Entertainment

BBC back use of the 'n-word' in Taboo

BBC back use of the 'n-word' in Taboo
BBC back use of the 'n-word' in Taboo BBC back use of the 'n-word' in Taboo

Creators of dark BBC drama Taboo have defended their decision to use the “n-word” in this weekend’s episode.

A spokeswoman said that the choice of language stayed true to the context of the 1814-based story and was used in anger.

The series, which returns on Saturday evening, will see James Delaney (played by Tom Hardy) attend a reading of his late father’s will.

But tensions rise as it’s revealed that, despite disappearing to Africa for a number of years, he has inherited the entire fortune while his sister, Zilpha, has been left with nothing.

In a fit of rage, her husband, Thorne Geary (played by Jefferson Hall) bursts out: “We will haunt this n****r to justice.”

A report in The Daily Star suggests the BBC will face an angry backlash for the term when the episode broadcasts, and includes a comment from the Anti-Racist Alliance saying that the “offensive” word is not one that viewers would expect to see on television.The BBC spokeswoman said: “Taboo is a fictional series set in 1814 and the language referred to is used by the character Thorne who is displeased and threatened by the return of James Delaney who has spent the last 10 years in Africa.“He uses the term to try to demean Delaney. The language used is in historical context and representative of that period in time.”Taboo continues post-watershed at 9.15pm on Saturday, BBC 1.