Friday, February 26, 2010

Question Time's All Women Audience is a Gimmick

Question time 2 host all-Women audience! What about an all Black audience? Fair's fair! I insist on an all Surrey one too. @immikhan on Twitter


David Dimbleby announced last night that on March 11th, Question Time will have an all female audience to mark International Women's Day. For some reason they have decided that they won't go the whole hog and have an all women panel too.

This creates an unfortunate precedent. Do they intend to have an all black audience, an all disabled one, an all gay one ... or even, heaven forfend, an all male one.

Question Time is a programme which has traditionally allowed any member of the public to apply for tickets. The idea of an all women's audience is nothing but a pathetic gimmick designed by the producers to show their bosses at the BBC that they are being "innovative". In the same way that inviting Emma Jones being a panelist was "innovative". And that didn't work very well, either.

29 comments:

Roland Deschain said...

They've been handpicking the QT audience for years. Now they're just doing it openly.

jailhouselawyer said...

As David Dimbleby announced each panellist I sat there nodding in agreement at the selection until he announced Janet Street Porter. Then I heard myself asking "Why?".

They have a spare seat to fill, bum on a chair. Could more thought have gone into selecting a filler? For example, an independent Welsh person?

I think Question Time still has a black mark against it for that unacceptable stitch up of Nick Griffin.

Bill Quango MP said...

Thought that when he said it.
What a useless idea.

What's the point of it?

Wrinkled Weasel said...

Anybody who has applied for, or knows someone who has applied for tickets for QT, knows how they stack the audience, and more importantly, know how to bypass the system, in other words, pretend to be a UKIP supporter but really be a Labour Troll. (It is clear from the Nigel Farage episode, that they had scraped the barrel for antis.)

I feel like applying and going in drag to the all wimmin show.

They can hardly refuse a TG can they?

WV: manlo

Bird said...

I don't know how they pick the audiences, but the last two shows have certainly had a pro Labour bias.
Low spots for this show have been the lynch mob selected to humiliate the BNP leader Nigel Griffiths and the lefty/muslim audience just after 9/11 that goaded the American Ambassador to tears.

BTW, did anyone notice in last night's documentary about the Treasury (BBC4) how the civil servants cheered Brown into the Treasury in 1997 and how a similar thing happened to Mandelson in the DTI (?) when he came back from discrace?
Are all civil servants Labourite?
Are their jobs advertised in the Guardian?

Jonny said...

I'd be happy settle for an audience with some Conservatives in it.

Patrick said...

Surely at least 50% of them are women every week......... I cant see the sense in it.

Are they having an all women panel too?

I would like to suggest the following tedious regulars.

Shirely 'hairy nose' Williams
Sarah 'dumpy' Teather
Polly 'too much lippy' Toynbee
Harriet 'driving hazard' Harman
Amanda 'not so secret diary' Platell

Pat said...

Isn't there a law against this? It discriminates against men.

If it had been announced that the audience was to consist of men only all hell would have broken loose by now.

Jimmy said...

"BTW, did anyone notice in last night's documentary about the Treasury (BBC4) how the civil servants cheered Brown into the Treasury in 1997"

Surely not? Aren't they all supposed to be terrified of him?

Dave H said...

Bird @ 15:58

"...the BNP leader Nigel Griffiths..."

Clearly, the extra exposure of QT brought him & his party the desired effect.

After the election, we could even be facing the prospect of BNFL members of parliament.

(Although stones & glass houses etc. I don't a have clue who Emma, er, whatever her name was, is)

LancashireCat said...

Whose Emma Jones?

Vulpus_rex said...

I stopped watching QT when it became patently obvious that apart from the odd maverick, the panelists are terrified of saying anything that might be vaguely off message.

A low point was watching Will Young die on his backside trying not to say anything vaguely right wing.

Last night's audience was appallingly partisan and clearly stuffed to the gunwhales with labour stooges.

Man in a Shed said...

QT should try to invite its audience at random ( use the electoral role in the area they are visiting ).

Then we would get the usual left wing activist bias.

Horshamite said...

This is the sort of whizz idea that sounds great in the bar after a few bevvies but which in the cold light of day those responsible should have realised is a cheap and silly gimmick.

It demeans an otherwise good programme.

dazmando said...

Given the current record I know what we wont have, an all Lib Dem on, so please rest assured Iain

Richard Holloway said...

I'd love to know what would happen if a load of men applied who 'self defined' as women?
What about transgender individuals?

Gerry57 said...

There will be chaos in the BBC carpark that night. (Sorry not a PC joke)

Victor, NW Kent said...

Jimmy

You ask why the civil servants cheered Brown into the Treasury in 1997. The answer is that they had not worked with him by then.

But even that is oversimplifying - it is a civil service tradition to welcome a new minister that way. An old school mate who was briefly a Minister told me that.

Twig said...

Here's a radical idea - dispense with the libleft bias.

The panels generally consist of:
1 Labour MP
1 Libdem MP
1 Tory MP (wet) to provide balance
1 Polly Toynbee or similar
1 BBC agitprop radio comedian.

I'd like to see Tomas Sowell on the panel (it'd be worth the 1st class air fare).

Unknown said...

I think you guys are being over-reactionary.

Yes, I agree that it's a shame that an all-male audience would be politically incorrect (what isn't) and we would be lynched for suggesting an International Man's Day, but come on...

Why not let the girls have their one episode and then the men can go back to running the country?

(Preparing to be attacked).

Kateyo said...

It will be cringeworthy.

Martin S said...

What about an all male audience to commemorate World Prostate Day?

David Blake said...

Twig - they don't generally have a Lib Dem. On the last four programmes there has only been one Lib Dem. They say that they take electoral strength into consideration, but ALWAYS have a Tory and Labour person. The Lib Dems get roughly two thirds of the vote that the other parties get, so should have similar representation

David Blake said...

Twig - they don't generally have a Lib Dem. On the last four programmes there has only been one Lib Dem. They say that they take electoral strength into consideration, but ALWAYS have a Tory and Labour person. The Lib Dems get roughly two thirds of the vote that the other parties get, so should have similar representation

neil craig said...

Maybe they should have that pantomime dame they had on a couple of years ago as the BBC's chosen guest again.

psychotrader said...

an all black audience would not cause a stir, how about an all white audience? or, gasp, an all straight audience. now that would cause a stir... ;)

Genie said...

Yeah you're right Iain, it is a pathetic metropolitan gimmick. What do you think Joe Normal, who isn't a BBC hack, and who lives in the UK outside of London N1 makes of it?

The irony is that the BBC seem to believe their divisiveness is ... er, somehow being progressive and inclusive.

p.s. Yes, let's rally for a show with a 100% gay audience and panel. At least it would be fun! :) Don't they see the 'moral hazard' they have walked into?

Genie said...

Yeah you're right Iain, it is a pathetic metropolitan gimmick. What do you think Joe Normal, who isn't a BBC hack, and who lives in the UK outside of London N1 makes of it?

The irony is that the BBC seem to believe their divisiveness is ... er, somehow being progressive and inclusive.

p.s. Yes, let's rally for a show with a 100% gay audience and panel. At least it would be fun! :) Don't they see the 'moral hazard' they have walked into?

Genie said...

p.s.
David Dimbleby was in the Bullingdon Club.

I trust he will be appropriately harrassed and bullied about that, as the others are.

Strangely he never seems to be. Maybe being a leftie BBC journalist is sufficient atonement for ones past to be overlooked?