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    nervousnellyRachel Vorona Cote
    1/17/16 4:19pm

    I was really unaware of the lack of diversity. I don’t watch many British shows, and maybe the ones I do are done by BBC America and that’s why I haven’t noticed. I mean, I watch Luther, Outcasts, and some others and they all have/had at least one person of color. But the fact that an actress is saying that it’s worse there than it is here must mean it’s really bad.

    I hope they listen to him, I love him as an actor and would like to see him and any other talented people of color in more roles. It doesn’t stop me from watching shows, but a lack of diversity is something I notice. I think (like most people probably do) that different people having good roles would draw in a larger audience.

    Although now I’m rethinking that, maybe enough racists would throw hissy fits and boycott just enough that there’d be a smaller audience.

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      anythingsweetienervousnelly
      1/17/16 5:40pm

      ... what do you mean by “done by BBC America”?

      The BBC is making those programmes. BBC America is a channel that shows then in America.

      Part of the problem here is that a lot of the BBC product that gets picked up internationally is either historical (white historical), Top Gear, has Benedict Cumberbatch in it, or is something to do with David Attenborough. Going into how the BBC is funded and how people feel abiut that would take too long- suffice to say there aren’t any ad breaks. These programmes create revenue for the BBC, and (with the notable exception of Luther) there seems to be an “If it ain’t broke...” attitude.

      Another big issue at play is, as someone else rightly pointed out above, huge funding cuts to arts programmes left and right. It is not a coincidence that 2 of our most recognised actors rn went to public school. The playing field has never been entirely level, but it’s being turned into a sheer drop.

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      nervousnellyanythingsweetie
      1/17/16 5:55pm

      I know nothing about BBC, I just thought that BBC America made their own shows (aside from Top Gear and Doctor Who) that were mainly shown to an American audience. Like they didn’t air or were harder to access over there.

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    GregSamsaRachel Vorona Cote
    1/17/16 4:08pm

    I’m currently watching a so-so mini-soap-adaptation thing on BBC called ‘Dickensian,’ which takes a lot of characters from a lot of Dickens novels and puts them in a murder mystery—I suppose it takes Edwin Drood, makes it about Marley’s murder, and incorporates many favorite characters from the books.

    There aren’t a lot of actors in it who aren’t lily-white. Which, sure, Dickens didn’t really do ethnicity, but so what? I see no reason why Scrooge can’t be black, or Miss Havisham, or any of the other characters. It’s a fiction, not a bio-pic. The Beeb is excellent at adapting classic British novels into miniseries; why not go an extra step and cast surprising actors to liven things up a bit?

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      plainfacetiousGregSamsa
      1/17/16 4:30pm

      I’m watching it too and there have been a few non-white actors in it. The kid playing The Artful Dodger, for instance, and the girl who plays Little Nell. Mr Venus is played by Iranian-born Omid Djalili. I think there were also a couple of small parts played by black guys in the early episodes.

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      GregSamsaplainfacetious
      1/17/16 4:42pm

      I’ll have to rewatch the first 8 episodes. I recall those characters popping up, but they seemed to come and go so quickly.

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    Charmed212xRachel Vorona Cote
    1/17/16 4:21pm

    American tv is more diverse, but it is good to see that Parliament will debate this. I do not think i have ever seen 100 politicians in US debate about diversity in film and tv.

    I do think parts of British tv industry is trying to change and many British channels now have quotas, if you do not have diversity in front and behind the camera you will not receive any funding. Another problem is that most successful shows outside the UK have an all white cast. They cater to to people who think everyone in UK is white and posh.

    I also think that when talking about diversity, people who do not live here need to remember that south Asians are largest minority group in UK. Diversity is not just black and white.

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      DontBeSuchaBoobPunchTinaCharmed212x
      1/17/16 4:29pm

      I also think that when talking about diversity, people who do not live here need to remember that south Asians are largest minority group in UK.

