The economic impact of Colin Firth’s wet-shirt moment inPride and Prejudice cannot be underestimated. The BBC’s bestselling costume drama, it has sold to 72 countries. Of late, though, international audiences have wanted something younger, faster-paced, more contemporary. So, when BBC Worldwide sets up its stall next month at BBC Showcase, an annual event for foreign television buyers, bonnets will take a back seat to modern dramas such as Spooks, which led the way six years ago, changing the perception of British television. What sells now? Torchwood, Hotel Babylon and Saturday-night shows such as Robin Hood, Doctor Who and Primeval (BBC Worldwide distributes for ITV, Channel 4 and Five).

Which means Robin Hood is outselling Sense and Sensibility by two to one (40-50 countries, compared with 24). “The point about period drama now is that it will only sell if it’s the best of the best,” says Matt Forde, of BBC Worldwide. Even then, it is mostly to English-speaking markets: America, Australia and New Zealand. They also can’t get enough of it in Scandinavia, although they want upbeat drama (Austen, not Dostoevsky, please). In Italy and Spain, though, they don’t want it at all.

Actors, however, love period drama. “There is no doubt there is snobbery involved,” says Max Beesley, whose career began in the BBC’s Tom Jones. “The BBC tends to make the best period drama, and you think, ‘Oh good, I’ll be seen doing serious work.’ It undoubtedlyhelps your career. Look at all theexports we’ve got in America.”

Directors also see the genre as challenging, benchmark drama that will add to their portfolios and bankability. For producers, there’s nothing like a well-known classic to open chequebooks.

“We can no longer afford to produce solely for the UK,” says Gub Neal of Box TV. “The most the broadcaster is likely to give you is 75% of the budget. For our Wind in the Willows,the BBC gave us 50%. We had to raise £2m.”

At about £1m an hour, period drama is the most expensive kind there is (it can take 40 minutes just to do a make-up check, according to Iain MacDonald, who directed Billie Piper in Mansfield Park). But you can save up to 40% if you make it in eastern Europe; and, if you get it right, it can be ratings gold. Cranford consistently attracted 7m viewers; 8m watched the first episode of Oliver Twist.

No surprise, then, that there is more period drama in the offing. ITV has Affinity, set in the 19th century, Wuthering Heights (Christopher Hart will no doubt be thrilled), two episodes of Foyle’s War and the half-period, half-contemporary Lost in Austen. Coming up on Channel 4 are The Devil’s Whore (a civil-war drama) and City of Vice (the criminal world of Georgian London). The BBC has Kenneth Branagh in a 16th-century detective drama, a new series of The Tudors, a dramatisation of Austen’s final years, Miss Austen Regrets, and The Diary of Anne Frank.

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