Thursday, April 10, 2025

"I don't need to watch Casualty to know what's going on in the NHS," said Kemi Badenoch, when she was asked on the BBC if she had watched Adolescence yet. 

The presenters could not believe what they had heard. "Why would you not want to know what people are talking about?" 

Badenoch replied that the issues of toxic masculinity and smartphone use are "important issues and they are issues that I've been talking about for some time". She reminded her interviewers: "It's a fictional series."

"You're comparing Adolescence with Casualty: did you really mean to say that?" A surprising question from a BBC presenter, implying that a Netflix series is more important than a mere BBC soap opera. 

Badenoch really did mean to say that, and she is quite right too. 

Written by John Rentoul

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