Non-white cast for BBC drama

THE BBC is to screen its first period drama featuring an entirely non-white cast after securing the rights to A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth’s novel set in postcolonial India.

The book will be adapted into a lavish eight-part series with a script from Andrew Davies, the screenwriter whose hits include the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin

Firth. Filming begins later this year and it is expected to occupy the Sunday night slot reserved for popular costume dramas such as Poldark.

The announcement follows a warning from Ofcom, the BBC’s regulator, that its television output is too white and fails to appeal to ethnic minorities.

Piers Wenger, BBC head of drama, described the novel as a “classic” and said: “I have a real confidence that a mainstream audience will just revel in it and enjoy its difference.”