Sherlock and Who Writer Mark Gatiss Tells BBC to “Grow a pair of bollocks”

Katie Gribble is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

The BBC needs to “grow a pair of bollocks” and fight back if it’s going to continue to produce content. This is the opinion of Doctor Who script writer and actor, Mark Gatiss. Whilst promoting the new series of Who Do You Think You Are?, which will return to BBC 1 on Thursday 13th August at 9pm, Gatiss urged the BBC to fight back against its critics or face its end which would inevitably lead to a downturn in broadcasting standards across the board.

Earlier this month, BBC director general Tony Hall defended the corporation’s recent output, insisting that it still fulfils its public service remit as stated in the Royal Charter which enables the corporation to broadcast. There has been a great deal of pressure in regards to the BBC fulfilling their remit because this Charter runs out and is due for renewal at the end of 2016. Lord Hall said: “I believe the BBC should continue to make programmes for everyone. A BBC that doesn’t inform, educate and entertain is not the BBC the public know and love.”

The BBC’s main purpose and its aim have been reaffirmed since Tony Hall’s announcement by Sherlock and Doctor Who showrunner, Steven Moffat who defended the corporation’s ideals, stating that: “You could look at [the BBC’s] philosophy, you could look at the fact that somehow from the work of those early pioneers it became a beacon of quality – not just for Britain, but for the entire world.”

Both Moffat and Gatiss are firm believers in the BBC’s work with Gatiss explaining that:

“I say it at every opportunity – I’m proud to beat the drum…The BBC is obviously not perfect. It has the same problems it’s had since its formation. It’s a ramshackle, many-headed beast…It’s frustrating to work for, it’s infuriating to work for. But it’s also wonderful to work for – and to appreciate as a viewer. We would be massively impoverished without it. We are better for the BBC – we are a better country for it…Everywhere else you go in the world, people respect and love the idea of it…You don’t earn that kind of kudos easily. What you do easily is chuck it away – and we should be so, so careful at this point not to chuck it away.”

Mark Gatiss’ episode of Who Do You Think You Are? will air in October 2015 on BBC1.

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