      That’s a good thing to remind people of, especially since majority here are usually American. I’m aware of this because of a lot of my entertainment choices, but many readers/posters may not be. It’s a very different dynamic from what we’re used to in the U.S.

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      SportsicleCharmed212x
      1/17/16 4:35pm

      What is parliament going to actually do though? Can they do anything? I don't think the US congress can do anything about diversity in Hollywood. Why does parliament need to worry about this?

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    mental icebergRachel Vorona Cote
    1/17/16 4:05pm

    I re-binged on Luther last week.

    Within 3 minutes of Idris Elba being on screen, all I could think was “And they don’t want him for Bond because why?”.

    Simply an amazing looking man, who can act - he’s got an impressive physique, and is suave as hell. Put him in a tuxedo and have him jump from a helicopter while being shot at by spies....motherfucker is Bond!!

    And no, no one really needs to reply to me that it’s because he’s black that they won’t hire him. I know that. We all know that. It’s just a shame, that’s all. It’s the moviegoers loss.

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      DontBeSuchaBoobPunchTinamental iceberg
      1/17/16 4:15pm

      You are so right. I would see a Bond movie for the first time in, literally, decades, if the production would have the good sense to cast him. He’s perfect for it.

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      mental icebergDontBeSuchaBoobPunchTina
      1/17/16 4:20pm

      Exactly! I haven’t seen one since Roger Dalton. I think that’s his name?

      If they cast him, I’d be front and center! He embodies, for me, the combination of the two quintessential bonds: Connery (swoon) and Moore.

      He would be soooo perfect. Sigh.

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    BenjaminSmuttinsRachel Vorona Cote
    1/17/16 3:59pm

    This is a serious issue, and kudos to Idris Elba for standing up for less successful diverse actors and actresses trying to make it in the UK. I have been shocked to learn how many diverse “American” actors are actually British and Australian actors who learned the American accent!

    On a less serious note, I would be more than happy to embrace Idris Elba in the name of diversity! :-]

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      zoe_koala (on_a_tricycle)BenjaminSmuttins
      1/17/16 4:10pm

      Yes to that. However, It’s also that few movies about “real world now” England” are able to have international success... This explain the string of period and very white dramas, as those are international hits ( this is the Downton-austenization of British cinema).

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      IggyT2zoe_koala (on_a_tricycle)
      1/17/16 5:20pm

      Yes to that. However, It’s also that few movies about “real world now” England” are able to have international success...

      That argument doesn’t make sense and is an often used as a cop-out.

      It historically has been nothing more than an excuse to not cast PoC. MTV used that type of logic back when it banned PoC from the network not too long ago. “Black videos just don’t generate the revenue white artists do, to put on TV. It’s only about numbers folks.”

      There is no evidence that ‘real world now England’ (which I assume means a diverse cast) would not be successful in today’s marketplace.

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    rockymay!Rachel Vorona Cote
    1/17/16 3:55pm

    TV (and film) needs to embrace Idris Elba. I need to embrace Idris Elba...wait...

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      BenjaminSmuttinsrockymay!
      1/17/16 4:01pm

      You beat me to it! Idris Elba tug-of-war ensues....

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      rockymay!BenjaminSmuttins
      1/17/16 4:20pm

      An “Idris Elba tug-of-war”...has a more beautiful sentence ever been written? I think not. Let’s do this thing...

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    EatBigSeaRachel Vorona Cote
    1/17/16 5:41pm

    There are a lot of different issues combined here. Diversity on UK TV is not just about race. It’s increasingly difficult for working class actors to become successful, which affects BAME actors disproportionately but is not limited to them. The rise of the Old Etonians and Harrovians (Hugh Laurie, Damian Lewis, Dominic West, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Eddie Redmayne, etc) means that working class actors (i.e. Idris Elba, Michael Caine, Alan Rickman, who found it easier to break through in the past) find it increasingly difficult to become successful nowadays, although there are some exceptions like Jack O’Connell.

