Telegraph reports on Directors UK research into gender bias in television directing

Research carried out by Directors UK into the lack of opportunities for women in drama directing was yesterday covered by The Sunday Telegraph in an article entitled “Sexist TV laid bare: women get no credit”.

The article, written by Bee Rowlatt, used data that Directors UK had at our disposal from our monitoring of terrestrial broadcasting here in Britain, carried out to ensure the accurate distribution of members’ payments in our regular distributions.

Rowlatt gave particular attention to Doctor Who and Poirot, flagship dramas for the BBC and ITV respectively, both of which had been directed solely by men for the past five years. Chair of our Women’s Working Directors’ Group Beryl Richards was interviewed for the article, informing Rowlatt “there’s a whole new generation of female directors not getting through”.

The story concluded with a quote from Ian Critchley, head of creative resources at the BBC, who said: “We take these figures very seriously, and are looking at how to learn from our successes with women directors in areas like comedy, so that we can offer a range of measures to support them in drama.”

To read the article, click here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10164236/Sexist-TV-laid-bare-women-get-no-credit.html