers know what their voices are and if they are left alone they will come through with something.’

She also said that she didn’t think her dark comedy Nighty Night could be made now – but said nothing should be considered off-limits when it comes to taste.

‘People could write stuff that’s really offensive but if it’s written within a believable world that has a tone to it, then it can be funny,’ she said. ‘But if it’s just shock-value stuff then it’s not going to work.’

Published: 22 Nov 2012