I REMEMBER THE SWASTIKAS AND THE SKINHEADS
mum, Doreen Lawrence, in ITV’s follow-up three-part series to their 1999 film, The Murder Of Stephen Lawrence. ‘I remember being chased by skinheads. I must have only been about seven or eight. I remember seeing swastika signs in my area without truly . knowing what they were. There was always this element of racism and people shouting horrible words to you – these were grown men shouting racist abuse at a child.’ Stephen, which aired its first episode on Monday, is an unflinching look at what came after the Macpherson Report of 1999 as Doreen battled to get justice for her son, despite reluctance from the Metropolitan Police to investigate the case.
Stepping into the shoes of someone so well-known is difficult, though Whyte, who shone in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe, stands out in the role. What impression did she have of Stephen’s mum?
‘She was a grown-up woman to me,’ says Whyte. ‘She was a mother. She was someone who I could see had sheer determination in her eyes, a single-mindedness to get justice for her child. And I remember watching her in awe as a teenager myself. Years later I was able to get into her as a character, which I did by listening to the music she chose on Desert Island Discs a few years ago [in 2012], and that’s how I got into her head.’
Set in 2006, Stephen looks at the police work that went into securing a conviction against two of the five men who were involved in the crime.
‘We need to see these stories and not brush them under the carpet,’ Whyte insists. ‘This is part of our reality and part of British culture and history, and it will never go away. The amount of change Doreen brought about in the Metropolitan Police in terms of policing is incredible, the changes that have been made, but there’s still lots of work to be done.
‘There have been more recent tragedies involving the police and racism. We have Mark Duggan, who was tragically shot [dead by police in Tottenham in 2011]. I can’t apologise that