THE BBC’sThis City Is Ourspremiered after enthusing previews and aRadio Timesfront cover, but the start of transmission coincided with Netflix’sAdolescencebecoming the first streamer show to top the UK weekly ratings and even getting a mention at prime minister’s questions. Although an extreme example, this illustrates the difficulty of BBC dramas in getting made and heard against the financial and programming might of foreign digital giants.
Admittedly, the BBC show might be lucky to be spared the spotlight, because it is a bog-standard gangster series, with Sean Bean as Ronnie, capo of the Phelan cartel on Merseyside, which seeks a bigger slice of the narcotics market through a direct route from Marbella.