Even Black British TV shows have been uncommon with just a handful in the 70s through to the 90s and a few in the last couple of decades but none that are considered mainstream today.īritish Asians make up more than 7% of the UK population, with around 0.7% being Chinese and even less for other East and Southeast Asian minorities, while the Black British population stands at more than 3%. Most soap operas have a number of South Asian actors in roles but the last Chinese character on a soap appeared on Coronation Street for a total of four measly months in 2011 (after the stereotypical sham marriage to gain citizenship storyline, which followed on from the even more stereotypical Chinese character in Eastenders from 2006-2007 who sold fake DVDs). The main cast of the short-lived Girl/Haji, a British crime thriller series from 2019 that featured a predominantly ethnic Japanese or Japanese-born cast but also included half-British, half-Japanese actor Will Sharpe (far left)īut will this ever change? South Asians got a surge in their amount of on-screen representation in the late 90s and early 00s with TV sitcoms Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No.42 as well as films such as East is East and Bend It Like Beckham (all of which won several prestigious awards), but before that they had little prominence bar a few faces. Aside from these, the number of shows with even one or more British East Asian actors in more than minor roles are almost non-existent (the latest being Filipino-born actress Kim Adis in the co-starring main role of Kitty Wei in BBC iPlayer series from 2020 Get Even the first British show with a Southeast Asian lead). Both Spirit Warriors and Strangers only lasted one series each in 20, respectively, with the former being aimed at children shown on CBBC. The Chinese Detective was shown in the 1980s so much of the younger generation – myself included – will not have heard of or seen it. Unfortunately, while these shows broke casting barriers, they have been far and few between. They are the first British TV shows that feature either a cast with a number of East Asian characters and actors (L: Strangers, co-starring Harry Potter actress Katie Leung), a predominantly all East Asian cast (M: Benedict Wong – also famous for playing Wong in the MCU – and Jessica Henwick in Spirit Warriors), and the first British TV show to feature an East Asian lead (David Yip in The Chinese Detective). In the above picture, do you recognise any of the characters, actors or TV shows? If you don’t, that is extremely unsurprising but I don’t blame you.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |