"I'm supposed to be the director of a television company, but I've only ever seen that company as a vehicle for making the kind of programmes we wanted to make, getting our ideas on the screen"
About this Quote
The subtext is a clash between two definitions of a media company: a corporate entity optimized for schedules, budgets, and brand safety, versus a contraption assembled to smuggle ideas into prime time. Bremner frames the company as a "vehicle", which is revealingly utilitarian and slightly illicit: not a cathedral, not a legacy, not even a workplace culture, but a means of transport for content that might not otherwise get commissioned. The focus stays on "we" and "wanted" - collective authorship and desire - rather than "I" and "must" - managerial authority and obligation.
Context matters: British TV comedy has long depended on institutional cover (the BBC, Channel 4, production companies) while also resenting the bureaucracies that enable it. Bremner is speaking from inside that paradox. The line plays as a wink to anyone who has sat in meetings about "strategy" while thinking about the sketch, the edit, the punchline. It's a comedian's version of mission drift: not a confession of incompetence, but a refusal to let the business story swallow the creative one.
Quote Details
| Topic | Vision & Strategy |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Bremner, Rory. (2026, January 15). I'm supposed to be the director of a television company, but I've only ever seen that company as a vehicle for making the kind of programmes we wanted to make, getting our ideas on the screen. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-supposed-to-be-the-director-of-a-television-166580/
Chicago Style
Bremner, Rory. "I'm supposed to be the director of a television company, but I've only ever seen that company as a vehicle for making the kind of programmes we wanted to make, getting our ideas on the screen." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-supposed-to-be-the-director-of-a-television-166580/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I'm supposed to be the director of a television company, but I've only ever seen that company as a vehicle for making the kind of programmes we wanted to make, getting our ideas on the screen." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-supposed-to-be-the-director-of-a-television-166580/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
