Hugh: Pay me same as Casualty Charlie
Holby star slams BBC over wages of ethnic talent
HOLBY City’s Hugh Quarshie claims that he should be on the same pay as Casualty’s Derek Thompson.
The black actor insist it’s not just women being underpaid by the BBC but ethnic talent as well.
The recent Beeb salary revelations showed that Quarshie, who has played Ric Griffin in the medical drama for 15 years, gets £150,000 to £199,000 a year.
That is the same wage as many of the EastEnders cast. But Thompson earns £350,000 to £399,000 for his role as veteran nurse Charlie Fairhead.
And Ghana-born Quarshie, 62, accuses the BBC of not being fair to black, Asian and minority ethnic –BAME – stars.
He said: “I didn’t know Derek earned double the amount of EastEnders’ cast. This plays into my hands. I can demand parity and a pay rise. As a BAME member, I shouldn’t be expected to take less. I should be up there with Derek.
“Only one in 10 of the highest-paid earners at the BBC is from an ethnic minority — it should be higher and it should be more even at the top level.”
The highest-ranked BAME earner is newsreader George Alagiah, who is in 25th place on £250,000 to £299,000. Quarshie added: “There needs to be a better balance, but it’s essential not to use this as ammunition to demand the BBC is cut further.” A BBC spokesman said: “It is clearly not possible to draw comparisons between characters in different shows running for different lengths of time.”