BBC Scotland announces £500k development fund for new series
- BBC Scotland has created a £500,000 development fund to find new returning series in comedy and drama
- It is looking for more successes to follow on from shows such as The Scotts, Scot Squad and Guilt
- "We'd love to hear from producers about what other stories set in Scotland we can get behind"
BBC Scotland is on the search for its next returning series programmes following the success it has had with the multi-award winning comedy drama series Guilt and its other scripted titles including comedies The Scotts (pictured) and Scot Squad, "all of which have attracted both audience and critical praise".
BBC Scotland has announced a development fund of £500,000 over two years in the hope of "attracting scripts of similar calibre in the returning series model in both the drama and comedy space".
Speaking at an industry supplier event in Glasgow this month, head of commissioning for BBC Scotland Louise Thornton said: "We have seen such success over the last 5 years with many of our scripted titles and we want to keep going. Guilt was developed through BBC Scotland and brought something fresh and new to our scripted slate when it made its debut on the BBC Scotland channel in 2019. Working with our colleagues at BBC Two to realise the ambition we have been thrilled to see it do so well with audiences and critics alike both in Scotland and beyond."
BBC Scotland has also pointed to the success of dramas Granite Harbour, Mayflies and Float.
Commissioning executive Gavin Smith adds: "These titles demonstrate BBC Scotland is ambitious in the scripted space and that we have a proven track record in attracting emerging and established talents both on and off screen and backing premium quality content which surprises, delights and makes an impact with audiences. We are a collaborative channel and committed to working with network colleagues and international partners to support and develop ideas which bring something fresh and new in terms of storylines and portrayal and we are proud of our already strong credentials in this area. We'd love to hear from producers about what other stories set in Scotland we can get behind."
BBC Scotland has a rolling commissioning process, and its brief can read on the BBC website. Ideas for scripted projects both comedy and drama should be submitted to Gavin Smith via the BBC Pitch system. If you are an independent writer you should team up with a production company who has access to BBC Pitch.
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