Soap crisis after BBC cancels Doctors leaving futures of other fan favourite shows hanging by thread
THE BBC has dropped the axe on medical saga Doctors after 23 years – and it’s now feared the move paints a worrying forecast for soapland.
Amid what was described as “super inflation in drama production”, the BBC said it could simply no longer afford to make the lunchtime favourite.
Hundreds of staff will be made redundant when the TV surgery closes its doors next year.
But the tremors were felt far beyond the fictional town of Letherbridge, with many fearing the news sounded the death knell of soaps across the board.
Breaking the news to staff at the BBC’s Drama Village in Birmingham on Wednesday, boss Kate Oates said they could no longer balance the books as the licence fee remained flat whilst production costs continued to rise.
It perhaps came as little surprise in a year of seismic change across soaps.
Last month, Channel 4 pulled the plug on Hollyoaks and shifted the once-trendy soap entirely online.
It came at the same time Neighbours relaunched on little-watched platform Amazon Freevee following its axe from Channel 5 in March 2022.
Fellow Aussie soap Home & Away no longer airs in the evenings and largely streams on sub-channel 5Star.
And the shockwaves have extended to serial dramas too, with the BBC slashing the number of episodes it will produce of long-running medical saga Casualty – following Holby City’s total axe in June 2021.
Only the “big three” – EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale – really remain in their original form.
But how did the soaps that were once the central pillars of TV schedules come to be first on the chopping block when channels need to address their bottom line?
Fingers of blame immediately point to falling ratings – but that’s not entirely the case.
Doctors remained surprisingly buoyant at an average of 1.3m viewers, an impressive stat in a lunchtime slot.
The big three still command a daily, live audience of around 10m between them – another robust statistic in a world where only really Strictly Come Dancing, I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! and hallmark dramas like Happy Valley reach more than 5m overnight viewers.
And that’s before you even add those who catch-up online, with recent figures suggesting that EastEnders added at least another 2m to its standard 2m who watch each night.
The BBC’s statement on axing Doctors provided a crucial clue.
Overhauls are critical
Oates said: “With further investment required to make fit the Doctors’ site, or to relocate it to another home, continuing with the show is no longer affordable for the daytime budget.”
We can blame the invent of HD cameras for that one.
The hi-tech kit might promise glorious technicolour for viewers but has spelt disaster for the creaky sets that were hanging on with sticky tape meaning entire overhauls became critical.
The Beeb outlaid £87m on a spangled new plot for EastEnders, but couldn’t justify that spend of licence fee payer’s cash for Doctors – and honestly, rightly so.
It could be argued that soaps could be streamlined, with fewer spaces, or more focus on storylines than set-pieces.
Do we really need huge Hollywood-style explosions, tram crashes or ‘super storms’ like that seen on Emmerdale?
Umm, sadly yes. Because herein lies soapland’s next problem – Hollywood.
With the likes of Netflix, Apple TV+ and Disney producing increasingly high-quality dramas with mega budgets, slick special effects and acting talent far beyond the capabilities of Walford, the Dales, or Corrie’s cobbles, it’s understandable viewers are demanding the same from our terrestrial broadcasters.
We’ve all become used to big-screen action on our small screens.
But it surely can’t all be down to viewers to adjust our expectations.
The loss of Doctors will hugely impact Britain’s acting industry, with the Birmingham-based production employing at least 800 contractors every year as guest actors alone, so Britain’s soaps being on the ropes needs taking seriously.
With the big three now the sole survivors of the bubble burst, how can bosses shore up the soaps that so many viewers still love?
The Sun’s Soaps Editor, Carl Greenwood, reckons in fact more cuts could save the day.
He said: “Despite the obvious challenges, Corrie and Emmerdale remain the biggest shows on British telly.
“EastEnders has undergone a huge revamp under new boss Chris Clements and – yes, really – is back to its best.
“Easties’ The Six flashforward storyline has had Britain talking in a way we’ve not seen for years now, proving soaps can cling on to relevancy.
“Moving into 2024, the only way ITV and BBC can shore up their soaps is by axing the deadwood – there are too many characters for viewers to really care about.
“Though this may be harsh on the actors involved, it would surely offer those ailing budgets a welcome boost too.”
Let’s hope we won’t be hearing the infamous ‘duff duff’ for soaps anytime soon.
A START FOR BIG STARS
FOR a budding actor, a bit part on Doctors was far from a forgettable footnote on their CV.
Instead, the lunchtime soap proved to be “the waiting room” for Britain’s acting royalty, launching the careers of a string of award-winning talent.
As well as becoming the first reputable rung on the ladder for many, it was considered a space for famous folk to make appearances to boost their profile or shift their careers up a gear.
As such, Doctors’ alumni features an array of our biggest stars.
Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne, now 41, was 21 when he appeared in a 2003 episode and has gone on to become one of Hollywood’s leading men.
Power player Phoebe Waller-Bridge first ever TV role was on Doctors in 2009, whilst Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer had just a few credits to her name when she featured in 2012.
The Crown’s Claire Foy joined Doctors in 2008 for her second ever acting role before playing Queen Elizabeth for Netflix.
Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke was part of the cast for an episode in 2009.
And Nicholas Hoult – most recently seen in The Great – cut his teeth on Doctors before shooting to fame alongside Hugh Grant in 2002’s About A Boy.
Elsewhere everyone from Sheridan Smith, Brian Blessed, Richard Armitage and Kym Marsh have made appearances.
Bizarrely, now Mayor of West Yorkshire and former Corrie and Emmerdale star Tracy Brabin also once featured.