Support lines. Slogans. Culture reviews. Even a new standards body. The pipeline of toxic behaviour haunting Britain’s television industry in recent years has led to numerous attempts to end the grim assumption among its workers that little can be done to challenge the inappropriate actions of powerful figures.
Recent initiatives have shown signs of reducing bad behaviour. However, in an industry that still talks about “above the line” talent – referring to the leading creative figures and cast in a show – many working in the production world fear it still suffers from a power imbalance that fosters unacceptable treatment and deters whistleblowing.
“We’re an industry that’s supposed to be progressive and groundbreaking, but has embedded itself in some of the worst habits of Hollywood,” said one experienced, female executive producer. “For the amount of money and profile it generates for the country, it is a very badly safeguarded industry.”
The high-profile cases, including allegations against Noel Clarke and Gregg Wallace, have spurred action, most notably with the BBC’s culture review published earlier this year and the industry’s creation of an independent standards body.
The Guardian has successfully defended a libel action brought by Clarke over its investigation revealing claims of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women. A report on Wallace’s behaviour substantiated 45 allegations made against him, including claims of inappropriate sexual language and one incident of unwelcome physical contact.
Big independent production companies and broadcasters have embraced support hotlines and some now have independent whistleblowing services available during shoots.
Yet it is a mark of the problem the industry faces that while such initiatives appear to have helped cut the proportion of industry workers who say they have been subjected to bullying, harassment or discrimination over the past 12 months, the figure still stood at 41% last year, according to the Film and TV Charity.
New data from the broadcasting union Bectu has found 74% of those it surveyed said behaviour that would be unacceptable elsewhere is tolerated in TV.
What really worries senior industry figures is that among those who had experienced toxic behaviour, more than half did not report it.
“What you invariably find with high-profile cases is that there’ll be one or two people that journalists pick up on, which opens the floodgates,” said Marcus Ryder, the chief executive of the Film and TV Charity. “What that tells me is that there is a pent-up level of abuse, which is just not being heard or addressed.
“We’re not finding it’s about one rogue bad apple, or power going to the head of one celebrity or one presenter. This is an industry that has got a systemic problem, which it needs to address. The good news is that it does look like it’s addressing it, because the numbers are going down. But the bar was so high to start off with.”
Many blame the structure of the industry, which is populated by powerful executives and on-screen personalities alongside freelance workers with precarious job security, exacerbated by the retraction in production.
“Freelancers really still do find it difficult to report inappropriate behaviour,” said one female producer. “You may be able to report it more easily. Unfortunately, because the industry is in crisis with award-winning people not getting jobs, to be associated with anything that might rock the boat makes it difficult. Sticking out of the pack is not seen as a good thing.”
At the Edinburgh TV festival this week, Kate Phillips, the BBC’s chief content officer and perhaps the most important commissioner in British television, was among those to make clear that no one’s inappropriate behaviour should be tolerated, whatever their position.
The BBC has also launched its Call It Out campaign, designed to highlight attempts to improve its culture. Branded mugs, lanyards and pin badges bearing the slogan are already circulating around its offices across the UK.
The sector has also backed the new Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA), developed as the sector’s main antidote to the problem after the allegations against Clarke.
The sentiment is sincere, but industry workers remain doubtful. “The problem now is that people are so petrified about the lack of job security, they’re just so unlikely ever to call somebody out – particularly with an artist, because the artist might say ‘it’s them or me’,” said Jonathan Glazier, a television consultant and experienced executive producer.
“The large, global [production companies] might take a view that nobody’s bigger than the show. But I think when you get to the sort of indies who are producing mid-range entertainment and have two or three commissions a year, to jeopardise that by ejecting an artist through inappropriate behaviour is pretty difficult.”
Some freelance workers said when they had reported inappropriate incidents, nothing had happened. Several emphasised the importance of an independent reporting system.
That could come in the form of CIISA. However, some worry about the level of financial commitment to the body from some broadcasters. It relies on funding from the industry and its biggest players. It also has to cover a vast swathe of the creative industry, from television to music – and will have to carry out its work without any legal powers.
A freelance champion promised by the government could also help keep up pressure on the issue, while ministers have pledged to support CIISA in its work.
Despite some pessimism among a weary workforce, Ryder chooses to be optimistic that a cultural shift across the production world is possible. “This is a market failure,” he said. “Every sector has market failures that need to be addressed. We should be optimistic that this can be addressed.”
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