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dr who and the politically correct script writers

(145 Posts)
petunia Mon 29-Oct-18 08:50:38

I’ve been a Dr Who fan since I was a little girl. I’ve hidden behind the sofa when the Daleks were on screen. I’ve had nightmares about Cybermen. I was unnerved by the Weeping Angels. I’ve loved each and every one of the incarnations of the Dr, particularly David Tennant and Christopher Eccleston. I was thrilled when it was announced that the new Dr would be female. About time too.
But oh dear, they are laying it on thick. Each week feels like a lecture-racism, the environment, sexism. I await transgenderism. While I accept that some political statements are bound to happen, it’s the clumsy way they are shoehorned into each episode. It’s almost as though the producers are standing by with a clip board and checklist.
It makes me want to keep a check list of my own to see how many isms’ can be piled into each episode.
By the way, I love the new female incarnation

NfkDumpling Wed 31-Oct-18 06:50:33

I wasn’t at all sure I’d like the new Doctor but I’m warming to her. Its not that she’s a woman, more her woolly indecisiveness, but she seems to be warming to being a woman nicely! I think the script writers are doing a good job of appealing to more ages. I took some of the political correctness as sarcasm because of the way it was presented.

PECS Wed 31-Oct-18 07:20:24

As a "mixes" I am going to have to watch the bloomin' programme now..to see what all the fuss is about!

sarahcyn Wed 31-Oct-18 07:36:59

Day6 has it right.
But there is a big difference between diversity in casting or role-creating and having a continual left-field slant.

mcem Wed 31-Oct-18 08:29:09

Wonder where GG 's exclusive backwater is?
Is this the same area where the only foreign accents/ languages belong to cleaners etc? Perhaps I am 'misremembering' an earlier post of GG.

petunia Wed 31-Oct-18 09:37:38

So many great responses here, lots of opinions.Many thanks for those responses. It has led me to consider the left wing bias at the BBC. Some years ago I was interviewed by a research company commissioned by the BBC to look at bias within the corporation. It was 20 years ago, maybe more. At that point the left wing bias was not so obvious. Today it punches you in the face.
In one sense it is fine. We need different points of view expressed. We need to know facts and figures and some of the BBC programmes are great at that. I’m thinking here of the fabulous David Attenborough programmes concerning the environment. But there are many times that the bias is hysterical and far far removed from the reality of everyone living a less sophisticated life north of Watford gap.
I can think of two examples. A past one.Looking back to the election coverage when the conservatives took over power. I watched the coverage which started with David Dimbleby at 10pm when the polls closed. We had had weeks and months of the BBC downplaying the conservative lead and showcasing labour. The opening statements were cautiously but confidently predicting a labour government. As the results came in, the look of astonishment and shock on the faces of the presenters was a picture. Much back tracking and horror that the electorate had not cooperated with the expected result; that is the result expected by the London elite and the BBC.
Another perfect example, for the future maybe,would be a recent survey at the BBC revealed that there was an unusually high percentage of transgender individuals employed at the BBC. One in 50 of the workforce. 417 apparently in one organisation. With such a high percentage of transgender individuals, it’s only a matter of time before the producers introduce more and more transgender characters and topics into everyday television. Is that good or bad. I don’t really know. For the individual out there who is confused, it must be great seeing transgender characters in dramas and soaps, just getting on with their lives. For others, there will be a sense of bewilderment as to why there are so many transgender characters when in real life they meet so few. Some may be thinking why every other programme is focusing on transgender when some of the important issues in their own lives are ignored.
But back to Dr Who. So far there has been much punching the audience in the face. Both blatant and subtle lecturing. It won’t stop me watching it though, but I will be there with my clipboard, counting!
However, the BBC is funded partly by our cash in the licence fee and partly through our taxes. Maybe we should be asking; do we want BBC programming to reflect our lives or change our lives.

Lilyflower Wed 31-Oct-18 09:42:14

The BBC has turned into a propaganda machine for the left. Every programme, factual and otherwise churns out an ideology of how it believes we ought to think. I have long since given up listening to the once creditable 'Today' programme on Radio Four and am horrified that a recent survey found that 80% of the population gets their news from BBC TV channels.

oldbatty Wed 31-Oct-18 12:05:26

Where I live, it would stand out like the proverbial sore thumb

Where I live it would look very odd if people of different ethnic backgrounds didn't feature on TV.

oldbatty Wed 31-Oct-18 12:06:43

Aren't we all mixed or mixes or whatever. How bloody stupid.

oldbatty Wed 31-Oct-18 12:17:42

Where can I access the survey please?

Iam64 Wed 31-Oct-18 13:08:07

I've just caught up with this thread and I begin to realise, that I must live somewhere very different than many posters. The comments from some who say they live in areas where there aren't any dual heritage, black or ethic, same sex couples or transgender people had me feeling slightly other worldly. Where do they live, I found myself wondering.

