Clowning around at Elstree

As you'll already know if you follow me on Twitter, I went to Elstree today in order to deliver the open letter, signed by 280 people, asking the BBC to engage with us over the hurt caused to a number of viewers, queer and straight alike, by Holby City episodes in December. I'd emailed producers there to ask if they would meet me to talk about the issue.

In 2017, when I contacted Holby to speak to them about my research into the (then positive) impacts of the storyline for women-loving women, I was invited down, given a tour of the studios, and had a really long chat with the then Series Producer, Kate Hall (who has since left the BBC).

This time, I got no response whatsoever. Yet when I arrived at the gates of Elstree, the security guard appeared to be expecting me. Here's a video of our conversation, with transcription, as there's a lot of background noise. I've tried to block out the man's image, because although he knew I was recording, he's only doing his job, and there's nothing to be gained in making him visible.

Me: "Hi, can we just deliver these [showing envelopes] please?"

SG: "You can't, no. What's your name?"

Me: "Georgina"

SG: "Yeah, Georgina, we can't. Because we understand that you've been advised of correct procedures for the BBC. So we will not be able to take them."

I explained that they were not complaints, but he insisted that they could not be accepted. I'll post them on via Special Delivery.

It wasn't a completely wasted trip, because I met a #BerenaDeservedBetter silent clown protest when I arrived! And because if nothing else, this is yet more confirmation that the BBC would prefer not to engage at all on this subject. It is so important, though, that they do. What we want is representation that doesn't succumb to trope and stereotype, and when programme makers tell us that they care about that, we need to be able to believe in them.

Comments

First, Do No Harm

I’ve been working on a research project with fans of Holby City ’s Berena for almost two years now, and in that time I’ve had the opportunity to get to know a global network of viewers who have found something special in this rare onscreen romance between two older, professional women. I’ve written about the way that women talk about the impact of this storyline on their mental health and wellbeing here . We’ve also worked together to produce a zine about these experiences, which you can read online too. For a number of people, the Berena storyline has been life-changing. Though we have often been talking about dark moments in our lives, this project has been an overwhelmingly positive experience, with a community of women who are funny and argumentative as well as extraordinarily caring and tender. Spending the last several weeks seeing many of them in anguish, sometimes withdrawing from their social media accounts to try and protect themse...

BBC shies away from 'representation' in response to Berena complaint?

Since posting my thoughts on the denouement of the Berena storyline on Holby City and where the BBC had failed LGBTQ audiences, I’ve been more active on Twitter than I have on here. First and foremost my attention has been on the community of women most hurt by what happened, but I too am grieving the loss of characters that I cherished, so some time away during the holiday period was welcome. I have also been talking to a number of women about action(s) that can be taken now in order to ensure that the BBC recognises what has happened, and that the corporation and other programme makers can avoid doing such harm to an LGBTQ audience again. The campaign website, # BerenaDeservedBetter , launched on Monday 7 January 2019. Having this week seen the BBC’s response to a Berena fan’s complaint about the handling of the storyline in the latter part of 2018, the importance of getting the BBC to engage with us is clear. This is, verbatim, what was sent back: " H...

An update on the Berena project

For most of 2017, I’ve been working on a research project related to the BBC Holby City characters Bernie Wolfe and Serena Campbell, known by the ship name ‘Berena’. My research has always focused around questions of gender, sexuality, and media representation, and it was hard to miss the buzz around these older women-loving women falling in love. (How often does that happen on your telly on a Tuesday night?!) In particular, I was struck by the way that viewers talked about the impact that Berena had had on their lives – and I knew from personal experience that the storyline had been a source of joy and comfort (and sometimes virtually shared frustration and sadness) through a difficult time in my own life. I wanted to explore that. I currently have a journal article under peer review that reports on the key themes that emerged from a survey of Berena fans that I ran at the start of the summer; what was striking was how many of the survey participants talked about the impact ...

Search This Blog