Back homegrown storytelling

The BBC’s commitment to backing homegrown storytelling is unique in its ambition, scale, and impact. As our media landscape continues to fragment, homegrown creativity is increasingly at risk of being squeezed out by global content. In response, we must offer value to all licence fee payers by reflecting, representing and sharing stories from every part of the country, ensuring our economic impact is felt across the nations and regions, and showcasing the very best of the UK’s cultural identity to the world.

• £6.7 billion - Amount contributed by the BBC to the UK economy last financial year, of which 67% goes directly into the creative industries
• 8 out of 10 of the most watched scripted comedies in 2025/26 were on the BBC
• 8.7 million views for episode one of the second series of The Night Manager, making it the most watched BBC drama debut in three years

For every licence fee payer to feel like the BBC is ‘for them’, we must tell the stories that reflect and represent their lives. We know these are the stories our audiences value most, and yet they are also in danger of being sidelined in today’s hugely competitive global media market.

That’s why the BBC has been committed to backing homegrown storytelling in 2025/26, proudly remaining the largest producer of UK-made content. We provided hit shows such as Small Prophets, Can You Keep a Secret?, The War Between the Land and the Sea, The Other Bennet Sister, Riot Women, This City Is Ours, Kingdom,Prisoner 951, Industry, Uncanny,Central Intelligence, Civilisations: Rise and Fall, and the return of the hugely acclaimed The Night Manager – where the first episode drew a huge average audience of 8.7 million in 28 days making it the most watched BBC drama debut in three years.

A BBC For All: Sarah Quintrell

Based on Janice Hadlow’s acclaimed novel, Sarah wrote the hit BBC drama The Other Bennet Sister. The series, produced by the Cardiff-based production company Bad Wolf, saw episode one draw an average audience of 7.3 million, making it the biggest launch of a new drama in the UK across all platforms and streamers since May 2025.

It has been an absolute joy and a privilege to make The Other Bennet Sister with the BBC. This marks my first drama series commission and Lindsay Salt and Rebecca Ferguson not only gave me the much needed break, but have supported me throughout.

They trusted in our vision for this beautiful story, without ever trying to make it anything it wasn’t. And I think it’s this authenticity and love that the audience have responded to in such an extraordinary way. From emails to the BBC, to animations on Instagram, forearm edits on TikTok and tattoos of three legged-birds – the incredible audience response has made this experience truly wonderful for us."

This commitment to distinctive, high quality, UK-made programming forms the basis of the BBC’s Made Of Here campaign (see case study), shining a light on our unique role in bringing the stories that are ‘made of’ the UK’s people, places and communities. From Manchester to Cardiff, Shetland to West Yorkshire and the Home Counties to Belfast, audiences have seen their hometowns reflected on the BBC in a content schedule packed with homegrown drama, comedy and factual programming.

Shows like romantic comedy-drama Film Club, filmed in Greater Manchester; thriller The Guest, filmed in South Wales and set in Cardiff; drama Wild Cherry, filmed and set in the Home Counties; docudrama Titanic Sinks Tonight from Belfast; Riot Women set and filmed in Hebden Bridge; Lost and Found in the Lakes; and the story of a Birmingham icon Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home.

This year has also seen hit returning series such as Shetland; Northern Ireland’s Blue Lights; Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams featuring Liverpool, Blackpool and Manchester; Mammoth set in Cardiff; Highland Cops covering the UK’s biggest beat; Ambulance, filmed in Yorkshire; and Stacey & Joe from Pickle Cottage in Essex.

It’s all part of a continued commitment from the BBC to produce more programming across the UK. In a year-on-year increase, in 2025/26 the BBC broadcast 621 hours of programming set in and portraying specific areas of the UK on our network TV channels and BBC iPlayer – this is higher than in 2024/25 and over 10% higher than our commitment for the year.

• 1000+ episodes of BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time presented by Melvyn Bragg have aired since it launched in 1998. Melvyn stepped down this year as the presenter of the programme.
• 9 out of 10 parents whose children use the BBC think our content for children supports their child’s learning (Source: DJS Research)
• The BBC won an impressive 23 awards – 12 of them gold – at the British Podcast Awards

It’s also the force that drives a continued shift in content production, editorial leadership, and decision-making away from London to our regional hubs, generating economic activity and delivering value for audiences across the UK.

