The BBC has been branded “stupid” after controversially casting black and ethnic minority actors in their latest Tudor-period drama.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light airs on BBC this weekend, and is an adaptation of author Dame Hilary Mantel’s trilogy series.
The first season of the drama, which aired in 2015, did not feature any actors of black or mixed heritage.
However, show bosses have claimed that Mantel “supported” the decision before her death in 2022.
Henry Bolton hit out at BBC’s casting for new series Wolf Hall, urging them to ‘keep history what it is’
GB News / BBC
Hitting out at the decision, black writer and artist Sonya Douglas scolded the broadcaster’s “jaw-achingly stupid” casting, claiming that it portrays a “simplistically multicultural Ye Olde England”.
Speaking on GB News, former UKIP leader Henry Bolton urged the BBC to “keep history as it is”, and that Britain “has a problem with portraying history in its correct sense”.
Bolton fumed: “Some of these shows depart so much from historical context anyway that maybe it doesn’t make any difference. But you can’t change history.
“If the motivation is to make a political point, then I think it is it’s wrong. And I think actually we should keep history to what it is.”
The cast of the latest season of Wolf Hall features actors of black and ethnic minorities
BBC
Delivering her verdict on the decision, former Labour official Halima Khan claimed that the BBC are “stupid across the board”, suggesting there may be a “hidden agenda” behind the casting.
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Khan told GB News: “Generally speaking across the board, BBC is jaw-droppingly stupid anyways, they have their own agendas for everything. They’re incapable of criticising Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and they’ve always been incapable of criticising him.
“If this is what people are getting outraged about, and quite rightly, more stories about people of colour should be portrayed.”
However, Khan highlighted that many historical figures have been portrayed by diverse actors for “many years” in Hollywood, and if the BBC was choosing “the best actors for the role”, she “doesn’t see an issue with it”.
Khan added: “What I find kind of tedious about people finding this stupid, Jesus was portrayed by somebody who’s half Slovak and half Irish. Moses was portrayed in the Exodus by an Englishman.
Halima Khan claimed that the BBC are ‘stupid across the board’
GB News
“Same with Anne Boleyn, she was portrayed by Natalie Portman, who is Jewish. So if this is the one thing that’s getting people angry, then there’s something deeper within that rage.”
In slight agreement with Khan, Bolton concluded: “What I worry about is that these dramas are being used as a vehicle for a political agenda. We shouldn’t be trying to make a political point out of this.
“If you’re putting together a cast for a show, a film or a series or whatever it might be, you have to choose the best actors to suit those roles. But obviously this is a slightly different thing. You want good actors, of course, but do you ignore some of the historical context?”
Colin Callender, founder of the Wolf Hall producer Playground, said: “The world has changed since the first series.
“We felt that diverse casting was appropriate and something we should and wanted to do. It’s as simple as that.”