The man behind some of the BBC's biggest shows, including Sherlock and Doctor Who, has hit out at the Government's plans for the corporation.
Steven Moffat said the BBC was "a beacon of quality" and described the recent green paper on its future as "wretched" and "wrong".
He told The Stage: "If we allow, basically, the Tories to turn off the people that are criticising them, which is what is happening, I can't see how we'd get it back".
Unveiling the green paper last week, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale said the review of the BBC's royal charter would look at whether the broadcaster should continue to be "all things to all people" or have a more "precisely targeted" mission.
He sparked speculation the BBC may be told to cut back on popular programming which competes with shows available on commercial broadcasters or to reduce its online presence and he raised questions about the future of the licence fee, suggesting that the BBC could switch to a subscription service in the long run.
The BBC Trust, the corporation's governing body, announced yesterday it would ask audiences for their views on the BBC and said the broadcaster was built on "a broad mission" including news coverage and entertainment.
It also said the current 10-year charter could be extended by another year, adding: "We suggest including a legal obligation in the next charter for Government to consult publicly with the BBC's regulator as part of any funding negotiations, and to seek parliamentary approval for any change to the BBC's funding."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel