BBC bosses are discussing diversity in “every conversation” about new programmes, according to the corporation’s head of comedy, who said it would soon produce noticeable changes in output.
Shane Allen said the BBC’s director of content, Charlotte Moore, was constantly asking staff to make sure they include diverse voices.
“I’ve been part of regimes where you have to be seen to do something. With Charlotte it’s non-negotiable, it’s a thing that underpins every conversation: what’s the diverse element to this? And can it not be set in London?”
He told the Edinburgh television festival that the decision to hire June Sarpong and Miranda Wayland to advise the BBC on improving diversity meant there were now “really powerful voices in the room” speaking up on the issue.
In the wake of the Black Lives Matters protests this summer the BBC said it would spend £100m of its content budget over three years on diverse programming, although questions remain over which shows will be considered to contribute towards that target.
However, the corporation soon found itself dealing with the resignations of prominent black members of staff following a decision to broadcast the N-word on air in a news report on an alleged racist assault.
This week the BBC has been defending itself against claims – which it denies – that it has dropped the lyrics to Rule, Britannia! at the Last Night of the Proms because of concerns about its references to slavery.
On Wednesday Boris Johnson kept the debate going, telling pupils on a school visit that it was “politically acceptable” to sing the patriotic piece of music.
Allen defended the sketch show Famalam after it produced a Jamaican spoof of the quiz show Countdown, which earned the ire of the Jamaican government. “Don’t diss my beloved Famalam,” he said. “To be relevant in comedy at a time when things can feel more anodyne, and in this woke culture where things are getting a little bit more sensitive,” he said. “If you’re going to do something about tricky topics it’s got to be from those people and from those communities who’ve got that voice. To me, that’s what a sketch show looks like in 2020. I’ll back them to the hilt.”
The BBC Three controller, Fiona Campbell, strongly hinted that the online-only channel is about to get its own slot on broadcast television again, four years after it was taken off-air as part of a push towards streaming.
She said it would be one of the first decisions for the new director general, Tim Davie, who starts next Tuesday, but she implied that a substantial amount of work had gone into it.
“When we launch content and it goes onto BBC One, it drives people back into watching it on iPlayer. It’s all about bringing in new viewers,” she said. “I would say anything that gives a boost to BBC Three content which is trying to reflect lives across the UK is obviously a good thing.”
• This article was amended on 27 August 2020 to correct misspellings of the sketch show Famalam as “Famalan”.
