News from Labour Matters

Dr Who creator fears for the BBC under Cameron’s Conservatives

Russell T Davies, the creator of the Dr Who, has predicted that the BBC would not survive a Cameron Conservative government.

The Mirror reports that Mr Davies has warned: “It’s going to be appalling. Jeremy Hunt [shadow culture secretary] has absolutely attacked the licence fee and then suddenly, a few weeks ago, he back-tracked and said, ‘Oh no, we won’t interfere with the charter’.

“They want the votes but once they get in they are going to be absolutely vicious. I think the BBC has got five or six years left.

“They’ll dismantle it slowly. It’ll get smaller and smaller until it just supports Radio 4 and some news.”

Russell, whose final instalments of Doctor Who will be shown at Christmas and New Year, believes the Tories will win support by arguing that the licence fee is a tax British people could do without.

He explains: “To them it’s a tax and they want to get rid of it.

“They’ll freeze the licence fee and persuade Daily Mail readers it’s the right thing to do by saying they’re getting rid of all those digital channels they don’t watch, that’s the language they’ll use.”

Read the full article.

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