Washington, May 7 (ANI): BBC's radio soap 'The Archers' has been accused of 'racial stereotyping' by portraying a newly introduced black character as a feckless womaniser.
IT worker Carl, whose Jamaican roots have been mentioned on the Radio 4 soap, is the new boyfriend of vicar's daughter Amy.
But listeners are being led to believe the character, played by Nicholas Bailey, is already married.
On the show's official BBC messageboard there are more than 90 comments discussing whether the only Afro-Caribbean character has been typecast as unfaithful.
One listener asked "is The Archers stereotyping Carl?" and complained: "I'm rather disappointed that when The Archers finally includes a male Afro-Caribbean character in ultra-white Ambridge, he turns out to be unfaithful to his wife - the inference being that he is a womaniser."
"Afro-Caribbean men, particularly men with Jamaican ethnicity, are very frequently portrayed on UK television as being serial adulterers.
"I was disappointed that by the third appearance of Carl on The Archers, he was already portrayed as an adulterer," the listener added.
Another fan of the show wrote: "Carl's given no opportunity to develop as a character before being saddled with the sadly predictable stereotype of a black male womaniser."
BBC messageboard also sees a regular listener as writing: "It makes me uncomfortable that black men are still too often seen as feckless layabouts with no morals."
At the end of last week, Carl broke up with Amy after she suggested they should move in together, although the writers claim their storyline is not yet done.
A spokesman for the BBC said the show had featured adulterers in the past, adding that Carl's plotline may yet reveal he has not been unfaithful.
"As some listeners have pointed out, The Archers is not immune to adulterers - and they come from many walks of life. But listeners will have to wait to find out whether Carl is one of them," the Daily Mail quoted the spokesman as stating.
It is not the first time the show has been accused of stereotyping, with listeners last year objecting to the portrayal of the show's prominent Scottish character Jack 'Jazzer' McCreary.
Radio 4's Feedback show was hit by complaints over the depiction of the fictional Scottish milkman a heavy drinking, car-stealing, drug-taking, cannabis-growing womanising Glaswegian who likes to eat porridge.
According to The Archers' official website, Carl is an IT worker who is currently in a relationship, although with how many women remains unclear.
It states: "Amy Franks hadn't had many serious boyfriends. But when she met Carl she fell for him in a big way. Carl works as IT manager for an engineering firm supplying components for the car industry. He has a flat in Felpersham but often returns at weekends to look after his absent parents' house and to see his elderly grandmother."
Speaking over the weekend, Bailey, said he understood the concerns raised about his character, but urged listeners not to draw conclusions until his plotline developed further.
"These things cross your mind because the stereotype of the philandering, young, black man has been around for a very long time," he said.
"I recognise the dangers, I really do. I understand why people are concerned. But Carl is an interesting, compelling, complex character. People have to wait before they can judge. Stick with the storyline and see how the character develops," he added. (ANI)
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