A senior Channel 4 figure has accused Netflix of acting like “TV tourists” with the internationally acclaimed show Adolescence.
Louisa Compton, the head of news and current affairs at the broadcaster, said Channel 4 was the “proud parents” of the runaway hit. She said rather than nurture British TV talent, Netflix had benefited from talent developed over many years by Channel 4 and other public service broadcasters.
“We are the proud parents of Adolescence. It wouldn’t have happened without Channel 4 and other PSBs,” she said. “We’ve developed and nurtured the talent that has allowed Netflix to come in as TV tourists and effectively commission it.”
She said that Britain’s public service broadcasters “nurture where the streamers don’t”, also accusing the streaming giants of failing to tackle the difficult, live issues facing the world. “Where are the investigations on the streamers into Gaza or Trump? There’s no current affairs on the streamers. Everything is retrospective.”
Adolescence was co-created by Jack Thorne and the actor Stephen Graham, both of whom have worked with Channel 4 on a series of projects, including This is England ’86 and Help. Graham appeared in both programmes.
The comments come against a backdrop of a crisis in the TV industry, as public service broadcasters (PSBs) – the BBC, ITV Channel 4 and 5 – struggle to meet the costs of making television amid inflation many blame on the arrival of the streamers.
A series of figures have raised concerns about the impact on UK television. The financial pressures mean that UK broadcasters are looking for international hits and projects that could be co-funded by a big streamer, meaning culturally British stories could disappear.
Insiders say streamers have recently become more reluctant to co-produce programmes with UK broadcasters, putting even more pressure on the PSBs.
Elisabeth Murdoch is among those to have warned that the economic pressures could lead Britain’s broadcasters to turn away from issues that appeal mainly to a British audience. Meanwhile, some producers of the ITV hit Mr Bates vs the Post Office have questioned whether it would be made in the current environment.
Netflix did not wish to respond to Compton’s comments. However, insiders pushed back at the remarks, arguing that the show had placed a British story, crew and cast on the international stage and championed important issues.
They also said Netflix had begun to uncover talented actors that had since worked for UK broadcasters, adding that the executives who commissioned Adolescence had decades of experience in UK television between them. “Ultimately, who we care about the most is the audience,” said one.
Some of those involved in making Adolescence have suggested it could not have been made by a UK broadcaster, because of the way in which its one-take episodes were shot and the large, expensive outdoor scenes.
However, there have been calls for a levy on streamers such as Amazon and Netflix, used to pay for explicitly British productions. The idea has been backed by a committee of MPs and adopted in other European countries, but the measure has already been rejected by ministers. Others in the industry are pushing for more tax breaks to lower the costs of making television.
Peter Kosminsky, the director of the BBC’s Wolf Hall, who has been leading calls for a streamer levy, has accused ministers of “running scared” of Donald Trump in their refusal to introduce it.