TV writer: period drama is now a thing of the past

THE television industry is falling out of love with cosy historical dramas, one of Britain’s leading writers has suggested.

Anthony Horowitz, whose television writing credits include Midsomer Murders, Poirot and Foyle’s War, said he was finding it “tricky” to know what to write next as Netflix is changing the face of broadcasting.

Saying television is in a “golden age”, he said he had noticed less of an appetite for the “historical and parochial” programmes he has previously made a success.

Speaking at the Oxford Literary Festival, Horowitz, who was awarded an honorary fellowship, said British television was “tricky at the moment”, left in a state of flux as the likes of Netflix are “taking over the world”.

“Because I work in Britain my view of the world is fairly parochial in some ways.

“Television has become much, much more international than it was if you want to make a big 12-part series,” he said.