\u201cI grew up in Nottingham, and I was at college at the time. And we\u2019d heard about it \u2013 for some reason, I\u2019ve got myself at a bus stop [in my memory]. A bus stop. I think because we were always at this bus stop, chatting after college, but I do remember that we were just all scared. You were scared for your friends who looked like Stephen. We were the same age, we listened to the same music.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It was while waiting for a bus, across the country in South East London, that Black British teenager Stephen Lawrence was killed on the evening of 22nd April 1993, in a racially motivated attack. Whyte, who plays Stephen\u2019s mother Doreen Lawrence in the upcoming drama Stephen<\/a>, also lives in South East London. <\/span><\/p>\n Speaking over Zoom, she tells me that she lives not far away from Well Hall Road in\u00a0Eltham, the site of the attack. However, she found the idea of visiting the road for research \u201ctoo upsetting\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve driven past it, and I had planned to go and visit,\u201d she explains. \u201cI just couldn\u2019t actually bring myself to do it, I couldn\u2019t\u2026 I just think I found the whole thing too upsetting.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Stephen is the follow-up to ITV\u2019s landmark drama series The Murder of Stephen Lawrence. The Lawrences\u2019 campaign for justice would bring about a public inquiry which branded the Metropolitan Police institutionally racist, resulting in lasting changes in the law.<\/span><\/p>\n The sequel is set in 2006, beginning with a turning point in the investigation into Stephen\u2019s murder. We follow DCI Clive Driscoll, who volunteers to take on the case (widely regarded as a poisoned chalice by many of Clive\u2019s colleagues in the Met). Clive \u2013 working closely with the Lawrences \u2013 puts together an investigation that finally secures the convictions of two of the perpetrators, more than 18 years after Stephen\u2019s murder.<\/span><\/p>\n By the early Noughties, as Whyte puts it, \u201cDoreen is very well-versed in dealing with the Met,\u201d adding, \u201cShe\u2019s still filled with rage, but it\u2019s just a quieter burning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n That quiet rage was a \u201ctricky emotional space\u201d for Whyte to inhabit. Almost 30 years have passed now since Stephen Lawrence\u2019s murder, and within that time Whyte has transitioned from being a college student of a similar age to Stephen, to being a mother with a teenage son.<\/span><\/p>\n Becoming Doreen on-screen \u201cwas very taxing,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve got a son who\u2019s a similar age to Stephen at the time of, you know, the time Doreen lost her son\u2026 It was quite an intense few weeks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Why does Whyte think that the Stephen Lawrence case resonates with so many? She considers her answer carefully. \u201cIf it\u2019s about what\u2019s so special about Stephen, this is just a young man who had aspirations and dreams, like any other child of any colour, [and] was just trying to get on with his life and wanted to be an architect. And the fact that he was taken down so brutally and unprepared. That\u2019s what makes it special.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other thing that makes it special is that it really highlighted the shortcomings of the Metropolitan Police at that time. It highlighted corruption, and it highlighted institutional racism. So it was a very important part of British history. Is Stephen Lawrence special? Yes, he is. Because he\u2019s just a normal guy, and I think that\u2019s why a lot of people could relate. It could be anybody\u2019s son that was slain in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n In episode one, Doreen meets DCI Clive Driscoll, played by Alan Partridge actor Steve Coogan. It\u2019s a tense meeting. At this point in the story, Doreen has lost all faith in the police. Meanwhile Clive has been nervously watching televised interviews with Doreen ahead of their meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n In normal circumstances, Whyte tells me, she or Coogan would have lightened the mood in-between takes.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI think both Steve and I are naturally quite affable people. If it wasn\u2019t for this, we\u2019d be joking about it, messing about, [but] because it\u2019s so serious, we felt a huge responsibility to tell this story. We were just immersed in the scenes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Coogan seems, on paper at least, an unusual choice for a show like this. I ask Whyte what she thought of his casting.