Liz White: 'We need more real-life drama' (VIDEO)

Actress Liz White has urged broadcasters to make room for more real-life drama on TV.

The Life on Mars star, who appears in the upcoming BBC drama A Short Stay in Switzerland with Julie Walters, says that channels are favouring crime dramas, soaps and reality TV over "dramas that people can relate to."

And she hailed Jimmy McGovern's The Street as a shining example of a 'quality' British drama.

Talking to whatsontv.co.uk, Liz said: "Take a series like The Street, which is about real people living ordinary lives and extraordinary things happen to them, and that's successful.

"But the schedules are filled with dramas that people can't relate to and that formula keeps being reused and doesn't work."

She went on: "[Broadcasters] need to make more room for quality drama that's not just about filling the crime bracket or soap bracket. I think those genres are met already - we need to make room for more real-life drama."

In A Short Stay in Switzerland, Liz plays the daughter of a woman suffering from an incurable neurological illness, who wants to go to a Swiss clinic to die.

The drama can be seen on BBC1 on Sunday January 25 at 9pm.

CLICK below to watch Liz White talking about British drama



Get exclusive access to your favourite stars. Subscribe to TV Times magazine