Fable (TV play)

Fable is a British television play, shown on 27 January 1965 as an episode of The Wednesday Play series on BBC 1.[1] Written by John Hopkins, the play is set in a parallel totalitarian Britain where those in authority are black people, and white people are their social underdogs - a reversal of the situation in contemporary apartheid South Africa.[2]

Fable
Written byJohn Hopkins
Directed byChristopher Morahan
StarringRonald Lacey,
Eileen Atkins,
Thomas Baptiste,
Barbara Assoon
Narrated byKeith Barron
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
Production
Producer(s)James MacTaggart
Running time75 minutes
Release
Original networkBBC1
Original release27 January 1965[1]

It was directed by Christopher Morahan and produced by James MacTaggart.

Cast

Commentary

Although Hopkins had anti-racist intentions in writing the play, Audience Research at the time of the original broadcast suggested that some whites in the audience saw the role reversal as threatening and reinforced their racist views.[3] Carmen Munroe has said that for the actors the production was a frightening experience "because suddenly you were being asked to perform the sorts of acts that were performed against you in real life".[4] The programme's original screening, scheduled for 20 January 1965, was postponed by the BBC for one week "to avoid accentuating the colour issue" during the Leyton by-election to be held on 21 January.[5] In an era when negative responses to immigration were very high, some viewers interpreted the play in the opposite way to the one intended by Hopkins and his colleagues.[2]

See also
  • BabaKiueria - a 1986 Australian mockumentary about an oppressed white minority in a society dominated by Aboriginal Australians.
  • White Man's Burden (film) - a 1995 film about similar subject matter.
  • Noughts and Crosses (TV series) - a 2020 television series, based on the novels by Malorie Blackman, about similar subject matter.

References
  1. Sarita Malik Representing Black Britain: Black and Asian Images on Television, London: SAGE Publishing, 2002, p.138. Some sources suggest the play went out on 20 January, including the BFI's Screenonline article below, but the Leyton by-election was held on 21 January 1965.
  2. Mark Duguid "Fable (1965)", BFI screenonline
  3. Malik, p.139
  4. cited in Sarita Malik, p.138
  5. "T.V. Play on Colour Issue Deferred". The Times. London. 13 January 1965. p. 6.


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