As a national broadcaster that has set out to portray the diversity of the UK in its content, the BBC has now said it will be "strengthening its approach" to reflect audiences and communities.
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.
The thematic review – which was conducted by former BAFTA Chair, Anne Morrison, and independent media consultant, Chris Banatvala – was done in order to assess "how accurately and authentically the BBC portrays and represents different groups and communities across the UK."
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.
Using 2023's Murder is Easy as an example, one external participant said of the series: "Often when something appears clunky it is because it’s not a successful programme creatively and the diversity seems superimposed rather than arising out of the subject 37 matter.
"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."
They added: "Unless it’s very skilfully done, there is a danger it will feel overly didactic and preachy, as if the viewer is being lectured or a point is being made heavy-handedly. A vital component of quality for the viewer is authenticity."
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.
Some audience complaints in the review once again honed in on Murder is Easy in terms of colour-blind casting, but also underlined the 2023 adaptation of Great Expectations, which starred Shalom Brune-Franklin as Estella. "Some people felt the television adaptations should have been more faithful to the original characters," the review states but as it also underlines, the very act of adaptation is to change the original text.
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.
Whilst the review does honour people's differing opinions, it also aptly underlines in regards to Doctor Who: "In Doctor Who, if we can ask viewers to believe that the central character is an extra-terrestrial being who can regenerate into a range of different actors and travels in a time machine through the space-time continuum, a mixed-race Sir Isaac Newton seems much less of a stretch."
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".
The review states: "In the latter category, there was a concern that people were appearing in order to tick a box rather than for merit. In the former category, there was particular concern about the person from the minority group appearing to be isolated, marginalised and not fully included in the experience, potentially reinforcing negative stereotypes."
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."
In terms of good portrayals of representation, standout examples included Michaela Coel's I May Destroy You and Man Like Mobeen, which Guz Khan created, writes and stars in.
Read more:
Bridgerton stars break down what that surprise nod to the Queen Charlotte spin-off means for season 4Under Salt Marsh's Jonathan Pryce explains why thriller is "much deeper" than your average murder mysteryOn the whole, the 79-page report highlights areas that the BBC could and should be doing better in as a public service broadcaster, including how representation should be measured, as well as a commitment to diversifying the breadth of what UK locations and social backgrounds we see in productions.
As a result, the BBC has agreed to a set of progressive actions that they will be taking in light of the review, including "doubling spend on high-impact content in the nations, as well as accelerating plans to grow the number of commissioners and decision making out of London," a commitment that was made in December 2025.
They have also agreed to systematically review upcoming content plans to ensure underrepresented audience groups are reflected authentically. This includes using existing and new data to ensure social background, age and geographical representation also help inform how TV and Audio presenter roles are developed, including within improved presenter succession plans over the next year.
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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