1970s: Breaking Through

While there was a gradual increase in the visibility of people of colour on television, much of this representation was problematic. The 1970s introduced an era of racist comedies and sitcoms. This coincided with a racist and hostile political climate, seen in the rise of the National Front. While some of these comedies meant there were more diverse roles, the writing and depictions were problematic. Love Thy Neighbour (1972-76), Till Death Do Us Part (1965-75), and Mind Your Language (1977-86) all relied on racist jokes and stereotypes. Mind Your Language was about people learning English as a foreign language; the commissioner of the show regrets it ever airing because of how racist it was. African, Caribbean, Asian, and South-East Asian people and others were depicted as stupid and wanting to exploit the welfare state. Pik-Sen Lim was a Malaysian Chinese actress who featured in this show. The BFI stated, “Pik-Sen Lim was probably the most familiar Chinese actor on British television screens in the 1970s and 80s.”

Notable progress was made with The Fosters (1976), Britain's first African Caribbean family sitcom starring Norman Beaton, Isabelle Lucas, Carmen Munroe and a young Lenny Henry. Empire Road (1978-1979) was the first British show to be written and directed by an African Caribbean person, and to have an African Caribbean cast. The show was created by Michael Abbensetts and directed by prolific Trinidadian director Horace Ové. Ove made several documentaries that were featured on the BBC during the 1970s. The Black Theatre Cooperative was also founded in 1979 by Mustapha Matura and Charlie Hanson; this was influential in providing opportunities for African and Caribbean actors.

Data collection of people of colour in British TV has been scarce pre-2000s, but a 1972 BBC-commissioned report, “Non-whites on British Television”, was published. The report contains outdated language, but indicates the clear lack of representation on TV at the time. “...These consisted of 59 programmes during the study week, over 44 television hours.... For 1296 whites observed, there appeared 56 non-whites. For 768 whites who had speaking roles or performed on variety programme, there were 28 non-whites who talked or performed... Non-whites appeared on 15 of the 59 programmes... Four non-whites had what could be termed leading roles in the dramatic and film categories.”

As part of the BBC’s ‘Open Door’ series, an important 1979 documentary, “It ain’t half racist mum” directed by Stuart Hall, was aired. This explores institutional racism in the BBC and the intentional silencing of African, Caribbean and Asian people, while amplifying people like Enoch Powell and David Duke. This documentary was produced with the Campaign Against Racism in the Media.

The 1970s witnessed ongoing issues with representation, particularly racist comedy, but shows like Empire Road were groundbreaking in their representation, with Michael Abbensetts being the first African Caribbean British playwright commissioned to write a television drama.