70 Years of Black TV Drama in Britain

Writer: Stephen Bourne

Introduction | A Sort of Magic | 1960s – Enoch and Alf | 1970 and Beyond | Conclusion | Find Out More

Introduction

I used to wish that Norman Beaton, star of Channel 4's popular comedy series Desmond's, would be given a starring role in a major television drama that would bring him a Best Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Norman passed away in 1994. He never won a BAFTA. Since TV categories were introduced in 1954, no Black actor has ever been nominated. Not even Marianne Jean-Baptiste for her portrayal of Doreen Lawrence in Granada's The Murder of Stephen Lawrence (1999).

Norman Beaton in Channel 4's Desmond's Channel 4

Seventy years of British television and there are still no high profile dramas showcasing Black British talent. The kind of programme that is given three or four pages of coverage in the Radio Times. We have yet to see BBC2 serialise an adaptation of E. R. Braithwaite's autobiographical novel To Sir, With Love that doesn't use the story as a vehicle for a Hollywood star, but casts a British actor like David Harewood as the Guyanese teacher, in a rough school in the East End of London in 1950s Britain. Will ITV1 ever produce a major musical drama based on the rise to international stardom of the Cardiff-born singer Shirley Bassey? There is enough drama, music and camp spectacle in Shirley's life to fill an entire series. However the minimum could be a two-hour special with maybe Angela Griffin mouthing to early Shirley chart toppers like 'Kiss Me, Honey Honey' and 'Goldfinger'. There are so many stories to tell, and so many Black British actors to tell them, so why aren't we seeing them?

A Sort of Magic >