BBC One, known for shows such as Doctor Who and Sherlock (both of which have predominantly white main characters and diversity problems) is debuting a new counter-terrorism spy thriller, Informer on the 16th of October except this time starring debut actor, Nabhaan Rizwan as Raza Shar. Though no episodes have been released yet, this show seems perfect for those of us who are tired of the same repetitive stereotypes of Muslims, South Asians and South Asian Muslims.
Nabhaan Rizwan starring in BBC1’s drama, Informer. Credits: BBC.
The show focuses on countering anti-Islamic prejudices and breaking away from the stereotypes of jihadist villains in Homeland and the Iron Man movies. Rather than these stereotypes, Informer portrays a world of police informants and a young British-Pakistani man coerced into working for a Counter-Terrorism Officer after an incident involving a pretty girl and some Class-A drugs.
The cast includes Sharon D Clark from Holby City, Arsher Ali from Line of Duty and Jessica Raine from Call the Midwife and the aforementioned debut actor, Nabhaan Rizwan. Sharon D Clark, who recently played Grace in Doctor Who, told Digital Spy that “[she’s] been waiting a long time to see it […] I’m proud to be a part of it.”
Earlier this year, BBC One debuted another show, Bodyguard which began with Anjili Mohindra, playing a Muslim woman hiding in a train toilet, about to detonate a vest full of bombs. Her entire narrative relies on her becoming a jihadist by the end of the series, a copy of virtually every other Muslim character on TV. While the show’s writer denied any notion of Islamophobia in his show, the trope is so overdone it almost feels like we’re watching an amalgamation of every other Muslim on television try to convince us she’s progressive and diverse. Ramzi Kassem, a law professor at the City University of New York says that writers and directors in mainstream production “need to know that the discourse they shape actually carries real-world consequences,” something that Informer thankfully seems to have taken into account.
Credits: BBC
Informer will give us something new- a boy living a regular life with a job and a father who drinks and a mother who’s the breadwinner in the household. The show will be the product of research into the lives of real-life Muslims and real-life South Asians lead- something that BBC and perhaps even every other mainstream television channel sorely needs. “If you’re not from that part of the world or don’t have family from there, it’s easy to fall back into writing stereotypes,” Rizwan comments.
The six-part series will air on Tuesday 16th October at 9 pm on BBC1.
Featured Image Via BBC.
