TV STAR Ben Miller has called on broadcasters to stop putting science shows in the "ghetto".
The comedian and former Death In Paradise star said TV bosses, who were usually arts graduates and so thought science was "dull" and would lose audiences, should be searching for the next Tomorrow's World
He told Radio Times magazine: "Glorious landmark documentaries on TV, such as Brian Cox's Wonders series and David Attenborough's Frozen Planet, show how keen the public's appetite for science is, yet it's still in a ghetto.
"Big doc[umentarie]s are fabulous, but there's a kind of 'look don't touch' feel to them. Why does science on TV have to be so reverent? Can't we mix it up a bit? What about a science comedy panel game, or a science sketch show?"
He added: "Dara O Briain is doing a great job with shows such as School Of Hard Sums and Science Club, but he's ploughing a lone furrow. Why is every science show except the big docs confined to the no man's land of cable and late-night TV? I think I know the reason. Most TV execs are arts graduates. They hated science at school, probably with good reason, because most science at school is appallingly taught.
"I loved science, but was often so bored that I seriously considered bludgeoning myself insensible with a ticker-tape timer.
"The science I loved came from TV: Carl Sagan's Cosmos, Jacob Bronowski's Ascent of Man, and James Burke's Connections. If telly hadn't shown me what fascinating stuff lay ahead, I don't think I'd ever have bothered."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article