This shift is an existential threat to the British independent production sector. Without the streamers’ cash, the BBC’s licence fee—frozen and stretched thinner than ever—simply cannot fund the kind of epic, six-part thrillers that travel the world. The danger is a return to a two-tier television landscape: the ultra-low-budget, slightly shaky-camera domestic drama, and the glossy, US-owned, US-accented shows that happen to be filmed in a tax-efficient studio in Hertfordshire. The cultural impact is profound. Co-productions forced American writers to engage with British nuance; they gave us characters who sounded like they were from Manchester, not Manhattan. If the streamers decide to just make their own versions of British shows, cast with transatlantic actors doing wobbly accents, we lose a piece of our cultural sovereignty. Davie’s alarm bell is ringing loudly. Unless the government steps in with new tax breaks or the BBC finds a new, wealthier dance partner, the golden age of British TV drama might be about to end with a whimper, not a bang.
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