{"id":20810,"date":"2022-08-24T20:11:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T18:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1698121"},"modified":"2022-08-24T20:22:13","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T18:22:13","slug":"armando-iannucci-dismisses-doctor-who-woke-criticism-backs-colourblind-casting","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/armando-iannucci-dismisses-doctor-who-woke-criticism-backs-colourblind-casting\/","title":{"rendered":"Armando Iannucci dismisses Doctor Who \u201cwoke\u201d criticism, backs \u201ccolourblind\u201d casting"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 24 August 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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The Thick of It creator Armando Iannucci has argued for more \u201ccolourblind\u201d casting in TV and film, saying more diversity on-screen \u201cmakes what we make better\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking at this year\u2019s Edinburgh International TV Festival, Iannucci also addressed those who\u2019d labelled the BBC\u2019s Doctor Who<\/a> as \u201cwoke\u201d following its cast of first a woman \u2013 Jodie Whittaker \u2013 and more recently a Black man \u2013 Ncuti Gatwa<\/a> \u2013 in the lead role.<\/p>\n

Iannucci was speaking at the MacTaggart Legacy panel which saw the BAFTA-winning writer appear alongside writer\/producer Jack Thorne, British historian and broadcaster David Olusoga OBE, and Channel 4\u2019s former Head of News and Current Affairs Dorothy Byrne, with all four revisiting the MacTaggart lectures they\u2019d each delivered at previous editions of the Edinburgh TV Festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn all of our respective lectures, we were really talking about\u2026 British television is great, we want it to be even better, and it can only be better if it\u2019s much more reflective of who we are, as a country and as an audience,\u201d said Iannucci.<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cI\u2019m always very wary of the word \u2018minority\u2019, because it sounds like we\u2019re trying to be niche \u2013 we\u2019re not, we\u2019re trying to be expansive, we\u2019re trying to be more honest about what we are as a country.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dev Patel in The Personal History of David Copperfield<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Iannucci referenced one of his own projects, 2019 film The Personal History of David Copperfield (which starred Dev Patel as the title character) as an example of how \u201ccolourblind\u201d casting can leave a filmmaker feeling \u201cliberated\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to go for colourblind casting, which is just something that\u2019s been in the theatre for years. It was an enormous relief. I felt liberated, I didn\u2019t feel I was ticking boxes.\u00a0 I just felt, \u2018my God, why have I not had access to 100 per cent of the acting community [previously]?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really enjoyable step forward, it\u2019s not difficult. It makes what we make better.\u201d<\/p>

Iannucci went on to dismiss criticisms that the practice is \u201cwoke\u201d, singling out Doctor Who as an example of diverse casting. \u201cMy worry is that there is now this word \u2018woke\u2019 that the government has weaponised to try and stop all that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want someone to ask [Conservative MP and Prime Ministerial candidate] Liz Truss, \u2018Do you want Doctor Who just to be a white man?\u2019 \u2013 I\u2019ve got to see what her response, because that\u2019s the thing that\u2019s referred to as \u2018woke\u2019, the Doctor Who debate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more coverage from the Edinburgh International TV Festival 2022:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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