Prominent writers and performers warn of the ‘devastating impact’ on UK audio drama as Radio 3 drops its prized drama slot
Some of the UK’s most respected writers have appealed to Radio 3 to reinstate the network’s prized radio drama slot, amid fears the broadcaster is ditching it.
The weekly drama broadcast has featured some of the country’s finest writers and actors and acts as a cornerstone of the network’s much-loved distinctive output.
According to The Times, the BBC cites ‘financial pressures’ for needing to cut the regular broadcast. Thoroughly Good highlighted the impending cuts in a post a few weeks back.
In the letter signed by Caryl Churchill, Mark Ravenhill, Neil Dudgeon, Emma Fielding, Meera Syal, and Niamh Cusack, the impending changes are predicted to ‘devastate audio drama’. The letter explains that the an hour and half slot provides writers and performers with the opportunity to work on ‘more experimental work — things that wouldn’t fit within the standard slots on Radio 4’. It continues, ‘To lose Radio 3 would not only be detrimental for writers and the countless actors, technicians and producers, but also for the listener, the licence fee payer.’
The axing of Radio 3 drama is the next in a long line of changes Radio 3 Controller Sam Jackson has introduced since his arrival at the BBC that include schedule and presenter changes, a noticeable change in the range of music played and a considerable increase in station advertising on the network itself.
Most recently the launch of its mood-based offshoot Radio 3 Unwind (dubbed ‘Radio 3 Wind Me Up’ by one commentator in The Spectator) has met with a mixed reaction. Stalwart listeners have decried the offshoot’s launch as proof of the dumbing down of the much-loved institution, something predicted by some almost as soon as the former Classic FM managing director Jackson was appointed as the new network chief.
Thoroughly Good understands that the cutting of Radio 3 drama is widely regarded amongst BBC management as a done deal, with staff working on the strand scheduled for departure. Those remaining in music production appear sanguine about Radio 3 drama’s demise. Questions remain on the comparative costs of Radio 3 Unwind versus the soon to be axed drama slot, and whether the return on investment of the former justifies the latter.
Writers calling for its reinstatement face a bigger challenge motivating the creative industries to campaign for its reinstatement. Diehard listeners will recognise the drama slot as playing a critical role in the station’s eclectic image an fulfilling listening experience; those new to the station will see it as an anachronism, similar to the ongoing presence of sketch comedy on Radio 2 in the early 2000s.
BBC management will see Radio 3 Drama as getting in the way of its new vision for and inclusive classical music station. In defending their position they’ll point to the presence of drama on Radio 4 as more than enough compensation (even if the daily 45 minute format is an entirely different proposition). By binning it, Radio 3 can be entirely devoted to a broader musical playlist that appeals to a bigger audience even if it is at the expense of its original artistic and editorial goals. A bigger audience means better listening figures and much easier justification of what many regard as a destructive strategy.
In the same week, Radio 3 Controller Sam Jackson has written in Classical Music magazine, reflecting on his first two years in the job.
In the op-ed Jackson appeals directly to classical music industry. In the pointing to an increase in numbers of hours listened to, a record year for audiences at the BBC Proms, and a list of distinctive programmes that celebrate classical music in the way that Jackson thinks shows that amongst audience and industry alike shows ‘a deep desire for what we collectively offer’. Ahead of appearing at the Association of British Orchestras conference in a discussion titled ‘What is classical music anyway?’, Jackson continues, ‘as we head into 2025, my hope is that, as a sector, we would embrace that, even if the pace of change is sometimes unnerving.’
BBC management will argue that these changes are justified, illustrating a growing audience. Arguably it’s simply replacing one existing core audience who come with certain expectations producers are struggling to appeal to, with another that has entirely different and possibly lower expectations. This new audience isn’t, it seems, interested in radio drama and nor the extensive and thought-provoking speech radio that helped make Radio 3 the jewel that it was. In unapologetically pursuing a new audience its abandoning its existing one.
Management will also be banking on benefiting from the BBC Singers crisis a few years back, something Jackson reflected in his op-ed when he says ‘There is no need to rerun the arguments of that period’. The effort exerted by a great many people across the industry at that time to save the highly prized ensemble exhausted many. Battling for another part of Radio 3’s heart presents itself as another Herculean effort. Battling for the retention of drama and the opportunities it presents for writers is a whole lot more challenging than the battle for a visible performing ensemble. The signatories on the letter in today’s Times will be hoping there’s fuel left in the tank. So too Thoroughly Good. It is something wholly worth fighting for.
Radio drama threat, The Times, Wednesday 15 January 2025
Sir,
A change is coming to the BBC that will devastate audio drama. We, the undersigned writers, producers and actors, have been made aware that after March there will no longer be any drama on Radio 3. The station has provided some of the lifeblood of drama on the radio and has set the bar high for other audio drama companies. It has given all writers, established and emerging, the opportunity to do something different With no need for expensive sets and filming schedules, we can create worlds of extraordinary ambition in audio. With slots of an hour and a half or more in length, it means more experimental work can be undertaken here — things that wouldn’t fit within the standard slots on Radio 4.
Plays written by some of our greatest playwrights adorn Radio 3.
There is something unquantifiable about having access to this level of drama in person, no matter where you are in the UK. To lose drama on Radio 3 would not only be detrimental for writers and the countless actors, technicians and producers but also for the listener, the licence fee payer. Radio drama was invented by the BBC and the BBC has always been an innovator and game-changer in the way it delivers top-quality drama. We urge the BBC to reconsider its proposal.
Caryl Churchill, Mark Ravenhill, Moira Buffini, James Graham, Tanika Gupta, Lolita Chakrabarti, David Eldridge, Simon Stephens, Meera Syal, Niamh Cusack, Charlene James, Katie Hims, Roy Williams, Sebastian Backiewiez, Penelope Skinner, Inua Ellams, Lydia Leonard, Amelia Bullmore, Neil Dudgeon, Emma Fielding
The full list of signatories is found at thetimes.co.uk/letters