The BBC's top diversity boss has reportedly admitted Idris Elba's character in hit show Luther "doesn't feel authentic' because he '"doesn't have any Black friends" or "eat any Caribbean food".
Idris has played DCI John Luther in five seasons of the long-running BBC detective show, winning a Golden Globe as well as Critics' Choice and NAACP Awards for the role.
However, the show has come under scrutiny from BBC's creative diversity chief Miranda Wayland, who is believed to have commented on Luther's lack of "authenticity" during the virtual MIPTV television conference.
According to The Times, she said: "When it [Luther] first came out everybody loved the fact that Idris Elba was in there - a really strong, Black character lead.
"We all fell in love with him. Who didn't, right? But after you got into about the second series, you got kind of like, 'OK, he doesn't have any Black friends, he doesn't eat any Caribbean food, this doesn't feel authentic'."
© BBCIdris Elba played the lead role in Luther for five seasons
She reportedly went on to insist more must be done to make TV shows as authentic and inclusive as possible, reportedly adding: "It's about making sure that everything around them [the characters] - their environment, their culture, the set - is absolutely reflective."
The BBC addressed the comments in a statement to Metro.co.uk, saying: "Luther is a multi-award winning crime drama series and the iconic role of DCI John Luther has become one of TV's most powerful detective characters of which we are tremendously proud.
"The BBC is committed to its continued investment in diversity and recent BBC One dramas I May Destroy You and Small Axe are testament to that."
© PAIdris Elba
© BBCIdris Elba as DCI John Luther
The show's creator Neil Cross previously insisted race was not considered when casting the lead role and he admitted that as a white Brit he's not qualified to write a Black character.
He said: "I have no knowledge or expertise or right to try to tackle in some way the experience of being a Black man in modern Britain.
"It would have been an act of tremendous arrogance for me to try to write a Black character. We would have ended up with a slightly embarrassed, ignorant, middle-class, white writer's idea of a Black character."
It was recently confirmed Luther will return on the big screen as a film, with Idris admitting: "The sky is the limit" for the popular crime show.