But it is reasonable to expect our television programmes to be more representative of British society. Where, for instance, is the disabled community on our screens – either as drivers or presenters? When have we had the feature on Top Gear about cars and motoring for disabled drivers?
And from the comments:
If Linda Bellos really wants to fight the stereotyping of angry lesbians she could go a long way by not conforming to the popular prejudice of what one constitutes in every, single particular.
As for people with life-challenging disabilities driving cars: a person very, very close to my heart has struggled against enormous odds to be a thoroughly capable driver of a wide range of motor vehicles, and withal utterly unaware of a Linda Bellos and, dare I say, comprehensively innocent of the necessity of a world with her in it.
The BBC Security correspondent is in a wheelchair (Gardner?) and is regularly onscreen. But of course, he’s not representing a so-called “community” so that doesn’t count.
Top Gear also did a feature on the fastest disabled drivers. And Kiff (I think) the one-armed soundman got a drive in competition against German Top Gear.
I watch a lot of Dave.
And they should drive only slow cars as so many car drivers do not drive fast one.
Have they ever raced a nissan micra?
we need more equality and all that stuff. That’s what we need.
( though who wants to copy british society as it is now)
Well now hold on just a mo there. Even taking the highest figure of the UK population that would count as “Disabled” according to the UK Disability Discrimination Act, it only amounts to a total of 15% of the population.
Even if we accept that one single program (and why this particular one I have no idea) should indeed be representative, we must then accept it actually is.
DDA definitions include people with learning difficulties or brain injuries. Hammond makes up 33.3% of the presenting team. Therefore according the legal definition Top Gear is more than representative.
Richard Hammond is also considerably shorter than the other presenters; isn’t restricted growth considered a disability?
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