STV’s Rona Dougall caught up with ‘cancelled’ Doctor Who and Torchwood star John Barrowman last week for a hard-hitting interview dealing with Hollywood stardom, agenda-setting MBEs, his current one-man show, and yes, those allegations of misconduct on set. She tells Prolific North about her million+ viewed Edinburgh interview that asked “tough questions” but was “firm but fair.”
How did Scotland Tonight land the interview, and how difficult was it?
We were drawing up a list of interesting people we wanted to interview as part of our new ‘A Conversation With…’ strand in our primetime Thursday evening programme. We approached John Barrowman’s agent to see if he’d talk to us when he was in Scotland touring his one-man show. Our content producer then liaised with the agent regarding the terms of the interview. We stressed that, as Scotland Tonight is a current affairs programme, a significant part of the interview would focus on the allegations of misconduct against John Barrowman, the subsequent impact on his career and cancel culture more generally, but we also agreed to touch on his tour and what audiences can expect from it. Scotland Tonight has a well-established reputation for being firm but fair, and people trust us with their stories.
How much preparation had to be done, given the nature of what was being discussed and how you had to handle that?
Obviously we were dealing with a very delicate subject matter, so the team spent a lot of time researching and talking through how we were going to conduct the interview. It was essential that we allowed John Barrowman a chance to explain his version of what happened, but also held him to account. Tough questions needed to be asked, and as the interview extended to 15 minutes, there was room for plenty of depth. Ultimately, we leave it to the audience to make up their own minds.
What was it like in the gallery as the interview went on?
We interviewed him at a venue in Edinburgh and, as always with Scotland Tonight, lots of effort was put into ensuring the highest of production values. As we were on location there was no production gallery, and the atmosphere was relaxed. We’re all professionals doing a job here.
I had no earpiece, but I’d discussed the direction of travel of the interview in advance with the producers. Of course, with any interview, you have to be prepared to listen carefully and follow up or challenge what’s being said.
Also more generally, how important it is to have hard-hitting stories like this, broken in the nations?
Scotland Tonight is the nation’s most-watched current affairs programme and every week we cover a wide range of stories and issues. John Barrowman was born in Glasgow and is a well-kent face here, so there was added interest in his story in Scotland, but it’s also important that news brands extend beyond local, particularly across digital platforms. We adopted a digital-first approach for this interview, publishing it in full on STV News digital platforms earlier in the day before it aired on STV, and there was a huge reaction online. Within 24 hours of it going live, the interview attracted over 1.3 million page and video views, and the audience is continuing to grow rapidly.
