Opinion - "The BBC and classic comedies - is it all in the past?"

In this article a comedy writer looks back on the good old days when the BBC made quality comedy programmes in-house and their open-door radio shows provided a great training ground for writers. He suggests the demise of this system responsible for the corporation's failing comedy output...

When you think of classic comedies created by the BBC in the 60's, 70's and 80's the list is endless - "Dad's Army", "Last of the Summer Wine", "Only Fools and Horses", "Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads", "Fawlty Towers", "Some Mothers Do Ave em", "Allo Allo", the list just goes on and on.

In recent years, apart from the occasional rogue success like "Little Britain", the only genuine new mainstream Beeb hits have been "My Family", "My Hero" and... well lots more "My Family" and "My Hero" really.

So why is this? Why can't the corporation churn out long-runners like they used to? It's because they've gone down the commercial TV way of doing things, where the "celebrity name" is the overriding consideration.

Back in the good old days (and no way am I apologising for using that phrase!) the Beeb's comedies started with a writer presenting an idea. That idea was then discussed, developed and backed up with a full script - who was going to appear in it never got discussed until after it was commissioned.

These days out of work actors tell their agents to put the word about they are available for anything, production companies have a mountain of crap ideas waiting to "hang a name on" and broadcasters snap them up.

So what do we get? A project featuring an actor who was "previously in" with a producer who "previously produced", a director who "previously directed" and it's all brought to us by "the same team who gave us...". But who is going to write it? Who cares, it's bound to be a "sure fire winner"!

I started writing back in the 1970's. Inspired by David Nobbs book "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" I decided "I want to write like that!" (If you've only ever seen the TV series, please, please, please get the book - there is so much more to it and it's so beautifully written).

In 1976 I joined a hospital radio station and started writing and performing my own sketches. In the eighties I became aware of the BBC "open door" radio shows - shows which accepted one-liners and sketches from non-commissioned writers - and immediately targeted "Week Ending" and "News Huddlines".

Harry Enfield once said one of his finest moments was getting one line on "Week Ending", it was such a cult show in those days. I went one better - I got two lines in one week - but sadly no more. I was more successful with "Huddlines" being credited considerably over a period of years.

One week two of my lines got the biggest laughs. They were - if my memory serves me right - "Virginia Bottomley has been accused of trying to privatise the NHS by the back door - she's the health service's worst enema" and "Some sad news from America where the inventor of scrabble has died. They were going to hold a service for him in New York, but switched it to Philadelphia as that was worth ten more points and a triple word score".

Next day I rang the Huddlines office about something else, was congratulated at getting such a good response and was then tipped off about a new BBC TV sketch show being developed who were looking for new writers - "Would you like the producer's contact details?" Too damned right I did!

The show was a Saturday night one-series effort called "You Gotta Be Jokin" - it helped launch Shane Ritchie's career - and I think I got credited on six of the eight shows. From that point I decided to attempt sitcom writing - sadly the production companies were taking a hold and the Beeb's internal production was being scaled down, so by the time I came up with one there didn't seem anyone about who wanted to even read it.

"Is there any point to this self-indulgent trip down memory lane"?, I hear you ask. Yes there is. You see the reason the BBC had all the best comedy shows was because they knew writers needed training like anyone else. So they gave us open-door sketch shows where we could learn our craft, we then had direct contact with producers who, if they saw talent, would help a writer who had sitcom ideas. No other broadcaster did that.

I - and believe me an entire generation of writers - got their foot on the bottom rung of the BBC ladder only for the ladder to be unceremoniously yanked away by Margaret Thatcher's worst legacy - the deregulation of the television industry.

The BBC no longer has the number and quality of sitcoms because they no longer have a home-bred writers system within the corporation. Production companies are not interested in writers because there are bigger bucks to be made churning out DIY/cookery/reality/makeover shows to feed the endless explosion of channels.

So is there any way back? Yes - the Beeb should go back to in-house production, restore the direct link with writers, commission more sketch shows, scrap their links with production companies and leave celebrity-chasing to the commercial sector. Not too much to ask is it?