Television dramas such as Life on Mars could fuel homophobic bullying, says the leader of a teaching union.
The last episode of the Bafta-nominated BBC drama series, set in 1970s Britain, aired on Tuesday, writes Debbie Andalo.
Hard-drinking policemen with a rather "unreconstructed" approach to life were not uncommon features of the programme, which was aired after the 9pm watershed.
In the last episode, we saw TV detective Gene Hunt hurling a volley of insults at colleagues including the phase "fairy boy".
But today, Chris Keates, the general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers complained that such terms were potentially harmful to young viewers.
She argues that the programme may have a negative influence on youngsters, who might fail to understand that homophobic language is unacceptable today. She suggested that the media must get this message across.
Ms Keates's intentions may be honourable. She fears that any school bullies watching the programme will ape the language on the small screen and use it in classrooms and playgrounds.
As the programme went out post-watershed, it is a fair assumption that any viewers would - or should - be old enough to understand that the drama was set in another time.
We are, after all, talking about a time when fashions, including the way people spoke, were different. Surely young people are just as unlikely to rush out today and buy a pair of lurex purple flares and sequinned platform boots after watching the programme as they are to repeat words that belong to another era?
