LETTER OF THE MONTH
Fact and fiction
While I agree with Fern Riddell that we shouldn’t treat audiences of historical dramas as stupid (The Conversation, Christmas), most people in any audience are not as well-versed in the subject as the programme-makers.
Period dramas such as are based on real people and real events. The actors are chosen, in part, because they look like the real people and use the same accents and mannerisms. Audiences are entitled to expect that if what they are watching is not a documentary, then it is at least a reconstruction of those people’s lives. Fictitious storylines involving real people debase such and .
