Fair play, ITV

I wrote to ITV the other night after the episode in which "Mel Morton" and her PC friend were attacked in Manchester. The closing credits declared the attackers to be 'Chavs' (number 1 to 4 I think). It caught my eye because I don't like the word, its frequent use and the underlying criticism of working class culture.

Corrie is better than most TV shows at giving a fair depiction of working class characters. But the associations between chav and violence are weak. The wikipedia entry specifically states "youth and aggression are not the defining attributes of a 'chav". These were just criminals (none had any other role in the show) and should have been described as such.

This response from ITV may miss the point slightly, but that they've responded in a timely fashion and in a sensible manner makes me feel much better about the show and shows that they take such things seriously.