Yes, we definitely need more TV characters going green – but why has it taken so long?

Lisa Simpson may have been doing her bit for the environment as early as the Nineties, writes Charlotte Cripps, but the TV industry has waited to the last minute to show more characters taking climate action

'Lisa the Tree Hugger’ episode in season 12 of The Simpsons (2000) (20th Television)

TV characters who buy electric cars or go vegan will help change the public’s actions more than preachy guilt-tripping over global warming.

That is what a Sky report concluded at the Cop26 UN climate change conference in Glasgow this week. Sky’s chief executive, Dana Strong – who has herself been criticised for regularly commuting on a private plane from the US to the UK – presented the findings and called for climate action from the TV industry, urging them to drop in more TV characters doing their bit for the environment.

Also, Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Casualty, Doctors, Holby City and Hollyoaks have joined forces to highlight global warming to tie in with Cop26. There are climate-change-themed episodes and crossovers in the storylines, with some of the best-loved British soap characters popping up in other dramas.

The 12-year-old Bailey Baker tried to convince Karen Taylor to go vegan in EastEnders in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while Coronation Street’s Maria Connor got upset when she found out that a football field might be dug up to make space for a new motorway bypass. In the soap, her son has asthma that could have been caused by air pollution.

Hollyoaks fans went wild when Daniel Granger from the rival soap Doctors got a mention as Brooke Hathaway chatted to Ripley Lennox about plans for a sustainable fashion show in the village. As Ripley was close to giving up on the idea, Brooke showed a picture of Dr Daniel (Matthew Chambers). Brooke asked: “Do you know who this is? It’s Daniel Granger. He’s dressed up as World Warrior to raise awareness about recycling.

“He’s a doctor from Letherbridge – and an ordinary guy. If he can make a difference, so can we.”

It all looks very promising – but it got me thinking. Why has the TV industry left it until the last minute? Couldn’t TV dramas have made a point sooner of showing characters taking fewer flights and recycling waste?

It’s true we’ve recently had the BBC’s Climategate drama The Trick and Russell T Davies’s Years and Years, which followed a family amid global warming and political chaos. Lisa went vegetarian in The Simpsons in 1995, although that was because she bonded with a lamb at a petting zoo. Now we are heading for a catastrophe. It’s certainly time we saw more characters choosing that vegan burger – but why has it taken so long?

Yours,

Charlotte Cripps

Culture writer