THE BBC has been accused of pushing a “false or a disingenuous narrative” about the number of Scottish staff on its flagship TV show The Traitors.
The broadcaster's level of Scottish off-screen talent working on the hit TV series has been called “unacceptably low” by director and producer Peter Strachan, who said it has been a “conscious decision” to overlook Scots in favour of London-based workers.
On Monday, the BBC said that season one of The Traitors had been counted a Scottish show for Ofcom criteria because production firm Studio Lambert had a "substantive base" north of the Border – not because of Scottish spend or staffing.
The broadcaster then claimed that the number of Scotland-based staff working on the hit reality TV show – which is filmed near Alness in the Highlands – increased between the first and second series, but did not provide figures.
According to Ofcom’s guidelines, there is no minimum number of individuals who need to be employed at a base for it to count as “substantive”, adding that the number will be dependent on what delivers a “genuine operational production office in the locality”.
Scottish Affairs Committee chair Patricia Ferguson MP said “BBC Scotland's reply doesn't offer specific numbers about the amount of money it's spending on The Traitors in Scotland, or the proportion of Scotland-based production staff”.
Now, Strachan, who sits on the board of trade body Directors UK, has accused the broadcaster of “trying to manipulate the figures to maintain a false or a disingenuous narrative".
Strachan has argued that even though Studio Lambert has an office in Glasgow that the majority of the decision making and post production work by the company is done in its London-based office.
In her reply to Ferguson, BBC Scotland director Hayley Valentine said Scotland-based production staff had increased between series one and series two but didn’t have the data to compare all three series – which Strachan said he had “already done the work for them for free”.
In January, Strachan’s analysis of The Traitor's off-screen employees claimed that the BBC was failing to comply with Ofcom’s regulations because at least 50% of the off-screen talent was not based outside the English capital.
Strachan’s research showed 12 of the 164 roles behind the scenes in the first season were occupied by people from Scotland – 7.32% of those employed. The total number of Scottish staff working on the production rose in the second season to 14, but due to an increase in total staff to 209, the proportion dropped to 6.7%.
Season three of the show, which aired last month, had 13 Scotland-based people working on it – equivalent to 5.94% of the total staff.
“This is not an accident. This is not an oversight,” Strachan said.
“This is a conscious decision to sideline Scottish production talent because they think we're second class. “They think we're not good enough.”
The BBC have previously denied Strachan's claims.
Strachan, who has previously voiced his respect for the BBC, raised the point that more needs to be done by the public broadcaster and Studio Lambert to create more opportunities for Scottish talent and for them not to be overlooked. He said: “If this is going to change, there needs to be engagement from multiple people at the BBC.
“So not just the strategic figures like Hayley [Valentine and BBC director-general] Tim Davie and others, but there needs to be with the commissioning editors at the BBC because they're the people who are the interface with the production companies on a day-to-day basis.
“They're the ones that award the contracts. They're the ones that say, Studio Lambert, we want you to make The Traitors, and they have an inordinate amount of power in terms.”
Strachan said he has been inundated with support from people across Scotland who work in the industry.
He said one senior freelancer told him: “It’s quite clear how they’ve tried to fudge the numbers. Just keep the pressure on. In the end, they’ll have no choice but to hold up their hands and admit blame. But in the meantime, they’re only making it worse.”
When quizzed about Scottish staffing levels on the show, Studio Lambert boss Stephen Lambert told BBC News that a different type of “specialised skills” are needed for reality TV.
He added the reason for the show’s success was down to employing “the most experienced reality show production talent in the UK”.
However, Strachan said Lambert’s comments were “absolute nonsense” and that the industry in Scotland “absolutely” has the talent and the ability to work on reality shows just like their London counterparts.
He said: “I mean, it's just so offensive. “They're claiming that there's somehow these mythical skills that we don't have.
“To have any kind of career in broadcast, you've got to turn your hand to different genres, because you can't work in just one genre, there's just not enough work in any one genre.”
Strachan hasn’t been the only one to call out Lambert’s comments. Senior production coordinator Angela Giblin said in an online statement that she just wants the same opportunities available to her.
She said: “I’d love the opportunity to learn these mystical skills that make The Traitors too complex for my little production coordinator brain to handle.
“Just what is it that is so different from the parochial, twee shite they’ll let us produce up here that the production office, Art department, locations, catering, lighting or sound might not understand? I can see there is an argument for producers and camera but the rest of us?
“I just want to work and be exhausted, hungry, stressed, possibly delirious and HAPPY closer to home.”
Ofcom sets out-of-London criteria for production companies which are supposed to encourage firms to make more programmes, spend more money, and employ greater numbers of staff outside London.
The regulations require producers to meet two of three criteria to qualify as out-of-London. These are having a “substantive base” in the region, investing 70% of production spend and having at least 50% of the off-screen talent outside London.
A spokesperson for BBC Scotland said: "The response to the Scottish Affairs committee states that the number of Scotland-based production staff increased between series one and two and that a session for the sector last year in Glasgow resulted in 19 of the 30 attendees being offered a job on the show.
"We’ll continue to work with Traitors producer, Studio Lambert, on production recruitment and training in Scotland."
Studio Lambert have been approached for comment.
