The executive producer of Midsomer Murders has been suspended for saying ethnic characters would not fit into the fictional village.
Blindingly obvious, I would have thought.
And there are real 'chocolate box' English villages which have no black or Asian residents.
Great Missenden in Bucks where this bloke lives is one (according to another resident).
The saddest thing is the knee-jerk reaction of production company in suspending him.
All that does is give credence to the muddle-headed thinking of those who have complained.
www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1366331/ITV-chief-Brian-True-May-suspended-keeping-ethnic-minorities-Midsomer-murders.html
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Iffy! It's real! It's not fictional. All of that tragedy week after week, entire hamlets wiped out and you describe it as "fictional". Heartless. Whatever next?
John
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....Whatever next?...
Probably a planning application to open a Chinese takeaway, followed by a muslim sect taking over Midsomer House. :)
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No, I reckon Hare Krishna for Midsomer House after the owner is murdered in mysteriosu circumstances. You're thinking of the church going attendance dropping to zero (with apologies) and the vicar committing suicide (mysteriously and suspiciously) thus leaving the church free to be bought by a Muslim sect. Easy mistake to make, it's virtually the same story. Cunning, these murderers. Who would think they'd do a copy cat murder?
John
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...Dailymailomatic:...
Alanovic,
You are doing it again.
The story has nothing to do with the Daily Mail.
This bloke has been suspended by a telly production company for remarks he made in an interview in the Radio Times.
As the OP, I was rather hoping we could have had at least a short discussion on the topic.
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Iffy, if you weren't so transparently using this forum to promote your dreadful publication for free then I'd be less inclined to oppose it at every turn.
If I ran this forum I'd have have you whipped naked through the streets of Wisbech on a windy day for doing it so consistently. It's called taking advantage.
You mentioned it first on the other thread today and you've linked to it yet again here.
You set 'em up and I'll knock 'em in.
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1. It's not my publication.
2. You are obsessed with the Daily Mail, you keep mentioning it.
3. The Daily Mail does not need promoting on a forum with such a tiny readership as this one.
Despite your best efforts, the topic of this thread is not the Daily Mail, it is the suspension of the producer of a telly programme.
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>> 2. You are obsessed with the Daily Mail, you keep mentioning it.
Only in response today. Haven't mentioned it at all.
>> 3. The Daily Mail does not need promoting on a forum with such a tiny
>> readership as this one.
I'll happily oppose any form of its promotion, however small.
>> Despite your best efforts, the topic of this thread is not the Daily Mail, it
>> is the suspension of the producer of a telly programme.
In which case I'll apologise for ruining your topic and offer my opinion. Which is that I don't give a stuff.
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...Which is that I don't give a stuff...
Thank goodness.
We got there in the end.
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>> Dailymailomatic:
>>
>> www.qwghlm.co.uk/toys/dailymail/
Thanks for that link Alanović, someone obviously had fun programming that. I got:
"ARE THE UNEMPLOYED INFECTING HOUSE PRICES WITH AIDS?"
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>> >> Dailymailomatic:
>> >>
>> >> www.qwghlm.co.uk/toys/dailymail/
>>
>> Thanks for that link Alanović, someone obviously had fun programming that. I got:
>>
>> "ARE THE UNEMPLOYED INFECTING HOUSE PRICES WITH AIDS?"
>>
Thats great, I got
"WILL MUSLIMS DEVALUE THE MIDDLE CLASS?"
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Also got:
"How using Facebook could raise your risk of cancer".
Oh wait, that was actually a real Daily Mail headline.
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The Daily Mail, where would we be without outrage being forced down our throats.
Yawn Yawn.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 15 Mar 11 at 11:52
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and a souveneir pull out and keep special colour edition of the xxth anniversary of ??????????? by Diana / The Queen Mother / 'im what abdicated / any other dead royal who has been beatified (by the DM).
Don't forget them Zed.
