Race Issues And Nostalgia
I grew up with Last Of The Summer Wine; this was back in the days when Cilla Black’s teeth and glowing ginger hair dominated British TV.
Looking at this forum post I found myself asking the very same question.
Indeed, I thought, how come there were no Pakistani characters in the show?
Race is always a tricky issue where soaps are concerned; the producers have a moral responsibility, of course, to ensure that all minorities are represented whenever possible. Which should be all the time.
But the thing is this, and it is very harsh: would as many people have tuned into the show if there had been several Pakistani characters? As horrible as it is to say it, I don’t believe they would have. At the time of Last Of The Summer Wine this was hardly of huge concern to the majority of the white public anyway–if we are really being honest. That is not to say that I believe the white public were racist, but the culture certainly wasn’t as bothered about being fair. And that is the other problem: producers have to reflect what the majority of the public want. This is how they have escaped questioning.
If we look back into the past at other sitcoms and comedy shows, none of this is surprising in the least. Many were openly racist and offered only generalizations of real life, stereo-types of different races.
Or there is another reason why there were no Pakistani characters in Last Of The Summer Wine: there were no Pakistani people to be found in those parts at that time, maybe. Personally speaking I find that extremely difficult to believe. As much as I am British and love this country, I feel sad to say it will be some time until everything is equal, even in soap-land.