All-black Square

[Perdita]

TONIGHT’S EastEnders will feature an all-black cast for the first time.
The BBC has not advertised the fact the episode will not include a white character for the first time in the soap’s 23 years.

But The Sun has seen a recording and can reveal it revolves around the Trueman family, without a word from a non-black barmaid, shopkeeper or passer-by.

The Albert Square script includes references to civil rights leader Martin Luther King, “coloureds”, “negroes” and the racist 1950s slogan Keep Britain White. The episode starts with Chelsea, played by Tiana Benjamin, going on a date with Theo (Rolan Bell), who claims to be researching a book about the 1958 Notting Hill race riots.

She discovers through him that Patrick (Rudolph Walker) was arrested on an assault charge during the violence and tries to quiz him about it. He then reflects on the racism he encountered when he first arrived in Britain. At one stage it is said that things have improved for black people in Britain and there is less racism.

But Chelsea says: “Have they? It’s still there, though. It might not be as obvious as it once was, but we all know.”

Most of the episode is set at the Truemans’ house, but even scenes in the cafe and the Queen Vic do not include shots of white characters. An insider said: “The Trueman family do have strong storylines at the moment, but this is more than that. It’s clearly very much a deliberate decision to have an all-black cast. But the question is, why? And why not publicise it?

“If you’re going to make a deliberately political statement by doing this, at least have the balls to announce it first.

“It’s almost as if they changed their mind.”

A synopsis of the episode on the BBC’s website does not mention the issue of race.



A PAEDOPHILE storyline in EastEnders, involving Bianca’s ex Tony abusing her 15-year-old stepdaughter, was cleared of breaching broadcasting rules by watchdog Ofcom yesterday.

[Perdita]

EastEnders bosses this afternoon defended claims that they deliberately avoided promoting tonight's episode, which features an all-black cast for the first time in the show's history.

This evening's instalment of the Walford-based drama revolves around the Trueman and Fox families and the secret that mysterious newcomer Theo Kelly (Rolan Bell) is keeping from Patrick (Rudolph Walker).

During the episode, Theo meets with Chelsea (Tiana Benjamin) in the hope of learning more about Patrick. As they talk in the cafe, Theo's mobile phone rings and when he heads outside, Chelsea discovers a newspaper cutting with the headline 'Negro charged with assault', relating to Patrick's arrest on assault charges during the Notting Hill riots.

The script contains references to the 1958 riots as well as iconic American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, while the terms 'coloureds', 'negroes' and the racist slogan 'Keep Britain White' are also mentioned in the dialogue.

Despite claims to the contrary, programme-makers insisted that the storyline has received the same publicity treatment as the soap's other ongoing plots.

An insider this afternoon told DS: "Everyone at Elstree has been truly shocked and surprised by the attention that an episode with an all-black cast has had, given that we live in such a diverse and multicultural society."

A BBC spokesperson said: "Tonight's episode focuses on Patrick Trueman sharing his experiences of being a young man living in 1950s Britain with the family he lives with (the Foxes) which does mean it's solely an all-black cast on screen."

They added: "Patrick and the Foxes are an integral part of Albert Square and this is no different to other episodes where we've concentrated on one particular family or storyline in the past."

It was recently announced that acting legend Edward Woodward is to join the cast of the BBC soap as part of the ongoing storyline.

[CrazyLea]

This sounds like a really interesting episode. Quite looking forward to it really.

[Abbie]

Ive just turned it on, hope its interesting

[CrazyLea]

I thought it was actually really boring.

[DaVeyWaVey]

I thought it was boring too. Didn't understand the hype around it either... didn't know race was such a big issue nowadays who cares? it was like EastEnders used this episode to show they were being politically correct...

[LostVoodoo]

i'm confused about the storyline. ok, so Patrick got arrested during the race riots, why would he hide this? i'm sure lots of black men got arrested for fighting back! one minute they were all giggling about him planting a joint on a pub landlord and then the next thing we're supposed to think he would hide something else. and i have no idea what this thing with Theo is. is someone supposed to be after Patrick? and how old is Patrick supposed to be? the race riots were 50 years ago and i didn't think Patrick was supposed to be like 70!

[DaVeyWaVey]

Patrick must be as fit as a fiddle!

[Chris_2k11]

it was like EastEnders used this episode to show they were being politically correct...

I agree, and did you notice how they had more black people in the background of the cafe/pub with barely a white person in sight? seemed like they were really trying to drum something across..

[*-Rooney-*]

oh this was boring wouldnt have bothered if i had missed it