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How indies could make hit shows during the 1990s and yet still struggle.

Paul Jackson asks how Indies made hit shows for BBC and ITV in the 90s, yet struggled to build viable businesses. From August 2009.

In 1993, the Sir Alan Sugar of his day, Sir John Harvey Jones stood up at the Edinburgh Television Festival and declared that the independent production sector was less of a business and more of a lifestyle; more like mice running in a large wheel and less something people should invest in.

In the second programme of his series on the history of independent production, Paul Jackson looks at how the foundations were laid for a viable business model. With the help of activist Michael Darlow and head of Margaret Thatcher's policy unit in No 10, Brian (now Lord) Griffiths, he explains how the indies were able to persuade the government that both the BBC and ITV should be compelled to take a proportion of programmes from independent producers. The 25% quota campaign was later described as the most successful political lobby in British modern history. 

And Peter Bazalgette (Ready Steady Cook & Groundforce), Paul Smith (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?), Jimmy Mulville (Have I Got News For You), Jon Thoday (Fantasy Football), David Frank (Wife Swap) and Henry Normal (Marion & Geoff and The Mighty Boosh) are all on hand to describe the artistic and business opportunities that presented themselves (or they were able to carve out) during the 1990's. 

With plot twists worthy of Ashes To Ashes, as much tension as Britain's Got Talent and a payday to rival Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Paul Jackson draws on his own experiences in the television industry to trace the development of a sector that today earns the country almost half a billion pounds a year in exports alone.

Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Television executive and broadcaster Paul Jackson charts the rise of independent producers

Television executive and broadcaster Paul Jackson charts the rise of independent producers, from the isolated minnows of the early 1980s to the global monoliths of today

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