Lenny Henry responds as his ITV drama is axed
Lenny Henry has addressed the cancellation of his ITV drama Three Little Birds.
Broadcast across six episodes last autumn, the show was inspired by the creator's mother and centred on a group of families settling in the UK back in 1957.
Henry told The Guardian in a new interview: "These days, it seems that many Black dramas only get one series, there are numerous examples of this – and sadly, Three Little Birds is just one more in that same category.
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"But the reality is these days, the TV market is very tricky to navigate unless there are big names attached to a project."
Henry, who co-founded Comic Relief with Richard Curtis, went on to claim that shows will now only be given one shot at success.
"If it doesn't meet broadcaster expectations, that's it – it's likely cancelled after one series," he said.
"We sadly don't give shows the opportunity to grow with the audience, like we did 10, 15 years ago, which probably is down to how we consume things."
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Fortunately, he's not done with that universe just yet. "I plan to take the characters from Three Little Birds and create their further adventures in a book," Henry teased.
While promoting the show in October, the beloved comedian exclusively told Digital Spy that it provided him with "an opportunity to talk about people that didn't come under Windrush because they sort of lumped everybody in a 30-year [period]".
"You know, the Windrush was 1948 or something, and my parents came to Britain in 1957 or '58, and my brothers and sisters came after that," he added. "It was a real celebration of this representation of the ongoing battle to overcome, and to belong is a story that needs to be told over [and over]."
Three Little Birds is streaming on ITVX.
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