The Sunday Times May 1, 2022 2GN 3NEWS
She made her name playing a skinhead
factory worker in This is England, but
Vicky McClure said more television
shows need to be made by working-class
people because not enough programmes
show ordinary lives on screen.
“There’s not an awful lot out there at
the moment that I feel is representing the
everyday,” McClure said. “I don’t think
certain people live in the real world
because of privilege. They forget what it’s
like to deal with the mundane and the
struggle of the day-to-day.”
The Line of Duty star and her fiancé,
Jonny Owen, are attempting to change
that. The couple have launched a produc-
tion company, BYO [Build Your Own]
Films, that promises to tell working-class
stories and give jobs to those who do not
usually get the chance to work in TV.
She said stories about working people
“shouldn’t have to always be tragedy”.
McClure hailed The Royle Family as a
“great example of true relatability”,
while Owen said that watching Auf Wie-
dersehen Pet as a child made him think,
“I know that world, I recognise those
men and women because they’re all
around me”.
McClure, 38, who grew up in Notting-
ham, the daughter of a joiner and a hair-
dresser, is best known for starring as
no-nonsense officer Kate Fleming in the
BBC1 police drama and won a Bafta for
her portrayal of Lol Jenkins in This is
England. She won a place at a top acting
school in London but was unable to take
it up because her parents, Mick and
Carol, could not afford the fees.
Owen, 50, is a presenter on talkSPORT
and a sports columnist for The Sunday
Times, as well as acting in shows such as
Shameless and producing documentaries
on Nottingham Forest’s European Cup
victories and the Aberfan disaster. His
father was an electrician and his mother
a carer, and he was raised in Merthyr Tyd-
fil, a former mining town in south Wales.Liam Kelly Arts Correspondentrequired significant care,
therapy and training that
many firms were not
prepared to invest in.
Wakeman, who employs
former inmates at HM Pasties,
the Bolton bakery he founded
in 2017, said: “It just isn’t as
simple as ‘let’s take someone
out of prison and give them
the job’— it’s a much bigger
problem than that.”
@Laith_Al-Khalaf
Good news for prisoners,
James Timpson, page 25them how to fill out a CV or
practise having interviews.”
Victoria Atkins, the
minister for prisons, is
drawing up plans to roll out
employment advisory boards
that will link jails to
organisations that could offer
inmates jobs upon release.
Some remain sceptical of
the flurry of new businesses
that have pledged to take on
ex-offenders. Lee Wakeman,
46, was released from prison
in 1999 and said that
employing offendersprepare inmates for work
during their sentences.
“There are so many more
in prison who need to get jobs
but we are not matching them
with employers,” he said.
“The system is not working
well enough.”
However, he applauded
the government for trying to
change prison culture.
“They’re trying to make
prison more about
employment,” he added.
“That means training and
education, but also teachingsecurity for a City firm.
“Getting a decent job out of
prison gives you that point to
build your new life from,” he
said. He is also a mentor for
younger ex-offenders and
said that employment could
overcome stigma against
former prisoners.
“People don’t look at me as
an ex-offender any more —
they look at me as the guy
who has the great job in the
bank,” he said.
Timpson said that prisons
should be doing more topopulation in western
Europe at about 87,500 and
has high rates of recidivism,
with 39 per cent re-offending
within a year of release.
“Employment is the single
greatest route out of
reoffending and returning to
jail,” said Eva Hamilton,
founder of Key4life, a charity
that helps ex-prisoners
secure employment.
Hasan, 32, started using
the charity’s services halfway
through his four-year
sentence and now works inpub chain and Pret a Manger,
the sandwich shop, which
have all introduced schemes
to employ prison leavers.
Competition will only grow
as last week bosses from
companies including
TalkTalk, the telecoms group,
and the Murphy Group in
construction committed
themselves to employing
hundreds of former inmates.
Last year, nearly 35,
prisoners were released in
England, Scotland and Wales.
The UK has the largest prisonIn the sequel to the sitcom
Porridge, Norman Fletcher
played by Ronnie Barker
struggled to find fulfilling
work after a stint in prison.
Now former inmates are
finding their skills in such
demand that jails are running
out of prospective job
candidates.
Timpson, the high-street
key-cutter and cobbler, has
hired reformed prisoners for
20 years, but now faces stiffcompetition due to the
UK-wide labour shortage.
“For years, we could go to
prison and take all the best
people,” said James Timpson,
the chief executive. “Now
we’re seriously competing for
talent. While I think that’s a
really good thing, it makes it
harder for us.”
Timpson used to be the
only big employer that took
on former convicts, but now
it has to compete with
companies including Greggs,
the baker, the Greene KingLaith Al-KhalafIt can be
very
tough
to get a
foot in
the doorGet out of jail and go straight to work as employers battle to hire ex-prisoners
Actors from relatively wealthy
backgrounds dominate the profes-
sion, with much of the industry con-
centrated in London, drama schools
costing thousands of pounds in fees
and many people relying on introduc-
tions from friends and family to
get ahead. Some 73 per cent of perform-
ers come from middle-class back-
grounds, according to a 2016 study by
academics from the London School of
Economics and Goldsmiths, University
of London.
