BBC Drama Boss - 'There Aren't Enough Gay Characters on TV'

[Teddy Bear]

98% of the population in this country are not interested in gay sex. Quite a few of them actually find it offensive. Most don't care what gay people get up to in the privacy of their own homes, and really don't want to know. Certainly the picture of gay man using their parts to pleasure themselves leaves a particular option that is not really attractive to consider by straight males.

Yet the very small minority of gays seem to want to thrust their sexual mentality onto the rest of the population, as if they have a moral duty to do it.
I find THIS offensive, and an affront to my human rights.

THe BBC drama boss, Ben Stephenson, who just happens to be gay, thinks that licence fee payers should have more gay dramas featured.
I think the quicker the BBC is privatised, and find out what the public really think of their social manipulation, the better.
I say to the BBC "Stick it up your own arses"!

'There aren't enough gay characters on TV' says BBC drama boss who promises to commission more homosexual storylines

• Ben Stephenson is gay and called for more storylines which focus on homosexuality
• Comments were made at BBC's Reflect and Represent talk
• The controller said there is 'still a long way to go'

By Tara Brady

The BBC drama controller has said there are not enough gay characters on TV.

Ben Stephenson, who is himself gay, called on writers to come forward with more stories which focus on homosexuality.

The comments were made during the BBC's Reflect and Represent talk at New Broadcasting House on Monday which aims to discuss the Corporation's future vision.

Mr Stephenson said: 'I am diverse, in that sense (gay), and are there many portrayals of gay characters on television? I would say it's probably one of the lowest (represented) areas.

'When the great gay script comes in, I shall definitely be commissioning it.'

Despite Mr Stephenson believing there is diversity in BBC drama he said there is still 'a long way to go'.

Mr Stephenson was appointed controller of BBC drama in 2008.

Last month Eastenders character Johnny Carter (Sam Strike) broke down in tears as he revealed to his father Mick (Danny Dyer) that he is gay.

Johnny's sexuality was first revealed by his sister Nancy (Maddy Hill) during an explosive family argument at the Queen Vic - where Mick is landlord.

Despite Nancy regretting her revelation and attempting to then deny it, Johnny makes the brave decision to come clean and tell his parents the truth.

The episode showed Johnny sobbing into his father's shoulder before Mick is seen apparently reassuring is son that he made the right decision by coming out.

Johnny's coming out comes after the New Year's Day episode of the show saw him kiss Danny Pennant (Gary Lucy), in a scene which prompted several complaints on social media.

One person wrote: 'Danny dyers son............ Is gay? Never cringed so much from eastenders! That's not good. Poor danny.'

And another added: '‘#EastEnders was a disgrace. No wonder it was on after 9. Kids watch this program. Being gay is wrong and it shouldn't be promoted #Dirty.'

However, others applauded the show for introducing more gay characters and diversifying its storylines.

Pete Lawson, who write the episode, said on Twitter: '2014, and gay teens kissing on a soap still draws complaints.

'Makes me even prouder to have written that ep.'

Another writer on the soap, Daran Little, also tweeted: '10 years ago Coronation Street had complaints when I wrote Todd kissing Nick... now complaints about EastEnders gay kiss... no progress.

'I thinks it's encouraging that Hollyoaks gay kisses don't get complaints, cos its viewers are young and accepting,' he wrote.

Amanda Rice, head of diversity, told Broadcast: 'Reflect and Represent is about recognising that more needs to be done, exploring how we can all achieve greater impact celebrating the progress we have made.

'We want to make sure that all staff have the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas.'

Gay author Tom Rob Smith is writing a new drama about a gay spy for the BBC.

The story will look at Danny, described as a ‘gregarious, hedonistic, but ill-equipped spy’ who falls for the ‘anti-social and enigmatic’ Alex.

The drama will be going into production later this year and is expected to be lined up to air in 2015.

[Teddy Bear]

Comedy talk shows; dramas; sports commentators; if you were in charge of producing these programmes, what would be your criteria?
Would you provide what you think are the best people to deliver the result that would most appeal to the viewing or listening public?
Or would you think that it's necessary to make sure that there's a balance of what you would consider as representing every politically correct person to fill the role, regardless of ability?

On another note, anybody who would have seen Till Death Do Us Part in the 60s and 70s would realise that by highlighting racist views as it did, and showing just how ridiculous they were, that people could even laugh at it, was probably one of the finest ways to educate subtly and naturally. It appears however that the left wing mindset were never able to understand that, and actually thought it was racist, instead of mocking racists. Which is probably why they think they have manipulate the public with politically correct statements, and that performers and presenters should artificially comprise the right number of genders, colours, and ethnicity, irrespective of real merit or value.

Personally I highly resent the base blinkard lack of imagination that is thrust on me. It makes me wonder how these fools ever got into this business at all. Instead of providing entertainment or information as is their supposed duty, they are socially manipulating in a very unimaginative and pathetic way. It's more about their poor mental prowess than anybody elses.

Following the BBC telling us that we need more female comedy personalities, more gay dramas, we're told they now want more black faces on sports shows.
Orwell really saw these clowns coming, although I would say the reality is a lot more bizarre than fiction.

Match Of The Day panel is 'too white' and needs to become more diverse, BBC says

Comes after BBC said dramas should have more black and gay actors

By Alasdair Glennie

Match Of The Day needs to become more diverse with fewer white men on its panel of pundits, the BBC has said.