John
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I am surprised they dont print the Daily Mail in white and white. As a matter of principal.
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...Yawn Yawn...
Stick to the topic instead of sending us to sleep with the usual anti-Daily Mail claptrap.
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I have, Its daily mail claptrap.
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....its daily mail claptrap...
Ah, so the producer has not been suspended.
If only the Mail had asked you before compiling the story, they could have saved themselves much time.
Trouble is, the BBC think he's been suspended, as does the Guardian and the Telegraph.
www.google.co.uk/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Midsomer+murders&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&ei=p1V_TcmHFdSZhQeU1tikBw
Last edited by: Iffy on Tue 15 Mar 11 at 12:06
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The lack of black characters in Midsomer Murders also meant there wern't any negative stereotypes, like there were in Enid Blyton novels - "That man looks foreign, let's call the police!"
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Indeed its happened, but here is a more balanced view
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12741847
Without the "Amid mounting fury" claptrap, and other stuff whipping up the outraged middle england stuff.
The producer was a dic khead, and incautious in his dealings with the press. With things like the Mail around he should have known better
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"And there are real 'chocolate box' English villages which have no black or Asian residents.
Great Missenden in Bucks where this bloke lives is one (according to another resident)."
While I can't vouch for the ethnic origin of the staff, or whether they are actually residents of the village, it's just possible that the Ho Ho, 32 High Street, Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, HP16 0AU, Tel. 01494 864721 may well be the stereotypical Chinese restaurant and take-away. (I know the location a bit and in fact drove through last Saturday, but didn't look too hard at the shops.)
Alternatively, you may wish to consider the New Akash Indian Restaurant, 56 High Street, Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, HP16 0AU, Tel. 01494 866953.
I'm being facetious, of course. You will certainly find villages, especially if they're further from big towns than Great Missenden, without ethnic minority residents.
The discussion about the remarks of the producer of Midsomer Murders really hinges on political correctness. I imagine he was saying that this stereotype of a fictional village should be just that - a reflection of some quaint location from times past. Those who object to the remarks feel that it's wrong to perpetuate such stereotypes, presumably.
Personally, I can't see what the fuss is about. It's beginning to look as if the objectors expect a kind of quota system where any fictional village ought to have a demographic reflecting that of the UK as a whole, irrespective of any other considerations, artistic or otherwise.
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I didn't see why ITV should be "shocked and appalled" - seems a bit OTT.
Also, it strikes me as odd that the BBC missed out the quote reported in the Mail:
"Mr True-May told the Radio Times if he had more minority cast members 'we might be in Slough'".
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>> Also, it strikes me as odd that the BBC missed out the quote reported in
>> the Mail:
>>
>> "Mr True-May told the Radio Times if he had more minority cast members 'we might
>> be in Slough'".
...as I would have thought that if anything would cause them to be "shocked and appalled" it might be that?
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...I can't see what the fuss is about...
Writers of fiction will be concerned about being told what to write.
Should we get stuck into J K Rowling because there are no African borders at Hogwarts?
I'm on dodgy ground here, because I've not read the books, but I'm sure you get my point.
Last edited by: Iffy on Tue 15 Mar 11 at 12:44
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...Borders iffy ?...
Love-15, my serve.
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>> Should we get stuck into J K Rowling because there are no African borders at
>> Hogwarts?
>>
>> I'm on dodgy ground here, because I've not read the books, but I'm sure you
>> get my point.
You need to read the books Iffy. Hogwarts pupils include a cross section of races and at least one of the Ministry of Magic wizards as a black!!
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...You need to read the books Iffy...
Fair enough, but the point remains.
A fiction writer must be free to create characters as he or she sees fit.
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Maybe we should have some sort of population count where everyone puts their ethnic background down ?
