Fears that loss of River City could lead to Scottish 'talent drain'

FEARS that the scrapping of BBC drama River City could lead to a “talent exodus” from Scotland have been voiced by a city academic.

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Professor Catriona Miller teaches on the Masters in TV fiction writing course at Glasgow Caledonian University.

“The loss of River City hits home for us,” she said.

“Our graduates have worked on most of the big continuing dramas, like EastEnders, Casualty and Hollyoaks, and for many, River City has been a great first step into the industry.

“Getting that first professional credit is so important because it opens doors.

“I hope that BBC Scotland take that seriously, because otherwise, we could face a huge drain of talent down south again. That would be a real shame.”

Professor Catriona Miller (Image: GCU)

She added: “I hope they will continue to make drama about Scotland, not just set in Scotland.”

BBC Scotland announced on Tuesday (March 18) that it was scrapping River City after 1500 episodes and more than two decades on screen.

The channel said the decision is a result of "a significant change in audience behaviour away from long-running series and towards shorter runs."         

Professor Miller said: “BBC Scotland is right – audiences are much more interested in binge-watching, particularly when it comes to drama.

“People like the shows they can get hooked on, the kind of things you want to stay up all night watching because you’re desperate to see the next episode.”

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She added: “Soaps tend not to be as spectacular – they have their spectacular moments, of course: the train crashes, the big anniversary episode disasters, but generally, they are about day to day living and require considerable buy-in from the audience.

"You need to sit down and watch it when it’s on and that no longer holds the same appeal.”

BBC Scotland has said its goal is to "grow Scotland further on the global drama map – with a slate of world-class productions that set the standard not just here but internationally too."

Some of the River City cast around the 20th anniversary show (Image: BBC)

Three new series – Counsels, Grams and The Young Team – have been announced, with cop drama Shetland returning for a 10th series, and Vigil and Granite Harbour both coming back for their third. A new eight-part drama, Mint, is also filming in Scotland.

There will be no "like for like" replacement for River City, however, says the channel in a Q&A section for fans on its website.

While the end of soaps across the board may not be imminent, they are under pressure, says Professor Miller.

“The challenge for soaps has always been how to bring in a younger audience,” she explains.

“For a while, there was a phenomenon where young people didn’t watch linear TV but once they were a bit older and had their own kids, they would plug back in. That’s not happening any more. People are still watching television, just not in the same way as they once did.”

She adds: “The other problem is that as soaps have become more melodramatic, and less like our everyday lives, they have become a bit stuck in a halfway house – they don’t have the ‘big-bucks-million-explosions’ style of that kind of drama, but they are also now too dramatic to be ‘realistic’. It’s tricky.”

What soaps and continuing dramas like River City have always done well, adds Professor Miller, is sensitively tackling the issues of the day.

“The first lesbian kiss on Brookside, the Aids storyline on EastEnders – soaps are good at tackling these issues cautiously and carefully,” she says.

“For a period of time there were a lot of soaps, and it’s clear that the audience and market couldn’t support that.”

She adds: “So we are seeing a retrenchment – but I think shows like Coronation Street and EastEnders would be the very last to go.”

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