Days after announcing its dramas would include more black and gay actors to reflect modern Britain, the corporation turned its sights on sports shows.

Danny Cohen, the BBC’s director of television, singled out BBC1’s Saturday football highlights programme for fresh criticism.

He said: ‘If we have five people on a panel show, it shouldn’t be five white men. I think the same thing of Match Of The Day. It’s a very diverse sport and it shouldn’t be like that.’

Although Mr Cohen stopped short of calling for a diversity quota for Match of the Day hosts, he made it clear he expects to see changes to the make-up of sports panels in the near future.

His comments may cause some anxiety for the programme’s current team of presenters.

The weekly show is normally fronted by former England footballer Gary Lineker, 53, who is paid £1.5million-a-year for his services.

He is often paired with his former teammate Alan Shearer, 43, and retired Scotland player Alan Hansen, 58, and they are frequently joined by a string of other white male pundits, including Robbie Fowler, 38, and Michael Owen, 34.

The corporation does have some prominent black football pundits and has lined up Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand to join its World Cup team in Brazil this summer.

The first female commentator to appear on Match of the Day was Jacqui Oatley in 2007, while Radio Five Live appointed Charlotte Green as the new voice of its classified sports results last year.

Last month, Mr Cohen was embroiled in a row with one of the BBC’s top comics after he said it was ‘not acceptable’ to have all-male comedy panel shows and said every one filmed from now on will have at least one woman.

His remarks were criticised by Mock the Week presenter Dara O’Briain, who said the move would make female guests appear to be ‘token women’.

But Mr Cohen reiterated his determination to change the gender balance of TV this week, saying: ‘There isn’t a problem on some of the panel shows - they try to have a good gender balance all the time. Others, it was like pushing water up a hill and we kept saying it, and it wasn’t happening.

‘We got to the point where we thought, this is not acceptable anymore, this doesn’t reflect the world we live in.

‘In a leadership role, I can either keep pushing and hope it’s going to evolve, or I can set some really clear examples to provide a beacon for what our expectations are.’

Speaking at a separate event, drama controller Ben Stephenson said he wants more black and gay actors on TV in a bid to ‘reflect Britain as it really is’.

[Teddy Bear]

What a coincidence, not even 3 weeks since Stephenson announced his intention to have more gay dramas, and the BBC have commissioned his gay lover to write and produce a new five part drama.

The BBC assure the public that Stephenson was at pains to keep his distance from the commissioning process for the series.

But wouldn't you know it 'A spokeswoman says London Spy was chosen by BBC2 controller Janice Hadlow and Polly Hill, the head of independent drama. Hill was appointed to her post the year after Stephenson joined the BBC from Granada Television, where they had both worked.'

But we are to believe that there's no connection and this appointment was completely by chance.

When I saw the picture of Stephenson and his lover something occurred to me. I didn't know who was who but I had a good guess and a quick Google search confirmed it.

See if you can tell

SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: BBC Chief's lover handed a five-part drama deal

By Sebastian Shakespeare

When the BBC announced that it had commissioned author Tom Rob Smith to write and produce a new five-part drama, London Spy, it hailed the series as a ‘gripping, contemporary, emotional thriller’.

What it failed to mention, however, is that Smith just happens to be the 34-year-old lover of the Corporation’s controller of drama commissioning, Ben Stephenson.

The couple, who have been together since 2005, live in a fashionable £850,000 warehouse-style flat on London’s South Bank.

It is owned by Cambridge-educated Smith, who has been hailed as one of U.S. Men’s Vogue magazine’s ‘10 icons of genius and style’ after he won international awards for his crime novel, Child 44.

The BBC insists that Stephenson, who was appointed to his £250,000-a-year post in 2008, was at pains to keep his distance from the commissioning process for the series.

A spokeswoman says London Spy was chosen by BBC2 controller Janice Hadlow and Polly Hill, the head of independent drama. Hill was appointed to her post the year after Stephenson joined the BBC from Granada Television, where they had both worked.

‘Tom is an award-winning talent in his own right,’ she says. ‘Ben stepped away from the commissioning process, with Polly taking his place.’

However, Stephenson, 37, will have been delighted with the subject matter. The drama, to be broadcast next year, involves an ‘anti-social, enigmatic and brilliant’ MI6 agent, who falls for a ‘gregarious, hedonistic, romantic’ man from Vauxhall’s ‘self-styled’ gay village. Two weeks after the BBC announced it had commissioned London Spy, Stephenson appeared at a Corporation talk bemoaning the lack of homosexual characters on TV.

He told an audience there was ‘still a long way to go’ and that the portrayal of gay characters is ‘probably one of the lowest represented areas’ on the small screen. ‘When the great gay script comes in, I shall definitely be commissioning it,’ he declared.

The spokeswoman adds: ‘London Spy was commissioned well before Ben gave his speech, though it could not be announced until last month for various reasons.’

BBC films has also snapped up another Smith novel, The Farm, published last month. I’m told that Christine Langan, creative director of BBC Films, made the decision to buy the rights. Langan meets Stephenson regularly through the BBC Fiction board, but the Corporation again stresses he had no involvement with The Farm.

The BBC spokeswoman adds: ‘Ben Stephenson was not involved in commissioning London Spy, he recused himself from the process. He is not responsible for BBC Films which is a separate department.’

[steevo]

Okay one obvious conclusion here is his position should be renamed Drama Queen.

[Teddy Bear]