The English North-South

Divide and Its Place in

Comedy Television

Jordan Andersen

3 Introduction

5 Part One – The Physical Divide

6 Introduction

7 Geological

11 Historical

19 Conclusion

21 Part Two – The Wider Contexts

22 Introduction

23 Social, Political & Economical

24 Conclusion

25 Part Three – The Underlying Theory

26 Introduction

27 Stereotypes & Superiority Theory

30 Conclusion

31 Part Four – The Case Studies

32 Introduction

33 Monty Python’s Flying Circus

34 At Last the 1948 Show

35 Would I Lie to You?

37 QI

38 Not Going Out

39 Conclusion

41 Conclusion

43 Bibliography

Introduction

In this portfolio I plan to look at the English north-south divide and

its place in comedy television. First I will define the actual divide

between the north and south of England, looking at a number of

different lines of division, both geographically and historically.

Following that I will look at the wider contexts that must be taken

into consideration when thinking about the north-south divide.

These will include political, economical and social aspects that

differentiate two regions. Next I will examine the underlying theory

to determine why the north-south divide is a popular theme in

English comedy. Finally I will be providing a number of case studies

which will look at how all of this comes together in examples of

television sitcoms, panel shows and sketch shows.

The line connecting the River Tees and River Exe divides the country

with secondary and tertiary rocks mostly in the south and harder,

older rocks in the north.

The first dividing line between the North and South of England is a

ridge of Jurassic limestone dating from the Mesozoic geologic period.

The ridge begins around the Hambleton and Cleveland Hills and is the

foundation for the Fosse Way, a Roman road which runs from Lincoln

to Lyme Bay. To the north of this line is higher ground which is most

suited to pastoral farming and to the south is lower ground, most

suitable for arable farming.

Through numerous archaeological excavations it has been discovered

that areas north-west of a line from Dorset to Lincolnshire used

coinage even during the Iron Age, and decorated pottery was used

predominantly south of a line from the River Trent to the River

Severn.

The Romans divided England into Britannia Superior in the south and

Britannia Inferior in the north, with the capitals of these two

provinces being Londinium (London) and Eboracum (York)

respectively.

When the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain, the Saxons dominated the

south while the Angles divided their land into Northumbria, north of

the Humber, and Mercia, south of the Humber.

In the 1240’s land which was returned to the state having no heirs to

claim it, was officially divided by being either north or south of the

River Trent. In London government these areas were known as Ultra

and Citra Trentam. The line also served to divide the royal forest

administration into north and south.

All the information used to construct these maps was found in Helen

M. Jewell’s “The North-South Divide : The Origins of Northern

Consciousness in England” (1994).

Factoring in each of these lines of division between the north and

south, I have decided to use a line that runs from the Humber in the

North-east to the River Severn in the South-west as my point of

reference throughout this portfolio. Therefore when I refer to

something as being in the north or a person as being northern it will

mean areas above this line and vice-versa for the south and southern

people.

Conclusion

Part Two: The Wider Contexts

Introduction

By further studying the north-south divide politically, economically

and socially, I hope to establish a better understanding of it and how

it has come to be so influential that is frequently used as a humorous

device on television.

- Margaret Thatcher unbalanced the economy and created a

wider north-south divide. She introduced the Poll tax (now

the Council tax) and closed the mining pits, which was the

main source of income for men in the north. She sold off all

the national assets; rail, coal, gas, electricity etc., which

brought the country out of the recession Labour had put it

in.

- Typically the north tends to favour the Labour party while

the south tends to favour the Conservative party.

- Stereotypes of each party voter align with stereotypes of the

northerner and southerner.

- Class is also a factor in party preference and stereotypically

differs between north and south, with the north often been

portrayed as working class and the south as middle class.

Conclusion

The result of contextualising our subject is grounding it in a

background knowledge that has allowed us to more easily apply it to

humour theory and comedy texts.

Part Three: The Underlying Theory

The popularity of the North-South divide as a comedic theme

comes from its reliance on stereotypes and how each region is

represented.

A stereotype is formed when one characteristic is applied to a

whole group. This idea perpetuates and comes to be widely

accepted. When used in comedy, a stereotype can become a

grotesque caricature, where the humour comes from both seeing

the grain of truth in the stereotype and acknowledging it is an

exaggeration. Stereotypes are often connotated as being untrue

and negative representations of the group of people in question

but this is not always the case. They are not always about

oppressed or minority groups and they can be held about a

person’s own group. Stereotypes are not static, they can and do

change over time.

