The BBC has agreed to increase its annual network television production spending in the West Midlands from £24 million to £40 million by the end of 2027, under a second memorandum of understanding signed with the West Midlands Combined Authority and Create Central.
The deal, announced Thursday as part of the BBC’s Across the UK strategy, also secures a minimum commitment from the WMCA to invest £5 million a year in creative industries infrastructure until March 2028. As part of the announcement the broadcaster confirmed two new dramas commissioned to be made in the region: The Hairdresser Mysteries and Detection Club.
BBC director-general Tim Davie described the agreement as "another transformative moment for the creative industries in the West Midlands," saying it would boost investment in skills, opportunity and local talent and increase stories from the region on BBC programming. The corporation said the expanded spend represented its biggest West Midlands expansion in more than a decade.
The two new dramas will be produced in the West Midlands. The Hairdresser Mysteries, created by Jim Cartwright and described as a nostalgic nod to the 1970s, will star Sally Phillips as Lily Petal, a high-end hairdresser who moves to run a small village salon; filming is due to begin in the region in September. Detection Club is set in 1930s London and follows three celebrated crime writers of the era — Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and G. K. Chesterton — as they confront real-life murders.
A BBC spokesperson said the commissions reflected the broadcaster’s intention to reinvest funds formerly used on the daytime medical drama Doctors into new scripted projects in the West Midlands after the soap’s final episode aired in November 2024. Doctors was axed by the BBC amid rising production costs; a petition to save the show gathered more than 9,000 signatures.
The memorandum also expands the BBC’s presence in unscripted programming in the region alongside existing productions such as MasterChef, Great British Menu and Garden Rescue. BBC Studios plans to establish a new purpose-built production base in Digbeth to serve BBC Studios and third-party commissions. BBC Studioworks has entered a commercial and operational agreement with Digbeth Loc Studios as part of the wider infrastructure plan.
Under the WMCA’s £5 million annual commitment, a production fund of £2 million per year will be created to encourage more activity in the West Midlands. The authority will also establish Production Central, a regional production services office delivered by the West Midlands Growth Company, and invest in intellectual property being developed by local creative businesses. The WMCA said it would work with councils and partners to create new production spaces, infrastructure and incentives to attract companies to the region.
Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said the BBC’s investment was vital to building the regional economy, pointing to the global success of series such as Peaky Blinders and the arrival of major studios. The BBC said earlier commitments, including relocating its regional Midlands HQ to the Tea Factory site in Digbeth and moving productions such as Silent Witness and MasterChef to the area, have already strengthened the sector.
An economic analysis commissioned by the BBC found that the corporation’s extra investment in the West Midlands since 2021 could bring an additional £282 million in economic benefits to the region by 2031; the BBC said that figure would increase further under the new agreement. The memorandum includes continued collaboration with ScreenSkills and other partners on apprenticeships, traineeships and skills development intended to grow production talent in the region.
The BBC said the funding increase would be phased up to the target level by the end of 2027. The WMCA’s funding commitment runs through March 2028, and partners will begin delivering elements of the production fund, the Production Central office and new studio facilities in the coming months. The agreement is the latest step in the BBC’s wider push to rebalance investment around the UK and to grow regional production capacity.
Officials from the BBC and the West Midlands authority said further details on commissioning plans, studio development timelines and the apprenticeship programmes would be released as projects progress.