The BBC's statements come after an independent review was commissioned by its board. The findings have highlighted particular areas of grievances, including in the way that BBC productions may be leaning on "tokenism" and "preachy" ways of including diversity in their storytelling and casting.
But what did it find? Well, with the review having spoken to 100 people in total (from inside and outside the BBC, including programme makers, commissioners, executives, commentators and media experts), there were a range of opinions but big areas of issue included colour-blind casting and tokenism.
"Audiences are particularly unforgiving of this if it challenges their expectations of what they have switched on to see. If there’s an Agatha Christie murder mystery over the Christmas period, they won’t expect to be taken into anti-colonial struggles, alongside the country-house murder."
The Agatha Christie adaptation was part of the BBC's festive line-up. Starring David Jonsson, the adaptation contained quite a few changes to the original literary novel. Screenwriter Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre changed the central character of Fitzwilliam from a white policeman to a Black man, who is navigating life in London having moved from Nigeria.
One of the shows to also come under fire was Doctor Who, which included mixed-race actor Nathaniel Curtis as Sir Isaac Newton, who only briefly appeared on screen. Some of the complaints said that if it was the other way around – i.e a white person portraying a historical figure from the global majority – then it would cause offence. However, as the report also underlines, we don't need to hark back to the times of Sir Lawrence Olivier donning blackface in his role as Othello in the 1965 film.
In terms of tokenism, review participants's point of views also varied – some wanted greater representation of minority groups, whilst others thought there was "already too much".
For instance, there was concern over whether Luther (portrayed by Idris Elba) had any Black friends and a highlighting of the fact that in that series there was never any real mention of race at all. An external participant lauded this, saying: "I think that you’ve seen some really good programmes that have Black people just being normal… Idris Elba’s thing on Luther was very good because I don’t think race was mentioned once in that whole series."
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An integral understanding of the changing faces and communities within the UK is also vital, with the BBC stating that they will be regularly distributing census information and other comprehensive data in order to ensure their staff, independent producers and partners fully understand how to accurately reflect British society.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
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