Lenny: They’d let a dog play Dr Who before a black man
HE is set to trade quips with Doctor Who when the Time Lord returns on New Year’s Day.
But Sir Lenny Henry has claimed that producers are more likely to cast a dog than a black person in the BBC series’ lead role.
The 61-year-old questioned why a black actor has never landed the part of Doctor Who, which is currently being played by a woman for the first time.
‘I want to do more acting. I’m in Doctor Who. Why have we never had a black Doctor Who?’, he asked during a talk in London hosted by Colourful Radio’s Jacqueline Malcolm. ‘They would rather have a dog do Doctor Who than a black person,’ Sir Lenny claimed.
The role of the alien time-traveller had always gone to a white man until Jodie Whittaker, 37, took over last year. In 2016, the series’ former showrunner Steven Moffat said the lead role had indeed been offered to a black actor, only for the casting deal to fall through.
Despite his claims about Doctor Who, Sir Lenny insisted a black actor should not be cast as James Bond – because black people need to ‘make up our own heroes’.
He said: ‘Black Bond my backside. Why make a black Bond? We need to make something up ourselves.’
He added: ‘If you’re a new person of colour in this industry and you’ve just started, I hear horror stories about how people can’t get a foot in the door. You need Stormzy and Idris [Elba] there with you kicking down the door.’