Christopher Eccleston has claimed that TV chiefs think audiences are “stupid” and can make “hateful assumptions” about the viewer’s intelligence.
The Salford-born actor, known for TV series such as Doctor Who and Our Friends in the North, gave his thoughts on the contemporary television industry in a new interview with the Radio Times.
It comes after actor Matt Damon claimed in January that Netflix asks screenwriters to cater to viewers who watch while also scrolling on their phones by “reiterating the plot three or five times”. Netflix later denied this was the case.
Eccleston, 62, was speaking ahead of the 21 April release of the new Netflix drama Unchosen, in which he portrays the leader of a cult.
Speaking about the difference between TV programming of times past, the actor said: “Historically there would be programmes that I watched when I was young where I would feel patronised – Love Thy Neighbour or whatever – but there was a lot where I felt I was being respected. The likes of the Plays for Today and The Naked Civil Servant.
“But with the erosion of the writer’s culture to almost writing by committee, I’ve heard stories about some of the idiotic – and sometimes downright hateful – assumptions about the audience’s intelligence today.”
He added: “A lot of people in television think the audience is stupid.”
Eccleston also spoke about the decline of the “state-of-the-nation” drama, singling out Netflix’s four-part series Adolescence as an example of a modern politically savvy TV show.
Referring back to his acclaimed role in Jimmy McGovern’s crime drama Cracker (1993 to 1995), Eccleston said: “If it’s a brilliant performance, it’s for one reason and one reason only: the writing.
“State-of-the-nation dramas are possible – look at the success of Adolescence – but I don’t think we have those visionary, politicised, poetic people who want to make them now.”
A number of Netflix shows in recent years have been accused of pandering to inattentive audiences, with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck claiming last year that creators were actively advised to cater to “second-screen viewers”.
Damon joked that Netflix had told him: “It wouldn’t be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times in the dialogue because people are on their phones while they’re watching.”
“It’s really going to start to infringe on telling stories,” he added.
In March, Netflix executives refuted the idea that they had ever made these requests, with the streamer’s chief content officer Bela Bajaria describing the suggestion as “offensive to creators and filmmakers”.
“We know how savvy the audiences are,” Bajaria said. “We know how much fans are paying attention, and we are really treating them as they are sophisticated and as smart as they are.”
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