Dear BBC,
I have been watching your recent series of ‘I’d Do Anything’ with great interest, and was particularly delighted to see such a worth winner as Jodie Prenger emerge in this week’s final. It seems that there has already been much speculation as to whether you will be producing another series of the ‘find-a-star’ format next year, given the level of criticism that the show received earlier this series.
Personally, I would be very disappointed if you decided against commissioning a new series, and I know many other people who feel similarly. However, before making a decision, I would encourage you to consider my suggestions on how the show could be improved next time around. With these changes, I believe you will be able to answer much of the criticism that has been levelled at you in the press. You may even find that it is popular with the viewers at home, thereby increasing audience figures.
My five-point plan is therefore as follows:
It was an intriguing idea to search for Nancy and Oliver in this series, but I would recommend returning to the original format in coming series. In many ways, the search for Oliver proved a distraction, as it was very difficult for the viewing to get excited about the search for Oliver given that they couldn’t vote on that part of the competition. It was also pretty difficult to form an impression of the boys, as there just wasn’t enough time dedicated to them during the show itself.
I don’t understand why you were so afraid of letting the girls sing songs from shows. There was only 1 week in the entire series when all girls had to sing a song from a musical, which seems entirely ridiculous as the whole point of the series was to find someone to star of the West End stage. Singing songs from musicals also helps show up when people might not be quite ready – I’m thinking in particular of Samantha who did a great job with pop numbers, but struggled with ‘Somewhere’ from West Side Story and ‘Defying Gravity’ from Wicked. If there is a next series, please stop worrying soi much about viewing figures, and remember what the show is about.
If you don’t want the winner to have professional training, then don’t put anyone with professional training through to the live shows. It was completely unfair on the girls who made it that far, as they didn’t deserve to cope with the the furore over comments from Kevin Spacey. Rachel and Sarah both suffered in this series from incessant comments by Andrew Lloyd Webber about their professional training. Was the series meant to be about raw talent, or readiness to play the role 8 times a week? Make up your mind next time please.
The judges panel was substantially weakened this year, after losing 2 excellent judges from last time. I understand why it was better not to have a producer on the panel, which accounts for Bill Kenright’s absence, but I still cannot understand why Zoe Tyler, a fantastic judge last time around, was replaced by Barry Humphries. The panel was much weaker without a singing coach who could really pick up on vocal quality, and it left a clear imbalance in the judges, with 3 performances, but no producer, coach or director. Next time, I’d recommend reinstating Zoe Tyler, or finding another vocal expert.
5. Produce more programmes linked to the show
I suspect the criticism from Kevin Spacey (and others) earlier this series was hard to take. Unfortunately, some of what he said did make real sense. it’s about time the BBC did more for theatre in general, and the lack of theatre coverage is embarrassing for a public service broadcaster. As I’ve said before, I don’t the answer would be to stop making programmes like ‘I’d Do Anything’ – instead, I would encourage you to use the next series as a platform for increased theatre coverage. You have a fantastic opportunity to take a large, excited audience, and show them more about the theatre. It would be easy to make programmes about theatre, musicals and drama, and use the main show to advertise them to the wider audience. How about a proper weekly theatre round-up (like its Film equivalent) to start the ball rolling?
In conclusion
I have been a fan of all of ‘How do you solve a problem like Maria’, ‘Any Dream Will Do’ and ‘I’d Do Anything’, and am still hopeful that you will be commissioning another series next year. However, I think it’s important that the BBC continues to look for ways to improve an already successful formula. I hope my suggestions above might prove a useful starting point.
Kind regards
Coloured Lights
I couldn’t agree more with this. However, I do have one comment to add that imho the BBC really should take into account: this format has been sold to other countries, including the Netherlands. The Dutch version was a very popular and well watched program, ‘in spite of’ (I personally would say ‘because of’) the fact that musical numbers were heavily featured. So featuring musical songs is not at all a means to cause a drop in audience number. On the contrary, with all those ‘untrained talents singing pop songs’ on TV (Idols, X factor), a show featuring musical songs performed by professional musical artists will stand apart and get an audience of its own.
Another means in which the Dutch version stood apart was the fact that all final contestants had had professional musical theatre training and most had experience. That too improved the quality of the performances. However, I’ll grant that perhaps English performers might be reluctant to make an appearance, especially after how the professional ones were treated this series.
Very good idea!
I think you should contact the BBC on this