'I'm sad about it...' Legendary actress Sheila Hancock shares what she thinks is wrong with TV
Dame Sheila Hancock believes we are being robbed of communal TV moments because there is too much to watch due to streaming services and endless channels.
Dame Sheila Hancock says television is being ruined by having "too many channels".
The 92-year-old acting legend believes streaming services and the sheer volume of broadcasters means that people are now longer united by what they watched the night before.
Sheila says this means that great shows are not getting the audiences they deserve.
Appearing on the 'Distinct Nostalgia' podcast, she said: "I'm sad about it. I think there are too many channels. You just don't know where to go or what to look at. Sometimes very good shows get low audiences.
"I think it used to be wonderful - and I'm sounding like an old fart now - when you used to discuss a show the following night.
"My grandchildren are flicking through things and they see a bit of something and they have one line of news which is totally wrong. I do worry about it."
Sheila starred as Carole Taylor in early 1960s sitcom 'The Rag Trade' which followed the staff at London clothing workshop Fenner's Fashions.
The comedy highlighted issues such as gender differences in the work place and the "class war" and Miriam Karlin's shop steward character Patricia "Paddy" Fleming became famous thanks to her catchphrase "everybody out!" which was mimicked all over the UK.
Sheila says those communal joys are being lost because millions of Brits are all watching completely different things and it is causing a lack of understanding of one another.
She said: "When we did 'The Rag Trade' you couldn't walk down the street without everybody saying 'everybody out' to us. The whole country had it as its catchphrase.
"It was a marvellous and funny show about women in charge, the men being nowhere, and it was discussed endlessly. You'd find people talking and taking moral stances, even.
"I think our great danger in society now is that we are so fragmented, we don't understand one another in the way that we did."
Sheila's incredible career has spanned seven decades and seen her have starring roles across television, film and the theatre. In 2007, she won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her role in 'Cabaret'.
Sheila has only had one brief soap role playing Barbara Owen - the mother of Steve Owen, who was played by Martin Kemp - in 'EastEnders' for three episodes in 2000.
Although she only appeared in three episodes, it remains a favourite role of Sheila's and she thinks that the UK makes the best soap operas in the world.
She said: "I think we should be very proud of our soaps. And a lot of actors have gone from soaps to being very successful in the wider market as well after learning their craft.
"I love it. It's drama at its best, for me. I'm very socially committed.
"In our society at the moment there are certain areas and certain people that we have no idea what their lives are like, and lies are made up and we don't sympathise with people, because we shut ourselves off. I think the soaps, particularly 'EastEnders', does a wonderful job with that because it's multi-cultural, it's absolutely not frightened of saying things and I think it tackles mega subjects very well."
