[...] I’m no linguist – nor do I play one on TV, but it can be fun to have a dig around in their world. I’ve been doing a bit of research. [...]

Here’s a bit of a head-start for the people playing at home. The (US) National Science Foundation has a publication called the Science and Engineering Indicators 2002. While it is quite dated, it contains an relevant figure:

Alastair,

sorry

So you should be!

Umm, how about builders? There’s lots of them and you hardly ever see them on TV (except for Xander in Buffy).

Bob the Builder. Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Bit roles in adverts. I agree, they may well be under-represented because of the sheer numbers.

Sales Reps?

Cadillac Men. Lots of adverts.

Shopkeepers?

Open All Hours. Clerks. Does Mr Hooper in Sesame Street still count?

The Unemployed?

Your strategy is a good one. Go for the occupations (I’ll count “unemployed” here) that are so popular in real-life that they are under-represented on TV.

However, If someone can come up with an occupation that rarer than “unemployed” (but still popular enough known for people to accept it as a valid occupation) and that occupation never appears on TV, who should get the prize?

One suggestion I received: actuaries. Ever seen one on TV?

A TV show about linguists? How cunning! (sorry)

Umm, how about builders? There’s lots of them and you hardly ever see them on TV (except for Xander in Buffy).

Sales Reps? Shopkeepers? The Unemployed?