One of the Sunday Times's quotes of the week comes from Sir Lenny Henry:
“They would rather have a dog do Doctor Who than a black person”
The actor Sir Lenny Henry is not optimistic that BBC bosses would consider an application from him to play the Doctor.
I doubt that Sir Lenny is right about that. I suspect that the famously 'woke'-friendly BBC would love to have a black person as Doctor Who - and, after the first female Doctor departs, I'm betting they appoint one. And, further, I suspect their reasons for turning down Sir Lenny's application would have nothing to do with race.
Another comment from the David Lammy school of diplomacy. Why does such a successful person have such a chip on his shoulder. I wish I'd had a quarter of the opportunities he's had.
ReplyDeleteGuilt? - he appeared on The Black and White Minstrel Show, to advance his career in the early days.
DeleteLenny Henry has received huge support from the BBC in his career as a comedian (he did used to be mildly amusing long ago) and latterly a not very good actor. I haven't paid much attention to the acting career but I get the impression he's been getting worse, which is a bit odd.
I am sure as Craig says, the BBC are desperate to have a black actor take over Dr Who and I am sure there are plenty of very competent black actors who could take over the role.
It would be nice if Dr Who went back to doing sci-fi instead of PC whatever the pigmentation.
Unfortunately there are no black actors available at the moment as they are fully-booked by the advertising agencies.
DeleteThe nice thing about dogs, as opposed to Henry/Lammy, is that they don't bite the hand that feeds them.
Whenever Henry's career is flagging, he plays the race card, effectively blackmailing the guilt-ridden PC classes into doing his bidding - in this case, " 'Gi's a job!' "
DeleteWell it wouldnt be Guy Gibson's dog.
ReplyDeleteSorry Unknown- you posted your comment as I was typing mine!
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