Two of Britain's most celebrated comedians have launched a stinging attack on the current state of mainstream television, labelling BBC and ITV schedules as 'bland' and accusing the broadcasters of being too afraid to take creative risks.
Hill's Critique of 'Celebrity Quiz Show' Saturation
Harry Hill, the 61-year-old star behind the beloved series Harry Hill's TV Burp and You've Been Framed, reflected on the changing landscape during an appearance on the Beyond the Title podcast. He suggested that his own hit show, which ran from 2001 to 2012 and offered a hilarious weekly review of TV, would likely be axed if launched today.
'TV Burp was a cheap show to make,' Hill stated. 'It's not just ITV, BBC One is the same. The danger is everything becomes a bit bland.' He pointed a finger at the repetitive nature of Saturday night television, remarking, 'If you look at Saturday night schedules now it's celebrity quiz show, celebrity quiz show, celebrity quiz show, really.'
Hill, whose real name is Matthew Hall, argued that commercial pressures are stifling innovation. 'I think they don't like taking risks,' he said. 'It's commercial TV, they've got to make money... so they don't develop anything new or risky.' He emphasised that comedy often needs time to find its feet, noting it took TV Burp two or three series to perfect its format. 'We could easily have been cancelled after the first series and we would be now,' he concluded.
Cleese Lambasts BBC 'Bureaucrats'
Hill's comments echo a recent broadside from comedy legend John Cleese. The 86-year-old co-creator of Fawlty Towers launched a fierce critique of the BBC's approach to developing new comedy, blaming a culture of bureaucracy.
Speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC Radio, Cleese asserted, 'In the case of the BBC, there isn’t the executive understanding of how to nurture comedy, which is why there’s not much great comedy these days.' He traced the issue back to the tenure of former director-general John Birt, claiming he 'turned the BBC into a bureaucracy.'
'And bureaucrats aren’t very good at humour - because they try to decide things in committee,' Cleese added. He was even more forthright during a talk at the Slapstick comedy festival in Bristol, stating, 'If you put a script in now it has to go through a f***ing committee who have no idea what they are doing.'
A Shared Lament for Lost Creative Freedom
Both comedians share a nostalgic view of a past era with greater creative freedom. Cleese lamented, 'We used to be really good at it and now we are not and that is very sad.' He insisted the problem is not a lack of comedic talent, but a failure in the executive ranks, stating, 'Those classes have no idea what they are doing.'
Their combined criticism paints a picture of two major British broadcasters increasingly playing it safe, prioritising low-risk, formulaic programming over the kind of innovative, developmental comedy that produced their iconic shows. The implication is clear: the environment that fostered classics like Fawlty Towers and TV Burp may no longer exist on mainstream channels.
