Channel 4 and British film culture

Among the many broadcasting achievements recognised at the 25th anniversary of UK television’s Channel 4 in 2007, relatively little attention was paid to its contribution to British film culture. This neglect was surprising for a number of reasons. Chief among these was that Channel 4 was the first British broadcaster to establish a commissioning structure underpinned by financial subsidy, which provided a significant lifeline to an indigenous film industry in the doldrums in the early 1980s. This cultural-subsidy model has since been replicated, with differences, by the BBC, and together with grant-in-aid from the UK’s National Lottery, these public service broadcasters (PSBs) have become the mainstay of a resurgent British film culture.