In September we confirmed our biggest expansion in the West Midlands in over ten years, almost doubling BBC network television production spend to £40 million a year by the end of 2027. We also announced new commitments to the creative growth of the North East by extending our successful collaboration with the region, and we strengthened TV commissioning across the devolved Nations with plans to double our spend on new shows that reflect stories in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The BBC is a major investor in skills which nurtures the best creative talent from all corners of the country. Our offer includes a huge range of development opportunities such as BBC Upload, BBC Young Musician, BBC Creator Lab, BBC Audio Lab, and BBC Introducing, our emerging musical talent platform which plays around 1,400 tracks a week from new UK artists across 20 local BBC radio shows and the BBC’s national stations.

This year, BBC Writers launched Long Story Short, our new short-form production offer for emerging writers, directors and producers, providing an opportunity to create bold, ambitious new films destined for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer, drawing on talent from each nation and region. In the North-East we launched a first-of-its-kind Digital Accelerator scheme for content producers in the region (see case study), and we also re-opened our three production development funds for UK indies across TV, radio and digital, each prioritising company support and investing in grassroots production across the UK.

In January, we published an independent thematic review which assessed how accurately and authentically the BBC portrays and represents different groups and communities in our content. We welcomed the recognition that significant progress has been made and agreed a set of actions to further strengthen our approach, such as improving the way representation is measured in our output – including through geography and social background – as well as boosting the BBC’s local decision-making across the UK to ensure it is happening closer to audiences.

Our portrayal of UK life and focus on homegrown culture also sits at the heart of our audio offer. Great content this year included Sherlock Holmes Short Stories; Danny Robins’ Uncanny; true crime podcast Gangster: The Story of the Black Widow; and learning and laughing about the past with You’re Dead to Me.

The History Podcast also went from strength to strength, with David Dimbleby tracing the hidden force of free market capitalism in Invisible Hands, and Kavita Puri marking the 80th anniversary of VJ Day with The Second Map. Elsewhere, Stewart Lee asked What Happened to Counter-Culture?, Rory Stewart explored The Long History of Heroism, and Kim Cattrall starred in Central Intelligence from our hugely popular Limelight drama strand.

Over in Ambridge, we kickstarted a year of celebrations for the 75th anniversary of The Archers with special programming across New Year’s Day on Radio 4 – including a recreation with the current cast of the drama’s first ever opening scene. As a cornerstone of British broadcasting, The Archers typifies the BBC’s public service values, portraying the lives of our listeners with high-quality storytelling while reflecting huge social change over the last three quarters of a century. It remains the nation’s most popular audio drama, as well as regularly topping the chart for under-35 listeners on Sounds.

The show also picked up a special award at the BBC’s Radio Drama Awards, now in its 15th year, celebrating the very best writing, acting, and production talent while highlighting the extraordinary creativity and craft that define audio drama across BBC radio and beyond. Today, we are proudly the largest commissioner of audio drama globally.

A year of outstanding creative success was recognised at the BAFTA TV Awards where the BBC took home more awards than any other broadcaster or streamer, with 12 wins in total across a range of categories. This included three awards for individual performances, including Narges Rashidi for Prisoner 951, two for Celebrity Traitors, and wins for Crongton, Amandaland, EastEnders, Scam Interceptors, Simon Schama: The Road to Auschwitz, VE Day 80 and the UEFA Women’s Euros 2025.

BBC Film, the feature filmmaking arm of the BBC, celebrated a successful year with BAFTA Film wins for Sentimental Value and My Father’s Shadow, while the latter also picked up a win at the Cannes Grand Prix and an Academy Award. There was success too at British Independent Film Awards with six titles from BBC Film picking up gongs.

• 2026 marked 75 years of BBC Radio 4’s The Archers
• No.1 - The BBC took home 12 awards, more than any other broadcaster or streamer, at the 2026 BAFTA Television Awards
• Amandaland Christmas Special was the most-watched comedy episode in the UK in 2025, with an average audience of 7.4 million after 28 days

We also continued to lead the way in comedy, where for decades we have championed a genre that is woven into our national identity. A BBC report published this year detailed how the BBC makes more than twice the amount of original UK comedy than all other broadcasters and streamers combined, whilst eight of the top ten most-watched scripted comedies in 2025/26 were from the BBC.

New shows this year included Small Prophets (see BBC For All below); Can You Keep A Secret? which captivated an audience of 5.3 million for episode 1; How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge); and Stuffed. There were also massive Christmas specials for Mammoth,Two Doors Down, Mrs Brown’s Boys and Amandaland – the most-watched comedy in the UK in 2025 with an audience of 7.4 million after 28 days. We also returned with Black Ops, Dreaming Whilst Black, The Power of Parker, Things You Should Have Done, Daddy Issues and Dinosaur.

