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LOVED: The Real McCoy was written by and starred black and Asian talents and is still missed 16 years after coming off air

ENCOURAGED BY the support of you fantastic readers, this week, I have continued with my mission to bring back The Real McCoy. Yes, it is a grand task and only time will tell if the efforts will be fruitful, but I am determined to try.

If you’ve missed the campaign I’ve been driving through The Voice for the past two weeks, here’s the catch-up:

Having attended a recent event hosted by the BBC to mark the 21st anniversary of The Real McCoy, it became evident – from the hundreds of fans that were in attendance and the many questions that were raised – that the Beeb’s‘90s black sketch show is still loved, still revered, and still very much missed, 16 years after coming off air.

Spurred on by this (and the fact that I too was a massive fan of the show), I reviewed the event and asked readers to email me if they supported the idea of urging the BBC to either repeat the series or release it on DVD.

Let’s just say that as soon as the article hit the shelves, I started receiving emails faster than Dyam Fool Man and Idiot Bwoy could arrive at the scene of a crime. (True Real McCoy fans will get that one.)

So, I decided to find out exactly what the possibility is of the BBC breathing new life into the show, which ran from 1991-1996. After speaking to a few BBC insiders (thank you guys for your inside knowledge), I went straight to the top: namely, the BBC’s chief creative officer of vision productions, Patrick Younge.

Keen to speak to the BBC boss not only about The Real McCoy, but about black representation in general on the Beeb, and his role as one of very few black members of senior staff at the broadcaster, naturally, I was thrilled that Younge was able to make time for an interview.

I was equally thrilled to learn that our campaign – which also encouraged new writers to send their ideas to the BBC – had already started making waves…

“People have been emailing me so clearly it’s had an impact,” Younge said of The Voice campaign. “It’s a brilliant thing. We’re in the ideas business and if people have got ideas, we want to see them, hear from them, and if they’ve got great ideas, we want to try and work with them.”
Determined to get to the main matter at hand, I put it to Younge: Is there any chance of the BBC repeating The Real McCoy?

“We do repeat things and I’m sure somewhere down the line, it may get repeated. There are all sorts of reasons why and when things get repeated. If you say to me, has somebody said, ‘would you look at repeating The Real McCoy’? Yes, that email has been sent and it’s something we’re looking into as part of what we do.”

Failing that, what’s the possibility of the series being released on DVD?

“That’s another email that’s been sent. There are lots of reasons why DVDs get released and only a fraction of the shows that the BBC has ever produced are available on DVD. So there’s no conspiracy against The Real McCoy.

“I’ve sent emails [about the programme being made available on DVD] and when I get a response, I will send it to you.”

As encouraging as this was, I had to address one underlying “conspiracy” that had emerged during my research: namely, that the BBC had so far failed to repeat or release The Real McCoy because they had deleted the bulk of the series from their archives.

“That’s the first I’ve heard of it,” Younge says. “If you want me to look into it I will do, but that’s the first I’ve heard of it. There’s so much [Real McCoy] footage on YouTube so the idea that it’s all been deleted probably isn’t true. But now that you’ve raised it, I’ll enquire.”

LOOKING FOR NEW TALENT: Patrick Younge

True to his word, Younge did enquire and I received an email later that day from Sam Hodges, the Head of Communications for BBC Vision (who had kindly arranged my interview with Younge), saying: “I can confirm The Real McCoy hasn't been wiped.”

Still, Younge says his focus is less on reviving old programmes and more on encouraging writers to submit new material.

“I understand that people are hankering afterThe Real McCoy but I would also challenge people to stop looking back and start looking forward. I want to see the next generation of comedy. Call it black comedy, call it what you like. I want to see the next generation of comedy that will capture modern Britain.”

But what would Younge say to the cynics who think that regardless of how many black comedy ideas are submitted to the BBC, there aren't enough people at the Beeb in positions of power, who understand black culture and who can make an informed decision about what is good content?

“I hear things like that; that we don’t have enough women’s ideas because we don’t understand women, and then some black people will say we don’t have enough black ideas because we don’t understand black culture. But everybody that reads a script comes from somewhere and has to be open-minded. So I don’t buy that – I just don’t buy it.”

And what of that other big issue – black representation on the BBC? Several of the emails I received accused the broadcaster of failing to deliver positive representations of black culture in their programming. Younge disagrees.

“Representation-wise, in terms of the black and Asian performers across all the genres, I think we’re doing a really good job. Whether it’s Reggie [Yates] and Will.I.Am on The Voice, or whether it’s the range of actors across our dramas; or whether it’s Alesha [Dixon] on Strictly Come Dancing, I do see us as an industry leader.

“Who else puts a black man in the lead role of his own drama, as we did with Idris [Elba in the BBC drama Luther.] Then we took that around the world and Idris won the Golden Globe [award for best actor in a miniseries or television film.] I’m not resting on my laurels and do I think we could go further? Absolutely. But I do think we’re an industry leader. And in the industry, especially in the area of comedy, we’re all looking for great scripts and great talent.

“To date, we haven’t had a compelling black comedy proposition that we felt confident to go forward with. So my direct call is to the writers: we want your stuff. But it’s only the best stuff that’s gonna get through.”

As one of few black faces in a top position at the BBC, it seemed fitting to ask Younge whether the pressure on him is two-fold.

Taking on his role in 2010, did he feel any pressure to ensure his decisions would ‘represent’ the black community, or did he simply focus on doing a good job?

“I took on the job knowing there was a job to be done and that I would be measured on the basis of my performance,” says the 48-year-old. “But I’m not stupid; symbols are important and I know some people will see something symbolic about a black guy from Stevenage being in one of the senior jobs in the BBC.

“That doesn’t change what I have to do; I’ll be measured on whether I’m seen as making great shows and whether we’re developing the careers of our staff. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t recognise the symbolism.

“And I was also taught that as you climb the ladder, make sure you don’t pull it up behind you.

“That’s one of the reasons we did the event around The Real McCoy, and it’s one of the reasons why I give talks at schools and colleges, and find time to meet people who are trying to get into the industry because that’s part of what we do and what I do.”