Go Back To Where You Came From has been a controversial new addition to Channel 4 – and viewers have not been left impressed.
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Go Back To Where You Came From is a new controversial series on Channel 4 (Image: Channel 4)
“Winston b*****d Churchill would be rolling in his f***ing grave.”
That was the first sentence uttered by one of the participants in controversial new series Go Back To Where You Came From, who then says he’d send the Royal Navy to put landmines in the English Channel to blow up small boats carrying asylum seekers.
In a cheesy montage, the six public figures are seen dragging their suitcases through the stony landscape of the white cliffs of Dover as they each take their turn giving a shocking soundbite.
“I don’t believe in that 72 gender b*****ks”, “This country is going to be taken over by Islam” and “I get called a flap guzzler”, are just some of the views aired in the first few minutes.
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Where I first heard the premise of this new Channel 4 show, I thought it could be an innovative way to open up the conversation about immigration, a hot-bed topic that has divided the nation for years.
Bushra was not happy with Dave’s comments (Image: Channel 4 )
But I was immediately left disappointed by what I found on my TV screen as I settled in to watch. This show is clearly a clickbait nightmare, with the focus on chucking around inflammatory statements cued to dramatic music rather than actually having a sensible and informed dialogue.
The show seemed more intent on making melodrama in its first few minutes, showing the stars being driven through Syria with armed guards in a Jeep before they get stopped at a checkpoint.
Cue the intense music and classic scuffling camera as the show desperately tries to build some tension… until two seconds later, when they make their way past security without any issue.
The first debate about racism and stereotyping takes place 15 minutes into the first episode, with Dave from Barnsley telling Bushra he sometimes calls Muslims “Muzzos”, before quickly insisting it’s “just a joke” when she takes offence.
Go Back To Where You Came From has sparked backlash already (Image: Channel 4)
In a piece to camera, Bushra responds by saying that she thinks a large portion of Brits are “as thick as s**t and ignorant.”
To me, that is not a productive debate – it is just inflammatory name-calling which I’m sure is more intended to get viewers at home riled up over both sides of the argument than to produce any insightful thinking.
You don’t get to see any sort of resolution to the awkward moment between the pair, as the show then just moves onto the next car and another tense but brief debate ensues.
Shows like this, if done correctly, could be great tools for sparking a healthy conversation between two opposing opiniona, and encourage people to open their minds to see people from other peoples’ points of view.
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But for me, it completely misses the mark and seems more intent on shock value than serious debate.
I’m hoping that the first episode was deliberately produced to be an inflammatory cesspit of bigotry to try and spark a response from the viewer, but I’ve got a bad feeling I’ll just be seeing more of the same.
However, Express.co.uk revealed that the producers were only keen to feature people who were open to changing their minds, so watch this space to see if the dialogue can be improved.
I won’t be holding my breath…
