Polly Hill is head of drama at ITV. She spoke with Televisual for its annual drama report.
“ITV is all about getting the biggest audiences we can, and we are unashamedly celebrating mainstream storytelling,” says Hill. “We’ve had a lot of shows that have done that… while there are a lot of challenges in our industry, we are still able to cut through and find those big audiences.”
What’s worked well in the last year
Shows that have performed particularly well in 2025 include Protection, Playing Nice, Code of Silence, and I Fought the Law. Returning hits such as Unforgotten and Trigger Point also performed strongly.
There has been significant pressure to replicate the success of 2024’s Mr. Bates v The Post Office. “I have released myself from having to try and replicate Mr. Bates,” she says. “That was in a long journey of telling true stories, which I’ve always felt is an important part of what ITV does… We do two things: give you stories you want to watch for entertainment, and give you stories everybody should know about…. I don’t think we’re going to achieve what we achieved with Mr. Bates ever again. It was once in a lifetime.”
“Audiences come to us for a very particular thing,” says Hill. “My job is to deliver those stories, a lot of which are in the broad crime genre… while also future-proofing ITV by exploring what they might be looking for elsewhere.”
Sister’s six parter Coldwater falls into the latter category. “We deliberately commissioned Coldwater to do something new and different… and it really felt like it cut through. It might not have had as big an audience as the others, but it definitely got a bigger, younger audience.” As did Joan, made by Snowed-In Productions. “It felt like it was reaching a slightly different audience…I’m really sad it’s not coming back.
“We look for ways to refresh crime storytelling… to stretch what audiences might expect from ITV while delivering big hits.” Code of Silence features a deaf protagonist. Actress Rose Ayling-Ellis is a familiar face, but in a lead role.
Playing Nice
Coming up in 2026
“Our biggest returning shows next year include Red Eye and Unforgotten, but we’ve also got new thrillers… We’ve got a great show with Gemma Arterton, Secret Service, based on the book by Tom Bradby. It’s a lovely look at what would happen if Russia had a spy at the heart of politics in this country.” The series is partly set and shot in Malta.
Betrayal, with Sean Evans, is a four-part spy story. It’s a more personal take, focused on Evans’ character trying to save his marriage and career.”
True stories remain central to ITV’s slate. The Lady is a four-parter from Left Bank about former royal dresser Jane Andrews. While Jeff Pope’s Believe Me highlight women’s experiences in the John Warboys’ case, where they were not believed by the Met police.
Later in the year will see the launch of The Blame with Michelle Keegan. Made by Quay Street, “a twisty, turny story which looks at misogyny in the police in a slightly different way.” Adultery with Dominic Cooper: “it’s lovely to have a show that isn’t crime.”
“Audiences are story hungry,” she notes. “They want compelling characters, but first they come for a story that makes them stop and watch.”
Unforgotten
Three years into ITVX
The ITV drama commissioning strategy has been revised since the launch of ITVX. “We thought that there might be an opportunity to have an ITVX strategy on its own and, in doing ITVX on its own, we could offer an audience something very different to what they want and expect from us on ITV one,” she notes. But it meant that the audience was split, “you never got that moment of thinking, oh my god everyone’s watching it together.”
Mainstream had to come firmly back in focus. “We’ve gone into a slightly different shape. Everything needs to exist on both platforms together.” Most people watch on ITVX, and the audience generally gathers momentum in the first couple of weekends, often the first weekend, “so shows need to be box-settable.”
Funding, co-productions, and four-part dramas
Budget constraints affect commissioning. ITV has consistently made shows at £2 million an hour… Occasionally they go above £3 million if co-production funding allows it, but that’s not often. “I think we all have to accept that it has never been harder.”
“The biggest challenge.. .sits in those very British stories.” These are often best made as four-parters, which are hard to sell. “There’s no getting away from the fact that they are in danger.” Many are struggling to get funded. She makes a plea to anyone in government who might influence the extension of the tax credits. “It’s really important that we continue to make them.”
Helping in any way she can with co-productions and partnerships has become a standard part of her role. “I do whatever is necessary that the producer asks me to do…I’m here to help make the show happen….It’s just being aware that we’re having to sell these shows now to more than one audience and making sure they work for everyone.”
Shared premieres can work if the deal is right. ITV’s new deal with Disney + to showcase highlights from each other’s back catalogue demonstrates an increased willingness to be flexible about sharing rights. Netflix also carries some of ITV best previous dramas.
Independent producers are central to ITV’s output. “I do not commission cynically,” she says. “I commission what I think is right… Our biggest shows, like Protection and Playing Nice, were not from ITV Studios. We just want the best stories, wherever they come from.
“Small entities, new writers, new directors, my door is always open. First and foremost it’s about finding the right idea for us….We want to represent everybody in this country by telling stories by everyone and everybody’s story.”
Find out more about what the drama commissioners are looking for and the wider picture of demand for UK produced drama in the new issue of Televisual, out now in print, or available via our subscription site Televisual +
Pippa Considine
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