New drama wars break out between BBC and ITV

The BBC has launched a new ratings war with ITV by declaring it is "booking" big-budget costume dramas into the flagship autumn Sunday night slot for at least the next two years.

Yesterday ITV branded the BBC "arrogant" for thinking it had a "divine right" to monopolise Sunday evenings. Adaptations of Mrs Gaskell's North and South and Anthony Trollope's He Knew He Was Right and an original drama about King Charles II are among the dramas earmarked by the BBC in 2003 and 2004.

Other dramas planned include a mammoth historical epic by Jimmy McGovern, writer of Cracker, about Mary, Queen of Scots and James I.

The BBC announcement is seen as a pre-emptive strike against ITV in the wake of the row over the scheduling of their showpiece autumn dramas, Daniel Deronda and Dr Zhivago, which begin next weekend. BBC1 originally planned to screen its George Eliot adaptation opposite ITV1's £7m version of the classic Russian novel. It finally agreed to move it to Saturday after ITV argued it had already sold advertising around Dr Zhivago, and that it was not fair to expect period drama fans to choose between the two.

The BBC's move to up the ante follows an outspoken attack by the new head of drama at Granada, John Whiston, a former BBC executive, who last week dismissed the corporation's drama output as "crap".

Jane Tranter, the BBC's controller of drama, said: "BBC1 has always played its period drama on a Sunday night, and we generally see that as the best place for it. In the event, Daniel Deronda will be on a Saturday and it will be interesting to see how well it performs there."

Commenting on the remarks made by Mr Whiston as he unveiled plans to make a raft of new Agatha Christie adaptations for ITV1, Ms Tranter said: "It was misguided. It felt rude and quite vitriolic. He seems a decent bloke with a decent reputation, but he just doesn't know his stuff. I've sent him a box of tapes after reading his speech, because he doesn't seem to have watched any BBC1 dramas for the past 10 months."

Mr Whiston remained unrepentant about his comments yesterday, and bullish about ITV's chances of holding its own against BBC1. "Sunday nights have always been strong for ITV, because we have Coronation Street and Heartbeat. When I used the word 'crap' I was talking about the BBC's 'me too' dramas like Monarch of the Glen, which to me looks like they've just shipped themselves up to Scotland to deliver a bit of picture-postcard whimsy."