Racially diverse cast to play Anglo-Saxons in BBC drama

[The_DADDY]

Anglo-Saxons will be played by a diverse cast in a new BBC historical drama about the Battle of Hastings.

 

The eight-part series King and Conqueror will tell the story of Harold and William’s epoch-defining struggle for the throne of England in 1066.

Some Anglo-Saxon characters, including a real 11th-century leader, will be played by a diverse set of actors.

 

Jason Forbes and Elander Moore have joined the cast of the drama which boasts James Norton and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in starring roles.

 

Adding diversity to a high medieval period setting follows the BBC’s “colour-blind” casting of non-white stars as Tudor courtiers in another upcoming historical drama, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light.

King and Conqueror is a CBS Studios co-production series acquired by the BBC.

When announced in 2023, CBS Studios executive Lindsey Martin said the scripts would offer “a bold and fresh take on a story that has endured for nearly 1,000 years”.

 

Your thoughts?

 

https://www.msn.com/en-ie/entertainment/movies/racially-diverse-cast-to-play-anglo-saxons-in-bbc-drama/ar-BB1pyStz

[redruby]

What would happen if an historical drama about African people had white people playing black Africans?  I have a feeling it would be considered offensive.  But maybe I am wrong?

[hackey lad]

11 minutes ago, redruby said:

What would happen if an historical drama about African people had white people playing black Africans?  I have a feeling it would be considered offensive.  But maybe I am wrong?

Shhh .

[lavery549@yahoo]

Sorry , this drives me nuts now . It's getting ridiculous . 

[Norbert]

I think it's great, and considering how much migration there was in't olden days even accurate e.g. the Amesbury Archer.

[cressida]

55 minutes ago, lavery549@yahoo said:

Sorry , this drives me nuts now . It's getting ridiculous . 

I prefer  authenticity

[redruby]

5 minutes ago, Norbert said:

I think it's great, and considering how much migration there was in't olden days even accurate e.g. the Amesbury Archer.

Well if you go back to Mesolithic times, people were dark skinned and blue eyed https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/cheddar-man-mesolithic-britain-blue-eyed-boy.html

 

And there were a few black people in England in Roman and Anglo Saxon times https://digventures.com/2020/10/africans-ancient-britain/amp/

 

But I think it’s pushing it a bit to suggest it was commonplace in Anglo Saxon England.

 

And I suspect it would be considered offensive to have white people playing black people in a historical drama.  But as I said, maybe I’m wrong there, I stand to be corrected.  It’s just my hunch.

[redruby]

Oh, and also I remember seeing a Shakespeare play a few years ago where they had women playing some of the male characters.  To me, it just felt wrong.  I suppose on the other hand men used to play the female characters in Shakespeare’s day as acting was deemed unsuitable for women.  The more things change, the more they stay the same I guess…

[despritdan]

This rewriting of history was one of the themes of '1984' by George Orwell and is becoming increasingly common. I'm watching 'The Great' set in the court of Peter the Great in 18th century Russia in which about a quarter of the cast are black or Asian and it's absurd. It seems to be part of a scheme to brainwash us into thinking Europe has always been as multicultural as it is now. Black people are quick to complain about what they see as cultural appropriation but it's fine when it's the other way round.

 

[RollingJ]

@despritdan - how true!