BBC Drama Winter/Spring 2010

Last year was an exciting year for BBC Drama with record-breaking Bafta and Emmy nominations and wins; a defining piece for BBC Three with Being Human; and Occupation, The Gruffalo, Small Island, Criminal Justice and The Street on BBC One showing the variety of the mainstream channel's offering.

There was also additional investment into BBC Two drama that allowed us to produce more world-class offerings like Five Minutes of Heaven; and the Women We Loved season on BBC Four, which attracted the best of British talent including Helena Bonham Carter and Jane Horrocks.

But drama is a living and breathing thing and at the beginning of 2010 it feels the right time to look ahead to what BBC Drama will mean in the future. The best drama always needs to look forward to what is fresh, risky and different.

BBC Drama should be an environment in which the best writers can fully explore all their best and most imaginative ideas without commercial pressures.

By creating this environment I believe we will see a huge variety of passionate dramas that will ensure that all the different demands of the BBC audience are engaged. Thrilling genre drama, authentic stories about our own lives, fresh perspectives on our past and drama that makes you smile: it is this variety of tastes and passions that goes to the heart of everything we are and believe in.



It is key that we keep making dramas across all the channels that excite broad audiences. And we aim do this whilst exploring fresh ideas in the mainstream.

But two of the biggest successes for me last year were Small Island and Occupation - neither of these are going to feature on any Top 10 ratings lists and it is important that the BBC views success in more complex terms than other channels.

I hope the Winter/Spring launch showreel, which is only a taster of some of our upcoming drama, gives a flavour of some of these values and the beginning of something very exciting.