“Scripted Versus Unscripted” - Why We Need To Stop Polarising TV

As someone who’s worked in both scripted and unscripted TV, I’ve come to believe the most exciting breakthroughs lie in the space between, if only we'd stop gatekeeping.

For as long as I’ve worked in the industry, scripted and unscripted TV have been pitted against each other, with scripted coming up trumps when it comes to budgets, accolades and prestige. Scripted is seen as the sexier sibling - more secretive and less tangible. It’s a world of confidential casting announcements, writers’ rooms that disappear into thin air, and projects that get “sent out” and responded to with “this is absolutely what we’re looking for and we wish we could make it, but send it elsewhere and once it’s become a hit we’ll use it as an example of the kind of shows we want to make!”. It’s a side of the industry that thrives on elusiveness. It’s your ex who has no intention of getting back with you, but likes to keep reminding you that they’re there, one Instagram reaction at a time, because god forbid you move on with someone else.

Then you have unscripted: scripted’s rough-and-ready, down-to-earth little sibling. Churning out “content” with tighter budgets, jam-packed schedules and a nagging sensation that whatever you make will never be afforded the same validation as a scripted series. But it’s fine, at least you’re working and it’s not like it’s HETV (high-end TV). They’ve got it so much harder, right? You just need to crack on and get on with it, while scripted TV looks down on you from its lofty heights.

Me, my friend Luk and the icon that is Konnie Huq at Blue Peter’s 60th Anniversary

When, after four years of working in factual entertainment, I made the big, giant leap over to scripted TV, I was advised (by multiple people) that it was “best not to mention” that I started off in unscripted. One person even told me it “cheapened” my CV and I should consider removing it altogether. Years of making live television, working on the longest-running children’s programme of all time (yes I still find badges at the bottom of my bags), driving across the country to tell stories that change perspectives and enact change, all boiled down to nothing.

I’m not saying scripted TV isn’t as powerful. I wrote an entire essay about why scripted comedy is so brilliant at encouraging empathy. What I am saying is that it’s not just the £7 million-an-hour prestige streamer shows that matter. To suggest otherwise is to speak from a place of deep ignorance. It also creates a dangerous polarity that an industry already at its knees could really do without. As someone who has spent half of their career on one side and half on the other, the dissonance between the two is laughable. But it’s also sad because it prevents us from recognising the untapped potential that exists slap bang in the middle. Look at the success of shows like Jury Duty or Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal. They’re deliciously difficult to define. So is The Traitors, albeit to a slightly lesser extent, but I can’t help but notice how - with each series - the line between what is scripted and unscripted gets blurred. Because, if we really think about it, scripted shows work best when the characters feel like they haven’t been scripted at all.

Jury Duty. Credit: Amazon Freevee

Imagine a world in which we stopped categorising TV in such a binary way? Where we can talk about whatever show we’re watching without feeling like we have to apologise if it isn’t a HETV drama. I think it’s up to those of us who work in the industry to build that world, because we’re the biggest culprits when it comes to perpetuating the damaging narratives. I maintain that I am better at my job because of the variety of experiences that I’ve had, not despite them. Every show I’ve worked on has mattered, as have the crew and contributors who have worked on them. So, to that person who told me to erase four years of work off of my CV, you’re wrong! (And I know you spend your evenings watching MAFS and First Dates so don’t even try to tell me otherwise).

---