Oh, this one could run and run. Basil Brush, a racist? You are having a laugh, Mr Mark, aren’t you? Well actually, no. Yes, the little fella, much loved by generations of children, is on the run from a braying pack of hounds called political correctness. An episode of The Basil Brush Show made six years ago, and repeated recently, contains an alleged stereotypical depiction of a gypsy, coupled with some derogatory lines of dialogue from Basil that could be construed as bordering on racist.
I’m trying to be considered about this, not to jerk my knee in reaction and bray against the forces of political correctness, which is my default stance. Blimey, I even found myself nodding sagely and almost agreeing with Richard Littlejohn’s piece on the story this morning in the Daily Mail. It is indeed a dark day when that happens (and please note, I did say “almost”).
In the offending episode, Basil’s friend, Mr Stephen, has fallen under a gypsy’s spell that makes him attractive to women. So far, so good, not in itself dodgy or courting controversy. It’s when Dame Rosie Fortune turns up at the door, selling pegs, followed by Basil’s line about once having his wallet nicked by a fortune teller, where things get a little, shall we say, heated.
Northamptonshire police have confirmed that they have received a complaint from a viewer about racism in an episode of The Basil Brush Show and are looking into the matter. I can see the point the viewer is making – you see, this is me not being knee-jerk – but why make this a police matter at this stage? The BBC has its own complaints procedure, which would seem to the right place to start, and what about Ofcom? The broadcasting regulator would surely have more clout in being able to bring this complaint to wider attention and actually establish in the first instance whether there’s a complaint to answer. Then the matter can be escalated upwards if there’s a serious charge to consider.
I’m not making light of this incident, far from it. Any suggestion of racism on television (or anywhere) must be taken seriously. Joseph Jones of the Southern England and Irish Traveller Network has said:
“This sort of thing happens quite regularly and we are fed up with making complaints about stereotypical comments about us in words that we find racist or offensive.”
And that’s absolutely fair enough, but I find this second statement from Mr Jones to be a touch troubling:
“Racist abuse of black people is quite rightly no longer deemed acceptable, but when a comedian makes a joke on TV about pikeys or gippos, there’s no comeback.”
Those are quite emotive words, Mr Jones, and ones that are nowhere near the episode of Basil Brush in question. However, I’m going to put my hands up and accept that the depiction of gypsies in the context of the Basil Brush episode is unreasonably stereotypical, and as such has no place in a children’s TV programme, however long ago it was made (and it was only six year’s ago).
I think, though, that we’ve established this is not a matter for the police – they have robbers and bad people to arrest, not a scriptwriter and producer who acted with questionable judgment in this instance. As a gentleman whose hair borders on the, shall we say, copper end of the spectrum, if somebody starts to have a pop at gingers, is it reasonable for me to phone 999?
Interestingly, this is not the first time that Basil has come under flak for dodgy material, as documented in this piece from The Guardian by one Russell T Davies back in 2003. I won’t go into detail about Davies’s objection, but it’s a fair one and something that moved him to log a complaint. Go ahead and read the piece, it puts forward a viewpoint in more eloquent terms than I ever could.
I would, however, be interested to know what became of that complaint and if it was ever followed up. Russell, if you’re out there, write and let us know!
Oh for heaven's sake - this really is political correctness gone mad. Most of us belong to some particular "minority" - if not ethnic, then some other. I'm elderly, female, fat and blonde - but laugh heartily at jokes about Alzheimers, women, weight and dumb blondes. If something's funny, it's funny. And as for Russell T. Davies - he needs to get a life, too. Adults take a completely different view of TV programmes - young children do not read in all these undertones and Basil Brush appeals to a very young audience who laugh at the obvious, not the possible subtle subtext. I have no patience with this absurd fuss about nothing.