Once upon a time, I truly believed that BBC dramas were the best on earth – and well worth paying the TV licence fee for…
But, of late, I’ve just felt a crushing disappointment with the channel.
I can count on one hand the number of outstanding BBC dramas that have landed in 2023.
Meanwhile, ITV drama is wiping the floor with the BBC in the schedules.
So what’s going on?
Where have all the decent BBC dramas gone?
Happy Valley ended in February and I’ve been left with a Catherine Cawood-sized hole in my life ever since.
I’m not disputing that the BBC One detective drama was one of the best series on TV in recent years.
And I know it’s not realistic to expect a cracking drama like Happy Valley or Sherwood to land every month.
But… When you know how good BBC drama can be, it’s hard to stomach any inferior alternatives.
The Gold has now come to an end.
However, it had its fair share of critics.
Meanwhile, the ending of Better left viewers fuming.
Those who had invested five hours of their time described the finale as “lame” and “the worst ending ever”.
However, over on ITV, we’re spoilt for choice.
ITV is wiping the floor with BBC dramas
Full disclaimer: I have, in the past, been rather snobby about ITV dramas.
I have always considered the Beeb to have the upper hand.
But that’s changed of late.
Recently, ITV has aired some of the best TV shows.
There’s the feature-length films that air on a Sunday night, including Vera, Ridley, Endeavour, and Grace.
Just this week, we have continuing drama Unforgotten, The Bay, and Redemption – all of which are available to binge watch on ITVX.
Unforgotten, starring Sanjeev Bhaskar and Sinéad Keenan, is arguably one of the best detective dramas on TV right now.
Meanwhile, The Bay has a cast to die for, and Redemption stars Hollywood favourite Paula Malcomson.
It’s ITV shows that we look forward to watching every week.
Is the BBC in crisis?
The BBC has had a rather large headache of late.
First of all, the BBC chair Richard Sharp is being investigated for helping ex-PM Boris johnson arrange guarantee on a £800,000 loan before he was recommended for job.
Then the Gary Lineker impartiality row led to fresh calls for the BBC chairman to resign.
Just last week, ED! told you that the BBC TV licence fees are set to soar as payers face the end of a two-year freeze on costs.
Licence fee payers will see an increase of £13 when the freeze comes to an end at the end of 2024.
That will mean that from the end of 2024 onwards, the price of a licence fee will be £172 per year.
Ouch!
Of course, that will put an increasing strain on households already struggling with the cost of living crisis.
Meanwhile, disgusted TV viewers have launched a petition against the BBC.
They believe the channel should be stopped from making a dramatisation of the Grenfell fire tragedy.
What dramas are coming up on the BBC soon?
The next big-budget drama to land on BBC One is Great Expectations.
The adaptation of the famous Charles Dickens novel starts on Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 9pm.
And it stars Olivia Colman as the iconic literary character Miss Havisham.
We have very high hopes for this drama.
Olivia has already been described as “spine-chilling” in the trailer.
We’ll be reviewing Great Expectations any day now, so watch this space to see if the BBC One drama is everything it has promised to be!
Read more: Redemption on ITV1: Why it’s THE new drama to watch this week!
Great Expectations starts on BBC One on Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 9pm.
What do you think of BBC drama at the moment? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.