As for the BBC being biased to the left and having a larger proportion of transgender staff than the poster feels is appropriate, I'd point to the number of comments on gransnet from people who could be thought of as 'left wing', who believe the BBC is increasingly right wing.

PECS do you want to come round and watch Dr Who with me? I haven't watched it since the children gave up on it years ago. The preponderance of accusations of a PC gone mad programme makes me feel I need to watch it, so I can comment on the programme, rather than this thread.

oldbatty Wed 31-Oct-18 14:30:37

Where is the survey that tells us about sexual orientation of those working in the BBC?

Where are the statistics that tell us about the amount of black/mixed race actors appearing in adverts is out of all proportion to the make up of the population?

Oh and while we're at it....Where is the nursery staffed entirely by burka wearers that terrify children?

And the school that bans Bah Bah black sheep?

petunia Wed 31-Oct-18 14:54:42

www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/07/01/bbc-417-trans-staff-survey-journey/

oldbatty Wed 31-Oct-18 15:54:49

Are there no transgender Tories then?

Greyduster Wed 31-Oct-18 16:57:43

The comments from some who say they live in areas where there aren’t any dual heritage, black or ethnic, same sex couples or transgender people.... Where do they live, I found myself wondering? Royston Vasey perhaps?

lemongrove Wed 31-Oct-18 17:09:36

There are no black or Asian people or mixed race come to that where I live, you would have to go to the nearest city to find them.Trans or gay couples? Who knows?

lemongrove Wed 31-Oct-18 17:10:18

....and it’s not Royston Vasey! grin

Nandalot Wed 31-Oct-18 17:21:19

Just read that link from ‘Pink News’ . They claim the almost 2 per cent is ‘very, very. high,’ yet claim the percentage in the population is 1 percent. Not really enough to justify two Cerys!

Nandalot Wed 31-Oct-18 17:21:37

Verys

GabriellaG Wed 31-Oct-18 18:31:34

oldbatty
I live in a 'village' outside Guildford. To see anyone of mixed race or other ethnicity would be unusual and one could fairly safely assume that they are a professional carer who does not live in the area. There are none working in the shops either.
I have broached the subject with friends but met with silence.
I was collecting for the poppy appeal this afternoon and saw none, nor did I last year or any year when collecting over several days in different locations, same area.

mcem Wed 31-Oct-18 18:41:02

Oh I am so glad that I live in a vibrant university city where we welcome young people of all shades and presumably all sexual orientations!
Royston Vasey by Guildford sounds like a nightmare narrow little community!

Iam64 Wed 31-Oct-18 18:46:06

I live in a suburb which was predominantly white when I moved here almost 50 years ago. We now have a much more diverse population, including people of Pakistani heritage, a growing number of black African asylum seekers and any number of children in our local schools who have dual or mixed heritage.
We have a young woman who is transitioning to male working in the local shop. Our M&S (2 miles away) has a young male assistant who is in the process of transitioning to female. We have gay and lesbian people in our community. I'm just back from John Lewis (10 miles away) where I was served by a stunningly beautiful 6' 2" transgender woman.

I used to live in a trendy Manchester suburb and often visit friends there. It doesn't sound remotely like the village outside Guildford, any more than my own area does , for which Im thankful.

NfkDumpling Wed 31-Oct-18 18:56:11

Don’t you have Indian or Chinese takeaways? In our little rural market town in Norfolk there are a few black people, Chinese (including from the takeaway) some Americans who like being out of the way, and quite a few Europeans. The family in the fish and chips shop are Polish. They’ve all integrated and the kids talk with Norfolk accents so it can be difficult to tell if they’re an ethnic minority or not! How do you tell if someone is mixed race? When does a person become British? How mixed do you have to be before you don’t count in the ethnic statistics anymore? And yes, we do have gay couples and cross dressers too. Perhaps the depth of Norfolk is more cosmopolitan than we think.

Moslems though stay in Norwich, presumably as there’s no mosque.

GabriellaG Wed 31-Oct-18 21:23:17

No takeaways where I live, no fish n chip shops sad (which I miss) mostly skinny rich (not me) with skinny good looking kids who go to private schools and well orf retirees.

lemongrove Wed 31-Oct-18 21:24:20

All this ‘ sounds like a nightmare narrow community ‘ stuff is frankly ridiculous, ( aimed at anyone who lives in a village I expect.)
Coming from Devon we lived in a wonderful community, it didn’t have other races or trans people but was a great caring place wherere we all looked out for one another.
Living in a different place now, a large village, still no other races or trans people, a buzzing place with tons of clubs and activities.Anyone from different cultures who came to live here would be made welcome, it’s a friendly place, but villages, even large ones tend not to attract immigrants, they go to towns and cities, it’s as simple as that.

lemongrove Wed 31-Oct-18 21:26:17

No Chinese or fish and chips here either....probably as well, for my waistline!