Happy Valley's Sarah Lancashire 'breached BBC guidelines' over TV ad
Happy Valley's Sarah Lancashire 'breached BBC guidelines' over TV ad
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Happy Valley's actress Sarah Lancashire appeared to 'breach' BBC guidelines over an advert she did for Yorkshire Tea. The actress, known for her BAFTA-winning role as police officer Catherine Cawood, found herself in hot water over an ad. After three series as the headstrong copper with a past, Sarah's newest gig as a security guard in the Northern tea's commercial appears to have caused a ripple concerning the public service broadcaster and its super strict guidelines on mimicking their characters.
In the minute-long advert, security guard Sarah starts a serious investigation into a missing packet of biscuits, questioning office workers in a no-nonsense effort to find the criminal. The commercial peaks as Sarah-the-security-guard realises she is the guilty party, having ate all the biscuits herself.
Though Yorkshire Tea has tried to differentiate office guard from police officer, its undeniable who's character Sarah was drawing from - in typical Cawood fashion, defying the Beeb's guide of Actors and Artists Replicating Their BBC Roles in Other Outputs.
It has yet to be reported whether permission was asked or granted for the similar role, however, the regulation states that "actors and artists who perform in BBC output should not appear in promotional work, including advertisements, in a way which mimics or replicates their on-air roles for the BBC".
An example of this is Nick Knowles' role in a 2021 Shreddies cereal advert where he appeared as a 'helpful builder'. Knowles was then threatened to face being cut from his show DIY SOS altogether. Having presented the show since 1999, Nick responded by promising to sack his management over the ordeal - according to sources closest to him.
