BB star in racial sitcom remake
Big Brother 6's Derek stars in the Love Thy Neighbour remake
Monday, 24, Sep 2007 10:39
The agonisingly racist 1970s sitcom Love Thy Neighbour is set for a remake starring former Big Brother contestant Derek Laud.
Unlike in the original, when a white left-wing trade unionist is appalled by the Conservative-supporting black man who moves in next door, the roles will be reversed so it is a black person being appalled by a white person.
Laud will play a barrister whose "ghastly" new neighbours turn out to be a bad-mannered white working class couple.
"It's quite provocative but a positive representation of black people in modern Britain," Laud told the Daily Mail.
"Wherever I go in Britain I find people asking, 'When are black people going to be portrayed on TV in a more positive way?'" he added.
The remake will form part of a six-episode sketch series for Channel 4 called U Know Wot I Mean?, according to Chortle.co.uk.
Laud has previously written speeches for the Conservative party and may stand as a candidate for the right-wing party in the next general election.