Mal Fletcher comments

Media producers - and especially drama producers - have long maintained that rather than shaping cultural values they merely reflect those that already exist. This is nonsense.

If you reflect a particular viewpoint for long enough, you will reinforce it. That's especially true if you do so using powerful stories that feature relatable and engaging characters who are sympathetically portrayed.

On the whole, this social engineering via media is arguably more evident among ultra-leftist writers and producers. This may be because their views chime more readily with the politically correct zeitgeist. Or it may simply be that they're far more skilled at winning production commissions.

Whatever the reasons, right-leaning 'engineers' are less common in the mainstream media marketplace, which may be another reason why the Midsommer Murders story has drawn such attention. It suggests a hard-right-leaning viewpoint, as opposed to an ultra-left one.

The views expressed are clearly out of step with majority British opinion. Yet they may be no less disagreeable than other views we find presented in TV drama; specifically, those presenting an ultra-liberal stance on everything from politics to social responsibility, privacy, personal choice and religion.

In the end, we shouldn't be so politically correct as to expect every TV show to mirror reality - very few do.

Yet we should hold programme-makers accountable if they deliberately set out to reinforce stereotypes that offend or exclude large sections of the population - whether their champions are ultra-liberal or ultra-conservative.