Star Glenister berates TV bosses for giving older actresses ‘dowdy’ roles

ASHES To Ashes star Philip Glenister has hit out at TV bosses for pandering to younger viewers and for casting older women in “dowdy” roles.

In comments that would never have come from the mouth of his politically incorrect alter-ego Gene Hunt, Glenister, 48, criticised the way older women are portrayed on the small screen.

The star, who played tough-talking DCI Hunt in Life On Mars and its spin-off Ashes To Ashes, said that it was “much harder for actresses of a certain age”.

Asked whether he would swap roles with his wife, the 41-year-old X-Men: First Class actress Beth Goddard, Glenister said: “She is [gorgeous], I know.

“But too often if a woman is over a certain age, drama says you have to be dowdy, which is ludicrous. I don’t understand why people are desperate to get kids to watch TV – don’t forget them, obviously, but don’t pander to them either.

“Don’t forget your core audience.”