Sebastian Cardwell is head of Drama & deputy chief content officer at Paramount UK. He spoke with Televisual for its annual drama report.
Channel 5’s drama slate continues to expand. In 2026 the plan is to deliver 120 hours, with ambitions to increase to 135 in 2027. The percentage of the total C5 budget going to drama will continue to increase.
What has worked well for Channel 5?
Cardwell highlights The Feud as a standout success, which also gained traction on Netflix after its initial outing on 5: “It did incredibly well…An amazing ensemble, lots of fun. Hopefully we’ll do a season two. We’re talking to all the parties at the moment… We see that as a returning anthology series.”
The Feud
Cardwell cites other successes, such as four-part thriller The Game, which explores the cat-and-mouse battle between its two leads, Jason Watkins and Robson Green. “We see that as a three season story.” The Clapperboard title is set to return. Serialised crime drama Murder Before Evensong was another success.
Play for Today, the rebooted anthology feature series with a social conscience, launched with a fanfare in November. Releasing one ‘play’ at a time, the first – Never Too Late – reached over a million views within two weeks. The four feature-length dramas are produced by LA Productions and Vertigo TV, with the crew drawn from lower income backgrounds. “We weren’t sure it would do well. We were doing it for more altruistic reasons. Helping people get their credits, promoting people from low-income backgrounds, because it’s so difficult to get into TV.”
Referring to it as a scheme, six more Play for Today films are in production. They need to succeed commercially. The strategy? “Take the audience by the hand, introduce them to the rebooted Play for Today, and then when they feel comfortable with it, we’ll push into different areas that maybe they wouldn’t expect from us.”
Funding and producing on a lower budget model
The budget for Play for Today is £350k an hour. “The budget is very small, but it’s no different to our tariff we would apply to other shows.” The tariff for Channel Five varies anywhere from £200,000 pounds an hour up to £350,000. The total budget will depend on other forms of financing, including tax credit, distribution advance, regional funds, platform co-production partners. “Effective use of the budget matters.” Cardwell stresses efficiency and creativity. “Do you really need to tell your story on a canvas that costs so much money? Or is there a creative way to tell the same story for less money, with the same resonance and emotional impact?”
On talent costs, he acknowledges industry pressures: “Big Hollywood money comes in, streaming money comes in, tech money… prices go up. But if the shows don’t turn a profit, and you’re operating in a declining ad market… maybe things have got too expensive. You’ve got to find a way to reduce it through creativity.” Low-budget drama, he argues, can deliver strong emotional impact. Play for Today is a prime example: “It’s a very low budget thing, but it packs an emotional punch.”
Channel 5’s government relations team has been lobbying for an extension of tax credits to apply to shows made for less than the current bracket. He argues even lower than one to three million an hour. The lack of credits is driving shows to be shot abroad, taking business away from the UK. And this, at a time when continuing drama is declining and reducing the places for new talent to develop skills and get early credits.
He’s critical of some agents who “need to lower their prices for a start….They’re still operating as if we’re living in the boom time of drama, during the Golden Age of streaming.” He argues that the boom ceased over two years ago. Cardwell is not alone in observing that the continued pressure on producers to pay inflated rates could well be undermining the industry.
On the plus side, he says “there’s more financing partners out there than ever before. ’’I’m approached by new players every day….If you’re open minded and out there and willing to knock and doors, you can set these shows up.”
“We’re great partners. Let’s invest in our model, which has lower risk because budgets aren’t as crazy expensive… mitigate risk. People have responded to that. We’ve been out there commissioning shows, green-lighting scripts, developing things with a view to mopping up the money that’s around.”
What’s coming up?
Looking ahead, Cardwell previews a range of upcoming projects. “Next year, Number One Fan is looking really good.” The four part thriller, another from Clapperboard, stars Sally Lindsay and Jill Halfpenny and is set in the world of daytime TV.
“We’re trying to find mystery thrillers that are slightly richer, not always in a domestic/home environment. Teacher 3 is provocative, thorny… Victoria Hamilton’s great. The Family Secret (w/t) is looking really rich.
The Hardacres, from Playground, returns. It has been a big hit for the channel.
The Hardacres
“We will announce our first comedy drama in the new year. We’ve hopefully got two more following it.” He’s recently visited the set in Benidorm for John Hannah’s comedy murder mystery show, Death in Benidorm (w/t).
“I want people to be entertained, and we’ve got some more serious pieces as well…In the next couple of years we’re trying to bring through really rich characters our audience can relate to.
“We’re shifting a little bit into comedy drama space. We will probably invest in bigger, richer character-driven precinct shows. Shows that viewers of Hardacres and All Creatures might move across to.
“We’ve got an IP play we’re close to rebooting, a very big show. That would be amazing. Hopefully we will have news of that early next year.”
Red Flag is a project based on real events: a stalking show centred on UK crime stats – every four days, a woman is murdered by a partner or ex-partner.
Cardwell remains committed to serialised crime drama. He’s got two in late-stage development. “Let’s try to build a serialised crime show that can return for three years, with a much more nuanced dynamic at the heart of the mystery.”
There are two adaptations by big-name book writers will be announced in due course.
“Six years ago we started with two shows… now we’re probably right up there with competitors.”
When it comes to incoming submissions, Cardwell is selective: “I’m less interested in people pitching ideas — I can do that myself. I’m more interested in how you’re going to set this show up, your philosophy, your company vibe… solve problems for us. Using new technologies, find ways to make shows bigger, better, more impressive, but mitigate cost.” Cardwell would surely be interested in understanding how AI can help with production efficiencies.
He stresses that Channel 5 is now a trusted destination for drama: “Audiences trust us… we can be bolder with types of shows we put on. Hence, comedy drama… maybe a show you wouldn’t expect to be on Channel Five, maybe we’ll take a risk in that direction.”
Finally, he remains pragmatic yet optimistic about the industry’s future: “It’s a really depressing time out there, but there’s a lot of opportunity. Scaling up the number of hours means more work… it’s doable if everyone thinks differently. Carry on making stuff the old way, and you’ll probably do fewer shows a year.”
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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