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe can lend the slightly quirky, humorous \u2013 I feel like he was trying to have a slightly humorous side to Clive\u2026 There\u2019s something about his persona that he gave to Clive that makes him accessible,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Many viewers will likewise know Whyte from a more comedic role in The Story of Tracy Beaker, in which she played Jenny, a strict care worker with a secret loathing for her colleague. However, her last two projects, Stephen and the BBC anthology series Small Axe<\/a>, have been far more serious in tone. (She jokes that she\u2019s hoping a comedy will come her way soon.)<\/span><\/p>\n In the Small Axe episode \u201cEducation\u201d, she played <\/span>Agnes Smith, a <\/span>West Indian mother struggling to secure the education her son deserves against the backdrop of an unofficial segregation policy in the British education system. The episode was loosely inspired by creator Steve McQueen\u2019s own school experiences. \u201cFor me to play, essentially, Steve\u2019s version of Steve\u2019s mum is a real blessing,\u201d says Whyte.<\/span><\/p>\n On the similarities between Agnes and Doreen Lawrence, she says: \u201cI did go straight from one woman who is fighting for justice for her son [in Small Axe], to another woman who is fighting for justice for her son, which shows that there is obviously some link,\u201d she says. That link, she adds, is \u201cthe colour of\u2026 the women\u2019s skin and where they come from and their background.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n However, \u201csomeone like Agnes Smith is Doreen\u2019s ancestor in a way. She would have come just before Doreen. So Doreen is standing on the shoulders of someone like Agnes, [giving her]\u2026 the confidence and drive to know that she can fight for justice for her kid the same way that Agnes did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The real Lawrences gave their full blessing to the TV series. However, although Coogan reached out to the real-life former DCI Clive Driscoll<\/a> as part of his research for the role, Whyte tells me that she preferred not to speak to Doreen for the series. She wanted the creative license to create her own version of the character. What\u2019s more, she \u201cdidn\u2019t want to bring up the trauma of her son\u2019s murder,\u201d believing that Baroness Doreen Lawrence \u201cspeaks about it enough\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Shows like Stephen and Small Axe are both period dramas, but the issues they raise are still timely, says Whyte, particularly in the context of Black Lives Matter and the killing of George Floyd. She hopes that down the line, there\u2019ll be an appetite not only for stories about injustices towards the Black community, but \u201clighter\u201d stories about normal, everyday problems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s an appetite for stories that reflect parts of the Black community, but at the same time, it\u2019s not always sad stories that need to be told of the Black community. It doesn\u2019t have to be some sort of struggle porn or misery porn,\u201d she says. \u201cHopefully there\u2019ll be a time where stories will get lighter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Stephen will start on Monday 30th August at 9pm on ITV.\u00a0<\/strong>The series consists of three episodes and is a sequel to ITV\u2019s The Murder of Stephen Lawrence. <\/strong><\/p>\n Visit our TV Guide<\/a> to see what\u2019s on tonight,\u00a0or check out the rest of our Drama<\/a> coverage. And if you liked this Big RT Interview<\/a>, head over to the section for more exclusive chats with the biggest stars.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Small Axe star on playing Doreen Lawrence in ITV drama Stephen, inspired by the police investigation into Stephen Lawrence’s murder. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":3661,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/sharlene-whyte-on-new-itv-drama-stephen-it-couldve-been-anyones-son.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/sharlene-whyte-on-new-itv-drama-stephen-it-couldve-been-anyones-son-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/sharlene-whyte-on-new-itv-drama-stephen-it-couldve-been-anyones-son-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/sharlene-whyte-on-new-itv-drama-stephen-it-couldve-been-anyones-son.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/sharlene-whyte-on-new-itv-drama-stephen-it-couldve-been-anyones-son.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/sharlene-whyte-on-new-itv-drama-stephen-it-couldve-been-anyones-son.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/sharlene-whyte-on-new-itv-drama-stephen-it-couldve-been-anyones-son.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Small Axe star on playing Doreen Lawrence in ITV drama Stephen, inspired by the police investigation into Stephen Lawrence's murder.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/3660"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Stephen\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/stephen_lawrence-68435b6.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"stephen_lawrence\"\\"")
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