Catacombs Reference LibraryUK Press
Moses is a £3,000,000 Man, 1975
Catacombs Reference LibraryWEEKEND Oct 1-7, 1975; by John Davison p17
There may be a squeeze but TV companies still find millions for shows like the new religious spectacular. And they're praying they get it back
THERE isn't money around these days and even the TV companies are feeling the pinch. But this is not reflected in their spending on some series.
For they are lashing out fantastic sums of money on spectacular programmes such as ATV's £3,000,000 series Space 1999. the most expensive science- fiction show yet.
And the same company has spent another £3,000,000 on Moses, The Lawgiver, a massive biblical series with Burt Lancaster in the lead. Another religious epic being planned is The Life Of Jesus [Jesus of Nazareth] which could cost £4,000,000
Even the poverty- stricken BBC has splashed out £750,000 on the Quiller series, with Michael Jayston starring. It is based on the character in the film The Quiller Memorandum.
So how can the TV companies excuse such massive expense and fat fees ?
The answer is they are banking on these lavish series selling all over the world and giving them a return for their investment.
For instance, Space 1999 could well be a bargain at £3,000,000. It is being premiered on TV simultaneously in 101 countries.
Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, the husband-and-wife team from Mission Impossible, are the stars of the series, which was made at Pinewood.
Landau says "Hollywood never did anything like this. The effects are out of this world."
And so are the pay packets. although the precise amounts have not been disclosed
Stars like John Stride of The Main Chance and Margaret Lockwood of Justice can expect take home pay of around £1,000 an episode.
But even this money is small-time compared with what America's top TV names can make. Telly Savalas recently won a 50 per cent pay rise as detective Kojak. Now he earns £21,000 for each episode - almost £500,000 a year.
And Peter Falk could afford more than a new. raincoat on his earnings from Columbo, in which he plays the scruffy policeman. He collects £64,000 for one programme.
Rock Hudson. the film star lured on to television by the £32,700 he pockets each time he stars in McMillan And Wife, may not think it's so much since his TV wife, Susan St. James, secured herself a 25 per cent salary increase. She now gets £46,730 an episode.
It is well worth the Americans paying this kind of money. Often they can recoup it in world-wide syndication.
For an episode of, say, Kojak, the BBC pays the American producers a mere But the Americans also receive payment from companies all over the world.
Which is why some British TV companies are prepared to put millions of pounds on the line to make epics.
They may plead poverty but they see the big international show as a great money-spinner.
Sir Lew Grade proved just how big that profit could be when he sold several ATV productions in a package deal to America for £16,000,000.
When Moses parted the Red sea 3,000 years ago, it didn't cost a thing.
When Burt Lancaster did it again recently with the help of the special effects department, it cost thousands of pounds.
An executive predicts: "We'll get it all back."
But TV isn't one big spending spree these days. All the companies are making economies.
The BBC is trying to save £1,000,000 this year and many big names have been persuaded not to ask for rises.
One top woman singer tried to make up the deficit by asking the BBC to give her a white Rolls-Royce as a runabout.
The Corporation sent her a toy one - and cancelled her series.