What's The Story In Balamory By TITVS ADVXAS

What indeed IS the story in Balamory?

Produced between 2000 and 2005, but still broadcast daily on BBC channels BBC1, BBC2 and CBEEBIES, and aimed at viewers aged six and under, this show was based in a nursery school with the main character Miss Hoolie the nursery teacher. Balamory itself was supposedly based upon the quiet Scottish Fishing hamlet of Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, but the cast of Balamory (as well as the children attending Balamory Nursery) come from a broad range of ethnic backgrounds, giving the place a somewhat cosmopolitan feel. The main 8 characters, incidentally, have a 25% ethnic/non-ethnic proportion (see photo), and of the 5 Children visiting Miss Hoolie’s Nursery each episode the proportion can vary from 20% ethnic proportion (1 in 5) to 100% (5 in 5), in each and every episode but NEVER zero (0/5). This contrasts sharply with ethnicity figures from the Isle of Mull (where Balamory was filmed), which, according to the 2001 census, suggest that ethnic minorities only make up a meagre 0.35% of the actual population i.e. 10 people out of a total population of slightly under 3000. In some episodes where Josie Jump AND Spencer appear along with 5 ethnic children, that would be 70% of the ethnic population of the entire region in one show AND one must assume therefore since there are only 3 other ethnic people left, that some of those 5 children are either from one parent families or are indeed orphans! Is this 'overcompensation of ethnicity' where it doesn’t exist part of The BBC's remit? Or would The BBC be overwhelmed with tens of thousands of complaints* from Ethnic minorities who claimed that they weren't represented in the show?
Furthermore the proposed introduction of a naughty character "Millie Mischief" was cancelled as (according to different Google sources) politically correct BBC chiefs were worried that the ethnicity of Miss Mischief would create further discontent with all viewers or that the 'bad' character would give children viewing 'a bad influence'.

And I always thought that The BBC’s duty was to portray and report real life!
(If that were so, however, Millie Mischief would then be a stereotypical drug dealing crack addict who mugged people or who unsafely prostituted herself to feed her habit and PC Plum would of course oust Miss Hoolie THE main character of the newly named CSI:Balamory)

Incidentally, the BBC cancelled the show in 2005. They cited that they wanted to experiment and create more new programme ideas. The production of a similar show 'Me Too' replaced Balamory, being based with a Child minder called Nanny Murray, instead of in a nursery school, this show has similar question marks over the same issues as Balamory


(*An example figure of 20,000 complainants would, of course, be made up of 5 people who actually saw the show and 19,995 who didn’t see the show, but complained because we have freedom of expression in The UK)

©TITVS-ADVXAS II-IV-MMIX