A BBC for All: Mackenzie Crook

Mackenzie wrote and directed the hit BBC comedy, Small Prophets, a magical and mundane tale that unfolds in a suburban shed as a lonely man stumbles on the supernatural. The series attracted an average audience of 6.3 million after 28 days and, with an average audience of 7.7 million, the first episode is the biggest comedy launch across the market since 2024.

I couldn’t be happier with the response to Small Prophets. The feedback from the audience, the reviews and figures have been better than I dared to hope.

I gradually crafted this idea over the course of about 10 years and I think it has benefited from that slow percolation. The BBC comedy department has long given me the space, support and trust to make my shows and there is nowhere else I would rather go. The BBC feels like home. I ended Small Prophets with ‘to be continued’ and I hope that is a promise I can keep in the not-too-distant future."

Meanwhile in audio, the BBC is the sole UK provider of broadcasting radio comedy on linear and digital services, this year launching The Naked Week on Friday nights on Radio 4 and seeing the return of Strong Message Here. Long running series I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue and Just a Minute remain firm fixtures for listeners of all ages.

In March we unveiled the winners of 500 Words, the BBC’s most successful writing competition for children, in partnership with the Oxford University Press, Beano, Libraries Connected and more. There were more than 46,500 entries this year, leading to the Grand Final at Windsor Castle where Her Majesty The Queen welcomed celebrity readers and our six exceptional young winning authors.

2025 was Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture, with 12 months of creativity, culture and arts supported by the BBC as an official broadcast partner. From October 2024 to December 2025, a total of 26.1 million people across the UK watched BBC content celebrating Bradford on TV and iPlayer – the equivalent of 42% of the UK population (read more about the year from Creative Director Shanaz Gulzar below).

A BBC For All: Shanaz Gulzar

Alongside the Executive Director Dan Bates, Shanaz oversaw Bradford 2025, a 12-month programme of creativity, culture and arts, with the BBC as media partner.

The BBC partnership has been integral to the success of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, and its commitment has been truly authentic in reflecting the spirit of this city, the region and its talent.

Together we've made magical moments happen, from bringing flagship programmes such as The Antiques Roadshow, Countryfile, Blue Peter and The One Show to Bradford, to creating meaningful experiences for residents through the Bantam of the Opera choir, the RISE documentary, and talent initiatives like New Voices and BBC Bitesize Schools Tour. We had the first BBC Proms in Bradford, and the exhibition of artworks from Extraordinary Portraits with Bill Bailey was such a hit that we're presenting it again this year!

We're overjoyed that 26.1 million people across the UK have watched BBC content celebrating Bradford on TV and iPlayer through this partnership, and are delighted the BBC is continuing its commitment to our district."

A BBC For All: Daniel Lawrence Taylor

Daniel created and wrote Boarders, a hit-comedy that follows five talented black inner-city teens transported to an alien world – an elite British boarding school. The show returned in March for its third and final series.

Boarders was a rare opportunity for a Black creative to have the space and control to translate an authentic Black British experience onscreen. That was made possible by the strength of the creative team behind it - a predominantly Black writing team, alongside Black heads of department across hair and make-up, costume, among others, and three Black women each directing the first block of a series.

That level of inclusivity is still rare and was only possible with the support of the production company and the BBC. It feels like a glimpse of what’s possible when different voices are given the room to lead their own stories. Hopefully, it can also serve as an example of what the industry can look like when that kind of access is built in, rather than asked for."

The BBC plays a unique and irreplaceable role in informing, educating and entertaining children across the UK as the most trusted media organisation amongst children, parents and teachers. We provide safe, high-quality, age-appropriate content at a time when the online environment is becoming increasingly fragmented, commercialised and risky for young people.

This year saw Blue Peter unveil a new look format and studio home in Manchester city centre and the first production from the BBC Ignite animation programme, Duck and Frog, debuted in February. We also launched Horrible Science, a show that follows in the successful footsteps of Horrible Histories and which epitomises the power of storytelling to inspire learning. BBC Bitesize Primary has hosted 25 curriculum-linked comedy sketches and songs taken directly from the show, each aligned with the Key Stage 2 science curriculum.

Bespoke BBC research published this year surveyed parents and showed that amongst those whose children use the BBC, almost nine in ten think our content for children supports their child’s learning, with BBC Bitesize the most trusted educational brand for children, teachers and parents alike. Bitesize reaches over half of all 4-15s weekly.

