'I get cheques for 15p' Christopher Biggins hits out at BBC for selling classic comedies

20 October 2024

Christopher Biggins has hit out at the BBC for selling the rights to 'Porridge', after receiving royalty cheques "for 15 pence".

Christopher Biggins hits out at BBC for selling sitcom rights

The 75-year-old actor portrayed Lukewarm in the sitcom from 1974 to 1977, opposite Ronnie Barker, Richard Beckinsale and Sir David Jason, and he used to receive royalty cheques for £1,500 when repeats aired on terrestrial TV, but now he doesn't get nearly as much when the episodes air again on satellite channels.

Speaking on 'The Lewis Nicholls Show', he said: "When it was repeated on BBC One or BBC Two I used to get something like £1,500. But then unfortunately the BBC, in their own judgement, sold all the comedy shows to Gold, which we earn no money at all for.

"I get cheques for 15 pence. What do you do with a cheque for 15 pence?"

"It’s very rarely now repeated on BBC One or BBC Two. It’s always constantly on those satellite channels and we get nothing."

Biggins insisted it is "very unfair", and the star believes he isn't the only one who is disgruntled by the move, insisting it has "really angered" others, too.

He added: "It really angers all of us.

"It is bizarre and it is very unfair. It’s ridiculous."

While Biggins - who won the seventh series of 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!' in 2007 - has become best known for appearing in pantomimes and reality TV of late, he also starred in BBC sitcoms 'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?' and 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em', as well as the BBC's version of 'I, Claudius'.