Diary: Foaming at the mouth over diversity

There’s only one thing guaranteed to give you more of a laugh than Julian Fellowes’ comments on diversity, and that’s the comments below the Daily Mail’s coverage of Julian Fellowes’ comments on diversity.

The writer recently told The Stage that the all-white casting in Half a Sixpence, for which he penned the book, was justified because you can’t make casting “untruthful” and that it should reflect the period in which a show is set.

This was then reported by the Mail, which in turn prompted some provocative comments from readers. One said: “I am with Fellowes on this. Sick of political correctness ruining TV output. We enjoy programmes like Death in Paradise. Used to enjoy Desmonds, Fresh Prince and so on, but do not insert minorities for politically correct reasons. It distorts our history and culture.”

Another wrote: “This is just another effort by the PC brigade to dumb down anything that they disagree with. Last year at the Oscars there was a big hoo-ha about the lack of diversity – I can confidently bet that this year’s Oscars will be celebrating diversity instead of talent. And what next – a female Doctor Who? A Jane Bond?”

Now there’s an idea. Give that man a job in telly. And Tabard thinks it’s about time the Doctor regenerated as a woman, too. Who could it possibly be? Tabard’s hoping for Sarah Lancashire or Maxine Peake. Can’t wait to see the online comments when that story runs.

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