Credit: EastEnders. BBC/Jay Brooks
War and Peace is a great example of why I am so proud of the BBC - a magnet for the country’s best creative ideas and talent; taking risks for audiences at home to make high-quality, British programmes that might not otherwise be made; then exporting them to the world, with the value returning to Britain, to reinvest in more creativity for British audiences and for our creative industries. I’m thinking of what Andrew Davies said about War and Peace, which echoes what I hear so often from this country’s finest creative talent… “It couldn’t have been done without the BBC… Who else would have done it?”
Last year, I made the case for a strong BBC as the cornerstone of Britain’s creative economy. I said that those who believe in the importance of Britain’s creative industries should fear a diminished BBC. I warned that those prepared to accept a diminished BBC must be prepared to accept a diminished UK media industry, and a diminished status for this country as a cultural superpower. Since then the case has only got stronger. Today I want to highlight two important developments that make a strong, sustainable BBC more important than ever. I want to talk about how we are responding to the challenge by simplifying and modernising the BBC. And I want to pick out three essential criteria for our future, simple tests by which the Department of Culture, Media and Sport’s White Paper will stand or fall.
