Claims It’s A Sin would not have been ordered by any other broadcaster
Russell T Davies has warned selling Channel 4 would “stifle” queer and diverse voices and called the government’s proposals a “rigged crime”.
Davies used an It’s a Sin masterclass session at the Banff World Media Festival to attack the forthcoming consultation into C4’s ownership, which he predicted would result in an “inevitable and unstoppable” privatisation.
“We are looking at very dark days here,” he said. “In order to sell Channel 4 and make it profitable [the government] would have to change C4’s remit which is to make shows like It’s a Sin.”
Davies’ Covid-delayed five-parter It’s A Sin drew a high of 4.5m viewers and became All 4’s biggest-ever boxset with 63% of its audience agreeing that it was the sort of drama that would only be found on C4. It followed a host of C4 series created by Davies including Queer as Folk, Cucumber and its spin-off Banana.
“None of these shows would have been made by the other mainstream channels,” said Davies. “Channel 4 has been responsible for my entire career.”
Davies compared the anticipated sell-off to the acquisition of Cadbury’s by American multinational Modelez International.
“When they sold Cadbury’s, they promised the taste wouldn’t change,” he said. “Now Cadbury’s tastes like a cheap beer”.
He was also dismissive of the rationale behind the decision.
“Part of the government’s reasoning for selling is that there is now more choice now because of the streamers,” he said. “That means more choice of zombies, ghosts, detectives - they certainly don’t make shows like this [It’s a Sin].”
Davies’ criticism of the process follows Sir David Attenborough’s decision to sign an open letter which asked ‘what’s changed’ since the government opted against a sale in 2017 and called for greater transparency surrounding the process.
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