Thanks to the success of BBC America in reaching an appreciative American audience (with hits like Torchwood, Life On Mars and Robin Hood), the corporation is about to set-up an office in Los Angeles. Drama chief Jane Tranter will spearhead the BBC Worldwide West Coast drama production division early next year.
What will this mean for the BBC? Well, it will hopefully enable the BBC to shoot on location in the United States and utilize American talent in their shows. Rumours that two Doctor Who specials will be filmed in America have already surfaced recently. However, BBC Worldwide haven't release a formal statement about this L.A office, and what it means for British audiences.
I hope the BBC continue to focus on nurturing British talent at all costs, though. I'd hate to see British shows swamped by Americans looking for the creative freedom the BBC can offer. It might also become irritating if existing shows suddenly start having "America-set specials", or new dramas are created that send Brits to the USA for peculiar reasons. That said, it's sure to benefit dramas that should be more global in scope (like Doctor Who), and the recent serial The State Within was a good example of a British show that required the assistance of BBC America to film abroad.
I suspect we'll see a few BBC shows that reverse the production example of Showtime's The Tudors -- an American series tackling British history, involving British acting/writing talent, that films abroad in Ireland? Oh yes, English actors doing American accents in a BBC mini-series about Chicago-based mobsters in the 1920s! Isn't that a good thing?
