Drama to be eradicated from Radio 3

[kernelbogey]

Could be another of Auntie's cultural Whoops! moments when they have to rapidly back track.

That's a distinguished bunch of thesps.

[french frank]

A letter in today's Times:

Radio drama threat

Sir, A change is coming to the BBC that will devastate audio drama. We, the undersigned writers, producers and actors [ ... ]

Could be another of Auntie's cultural Whoops! moments when they have to rapidly back track.

[kernelbogey]

Done

[smittims]

Appalling, but not unexpected.This is yet another step in Sam Jackson's remorseless transformation of 'CFM3'.

[Pulcinella]

A letter in today's Times:


Radio drama threat

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 Baczkiewicz, Kate Rowland, James Fritz,Penelope Skinner, Suhayla El-Bushra, Inua Ellams, Gary Younge, Gary Owen, Lydia Leonard, Amelia Bullmore, Neil Dudgeon, Emma Fielding, Justin Salinger, Anna Jordan, Chinonyerem Odimba, Matthew Bulgo, Robin French, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Beth Steel, Luke Barnes, Amanda Wilkin, Hannah Khalil, Brad Birch, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Andrew McCaldon, Sarah Grochala, Jon Brittain, Phoebe Eclair-Powell, Tom Wentworth, Sonali Bhattacharyya, Eve Leigh, Jennifer Lun, Lisa Parry, Jessica Dromgoole, Kayla Feldman, Tabby Lamb, Joel MacCormack, Leah Brotherhead, Naomi Westerman, Ryan Craig, Natasha Sutton Williams, Lizzy Watts, Dzifa Benson, Alex Kanefsky, Jon Nicholls, Elaine Claxton, Daniel York Loh, Hassan Abdulrazzak, Julie Tsang, Richard Leeming, Charlotte Mills, Aretha Ayeh, Rafaella Marcus, Rachel Barnett-Jones, Sam Swann, Patrick Kennedy, Amy Bellwood, Louisa Hollway, James Richards, Nimer Rashed, Keely Beresford, Lauren Cornelius, Ali Taylor, Maud Dromgoole, Mervyn Millar, Kelly Jones, Che Walker, Richard Marsh, Selina Thompson, Katie Lyons, Rebecca Crookshank, Jon Sellers, Molly Davies, Saskia Black, Sophie Byatt, Lou Ramsden, Michał Wdowiak, Isobel Rogers, Sarah Sigal, Naomi Sheldon, Abi Zakarian, Will Lord, Olivia Mace, Laura Atherton, Tom Morton-Smith, Michael Southan, Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini, Mollie Semple, Shakira Newton, Rebecca LaChance, Emily White, Ffion King, Helen Rose, Emteaz Hussain, Michael Wynne, Bea Roberts, Mary Peate, Gregory Evans, Joseph Hassell, Bronwen Wilson Rashad, Frankie W, Helena Foley, Klervi Gavet, Jamie Jones, Alison Sweatman, Linda Armstrong, Rhys Miles Thomas, Anna Szamotula, Natalie Sawyer, Dawn King, Waleed Akhtar, Melissa Murray, Finnley Tanner, Holly Fry, Georgia Day, Hubert Wińczyk, Leia Williams, Emma Frankland, Nigel Parkes-Davies, Deborah Kelty, Carl Prekopp, Sarah Twomey, Kuba Kapral, Cadi Davage, C Garber, Paddy Hughes, Moya O’Shea, Max Levine, Afsaneh Gray, John Birkill, Martin Jameson, Owen Sheers, Julie Gape, James Clarke, Ahsan, Maya Picard, Joseph Kloska, Nezih Savaşkan, Laura Lejeune, Madina Alao, Benedict Tomczyk-Bowen, Daniel Thurman, Nimai Inniss, Sara Parry, River Lloyd, Sarah Hehir, Rhiannon Williams, Guleraana Mir, Sian Thomas, Rex Obano, Sarah McDonald Hughes, Margaret Perry, Jan Smith, Karen Cogan, Tara Creme, Chloe Gilgallon, Sion Roberts, Joby Waldman, Mitchell Tolliday, Jill O’Halloran, George Kenwright, Karla Williams, Janet Awe, Sam Burns, Ken Bentley, Katie O’Mahoney, Rhiannon Tise, Sivan Raphaely, Margred Pryce, Ross McClure, Shaun McKenna, Theo Toksvig Stewart, Adam Peck, Henrietta Hardy, Amelie Edwards, Liz John, Nicola Baldwin, Jeremy Front, Ming Ho, Lucy Gough, Lin Coghlan, Rebecca Front, Cardy O’Donnell, Lynne Deville, Angela Neil, Matthew Peters, Del Mak, Debra Shapiro, Rowan Allen, Claire zoe polydorou, Nina Millns, Sarah Bedi, Lucy Sheen, Matthew White, Annie Hodson

[Roslynmuse]

Signed. An act of cultural vandalism by philistines.

[Serial_Apologist]

Done.

[antongould]

Agreed that this is the likely outcome, but signed. Thank you Russ for bringing it to my attention.

Signed also and thanks also

[mopsus]

Signed.

[Historian]

There is a petition to repeal the decision, but it won't get anywhere of course - the number of signatures will not impress the BBC. But please do sign it, if only to feel that you have done the right thing.

Agreed that this is the likely outcome, but signed. Thank you Russ for bringing it to my attention.

[french frank]

https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/bbc/bbc-to-axe-radio-3-drama/5200780.article

Also in The Times.

[french frank]

Signed. This is a determined effort to destroy Radio3 as a cultural network.

[Russ]

I suppose it was inevitable, as a consequence of the previously announced edging away from speech announcements, that the curtain would fall on Drama on 3, but I wasn't expecting the axe so soon.

There is a petition to repeal the decision, but it won't get anywhere of course - the number of signatures will not impress the BBC. But please do sign it, if only to feel that you have done the right thing.

It's all very sad. Do3 is one of the few programmes I listen to on Radio 3.

Russ

petition: Save Audio Drama at the BBC