Tony Atkinson
1 min readOct 28, 2024

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Storm in a tea-cup. No doubt it was historically inaccurate, but this is par for the course. Depictions of an all-white Britian in almost any age are equally so. Britan was has always beem a martime nation and in those days sailors on long voyages died like flies, to be replaced by locals picked up at every port of call, some of whom would end up back in Britain. Some stayed on as seamen, others got jobs on land. We've always been diverse, but the wjolesale systemic racism didn't kick in until the 18th-19h Century, the slave trade and the Empire.

Nevertheless, depictions of Victorian London remained almost exclusively white until quite recently. It's on a par with the fact that in eight series of Foyles' War (set in the 1940s and 50s) and six of Downton Abbey ( set 1912-1926) hardly any characters (except those signalled as 'villains') was ever seen smoking, despite those being times when everyone over 12 smoked twenty a day!

The trouble is that when someone such as yourself spends time and energy in pointing these inaccuracies out, it ends up being taken as a peevish demand for 'representation', rather than a simple request that writers and producers do their homework. Bizarrely, as a white person with some knowledge of history, I get the same incredulity along with accusations of Wokeness!

Game isn't worth the candle, I'm afraid!

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Tony Atkinson
Tony Atkinson

Written by Tony Atkinson

Snapper-up of unconsidered trifles, walker of paths less travelled by. Writer of fanfiction. Player of games. argonaut57@gmail.com

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