“It does pain me that lots of budding
actors and writers, and anybody within
this industry, can find it very tough to get
a foot in the door,” said McClure.
The issue is not confined to film and
TV. People from privileged backgrounds
are twice as likely to be employed in the
creative industries as those from work-
ing-class backgrounds, according to the
Creative Industries Policy and Evidence
Centre. Some 41 per cent of those work-
ing in film, TV, video and photography
are from privileged backgrounds while
only 28 per cent are working class.
Both McClure and Owen, who live in a
three-bedroom house in suburban Not-
tingham, still identify as being working
class. “I think I’m always going to carry a
chip on my shoulder because I’m just that
way inclined,” she said.
Owen said that their production com-
pany would try to film its projects outside
London “if we possibly can”, with local
writers, casts and crew.
The move by McClure and Owen is
likely to please Nadine Dorries, the cul-
ture secretary, who has made social
mobility in the arts a priority. “No matter
whose name you think of today that has
made it in theatre, TV and the arts, they
come from a pretty privileged back-
ground,” Dorries told The Sun in October.
Many of Britain’s best-known actors
studied at the most elite schools. Eddie
Redmayne, Dominic West, Damian
Lewis and Tom Hiddleston all went to
Eton. Benedict Cumberbatch attendedHarrow, and Rosamund Pike boarded at
Badminton School near Bristol.
McClure and Owen have sold a minor-
ity stake in the company to All3Media,
the production giant that also holds
stakes in Gogglebox-maker Studio Lam-
bert and Neal Street Productions, which
made 1917 and Call the Midwife.
Jane Turton, All3Media chief execu-
tive, said the couple’s commitment to
socio-economic and geographical diver-
sity was part of the reason to invest. “It’s
important we take action and don’t just
chat about it on panels,” she said.
BYO Films’s first venture, a co-produc-
tion with Left Bank Pictures, maker of
The Crown, is Without Sin, a psychologi-
cal thriller for ITV. The four-part series
stars McClure as Stella Tomlinson, whose
14-year-old daughter Molly is found dead
at their Nottingham home, and explores
the relationship with the man she sus-
pects murdered her. It is due to be broad-
cast later this year.
Without Sin, which was written by
Frances Poletti, a first-time screenwriter
from Nottingham, is a “working-class
story” that “feels very authentic” and
was cast predominantly with actors from
the Television Workshop, the drama
school in the city where McClure studied.
Owen said that there was some “push-
back” about casting and filming entirely
in Nottingham over fears that there
would not be enough personnel, but it
succeeded and was “planting a flag”.
The new company also has a slate
of concepts in the early stages of develop-
ment, including a political thriller
that McClure said is “forged from a very
working-class story”, as well as a travel
show, a sports documentary and period
drama.
Owen said that he was exploring doing
a documentary to chart the 40th anniver-
sary of the 1984 miners’ strike, which
affected the areas both he and McClure
grew up in, and would “love” to do a
period drama in the Welsh valleys.
@IamLiamKellyLine of Duty
star’s new
case: why
TV shows
are so posh
Slap on
sunscreen
or hot dogs
will sizzle
Anyone who has wrestled
sunscreen onto a toddler will
sympathise with a nation of
dog and cat owners who are
now being advised to apply it
to their pets.
The British Veterinary
Association is recommending
owners use an animal-specific
SPF30 suncream if their cat
or dog is exposed to the sun
for long periods.
Animal sunscreen creams,
mist sprays, wet wipes and
balms are now sold
everywhere from Pets at
Home to boutique pet shops.
Sales of dog-friendly
suncream rose by 24 per cent
last year compared to 2020,
Pets at Home said.
Vets insist sunscreen is
not a gimmick and is
particularly important for
certain breeds and colours of
cats and dogs.
Justine Shotton, president
of the BVA, said: “Any non-
pigmented and scarred
patches of skin or areas
covered by a finer hair coat,
such as ear tips, are
susceptible to sunburn. In the
case of chronic exposure, it
can even lead to potentially
dangerous skin cancers.”
Dalmatians, whippets,
white boxers, white English
bull terriers and beagles
are among the most
commonly affected breeds,
Shotton said.
“The best way to prevent
sunburn is to avoid excessive
sunlight exposure but, if that
isn’t possible, you should
apply pet-appropriate
sunscreen 10 to 15 minutes
before exposure. If pet-safe
products are hard to find,
hypoallergenic or baby
human products may be
suitable instead,” she added.
Cats that enjoy sunbathing
could be at risk of sunburn,
Shotton warned, with blue-
eyed, white-haired cats the
most susceptible.