The BBC’s education and learning offer goes well beyond our content for those at school, with a range of high-quality, trusted factual programming - such as More Or Less or Sliced Bread on audio. This year saw Misha Glenny take up presenting duties on the iconic In Our Time, a beloved series enjoyed by all ages and helmed for over 1,000 episodes by Melvyn Bragg who stood down from the show this year after 27 years.

Our factual video content continues to inform, educate and entertain all at the same time with series like Backlash: The Murder of George Floyd, Once Upon a Time in Space, and Murder 24/7, with an average audience of more than 3 million.

In Natural History, where we recently celebrated Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday, Hamza’s Hidden Wild Isles peaked at a massive 5.4 million across TV and iPlayer; the hugely popular series Kingdom launched at 6.4 million; Big Cats 24/7 returned for a second series; and we explored the natural wonders of our capital city in Wild London (for more on the programme, see Bring people together).

Meanwhile our science content included programmes such as the story of our species, Human, watched by an average audience of 3.5 million, and Confessions of a Brain Surgeon, described by the Guardian as ‘life-changingly exquisite television’. There was also international recognition for Mr Nobody Against Putin from our documentary strand Storyville, which picked up a BAFTA and an Academy Award. Altogether, it amounts to an unrivalled offer of outstanding homegrown documentaries and factual content that tells our national story whilst helping audiences make sense of the wider world.

This year we continued to strengthen our on- and off-air representation and authentic storytelling, refreshing our Diversity Commissioning Code of Practice to embed measurable commitments across the commissioning and production process.

We published the Commissioning Report, bringing together annual Creative Diversity reporting with our Supply Report for the first time. In 2025/26, £196 million of content spend met our Creative Diversity criteria, exceeding our annual £80 million minimum commitment, with 348 programmes contributing to that total.

This investment is supporting a strong pipeline of content that embeds authentic portrayal on and off air, including BAFTA-nominated dramas such as What It Feels Like for a Girl and Prisoner 951, which centre distinct and underrepresented perspectives, alongside returning comedies including We Might Regret This, Dreaming Whilst Black and Juice, showcasing the distinctive voices of Kyla Harris, Adjani Salmon and Mawaan Rizwan.

Throughout 2025/26, the BBC’s core commitment to homegrown storytelling has been on full display, emphasising the vital and precious role we play for the creative sector and the country as a whole. We champion bold new ideas, support emerging creative talent, and create jobs and economic growth across the country. And importantly, we reflect and represent the very best of the UK back to ourselves whilst showcasing our unique and wonderful culture to the world.

Key stats

• 85% of Our BBC, Our Future respondents think it is important that the BBC backs the best homegrown storytelling (6% unimportant)
• 72% of UK adults agree that the BBC showcases high-quality UK creativity (Disagree: 11%, 24/25 64% agree, 8% disagree, source: Yonder, 2,085 UK adults 18+)
• £1 = £3.49 - For every £1 of the BBC’s direct economic activity, £3.49 is generated in the UK economy last year (2024/25)
• The BBC contributed almost £6.7 billion to the UK economy last year (2024/25)

Backing homegrown content

• 64% of UK adults think the BBC is effective at providing content/services that set a high standard for quality (Ineffective: 13%. 2024/25: 13%, source: Ipsos UK 16+)
• 59% of UK adults who think the BBC has programmes, content and services that raise awareness of the different ways of life and perspectives in UK society (24/25 62%; Ineffective 18%, 24/25 14%, source: Ipsos UK 16+
• 67% of primary school pupils who use Bitesize (24/25 61%, source: DJS)
• 81% of secondary school pupils who use Bitesize (24/25 73%, source: DJS)
• 84% of under 16 users who say Bitesize helps them understand their studies/learning more (24/25 83%, source: DJS)
• 58% of parents who think the BBC is effective at supporting children and teenagers with their learning (24/25 58%; Ineffective: 14%, 24/25 13%, source: Ipsos UK 16+)
• 49% of UK adults who think the BBC is effective at catering for the part of the UK they live in (24/25 53%; Ineffective: 21%, 24/25 20%, source: Ipsos UK 16+)
• 62% of UK adults think the BBC is effective at providing content/services that cater for a wide range of tastes (Ineffective: 14%. 2024/25: 13%, source: Ipsos UK 16+)
• 59% of the BBC’s network TV budget in 2025/26 was spent in nations and regions outside London. Network television spend based on Ofcom definitions by calendar year.