Meera Syal has said the “risk-taking has gone” when TV bosses commission productions.
The 62-year-old actress and writer co-created and starred in Goodness Gracious Me on radio and TV from 1996 and is also known for her role in The Kumars At No 42, where she played grandmother Ummi in seven series from 2001.
Syal told an episode of BBC Radio 4’s The Media Show: “We’ve been told, ‘this is fantastic writing, this is a fantastic script, but it doesn’t really fit out remit at the moment’.
“Is remit another word for algorithm? I don’t know.
“I understand why people are being cautious and there’s all kinds of budgetary squeezes on.
“You don’t always know the exact reasons, you just know the effects and the effect at the moment for a lot of creatives is that this isn’t the time to push anything that’s too outside the box, which is a sad thing to say.
“I grew up in an age of classic comedies in the 1970s, some of which wouldn’t pass muster now in terms of some of the attitudes, but actually you can still look at things like Dad’s Army – the love of that will never leave me – the fact was, it was a flourishing environment and you were allowed to make mistakes.
“You were allowed to chuck something out there and see if it stuck. I think now the risk-taking has gone.
“I think people are afraid to go, ‘well, that looks a bit out there, but let’s do a series and see’.”
Syal also spoke ahead of the BBC licence fee being lifted by £10.50 to £169.50 next year, which is less than the broadcaster had expected.
She said: “I owe so much to the BBC: they gave me all of my first breaks, really.
“However much we criticise our favourite ‘Auntie’, my heart is totally with the BBC as an institution and it’s so important that we have a public broadcaster. It really is, so I hope that the next government leave (it) well alone.”
“Of course, there is a room for improvement, there definitely is, but I think I would rather try and improve where it is now than totally dismantle it, for sure.”
"The untold stories are the ones that change us." ✨
Meera Syal CBE delivers a moving speech as she receives the BAFTA Fellowship.#BAFTATVAwards with @pandocruises pic.twitter.com/kEgovD4tj0
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) May 15, 2023
Earlier this month, the Government announced a review into the licence fee model which will look at alternative funding and report next autumn.
Syal has most recently appeared in season two of Amazon’s fantasy show The Wheel Of Time, Apple TV+’s anthology series Roar, which also starred Nicole Kidman, and Acorn TV’s mystery series Mrs Sidhu Investigates.
She was awarded a lifetime achievement gong by the Women in Film and TV organisation in 2023 along with a Bafta fellowship, the body’s highest accolade.