When private emails go public

UK TV industry weekly Broadcast's website has gotten hold of an email exchange between ITV director of television Simon Shaps and the channel's controller of drama, Laura Mackie, about future commissions for ITV. Apparently the message was accidentally forwarded to another party and from there got leaked to Broadcast. The email offers a fascinating insight into how top drama bosses are thinking, but knowing how many people are reading this in-house communication makes your toes curl with embarrassment for all those involved. In this extract, Mackie is discussing the prospects for a new drama pilot from Mersey TV called The Outsiders...

Outsiders looks very glossy, with well-executed action sequences, very photogenic leads and hopefully will appeal to the audience who enjoy Hustle. It's a bit hokey and doesn't deliver quite the tongue in cheek 'Persuaders' type humour that we'd hoped for and if we go to series then we need to push for wittier, more knowing scripts.

Suspect it will get a decent audience but the critics will be a bit sniffy. We don't need to make a decision on commissioning a series until it goes out as actors are optioned until November. Suggest we discuss once you've had a look and we can consider what else we have coming through.