The UK’s screenwriters are throwing their support behind the BBC after Donald Trump launched a $10bn lawsuit against the broadcaster.
This week, the BBC said it would fight the lawsuit, which Trump filed on Monday (15 December) in a 33-page complaint accusing the corporation of “a false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory and malicious depiction” in an episode of Panorama aired before the 2024 US election.
It is understood that the broadcaster is likely to argue that it did not have the rights to air the documentary in the US and so could not have damaged Trump’s reputation, and that the case should therefore be dismissed.
In the wake of the news, top British screenwriters have voiced their support for the BBC during this time of turmoil.
Jack Thorne, the celebrated screenwriter and playwright behind shows including the BBC fantasy hit His Dark Materials and Netflix’s Emmy-winning, agenda-setting Adolescence, told The Independent: “The BBC isn’t just a home for drama, news and sport, it’s a bioculture.
“It’s the growth centre for what public service means. It’s the place which did as much as my parents to teach me how to be a human, it’s the place which did as much as my teachers to show me how to write. It’s the home of Eastenders, Doctor Who and I May Destroy You.”
He concluded: “It’s become a punching ball for everyone but it’s vital and it’s ours.”
A mainstay on British television, Thorne has won five Bafta awards for his acclaimed screen work, which traverses BBC dramas such as Best Interests, Netflix shows such as Enola Holmes starring Millie Bobby Brown and Toxic Town starring Jodie Whittaker, and the hit 2016 miniseries National Treasure for Channel 4. Also for Channel 4, he wrote This is England ’90 and This is England ’88.
Thorne, who most recently wrote ITV’s phone hacking drama The Hack, will return to the BBC next year with an adaptation of William Golding’s survival tale Lord of the Flies.
He is joined in his support of the corporation by fellow award-winning writer Jack Rooke who told The Independent: “The BBC is such a vital broker of new talent, both on and off screen.
“It believes in regionality and diversity, it keeps our indie production sector alive, and it tries to make each of us as individual viewers and listeners, feel part of a community at a time where our attention spans are so often being divided.
“It has its faults and flaws, but they’re for all of us to try and clean up together, and that’s how we rebuild it better each time.”
Rooke concluded: “Maybe that’s lame and schmaltzy. But the BBC makes me feel schmaltzy sometimes.”
The BBC helped to launch Rooke’s career after his debut stage show Good Grief, about welfare payment for bereaved families in Britain, was commissioned for a Radio 4 adaptation by BBC Comedy, broadcast in 2017.
Rooke also made his TV debut in 2017 with his BBC Three documentary Happy Men, which explored the male mental health crisis and earned him a place on the BBC New Talent Hotlist.
He has since gone on to create Big Boys, a semi-autobiographical comedy for Channel 4 starring Dylan Llewellyn (Derry Girls). The critically acclaimed series, which ran for three heartfelt seasons between 2022 and 2025, earned Rooke four Bafta nominations, and a win for Best Writer in Comedy last year.
Trump’s lawsuit against the BBC spells trouble for the corporation, which could be forced to fork out millions in licence fee payers’ money to cover its legal defence.
The Panorama programme, which was broadcast just a week before the 2024 US election results, is accused of misleading viewers by editing a speech Trump delivered on 6 January 2021. It spliced two distinct clips, creating the impression that Trump instructed the crowd: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”
Several senior political figures, including Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey and former culture secretary Sir John Whittingdale, have called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to intervene and stand up for the BBC in the face of this “outrageous legal threat”.
“Keir Starmer needs to stand up for the BBC against Trump’s outrageous legal threat and protect licence fee-payers from being hit in the pocket,” said Davey on X. “The Trump administration has clearly set out they want to interfere in our democracy, which includes undermining our national broadcaster.
“The Prime Minister needs to make clear this is unacceptable.”
It had been widely expected that Sir Keir would use some of his personal capital with Trump to prevent papers being filed against the corporation. Downing Street, however, has said that “any legal action is a matter for the BBC itself”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “They’ve made clear they believe there’s no case around the broader point of defamation or libel, but that’s for them and their legal teams to engage with, but as we’ve said previously, we will always defend the principle of a strong, independent BBC as a trusted and relied upon national broadcaster, reporting without fear or favour.
“But as we’ve also consistently said, it’s vitally important that they act to maintain trust, correcting mistakes quickly when they occur.”
Asked if it would be acceptable for licence fee-payers to fund a potential defamation settlement, the spokesperson said: “I think we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves.”
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