Stephen Fry: Television Lecture

Why do we spend so much time talking about television? This is how Stephen Fry opened the annual BAFTA television lecture in 2010.

Reflecting that unlike film or music, there are many speeches, lectures and talks dedicated to the future of broadcasting he said: “Maybe it’s because television is uniquely in a state of crisis, transition, change and revolution.”

An esteemed actor, broadcaster, director and writer Fry has had roles across film, television and games, from Blackadder to Fable II. He has also received multiple BAFTA nominations for his entertainment performance as host of quiz show QI. Drawing on all this experience Fry used his lecture to consider big ultimatums like: is the television industry as we know it in decline? And what comes next?

• Read a full transcript of the lecture

Posing a challenging question to his audience Fry used his lecture to ask: “Is television as we know it, in its old business model, in terminal decline?” Offering his own thoughts on the issue he then said: “Well the big news I have for you, is that I have absolutely no idea. It’s possible to argue that there is no future for the BBC or ITV or Channel 4 or 5 or any broadcasting network that tries to make television at the national parochial level.”

Reflecting on the “golden age of television” that he grew up with, he then suggested that the viewing figures achieved by shows in the late 20th century is unlikely to be replicated today.

“The twenty-three and twenty-four million plus who tuned into Eric and Ernie’s Christmas shows can never be assembled together to watch a television programme again. Maybe if England makes it to the finals of the World Cup, something close can be achieved but television as the nation’s fireplace, the hearth and the heart of the country, the focus of our communal cultural identity, that television is surely dead. It seems unlikely ever to return. Instead of being the nation’s fireplace, TV is closer to being the nation’s central heating. It’s conveniently on in every room, it’s less discernible, less of a focus, more of an ambient atmosphere,” he said.

However, Fry did also argue that broadcasters can secure a successful future by continuing to commission and produce vast amounts of content. This would require being bold and saying yes to fresh ideas, to compete with alternative channels and internet TV services. Fry explained: “Now to achieve such a volume of production with any quality, variety, originality and confidence… requires a confident producer class. And that calls for people of real creative talent, intelligence, courage, resource and imagination, for my fear is that almost everyone I have encountered in production in the making of programmes is afraid. They have much to be afraid of, and much to cage, confine, cripple and constrain them. Fear is everywhere in the television business in this country.”

During the lecture Fry also examined the current nature of commissioning and suggested that changing this model could help the survival of broadcasters. “I do have an idea that may help free the creative talent of producers, writers, directors and others,” he said.

Starting by explaining that a broadcasting commissioner pays an independent production company “a licence fee for which they get the right to broadcast your series on their channel a set number of times. This fee barely covers the costs of production but as an independent, you can make more money because you keep all the worldwide rights.” He argued that broadcasters “will only commission content which is domestically skewed, that speaks to remits of nationhood, British interest, British cultural and often extremely regional social concerns.”

Fry’s suggestion is that  this model should be reconsidered: “that broadcasters, the networks, take a share in foreign sales. In return for that, they offer larger licence fees and naturally accept stories, ideas and – yes if it must be – formats that have wider appeal, greater scope, range, ambition and heft.”

Expanding on the need for this change he remarked: “What I fear is that without such a restructuring, British television will lose greatly, that any hope there is for real programming, for originality and greatness beyond the domestic sphere will dwindle and die, and any hope we have that greatness can exist only in the domestic sphere is hopeless when a large drama audience is considered to be three million.”

For more inspiring lectures from the worlds of film, games and TV, check out our resources section.