Comedy writers defend TV execs

Some of Britain’s top comedy writers have leapt to the defence of TV executives, amid a barrage of accusations about meddling and incompetence.

The latest to criticise broadcast managers is stand-up John Warburton, who claimed his first pilot, Inn Mates, was so ruined by interference from BBC Three bosses that he has vowed never work in TV again.

But his claims have been rubbished by far more experienced writers.

IT Crowd creator Graham Linehan said it was ‘a lazy cliche to say they're interfering know-nothings’ and that many executives were ‘great’.

Writing on Twitter, Linehan, pictured said: ‘It's hard to make a script work. When writers are unable or unwilling to do it, blaming execs can be a way of absolving themselves.

‘There are bad execs, but in my experience they're outnumbered by the thoughtful, careful ones. Everyone working together to help show.’

‘If an exec is a problem, 9 times out of ten it's because the script isn't there. Although I wonder if BBC3 is a special case.’

He was echoing the thoughts of Peep Show and Fresh Meat co-creator Sam Bain, who said Warburton’s Guardian article ‘confirms every lazy negative stereotype about TV execs’.

‘It may be comforting for writers to believe that creatives = good & execs = bad, but most of the time if your show is shit it's your fault,’ he wrote.

‘On Fresh Meat, we've felt consistently supported and had great script notes. Execs even created a bespoke 50 minute slot to suit the show

‘I've had a largely great time with execs. When our exec on Peep Show [Iain Morris] left C4 we immediately hired him as our script editor.’

Warburton claimed that broadcasters were so obsessed with youth and ‘dumbing down’ that they suggested he include a ‘supernatural element’ to his true-to-life script to cash in on the popularity of vampires.

But some of his opinions have been challenged by Jim Poyser, who worked with Warburton on the 2010 pilot. In a tweet to Bain, he said: ‘I produced Inn Mates and I thought the Execs were pretty good on it. Writer wouldn't take notes though, and wasn't all that funny.’

Jamie Mathieson, who has written on Being Human and Dirk Gently, added: ‘I feel sometimes if a script isn't working a bad exec will sense that but not know how to fix it, leading to bad note.’

Linehan – who also co-created Father Ted and wrote the stage adaptation of The Ladykillers – concurred, saying that: ‘If you're getting bad, off-the-point notes, it's because something isn't working’.

And Irish novelist Julain Gough also pointed out: ‘Beginner writers can misread "notes" as "commands". This can wreck a script. Notes are suggestions in a conversation.’

Richard Herring summed it up with: 'So successful comedy writers think executives are good and unsuccessful ones think they are bad. Food for thought.'

The current criticisms of TV executives started with QI creator John Lloyd’s comments at the Chortle conference last month; and were echoed by the BBC’s former head of factual production, Tom Archer.

Published: 1 Jul 2013