TV boss says lack of female representation is ‘unacceptable’.

Finally, the BBC is doing something about the gross under-representation of talented women on their embarrassment of testosterone-fuelled panel shows.

In an interview with the Observer last week, the BBC’s director of television output, Danny Cohen, said the BBC needed to get more women on screen, and it would be beginning with its prolific panel show format.

“We’re not going to have panel shows on any more with no women on them. You can’t do that. It’s not acceptable,” he said.

Shows such as QI, Mock the Week and Have I Got News For You have been banned from booking all-male guest lists in the future.

The new decree, which comes following recommendations from the BBC Trust last year and the introduction of new sex-representation objectives, requires at least one woman be booked on each of the corporation’s panel show programmes.

A spokesperson confirmed that episodes already filmed with all-male panels would still be shown, but any programmes filmed from now on would contain a female panellist or host.

“There may be very rare occasions where shows that were already recorded… still have all-male line-ups, but hopefully the change should really become apparent,” they said.

And about time too.

I have long given up watching Mock the Week, which just seems to be an excuse for the same old (male) comedians to reaffirm their masculinity by attempting to out-wit or out-weird each other.

One problem with most of the panel shows that just run and run on our screens today is that they’re filled with the same faces – which are invariably male and white.

Flick from channel to channel and the same (male) guests are recycled time and time again – much as I love David Mitchell, I’m really getting quite tired of seeing him on every single panel show going.

Both Jo Brand and Victoria Wood have criticised comedy panel shows in the past for their boys-club air.

Back in 2009, Victoria Wood told the Radio Times that shows like Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Have I Got News for You were “male-dominated” and “testosterone-fuelled”.

“A lot of panel programmes are very male-dominated, because they rely on men topping each other, or sparring with each other, which is not generally a very female thing,” she said.

At the same time, Jo Brand said: “I don’t do Mock The Week any more and neither do some male standups I know who have tried it once. We just didn’t like the prospect of having to bite someone’s foot off before they let us say something.”

Caitlin Moran has said she turned down all the big panel shows because she refused to be “the token woman”.

“I think that’s a boys’ game that works for boys. It’s not like they built it to screw women over, it’s just that boys built it so they made it to work for boys. If I go on there as a token woman, it’s not going to work for me,” she explained.

The worry with the BBC’s new rule is that it will lead to just that; token women – probably the same old faces – being wheeled out to make up the quota.

I don’t buy the argument that women aren’t funny enough, that there just isn’t the talent out there to match the male comedy ‘geniuses’ that clog up the never-ending run of TV-filler panel shows.

I’m sure there are plenty of smart, witty women on the comedy circuit who could easily out-wit all of the D-list male ‘talent’ the TV-viewing public is subjected to on a regular basis (does anyone really think xxx is funny?!)

Bridget Christie, Roisin Conaty, Sara Pascoe, Isy Suttie. Just a few there.

And to all the ‘PC-gone-mad ‘ brigade: unfortunately we can’t just sit back and hope that over time the situation will correct itself. Unless up-and-coming female talent can see examples of women making it in the mainstream media, how can they aspire to it?

I really hope that the BBC will use this an an opportunity to unearth some exciting new talent, and give airtime to a greater diversity of views and opinions, rather than just tokenism.

They should really be aiming for more than just one woman – one woman cannot and does not represent the voice of over half the population, even if at times she is expected to.