The BVA suggests using a
waterproof sunscreen with
an SPF of 30 or above that
contains titanium dioxide,
which blocks UV rays. It also
advises avoiding creams with
zinc oxide, as ingestion can
lead to zinc toxicity.
The insurer Petplan said
another ingredient to avoid is
para-aminobenzoic acid
(Paba) as it can also be toxic.
Brian Faulkner, a vet and
expert for Petplan, said pet
sunscreen can make “a real
difference” — even if it is
eventually licked off. “Vet
bills for skin-related issues
can stack up quickly,” he
warned.
Editorial, page 24Louise Eccles
Consumer Affairs EditorVicky McClure and her fiancé have set up
a production company to get more
working-class actors onto our screens
Vicky McClure, pictured
above with partner Jonny
Owen, in This is England,
above left, and as DI Kate
Fleming in Line of Duty, leftANDREW FOX FOR THE SUNDAY TIMESThe first rule of women’s ‘No’ club... never offer to make the coffee at work
The main factor holding
women back in the workplace
is employers and male
colleagues expecting them to
do the bulk of tasks that do
not contribute to career
advancement, according to a
new book by four female
academics.
The authors of The No
Club: Putting a Stop to
Women’s Dead-End Work
argue that female staff are
disadvantaged by spending
too much time on tasks
including sitting on
committees, taking notes and
training junior colleagues, as
well as “office housework”
such as getting coffees and
organising leaving dos or
birthday cakes.
Professors Linda Babcock,
Lise Vesterlund, Brenda
Peyser and Laurie Weingartcall this work “non-
promotable tasks” (NPTs) —
or plain old “crappy tasks”.
They say a solution is for
women to set up “No” clubs,
where they can get advice
and pep talks from female
friends and colleagues on
how to refuse such work, and
discuss strategies to make
employers distribute these
jobs more fairly.
Babcock, 60, the James M
Walton professor of
economics at Carnegie
Mellon University in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
said: “People have tried all
sorts of things to improve the
advancement of women but
we feel that this is the biggest
factor and we’ve been
missing it: it’s how people
spend their time at every
minute of every day at work.
“If women aren’t given the
jobs that are really going to
make them productive [and]they’re sidelined with these
non-promotable tasks, all the
other stuff we’re doing to
promote them won’t work.”
The quartet analysed how
staff at an unnamed
professional-services firm
used their time and found
senior and junior women
spent 200 more hours per
year than the average male
employee on non-promotable
work — equivalent to about a
month’s labour.
They argue that these tasks
exist in all types of jobs, from
bartending — where female
employees are more often
called upon to train new staff,
preventing them from
receiving more tips — to
schools, where female
teachers do more classroom
work while their male
counterparts spend more
time on managerial tasks,
enhancing their chances of
being promoted.Many of these tasks are
“invisible”, Babcock added,
which means organisations
only notice when they are not
done. According to their
research, women do the bulk
of this work for two reasons:
they are more likely to be
asked and to say yes.
Vesterlund, 55, a professor
of economics at the
University of Pittsburgh, said
it boiled down to
expectations. “Women were
doing this work not because
they enjoyed it or were better
at it, but because [employers
and colleagues] expected
them to. Organisations are
losing out by letting this
happen because they are
giving this work to the people
who will do it, not the people
who will be best at it.”
The research showed that
bosses and colleagues judged
that women were not
collegiate if they did notvolunteer for these tasks, but
that men did not tend to
receive the same censure.
Women were also more likely
to feel guilty or anxious if
they declined the jobs.
“When we’re in an awful
meeting where an assignment
is given that no one wants,
there’ll be people at that table
who feel no stress, because
they know someone else will
come forward,” added
Vesterlund. “Whereas a lot of
women in that situation feel
stressed and anxious about
who will take it on and
ultimately end up coming
forward. The emotions we
see are very different because
one gender is expected to
come forward, and the other
one isn’t.”
Babcock, Vesterlund,
Peyser and Weingart, a
business professor at
Carnegie Mellon, created
their own No club 12 yearsago as they felt overwhelmed
by seemingly endless to-do
lists. Most of these tasks, they
found, were essential to the
functioning of their
workplaces but hindered
their careers, as they ate into
time that could have been
spent on more productive
work.
Babcock first had the idea
for the club when she realised
that a male colleague was
spending much more time
than her on the part of
the job on which they were
both evaluated — research —
while she was attending
seemingly “endless”
committee meetings.
Meanwhile, Peyser, who was
a professor of
communications at Carnegie
Mellon, was waking up at
4.30am to deal with emails in
order to prevent her inbox
getting even more
backlogged.Rosamund Urwin
Media EditorFemale staff have to spend
too much time organising
leaving dos or birthday cakesLaurie Weingart, Lise Vesterlund, Linda Babcock and
Brenda Peyser want minor tasks distributed more fairlySALLY MAXSON/CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY