'Oxbridge white blokes' like Monty Python have had their day, says BBC comedy boss

A young Monty Python would not get their big break on the BBC today because they are “six Oxbridge white blokes”, the corporation’s head of comedy has said as he launched a new drive for diversity.

Shane Allen said comedy on the BBC must represent the nation, with audiences discovering “the stories that haven’t been told and the voices we haven’t yet heard”.

In decades past, Cambridge Footlights was the breeding ground for BBC talent, from members of Monty Python to The Goodies, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

But times are changing, said Allen. He cited Famalam, a BBC Three sketch show with an all-black cast that fits the "comedy gang" template.

“It’s 50 years since Python. If we’re going to assemble a team now it’s not going to be six Oxbridge white blokes, it’s going to be a diverse range of people who reflect the modern world and have got something to say that’s different and we haven’t seen before.”

Monty Python actually consisted of five Oxbridge blokes – Graham Chapman (Emmanuel College, Cambridge), John Cleese (Downing College, Cambridge), Eric Idle (Pembroke College, Cambridge), Terry Jones (St Edmund Hall, Oxford) and Michael Palin (Brasenose College, Oxford), plus an American, Terry Gilliam, who provided the animation for their shows.

Allen said his policy applies to sketch shows, but he is also looking for sitcoms that go beyond “the metropolitan, educated experience”, pointing to the success of This Country, the Bafta-winning show about working class cousins from the Cotswolds.

“If a sitcom comes in about three guys who move to London in a flatshare, the jokes feel quite familiar and it feels like you’re not breaking any new ground or telling a new story. That’s not interesting,” he said.

However, he added: “I don’t think there’s a blanket, ‘Oh, we’ve got a class war,’ thing and, ‘We’re not having any more posh people on telly.’ It’s about how original the voice you have, rather than what school you went to and all that stuff.”

While he is looking for new talent, Allen said the BBC has not turned its back on more traditional shows, including Mrs Brown’s Boys and the revivals of Porridge and Still Open All Hours.

Allen was speaking at the launch of the BBC’s new comedy season, which includes a special programme marking the 60th birthday of Sir Lenny Henry. It will be filmed in front of a studio audience and Sir Lenny will look back at his career, beginning with his appearance on New Faces in 1975.

Tracey Ullman recently drew the ire of Jeremy Corbyn supporters by mocking him in her BBC sketch show. Allen said: “It’s not just a BBC thing, but comedians are traditionally from a leftist point of view. I think it’s brilliant that you can have a thing attacking left, right and centre.”