Writer attacks ‘snobs’ who look down on reality-show drama

The ex-story producer of The Only Way is Essex has criticised the “snobbery” surrounding the show’s Bafta win.

The ITV2 show won the viewers’ choice category at the TV awards this month.

Daran Little said the show followed on naturally from the likes of Big Brother and that its “scripted reality” format was here to stay.

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He told the Radio Times: “I was surprised by the snobbery surrounding the triumph of TOWIE (as it’s called by its fans), a series about a group of Essex 20-somethings.

“If fans want to show their appreciation by voting for it, what’s the problem?

“Maybe it’s because it seems that viewers want to wallow in the lives of ‘ordinary’ people, to laugh at their stupidity and shout out their catchphrases.

“After all, isn’t this the next evolution of Big Brother?

“To film fame-hungry but seemingly talentless young people in their natural environment rather than in one big house?”

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Little, who picked up a Bafta for penning the television play The Road To Coronation Street, said: “Maybe, just maybe, in 50 years’ time it’ll be just as hard to imagine life without structured reality shows.”

He left The Only Way Is Essex after the first series but went on to story-produce E4 show Made In Chelsea, which follows socialites on and around London’s King’s Road.

He said: “For me, Chelsea is a different show to TOWIE.

“Last week a guy broke the news to his girlfriend that things weren’t working out and he wanted to finish it.

“She had no idea it was coming and it was horribly real – and I couldn’t drag my eyes away.”

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Little, who has worked on soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders, said: “I’ve written lots of break-ups but here was something completely different. No acting, no script.

“I was watching emotion, heartbreak and drama. Is the reason that viewers love shows such as Made In Chelsea so much because the truth is more compelling than fiction, and these characters, circumstances and consequences live on once the credits have rolled?

“And if these programmes speak to the audience, isn’t it possible that structured reality and drama can inhabit the same space? The same ballroom at the same awards ceremony?”

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