Thursday night’s episode of Question time, which was filmed in Dundee, has sparked online backlash over the panel and audience make-up.
Social media was awash with comments from viewers claiming that the BBC current afffairs show had an anti SNP and EU bias.
Another criticism was that very few of the panellists and audience members were from the city and that the show “did not reflect Dundee”.
The panel for the current affairs programme has been announced as Ruth Davidson, Jenny Marra, John Swinney, Willie Rennie, Patrick Harvie and the Daily Telegraph’s Timothy Stanley.
Hi #bbcqt are you sure you're in Dundee? You've managed to find an incredible number of Tories and Brexiteers for your audience.
— Pete Wishart (@PeteWishart) March 10, 2016
Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart tweeted: “Hi #bbcqt are you sure you’re in Dundee? You’ve managed to find an incredible number of Tories and Brexiteers for your audience.”
#bbcqt Is it too much to expect a Question Time audience in Dundee to include some actual people from Dundee?
— scott watson (@Scottdundee) March 10, 2016
Twitter user Scott Watson said: “Is it too much to expect a Question Time audience in Dundee to include some actual people from Dundee?”
Christopher Neill added: “The Question Time audience last night did not reflect the Dundee I know and love. Appalling.”
Mark Harper described the show as an “SNP hatefest”.
He said: “Last night’s BBC Question Time from Dundee was an SNP hatefest without anyone who was actually from Dundee by the sound of those accents.
“Swinney was the only panellist not allowed to finish a point without being interrupted and two audience members were failed Labour candidates and they were among the few allowed to ask questions!”
John Watt added: “A complete and utter disgrace of a pro-union political programme this evening with a loaded unionist heavy member panel and audience and questions.”
A BBC spokeswoman said “Question Time audiences are always selected in accordance with our guidelines on fairness and impartiality, and this week was no different.
“We are careful to select audiences which are politically balanced and reflect a range of political views.
“Every member of this audience was a Scottish resident and from Dundee or the surrounding area. They are chosen because they hold a spectrum of views on a number of topics, including the EU referendum and Scottish independence.”
The spokeswoman explained that one of the audience members was an English man who moved to Dundee because he supported independence.
See Saturday’s edition of The Courier for more on this story.