Midsomer Murders has recently been in the media spotlight because of the producer Brian True-May saying comments such as "We're the last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way”. This was taken quite badly, especially by ethnic minorities who feel like they are under represented in TV dramas, particularly Midsomer Murders where there is no racial diversity and everyone is of White English origin. ITV suspended him, and subsequently he stood down from his position as producer, as the allegations were likely to damage Midsomer Murders as a program so he decided to stand down.
He said also that part of the appeal of the show was the ‘very English’ element of it, and to an extent, the way in which the components of the show, including characters and mise-en-scene are shown, is very surreal. Brian True-May said that having ethnic minorities would undermine the authenticity of the program but the program as it is, is arguably unauthentic as it is. It seems as if the program is stuck in a warp between the 50’s and the 90’s. There are some new features, such as new phones or new cars, but these are a rare commodity and the characters are very suspicious of modern day technology.
To get some examples of the representation of ‘Englishness’ I shall be using the first episode, of the first series. In this first episode we have the traditional representation of the old woman. In it, we have a picture of her with a cup of tea, some old looking books and a dial telephone. This is so stereotypical of how English people are, as apparently we all drink tea. And the other two are typical things enjoyed by old women. The picture is built up to show the typical English old woman. All elements of the scene lead the viewer to believe that the program could be set 40 years ago; however there are several indicators to show that this is not the case. Although the majority of the scenes are quintessentially English in their appearance, there are a couple of little things that show you that the village is indeed set in the present day, with characters or items of mise-en-scene that are current.
What is interesting is that Midsomer Murders is broadcast over many different countries, and when these people watch the program, then they surely must build up a sub-conscious stereotype, and Midsomer Murders is not an accurate representation of the current cosmopolitan society. I do believe that they are somewhat correct to not represent ethnic minorities due to the fact that in many rural areas, including my own, there are very few ethnic minorities. This however does not mean that the representation of the White English people should be what is shown in Midsomer Murders. The stereotype represented is true and does occur, however this stereotype does not account for a large proportion of the population, as shown in Midsomer murders.
Another inaccuracy in the representation of Englishness in Midsomer Murders is that English people, on the whole, are not highly cultured mass murderers. This plentitude of murders and the surreal nature of the village and the people leads to a bizarre program which does not represent the rural population of England
