The Winter King author Bernard Cornwell reacts to diverse cast backlash
The ambitious adaptation comes to ITVX later this month.
The Winter King author Bernard Cornwell has addressed the "colourblind" casting in ITVX's adaptation of his popular Arthurian novels.
Set in the Dark Ages, the story follows Arthur Pendragon (Iain De Caestecker) as he attempts to pull the kingdom of Dumnonia back from the brink of annihilation.
Unlike some previous screen depictions of this era, The Winter King features a racially diverse cast including Nathaniel Martello-White (I Hate Suzie) as Merlin and Jordan Alexandra (Boiling Point) as Guinevere.
This has led to the show being "review bombed" (see MovieWeb) – a practice in which negative user reviews are logged en masse on websites such as IMDb by individuals with a specific vendetta.
"Well, if they’re critical on those grounds, they can write their own damn books," said Cornwell in an interview for The Winter King podcast, an official companion to the ITVX series.
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Of course, there have been more good-natured questions about this creative decision, too, with some viewers genuinely interested in whether this representation is historically accurate – amid fears it could be "tokenistic" (via Forbes).
During his aforementioned appearance on The Winter King podcast, Cornwell countered claims that diversity in ancient Britain is a far-fetched concept.
"It's not out of the question," he said. "Remember, this is taking place very shortly after the Romans leave Britain. And the Romans left Lord knows what kinds of people behind them.
"I mean, certainly people from Africa, from what we call the Middle East, as well as obviously all around the Mediterranean. They all came to Britain and there are going to be some of them left.
Cornwell continued: "Personally, I found the casting, if you like the colourblind casting, in the series to be very convincing, and it works."
The historical author went on to say that Sagramor (Ken Nwosu), right-hand man to Arthur, is said to have been Black in "various very ancient documents" – and was described as such in his own novels, too.
He added: "I know that some people thought Merlin couldn't possibly be Black, but since watching the series I've actually found some mediaeval documents that claim that he was 'dark' – and they're talking about his skin colour.
"So I think [the casting director(s)] actually were ahead of the curve on that one. I don’t see why it shouldn't be a multicultural society, simply because of what the Romans had brought to Britain."
The Winter King podcast kicks off this week with a bonus episode featuring the full interview with Bernard Cornwell, plus an in-depth conversation with executive producers Julie Gardner and Lachlan MacKinnon.
All other episodes of the podcast will be released on Thursday 21st December, to coincide with the release of the series on ITVX – available wherever you listen.
The Winter King is available to stream on ITVX from Thursday 21st December 2023. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
