BBC under fire from top TV producer over Scouse stereotypes in crime dramas: 'Wake up and smell the coffee!'

The producer behind Derry Girls and Have I Got News for You explained that three recent BBC dramas set in Liverpool - The Responder, This City is Ours and The Cage - all feature cocaine as a central plot element.

"The most identifying factor in them and they are all really good, by the way, is that they all have a bag of cocaine in them," Mr Mulville stated on his Insiders podcast.

Despite conceding that he was impressed by the quality of each production, he expressed concern about their collective effect on perceptions of the city.

"For goodness sake, BBC drama, wake up and smell the coffee," Mr Mulville urged commissioners.

Mr Mulville revealed that he currently has a romantic comedy pitch centred on two middle-aged Liverpudlians that he cannot get commissioned.

"I think the mistake is that it hasn't got a bag of cocaine in it, so I'm going to phone the writer to say, 'Stick a bag of cocaine in it on page three'," he joked.

"Then the BBC will lap it up because they think, 'Liverpool coke dealers let's do it'."

The producer, who grew up in Walton and attended Alsop High School, said he was dismayed by how BBC executives perceive the north of England.

Peter Fincham, former BBC One controller and current co-chief executive of Expectation TV, echoed these sentiments.

"The point you're making is that you don't see dramas about happy law-abiding people in Liverpool who are law-abiding, smiley citizens like most people are," Mr Fincham observed.

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The criticism comes amid broader concerns about the BBC's regional representation.

A report published by the corporation in January warned that it remained disconnected from communities outside the M25 and from working-class audiences.

The review examining how the UK is portrayed in BBC content found accusations of a "London-centric" mindset that alienates significant portions of the country.

Audience research indicated perceptions persist that the broadcaster favours middle-class perspectives, with power concentrated in the capital.

The report's authors recommended stationing commissioners permanently at regional bases rather than having them commute for occasional visits.

In response to Mr Mulville's criticism, the BBC defended its output, telling The Times: "BBC Drama proudly commissions a broader range of drama than anyone else in the UK and the crime genre is a hugely popular part of our offer to audiences."

GB News has contacted the BBC for further comment on the claims.

The corporation also noted that both The Responder and This City is Ours were written by award-winning Liverpool-born writers Tony Schumacher and Stephen Butchard.

The BBC has faced similar accusations of stereotyping Scousers in the past. When the drama series Waterloo Road introduced the Barry family — criminal and disruptive characters from Liverpool — BBC Radio Merseyside received numerous complaints from angry viewers.

The fictional family featured a single mother whose children had been expelled from previous schools for assaulting teachers, with their father serving time in prison.

George McKane, founder of Liverpool youth charity Yellow House, condemned the portrayal as "terribly lazy writing" that relied on "outdated negative stereotypes".

"These characters do not represent the people of Liverpool, and it's offensive and closed-minded to pigeonhole Liverpudlians in this way," Mr McKane said in 2013.

Mr Mulville offered his own wry observation: "I know from personal experience that it's possible to spend a whole day in Liverpool and not see anyone stash a bag of coke into the boot of a Ford Fiesta."