The star of BBC’s Murder is Easy says he is not a fan of “colour-blind casting” – even though the original Agatha Christie character he plays has been changed from white to Black.
David Jonsson is set to play the protagonist in tonight’s BBC adaptation of the novel. Jonsson said he initially turned down the chance to star in the programme.
In a reworking of Christie’s book, Luke Fitzwilliam has been changed from a retired police officer to a Nigerian who has newly arrived in the UK. The team behind the new adaptation, which also stars Downton Abbey’s Penelope Wilton, say it has been “embedded” with “themes of dying empire, power, and the desire for independence, political and personal.”
Screenwriter Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre wanted the drama to look into the experiences of Black immigrants in the UK. It will feature Fitzwilliam as he socialises in a West African Education Centre.
There he is accused of “collaborating with opressors” as he works for a boss branded a “colonial butcher.” Fitzwilliam is quizzed on whether he would be better helping people “gain independence back home”.
Speaking to MailOnline, Jonsson said: “I’m not a big fan of colour-blind casting … to be blind to anything is not a good thing. So I think I said no and they were quite persistent”
Jonsson said speaking to show bosses made him realise they weren’t being “blind to anything”.
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