BBC bosses were once forced to call security on leading dramatist Stephen Poliakoff when he got into a blazing row with an executive, after the Corporation said he would need to submit any future projects for approval.
And it seems the screenwriter is still butting heads with the organisation.
He has now launched an attack against the national broadcaster, accusing it of betraying British audiences by prioritising collaborations with US streaming giants rather than nurturing homegrown talent.
‘It’s a very disturbing situation at the BBC,’ he tells me at an art event in London.
‘They are dependent on co-production with [companies] like HBO and Netflix. The BBC’s drama output has shrunk incredibly and that’s just on air – they used to have drama on four nights a week.’
Poliakoff, 72, whose award-winning dramas include The Lost Prince and Gideon’s Daughter, adds: ‘The British audience always want a high percentage of homegrown material. If everything’s reliant on American-made shows, that won’t satisfy them.
‘They’re being betrayed as I think the audience is still very hungry for British surprises.’
Poliakoff is particularly scathing of the ‘Kafkaesque committees’ at the Corporation, and says he hopes that they will stop stifling creativity and ‘micromanaging’ talent.
Leading dramatist Stephen Poliakoff (pictured) was told by the BBC he would need to submit any future projects for approval
BBC bosses were once forced to call security on Poliakoff when he got into a blazing row with an executive
‘When it comes to drama, they need to trust talent and trust authored work, and not try to research what they think the audience will want because that never works,’ he says.
‘That also goes with the streamers, because they are led by algorithms, by market research. That ends in an awful lot of flops for them.
‘An enormous amount of money can’t be wasted.’
While the director believes television is far from dead, he is now working on his first theatrical work in almost 15 years.
‘I’m trying to go back to the theatre, which I haven’t done for a while, so I’m just finishing a play. That’s probably the next thing,’ he tells me.
Eamonn’s right-hand girl ties knot
GB News presenter Eamonn Holmes may have been absent from his co-star Ellie Costello’s wedding at the weekend, but it’s clear she holds him dear.
‘I love working with Eamonn, I grew up watching him on telly, so to be sat alongside him is a pinch-myself moment,’ she tells me.
The breakfast TV star, 31, wore an ivory Meshki mini dress as she exchanged vows with Gerard Durkan, a construction manager, at Chelsea Old Town Hall.
She says: ‘We had the most beautiful, intimate civil ceremony with our families. We’re now looking forward to our religious wedding in the summer in the south of France.’
News broadcaster Ellie Costello and her new husband Gerard Durkan stop for a kiss as they leave Chelsea Town Hall in London following their wedding this weekend
When in Rome…
When in Rome, don’t do as David Lammy did with King Charles. I hear that’s the sentiment among Palace courtiers, who have been left aghast at the way the Foreign Secretary embraced the King during his state visit to Italy last week.
Lammy was spotted grasping the monarch’s forearm at an art museum, with a source telling me: ‘He has put his foot in it, or more accurately, his hand.
‘He grasped the royal paw and placed his other hand on Charles’s forearm. Such touchy-squeezy behaviour is much frowned upon.’
King Charles and David Lammy attend a Clean Power for Growth roundtable during a visit to the Mattatoio in Rome last week
Heard it on the vine
Broadcaster Jeremy Vine isn’t the only member of his family to have had a nasty run-in with the taxman.
He reveals that one of his youngest relations was hit with a £50,000 tax bill after she set up a business on TikTok illegally.
The unnamed teenager started selling items on the social media platform, despite it banning under-18s from doing so, and made a huge profit.
‘[Her] jewellery business went completely gangbusters,’ says Vine. ‘Then TikTok worked out she was only 14 and shut her account.’
Broadcaster Jeremy Vine isn’t the only member of his family to have had a nasty run-in with the taxman
Georgia May keeps Aimee Lou smiling
White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood’s teeth were ridiculed on US sketch show Saturday Night Live over the weekend – with the actress labelling the comments ‘mean and unfunny’.
Despite the parody, Ms Wood, 31, revealed that she has maintained her self-confidence thanks to Sir Mick Jagger’s daughter Georgia May, the former face of Rimmel London.
‘When she did ‘get the London look’, she had gap teeth, and that was a huge moment,’ Ms Wood says of the model. ‘I thought, no, I am going to get red lipstick on and draw attention to it.’
White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood’s teeth were ridiculed on US sketch show Saturday Night Live over the weekend – with the actress labelling the comments ‘mean and unfunny
