Lest you were in any doubt about the uniqueness of Jane Tranter - though after the hagiographical tribute to her at Sunday's Baftas, at which she picked up the Special Award, I can't imagine how you could possibly entertain such a notion – the BBC has confirmed it. There will be no new controller of fiction at the corporation and the post that Tranter vacated to cross the pond will be dismantled. The excellent Christine Langan steps up at BBC Films to become creative director while Ben Stephenson is now confirmed as the most important person in British drama with Lucy Lumsden as his counterpart in comedy. While Stephenson and Lumsden are quite the double act, Tranter, it seems, is irreplaceable.
That's certainly one way of putting it. Another way would be to say that from the outset, the head of fiction post was a folly, an entirely unnecessary and anti-creative construction, an unhealthy concentration of power in the hands of one person. Who that person was is actually irrelevant. Such a consolidation of control over scripted comedy, drama, film and acquisitions is improper, irrespective of what you think of the person who wields the power. It was too big a job for one individual, regardless of how "good" their taste. (As you might be aware, I've written on this subject before but, contrary to what you might think, my primary concern has always been with the role of head of fiction rather than with the individual who occupied it).
Presenting Tranter her Bafta, David Tennant made reference to her workload as one that would have "flattened a lesser mortal", and he was almost right. The head of fiction's responsibilities were too hefty for anyone and the coagulation of control was a contributing factor to what was variously described to me as the ossification of the (drama) commissioning process and the creation of a personality cult. The impression was always that the head of fiction job was created solely to keep the ambitious Tranter at the BBC.
The deconstruction of the BBC's head of fiction role – instigated by director of vision Jana Bennett in pursuit of a "flatter, simpler editorial structure" - is to be commended. The creation of the head of fiction and the resulting problems actually marred Tranter's tenure at BBC drama and overshadowed some of her finest achievements, of which there were many. Of course, her legacy endures, for better and for worse, but the dismantling of this particular aspect is to be greeted with relief - but relief tempered with caution as to what the future will look like with Stephenson, Lumsden, Langan and acquisitions honcho Sue Deeks in control.
