By Lucy Ashton
MSP Jackie Baillie has accused BBC chiefs of “deliberately misleading” cast and crew as the axe fell on River City.
The Dumbarton parliamentarian hit out during a showdown with network bosses in Holyrood’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee.
When BBC bosses announced in March that the axe would fall on River City from June 2026, they claimed that the lease on the Dumbarton base where the soap is filmed could not be renewed.
But the landlord, Westerwood Properties, blew the claim out of the water, and revealed that they had hoped the broadcaster would stay on at the Lomondgate site.
When BBC chiefs faced a grilling from MSPs including Jackie – whose Dumbarton constituency houses the BBC’s River City studio – she also accused the network of throwing up a “red herring” by blaming the presence of RAAC concrete on the site.
BBC Scotland Director Hayley Valentine, Director of Nations, Rhodri Talfan Davies and Corporate Affairs Director Luke McCullough, appeared before the committee in the Holyrood chamber.
Dame Jackie, also Deputy Leader of Scottish Labour, told the BBC delegation that she had a transcript of a meeting held between Louise Thornton, BBC Scotland’s Head of Commissioning, and cast and crew of the soap on March 18th.
She read extracts from the transcript, where workers appear to have been told the reason for axing the soap from schedules was due to the lease for the Dumbarton filming site coming to an end, without an option to renew.
The MSP told the committee: “Trust in the BBC, I think, is important to parliamentarians, but it’s important to us as viewers as well.
“So, let me take you to the meeting of the 18th of March, to the River City workplace meeting, where the very clear impression was given to the staff that one of the reasons for ending the show was due to the site lease coming to an end in 2026 with no option to renew.
“I have a recording of that meeting and I have a transcript that I am happy to share with the committee.”
In the transcript, the MSP said the BBC told cast and crew that the end of the lease had “inevitably prompted a decision to be made”.
But Mr McCullough said the BBC decision had always been an editorial one unrelated to the ending of the lease in 2026.
And claimed that as a national broadcaster, it could not renew the lease to a site where RAAC – Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) was present.
That concrete is the cement which has caused schools and houses in Scotland to become unsafe. Helensburgh Fire Station and the John Logie Baird PS in the town were affected.
However, Baillie branded the move a “red herring”, saying: “I think that’s an important point, RAAC has been on the site for more than a year, there’s been nothing done.
“You have carried on production.
“It’s actually an insignificant part of the site, the position is stable. This is actually a red herring and I would invite you to address the issue rather than hiding behind RAAC.”
RAAC concrete differs from traditional concrete and a target lifespan of around 30 years.
Landlord Westerwood Properties has previously outlined how they were willing to carry out work on the site to allow the BBC to stay.
The Dumbarton politician also pointed out that broadcast chiefs had told staff that the production could not relocate because it would require “significant additional investment for rebuilds”.
She also told how the transcript revealed that Ms Thornton had told a staff member who asked outright whether it was the landlord’s decision to end the lease that “there isn’t an option to renew” and advised that the option of staying where they were wasn’t ever considered as an option and wasn’t on the table.
River City will end in 2026 – coincidentally when the lease on the site also ends.
Jackie Baillie and Labour colleague Neil Bibby have spearheaded a campaign to save the flagship Scottish soap, and have had a number of meetings with cast and crew affected by the decision.
Top of page: Jackie Baillie MSP on the set of BBC Scotland soap opera River City.