A curious pairing at the Palladium tonight. Sir Paul McCartney, 82, sharing a stage with Paul Mescal, the 28-year-old Irish actor who has become, against all odds, a mainstream sex symbol. The duet was not musical. It was a reading. McCartney read a passage from his 2021 book, The Lyrics. Mescal responded with a poem by Seamus Heaney. The crowd ate it up. This is the state of British cultural exports: a former Beatle and a Normal People star, packaged as highbrow entertainment. It worked.
The event, broadcast live on BBC Two, was part of a series called “Cultural Conversations.” The aim is to showcase British talent to a global audience. And it comes at a critical moment. Streaming services are in turmoil. Netflix lost subscribers for the first time in a decade. Disney+ is haemorrhaging cash. Yet British productions are thriving. The BBC reports that UK-originated content accounts for 35% of all hours watched on global streaming platforms. That is up from 28% five years ago.
But the mood in Whitehall is nervous. Sources tell me that the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is worried about a “hollowing out” of the sector. The fear is that while British talent is in demand, the infrastructure is crumbling. The British Film Institute (BFI) lost its government-funded Screen Culture strategy last year. Independent cinemas are closing. The number of new UK film productions fell by 18% in 2023.
McCartney, of course, is immune to such trends. He is a national treasure. But his presence at this event is instructive. He represents continuity. The Beatles are still the best-selling band of all time. Paul Mescal, by contrast, is a product of the streaming age. His breakout role was on Hulu, a US platform. Yet he is claimed by the British cultural establishment. The BBC billed him as a “British actor” in its press release. His Irish passport would say otherwise.
Behind the scenes, there is a battle for control. The DCMS wants to create a new state-backed streaming service, “Britflix,” to rival the big players. But the Treasury is sceptical. The cost, estimated at £2.5 billion, is a hard sell in a time of austerity. Meanwhile, the creative industries are lobbying for tax breaks. They point to the success of the UK’s film tax relief, which has attracted blockbuster productions like the Harry Potter franchise and the James Bond series.
The McCartney-Mescal duet is not, in itself, a policy issue. But it is a symptom of something larger. The UK is good at producing talent. It is less good at keeping it. Mescal could easily move to Hollywood. McCartney is above such concerns. But the next generation of actors, musicians, and writers will need the tools to compete.
For now, the Palladium crowd got what it wanted. A moment of cultural unity, sold to the world. The ratings will be good. The buzz will be positive. But the industry watchers, the ones in the dark corners of Whitehall pubs, will be asking: for how long?
This is Eleanor Rigby, Political Bureau Chief, reporting on the intersection of art and power.
