ABSTRACT
In January 2011, the scheduling plans of Britain's biggest TV station, BBC 1, were leaked to the press. After the recent success of BBC comedies such as Outnumbered and My Family, BBC1 Controller Danny Cohen apparently told his team of producers that BBC Comedy was becoming ‘too middle class’, and failing in its responsibility to appeal to working-class viewers (Gammell, 2011; Leith, 2011; Revoir, 2011). Attempting to clarify Cohen's position, a BBC source told The Daily Telegraph :
[Danny] feels the BBC has lost its variety and become too focused on formats about comfortable, well-off middle-class families whose lives are perhaps more reflective of BBC staff than viewers in other parts of the UK. One of his priorities is getting more programming that reflects different social classes and what he describes as ‘blue collar’ comedies. In the past, programmes like Porridge, Birds of a Feather and Bread were about real working families and the workings of their lives. Danny is conscious there are not programmes like that on BBC1 at the moment and is making it a priority to change that. The key point is to make everyone feel like they are engaged with BBC1.
(Pettie, 2011)