Remote controls of the new class war | thearticle

TV has become part of the new culture wars that are dividing Britain. Increasingly you can tell someone’s class or cultural background from the TV channels they watch. There was always an

element of this. If you watched ITV in the 1970s or 80s you were more likely to be working class. If you watched BBC2 or Channel 4 you were more likely to be middle class. Of course, there

were exceptions. ITV programmes like _The World at War, Weekend World_ and _The South Bank Show_, or dramas like _The Named Civil Servant _and _Bill Brand _successfully crossed the class

divide.   But these divides have taken on a new dimension over the past decade. They have not just intensified – they have acquired a dramatic new twist thanks to Netflix. And this new twist

reflects larger changes in British society. In his book _The Road to Somewhere_, David Goodhart wrote that British society was increasingly becoming a story of the Anywheres and the

Somewheres. The Anywheres are cosmopolitan, middle class, mostly from the south-east, concentrated in London and university towns, who feel at home anywhere. They increasingly send their

children abroad to university, may have second homes in southern France or northern Italy, watch European films and read European fiction. This is the heartland of Remain. The Somewheres are

less well-off, less well-educated, have been hit hard by globalisation, but, crucially, feel more grounded in Britain and particular ideas of Englishness and are more likely to read English

books and watch British films. What has this got to do with TV? The answer is that TV has increasingly become part of this cultural divide. The Anywheres increasingly watch Netflix, Amazon

Prime, HBO and Sky Atlantic. They are abandoning British-made TV programmes in favour of American comedy and drama. Not the old 1970s detective shows, but sophisticated highbrow comedy like

_The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel_ and _Curb Your Enthusiasm_, dramas like _The assassination of Gianni Versace, The Crown _and _The Americans _and strange new hybrids like _Russian Doll_. Of

course, British viewers have watched American shows for decades, going back to _Bonanza _and _Perry Mason_. Three things have changed. First, the sheer quantity of American output. Second,

the range of genres and the kind of programmes. But there’s a third change. The Anywheres are not just watching American TV. They are watching and talking about European and Israeli shows.

People on social media must be baffled by the references to a new Netflix show called _Shtisel_. This is the ultimate in niche viewing. 24 episodes about a Jewish orthodox family (the

Shtisels) living in a Jewish orthodox neighbourhood in Jerusalem. It’s been such a hit that Netflix are developing an American spin-off about Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn. Then there’s the

Israeli drama, _Prisoners of War_. Never heard of it? You may have seen an American FBI series, _Homeland, _with Damian Lewis and Claire Danes. That was based on _Prisoners of War. _ There

are popular European shows too which have had a big impact.  There’s the new French TV show about a talent agency, _Call My Agent! _(_Dix Pour cent_ in France_)_ or the much darker drama

series, _The Returned_, about a group of people who come back to their Alpine village and discover that they’ve been dead for several years. Or there’s the German drama series, _Dark_,

Netflix’s first German-language production, or the six-part Cold War thriller, _The Same Sky _(_Der Gleiche Himmel_). _Roma _was the first Netflix drama to break into the movies and get

nominated for Academy Awards.   The Somewheres don’t go near such programmes. They largely remain loyal to British programming: cops ‘n’ docs dramas, popular comedy, talent shows, reality TV

and soaps. Of course, increasingly, they too are abandoning terrestrial TV. Not just for Sky but countless other digital channels, for movies, nature programmes, history channels. The

crucial point is that by and large they’re not watching the same programmes, or even the same channels, as Anywheres. Not only do Anywheres send their children to different kinds of schools,

go to private hospitals, different holiday locations, read different kinds of books. They now watch different TV programmes on different TV channels. The BBC and ITV are desperately

struggling to keep this audience. But it’s too late. A big chunk of the British TV audience – young, well-educated, well-off, cosmopolitan – are abandoning British-made programmes in droves.

It’s the latest battle in the culture wars, part of the growing divide in British society. In politics it’s reflected in Brexit and the new populism. But it’s everywhere in our culture and

the latest battlefield is in our sitting rooms.