A 77-year-old actor has accused television producers of relying on "insulting" stereotypes when portraying older people on screen, a complaint that comes as a new industry report finds many viewers aged 55 and over feel overlooked by modern programming.
Chris Conil, who has worked as an extra on shows including EastEnders, Silent Witness and The Bill, said older characters are too often reduced to "grumpy, feeble or comic relief" and that broadcasters are prioritising younger audiences at the expense of the nation's most frequent viewers. The criticism coincides with "The Upper Third" report from the Freeview channel network Great!, which surveyed adults across the UK and found a substantial proportion of mature viewers feel ignored by contemporary television.
The Great! study, which involved 2,092 respondents aged 18 to over 75 and a separate survey of 2,060 people aged 55 and over conducted in August 2025, found that more than a quarter (26 percent) of the over-55s feel forgotten by today's TV producers despite watching more television than any other age group. The report said the average viewing time for the group is three hours and 42 minutes a day. It also reported that 85 percent of over-55s felt they were not portrayed positively on television, rising to 89 percent for women over 75, and that 63 percent believe older actors in modern dramas tend to play offensive, stereotypical roles.
Conil, a former baker who later ran a retirement home with his wife and turned to acting in later life, said broadcasters and writers underestimate the "richness" of mature lives. "Ageing is a chapter, not the final page," he said. "We are like fine wine, matured, but still with flavour. When you uncork us, there is anticipation, richness and character. That is what producers should be showing." He added that arts and culture programmes that assume older viewers can follow complexity should be the benchmark and that mature audiences represent "decades of purchasing power, cultural sophistication, and viewing loyalty."
Conil praised a handful of recent productions for their cross-generational appeal, citing BBC police drama Happy Valley and the comedy The Vicar of Dibley, and described Netflix's adaptation of Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club as "a good start" for creating roles for more mature actors. He said he would like to see dramas and comedies give older characters fuller stories rather than treating them as "cardboard cut-outs" or the "butt of the joke."
The findings prompted Great! to relaunch and rebrand its channel network with a stated aim of serving viewers who say they have been left behind. Great! — which operates Great! TV, Great! Action, Great! Mystery and, most recently, Great! Christmas — reintroduced its service on Freeview channel 34 on Sept. 4, programming classic and well-known series such as Rising Damp, Murder, She Wrote and the Carry On films. The network said recent scheduling on the five terrestrial channels showed just nine classic shows in a week, representing less than 5 percent of total programming, a figure it presented as evidence of shrinking availability of older titles.
Kate Gartland, marketing director at Great!, said the relaunch was driven by audience feedback. "Britain's most loyal TV viewers are 'not young', and so they're being routinely ignored by broadcasters," she said. "Our core audiences are telling us loud and clear they feel left behind and want somewhere to watch their favourite shows — and that's exactly what we're giving them at Great! We curate our channels to celebrate the shows our audiences want, just how they want them."
Industry commentators and broadcasters have in recent years debated how to balance content aimed at younger audiences with programming that serves older demographics, who continue to account for sizable portions of linear television viewing. The Great! report underscores that tension, reporting both the high average viewing time among the over-55s and their negative perceptions of on-screen representation.
Conil, who has sung and played guitar in informal settings and has worked as a commercial model and local councillor, said his own varied life informed his view that television too often ignores the eccentricity, history and social bonds he sees among older people in retirement homes. He said television plays an "integral" part in residents' lives, helping to keep memories alive, and argued that treating older viewers with respect would build loyalty.
Great!'s relaunch positions the network to offer classic and mainstream titles that the operator says will resonate with mature audiences. Whether other broadcasters will respond by commissioning or airing more diverse, nuanced portrayals of older adults remains a point of contention among viewers and advocacy groups who have campaigned for broader representation on screen.