TV’S Vigil lets inequality go under radar
PATERSON Joseph won plaudits for his role as the commander of a nuclear sub in Vigil – but the diverse cast of the TV series is far from accurate, Royal Navy figures show.
There are only 33 black sailors among the 4,992 people employed as submariners – just 0.7 per cent of the total.
And the number of black submariners who have made it into the officer ranks is thought to be a paltry three out of the total of 1,046 (0.3 per cent).
In the BBC One show, Joseph played Vigil Commander Neil Newsome. The role of the sub’s medical officer Lt Tiffany Docherty went to Asian actor Anjli Mohindra – yet in real life just 10 of the unit’s 1,046 officers (1 per cent) are recorded as being Asian.
White sailors make up 98 per cent of people deployed to submarines and they have been appointed to 1,020 of the 1,046 officer roles in the underwater division. Earlier this year, MOD data showed not a single person from an ethnic minority had been handed a promotion to the top military ranks in the past five years. All 140 officers in the highest ranks were recorded as being white – meaning that every Admiral, Vice Admiral and Rear Admiral in the Navy; every single General, Lieutenant General and Major General in the Army; and every Air Chief Marshall, Air Marshall and Air Vicemarshall in the RAF are recorded as being white.
A Royal Navy spokesman said: “Defence is at its best when it is diverse and we continue to increase the number of people from ethnic minority backgrounds, women and LGBTQ individuals who serve through initiatives such as lateral entry and promoting membership of equality organisations.”