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nah, you'd only get grumbling. Hard to believe isnt it? :-)
John
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>> Hard to believe isnt it? :-)
>>
I think Iffy should have posted the DM story about the snake that boobed - the bite killed the snake.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1366202/Snake-dies-silicone-poisoning-biting-models-breasts.html
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Obviously a series set in a traditional English village would have a smaller proportion of people of non-UK ethnic origin than would one revolving around an Indian restaurant in Leicester.
But that's not the point. The point is that he seemed to show a total lack of awareness of what he was saying and how it would probably be (mis)interpreted. It's his total inability tp spot a trap when one is so obviously dangled in front of him, and the naive way he confidently walked right into it. Then instead of gracefully extricating himself, he wallowed around in his hole by making absurd references to Slough.
The programme, when I have been persuaded to watch it, is irritating enough anyway.
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>> Maybe we should have some sort of population count where everyone puts their ethnic background
>> down ?
Thats the point. We shouldn't be bothered about it. Certainly not enough to count it. In what way does it change the provision of services?
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There are parts of Manchester where there are hardly ethnic minorities, there are also lots of parts where there are hardly any white people.
Some people say Corrie is racist because of the lack of Asian and black people but in that part of Manchester the ethnic mix is spot on.
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>> in that part of Manchester the ethnic mix is spot on.
Wetherfield is REAL??
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It is very noticeable when we creep back to the Cotswolds for holidays the locals are nearly all white... I think the official percentage is something like 98.8% white in that area...
...compared to Slough (as it was mentioned) with *only* 65% or thereabouts white folks.
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Never mind Midsomer having no ethnic minorities, the real outrage to me is Eastenders.
They have far to many 'white' faces when, in reality, there is a far larger Asian/Bangladeshi population in the part of London 'Enders purports to depict.
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Irrespective of ethnic origins, if folks in Midsomer cut down on fetes, summer fairs, regattas and the like...fewer people would be murdered.
The Country fair is usually the catalyst for sudden death !
Ted
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I would quite like to see an episode where they uncover a fundamentalist moslem terrorist cell running a stall at the village fete
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ooh yes, please. Let me know when it's on.
John
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>> I would quite like to see an episode where they uncover a fundamentalist moslem terrorist
>> cell running a stall at the village fete
They would be easily spotted and rooted out. No ham sandwiches or pork pies on sale.
The halal chicken legs is a giveaway too.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 15 Mar 11 at 17:11
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>>the real outrage to me is Eastenders. They have far to many 'white' faces
I wonder if the number of convicted criminals employed as 'actors' (I use the word loosely) in this soap accurately reflects the demographic.
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>> >>the real outrage to me is Eastenders. They have far to many 'white' faces
>>
>> I wonder if the number of convicted criminals employed as 'actors' (I use the word
>> loosely) in this soap accurately reflects the demographic.
Hmm - checking the credentials of my greater family and forebears I would say Yes!
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It is based on Salford and if you had to say it was an area in Salford it would be some where like Eccles or Swinton. Both very mixed areas in terms of demographics but also both mostly white.
There are a lot of white towns within the Greater Manchester area.
Where I live is unusual as there is a big mix of every ethnic group you can imagine and as a result there is not really any racism.
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It is about time Midsomer caught up, it's meant to be Slough isn't it ?
Last time I was in Northumberland, I noticed the village I grew up in now has a Chinese and an Indian takeaway. Not a stray dog or cat to be found - the local seller of the Daily Mail informed me.
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I agree wholeheartedly with the report
How can Midsomer be representative of an English Village? it is no more than complete nonsense to suggest so.................
There have been at least 200 murders there since 1997.
Moss Side or what?
Does this mean the spotlight will now fall on that other alternative modern police series the "Inspector Lindley Mysteries"; I cannot recall an ethnic appearance in these episodes despite its up to date stance.
I would hate for this other fine programme to be tarred with the same brush.
As always
Mark
Last edited by: Mark on Wed 16 Mar 11 at 19:00
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Now we can't even have a fictional English village - Tooslow