The meaning and reception of a stereotype used for the purpose

of humour can change depending on the institution delivering it

and the audience which is receiving it. A joke about a northern

stereotype can produce different meanings to northern and

southern audiences and also depending on whether it is told by a

northern or southern comic. Therefore we can determine that

within the north-south divide theme in comedy there are two

main areas from which humour can be derived; superiority over

stereotypes of the opposite region and acknowledgement of

stereotypes of the audiences own region.

The idea that pleasure can be derived from a feeling of

superiority has been commented on by both Plato and Aristotle

but the underlying concept of what has now been developed into

the superiority theory was first brought together by Thomas

Hobbes. He said, “the passion of laughter is nothing else but

sudden glory arising from a sudden conception of some eminency

in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others” (1812).

We can see this within the north-south theme when, for example,

a northern audience finds humour in a southern character is

mocked for being out of touch with „real‟ life or when a southern

audience finds humour in a northern character being made to

appear unintelligent; the audience feels superior to the stereotype

portrayed and so finds it humorous.

These feelings of superiority can lead to power issues between the

two groups and the argument of who has the right to this power

can be debated through comedy. Comedy can therefore be used

to provide a social snapshot as “stereotypes illustrate crucial

power relations and attitudes towards categories of people in a

particular society at a given time.” (McQueen, 1998).

They can be used to quickly convey characterisation to an

audience when time is limited, as it is in television when a

character must be established within a matter of minutes. In

“Television: A Media Student’s Guide” (1998), David McQueen

describes this as “a kind of shorthand which involves various

easily recognizable types and conventions”. These conventions

McQueen mentions can include aspects such as dialect, ideology,

appearance and mannerisms, all of which are often used to

portray the difference between characters from the North and

South.

Part Four: The Case Studies

Finally I will apply everything I have looked at so far to a number of

sketch shows, panel shows and sitcoms to show how it plays a part in

English television.

Introduction

(17:00 -20:00)

Family with a Yorkshire accent

Actually come from London

Son leaves home to be a coalminer in Barnsley

Father is a writer

Roles reversed; generational and regional differences

‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ (Sex & Violence)

In this sketch the four actors play men from Yorkshire, illustrated

by their broad accents and dialects, who have become successful

and are now competing over who had the hardest upbringing.

This plays on the northern stereotype of being proud of their

humble origins and exaggerating it to the effect of making it seem

that the next generation has life far easier. Both a northern and

southern audience can take pleasure from this sketch as it invites

them to laugh both at and with the men.

‘At Last the 1948 Show’ (The Four Yorkshiremen)

Two team captains - North vs. South

David Mitchell

Southern

Well educated

Out of touch with 'normal' life

Camp

High culture

Lee Mack

Northern

Unsophisticated

Broad accent

Gritty

Low culture

‘Would I Lie to You?’

'Posh/common' aspects emphasised with each of the tasks

they are asked to do in opposition to each other

Mack is made to tell a story about him losing to a

chimpanzee at swing ball whereas Mitchell talks about his

special travel dressing gown.

The two are made out to be moronic and pompous

respectively

The two team captains are binary oppositions of one

another

Superiority theory can be applied to this text as Mack and

Mitchell take it in turns to appear superior to the other as the

show progresses.

North South Other

17 43 18

The total number of different guests to have appeared on the

panel show, 'QI' is seventy-eight. This means that the percentage

of guests to be northern, southern and other nationalities are

approximately 13%, 34% and 14% respectively (allowing for

rounding up). Furthermore there have been roughly two and a

half times more southern guests as northern guests.

‘QI’

In 'Not Going Out' the main characters, Lee and Tim, represent

stereotypical northern and southern men. They act as binary

oppositions of each other and dialogue between the two often

revolves around them mocking each other for attaining to their

region's stereotypes. Lee is made out to be unintelligent,

unsophisticated and lazy. Tim on the other hand is well spoken,

effeminate and out of touch with 'real' life.

‘Not Going Out’

These case studies have shown how humour is derived not only from

the mocking of stereotypes of the opposite region or acknowledgement

of stereotypes of the audience’s own region but also that these

stereotypes can be played around with and still be effective.

Conclusion

Conclusion

The aim of this portfolio was to examine the north-south divide in

England geographically and historically, politically, economically,

socially and in terms of its place as a theme in comedy on television.

I believe these aims have not been met and that a dependency on

each other has been established between the aspects.

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