Should all TV be political?

Television dramas are designed to reflect a corner of reality that the writers wish to shed light upon or trivialise. Many writers claim to use their programmes to raise awareness to greater political realities: whether this is effective, however, is another question entirely.

With the topic of Brexit remaining at the forefront of all British news networks, the population is still anxiously waiting to hear what is going to come of Britain’s relationship with the EU. In that respect, it would seem only natural for a writer or director to want to capture the political tension of this time to make something that an audience could relate to, or reflect upon. However, many popular dramas have come under fire for weighing in on the debate.  The most famous case was perhaps an Eastenders episode from February last year which featured racist and xenophobic graffiti on surrounding the popular pub’s ‘Polish night’ following which the newly introduced Polish character Konrad commented: ‘this is the Britain we live in now.’ Writer Leo Richardson received a great deal of backlash following the airing of this episode as many of its viewers deemed it to be viciously ‘anti-Brexit’ (Richardson would later respond to this criticism).

It would seem only natural for a writer or director to want to capture the political tension of this time

For the most part, the article defends the episode as being in line with what viewers have grown to expect from the popular soap opera but, towards the end, his defence broadens itself to what Richardson believes to be one of purposes of television: ‘To reflect the lives of people who are underrepresented, so we can understand those who we didn’t before.’ He argues that he was merely showcasing a reflection of the reality that people are living in Britain following the political crisis surrounding Brexit.

Similarly, Steve Coogan announced Alan Partridge’s return to British screens this year, claiming he will be the ‘voice of Brexit’. For many fans of the show, this is completely unsurprising from this right-wing, middle-aged chap. Applying contemporary politics to fictional TV characters allows a writer to explore a view that might have otherwise been underrepresented in the media, a lesson that was perhaps learnt following Brexit or even following the election of Donald Trump, in which the right-wing electorate felt misrepresented and, in fact, were, seeing as their vote was vastly underestimated. Coogan’s choice to take on Brexit explicitly may be due to a desire for clarity, to understand the half of the electorate that was perhaps misjudged, especially as a number of Brexit voters admitted to regretting their decision following the results of the election.

Applying contemporary politics to fictional TV characters allows a writer to explore a view

Interestingly, if you look at the impact of Trump on America we can see directors dealing with the issue with equal clarity, with notable examples including American Horror Story and Roseanne. However, if we look more specifically at American political dramas, statistics demonstrate that their ratings fell dramatically in the run-up to Trump’s office and even continue to fall during his Presidency. The easiest example of this is Scandal, which suffered a sizeable drop in viewers across its fifth and sixth season, and recently announced that its seventh season would be its last. Many people have attributed this to a change in attitude towards the genre. Perhaps when people’s political fiction becomes a reality, they would much rather see that reality reflected explicitly on their television screens, rather than under a pseudonym.

Applying contemporary political mindsets onto fictional characters allows writers and directors to reflect a side of the electorate that is underrepresented in the media, even if their political agenda is vastly misguided. In effect, it serves as a reminder as the effects of our dramatically changing political climate.