BBC boss ‘receiving pitches’ for TV drama based on Dominic Cummings’ lockdown scandal
BBC boss has been 'receiving pitches' for a TV drama involving the bizarre lockdown scandal involving Dominic Cummings.
The Prime Minister's chief advisor was alleged to have flouted his boss's rules and drove 260 miles to Durham with his family, including his wife who had symptoms of the coronavirus.
The Corporation are interested in adapting this story for a compelling TV series, which also included Cummings, 48, making a second 60-mile round trip to Barnard Castle on Easter Sunday, to check if he was well enough to drive after suffering problems with his eyesight relayed to covid-19.
The controller of BBC drama commissioning Piers Wenger, believes the controversial story would make for must-see viewing.
Asked if the BBC would produce a program highlighting Cummings' mishaps, he told The Radio Times: "In the right hands, yes."
He revealed they are desperate to pitch 'The Road to Barnard Castle: the Dominic Cummings Story' and with Emmy award-winning actor Benedict Cumberbatch starring as Dominic in Channel 4’s Brexit: the Uncivil War in 2019.
Despite the appetite for the drama, Wenger added it would be difficult to ‘make satisfying peak-time drama’ at time where actors have to keep their distance from each other.
He explained: ‘We don’t know how long wearing masks and social distancing are going to be part of our contemporary reality.
‘So if we rush into making them part of contemporary drama, it may look dated or odd when it airs in a year’s time.
However, the television executive acknowledged the reasons why people watched drama, adding: "They don’t necessarily want the cold hard reality of the world reflected back to them. That’s for news, documentary, and current affairs. On the whole, we’re watching drama for bigger moral and emotional stories."
MORE ON DOMINIC CUMMINGS
While the BBC thinks it would make gripping television and have audiences around the country glued to the screen, the head of drama at their rivals ITV Polly Hill, thinks its still too fresh in our minds.
She argued: "I think it’s a bit soon. The best stories about this period will be told when we have a bit of distance."
The politician may well have been given a reprieve last week as Durham police said he may have committed a "minor" breach of lockdown rules, but no further action is needed.
The PM's top aide might have broken rules when he made a 50-mile trip to Barnard Castle, Durham cops confirmed, but he did stay socially distant from others.
After an investigation they said that they did not think that his original 260-mile trip to Durham had broken the coronavirus laws.