    But it means that many of the BAME actors who become successful are from relatively privileged backgrounds, like Chiwetel Ejiofor, who went to Dulwich College. If we were able to level the playing field for everyone by, say, making unpaid internships history, it would benefit BAME actors to a very great extent.

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      KathDayKnightEatBigSea
      1/17/16 7:07pm

      Great point. James Macavoy has spoken out about this.

      Billy Bragg also wrote a great piece about the deaths of David Bowie and Alan Rickman, both working class lads who came out of art school. All of those schools are now closed and the ones left are too expensive for the average person to attend.

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      akatechonEatBigSea
      1/17/16 7:48pm

      Nutshell: In. ⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆

      Stewart Lee covers this a lot, but in respect to Comedians, but it relates to artists in general. The entire system is now geared that if you don’t come from a well off background, there is no way the state provides any help or leyway to give artists time to develop their craft, were as it used to be that out of college (which wasn’t dropping you into 50 grands worth of debt at the time) You could sign on as an artist, and get welfare/housing help for a while to see if you could give it a shot.
      I’m sure the “all socialism is evil” brigade on here will find that anathema. But that’s how most of the best talent of the eighties and nineties got their start. It’s just good long term economics if at least a fraction of them then go and earn abroad and bring it back in taxes. But that’s not how the UK works any more. We’re obsessed with banking and short term solutions art is what the “loony left” do. Roll on 2020.

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    TimF101Rachel Vorona Cote
    1/17/16 4:30pm

    Also, Peter Capaldi can’t last forever. Goodnight.

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      DigitalVikingTimF101
      1/17/16 5:16pm

      Paterson Joseph for Doctor who!

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      ShampyonTimF101
      1/17/16 6:11pm

      If they go for another male actor (crushing my dreams of seeing Tamsin Grieg play the Doctor as an ennui-riddled ex-punk rocker rediscovering that fire of youth through her Companion), my vote for the next Doctor is Richard Aoyade. Smart, funny, adorably dorky, cute as hell, and as a talented writer and film maker he can make worthwhile contributions behind the scenes as well.

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    CandleSpecimenRachel Vorona Cote
    1/17/16 5:14pm

    I think that all TV has to make huge bounds in terms of diversity and inclusiveness, but I do find British TV to be light years ahead of American. TV shows routine cast actors of varied ages who don’t all look like models. I just finished watching Broadchurch, and was so pleasantly surprised that the main characters were normal looking people. I was also happy to see leadership roles portrayed by women, whereas here the lawyers are always men, or when they are women, they are usually attractive and overly aggressive. Seriously, our TV sucks ass.

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      DanceswithPeeps The Burner v2.1CandleSpecimen
      1/17/16 9:28pm

      They don’t have the aging hangups there that we do here. They expect that people, as they age, sag, get pudgy, wrinkle, but can still be attractive and sexually active. They also have laws against excessive photoshop in print ads.

      However, racially they don’t seem to be much more diverse than U.S. programs.

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    SpoonerooniRachel Vorona Cote
    1/17/16 8:39pm

    Where I’m from is notorious for its lack of diverse representation on television, BUT in recent times I’ve noticed that a lot of TV ads are starting to include a range of non-white people, and it’s AWESOME. It’s like, hey look, there’s an ad for a product that’s taking place in the ACTUAL SOCIETY I LIVE IN. Because I can relate to it I’m more likely to buy the product, as well as wanting to support that brand because they’ve woken up and realized not everyone here is white.

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      DanceswithPeeps The Burner v2.1Spoonerooni
      1/17/16 9:25pm

      I’m seeing more and more mixed race and ethnically diverse families in TV ads, and I appreciate that advertisers and/or companies are finally smart enough to realize that people want to see people that look like them on screen. It wasn’t that long ago that the Cheerios ad with the black father and white mother had people spazzing out and threatening boycotts.

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