The Wire star Clarke Peters has slammed colour-blind casting in factual dramas, arguing it would be ‘absurd’ if Dominic West portrayed Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

He also condemned HarperCollins decision to remove offensive language from Agatha Christie’s novels.  

The 72-year-old, who plays wealthy black solicitor Mr Treves in the upcoming BBC adaption of Christie’s period drama Towards Zero, said that colour blind casting is only acceptable for fiction.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the Guys and Dolls star said: ‘I think you have to really be particular about how you do that [colour blind casting].

‘I wouldn’t want to see Dominic West play Idi Amin for example, and it would be absurd for that to happen.’

Ugandan dictator Amin, notorious for his brutality, was responsible for an estimated 500,000 deaths during his rule from 1971 to 1979.

The Wire star Clarke Peters has slammed colour-blind casting in historical dramas, calling it ‘absurd’ to have someone like Dominic West portray African dictator Idi Amin

The Guys and Dolls star said: ‘I wouldn’t want to see Dominic West (pictured with Elizabeth Debicki) play Idi Amin for example, and it would be absurd for that to happen’

Clarke also condemned the decision by HarperCollins, the publisher of Agatha Christie novels, to remove potentially offensive language from her books, including insults and references to ethnicity.

He said: ‘I don’t think that you want to erase that, because when you begin erasing history, you wind up where most people in the diaspora from Africa are now; not knowing their history.’

Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries written between 1920 and 1976 had pᴀssages reworked or removed in new editions published to strip them of language and descriptions that modern audiences find offensive, especially those involving the characters Christie’s protagonists encounter outside the UK.

Discussing his role as a black lawyer in Towards Zero, the writer and father-of-five said: ‘I would not exist in Agatha Christie’s world in that role.

‘That doesn’t mean that there were not black barristers or black lawyers, there were, but she was not a party to those people, and therefore would find it difficult to fit a character like myself into her narrative.’

Though he doesn’t keep crime novels on his own bookshelf, his wife Penny is a big fan.

That made it an easy decision for him to take on another Agatha Christie adaptation, following his role in Partners in Crime back in 2015.

In this latest three-part drama, a fresh take on Murder Is Easy, he plays Mr. Treves, a family lawyer who becomes entangled in a chilling mystery when a string of deaths in a quiet English village begins to look less like accidents and more like murder.

Clarke also condemned the decision by HarperCollins, the publisher of Agatha Christie novels, to remove potentially offensive language from her books, including insults and references to ethnicity

In this latest Agatha Christie’s period drama Towards Zero, Peters plays Mr. Treves, a family lawyer who becomes entangled in a chilling mystery when a string of deaths in a quiet English village begins to look less like accidents and more like murder

Ugandan dictator Amin, notorious for his brutality, was responsible for an estimated 500,000 deaths during his rule from 1971 to 1979

‘He’s a paternal character, and so am I. I like a good detective story… But, you know, they begin in the wrong place. They begin with the murder. No, no, no… the murder is the end. The story begins long before’, he said. 

Bringing the stories to television in a way that resonates with younger viewers is a welcome move, he believes, ‘as long as we don’t throw away the past’.

His comments come amid ongoing debate over the casting of black actors in the BBC’s adaptation of The Mirror and the Light, the final book in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy.

The series features several black actors in significant roles, a decision that sparked backlash.

Some viewers criticised the BBC for what they saw as an inaccurate portrayal of Tudor England, with one calling it ‘jaw-achingly stupid’.

The controversy was heightened by claims that the move was endorsed by Dame Hilary Mantel, who died in 2022.

The series stars Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell and Damian Lewis as Henry VIII.

Among the cast, Jane Seymour’s mother, Lady Margery, is played by Sarah Priddy, a British-born actress of mixed heritage, while Nan Seymour, Jane’s sister-in-law, is played by Cecilia Appiah.

Bringing the stories to television in a way that resonates with younger viewers is a welcome move, he believes, ‘as long as we don’t throw away the past’

Maisie Richardson-Sellers, a London-born actress of Guyanese heritage, portrays Lady Bess Oughtred, and Egyptian-British actor Amir El-Masry plays poet and politician Thomas Wyatt.

When Wolf Hall first aired in 2015, black actors were not cast in leading roles. The debate over colour-blind casting gained momentum after Netflix’s Bridgerton—which featured a predominantly black cast in a Regency-era setting—premiered in 2020.

Black writer and artist Sonya Douglas voiced her frustration on social media: ‘The really stupid thing about ‘Bridgerton-ing’ these top-drawer historical dramas: Everyone suffers.

‘Cast, story, viewers, author, future audiences faced with a simplistically multicultural Ye Olde England. There are plenty of non-white Tudor stories that could be told that would enlighten, inform and entertain, but being ‘woke’ is just easier.

‘What a missed opportunity. I can’t believe Hilary Mantel would approve of something so jaw-achingly stupid.’

However, Wolf Hall director Peter Kosminsky defended the casting decisions, stating that Mantel had supported them.

He said: ‘Obviously, we aren’t playing lookalikes in the series. We cast the best actors we could to convey, in our opinion, the essence of the role.’