Yahoo News Keeley Hawes ‘horrified’ when Line of Duty fans recognise her as Denton
![A new ITV drama, inspired by the honour killing of British Muslim woman Banaz Mahmod, has come under fire for its decision to tell the story through the eyes of a white detective, to be portrayed by actress Keeley Hawes.Honour, which was announced on Monday, has been described by ITV as telling “the powerful story of Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode’s passionate search to discover the fate of missing 20-year old Banaz”.Mahmod was a 20-year-old Londoner, whose 2006 murder was ordered by her father and uncle in revenge for her decision to leave the man she had wed in an arranged marriage. Mahmod had sought police help five times prior to her murder, fearing that she was to be harmed by her father and uncle. The Independent Police Complaints Commission later found that she had been consistently let down by police.On Twitter, the actor and writer Furquan Akhtar condemned ITV’s decision to frame the story from the perspective of a white detective, along with the racial makeup of its key production team. He tweeted: “It shifts the story from being about [Mahmod] to the white detective who ‘got her justice’. The project has a white lead, writer and director.”A statement by the drama’s screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes, in which she described Honour as an “ultimately... uplifting [story]” because of “the sheer heroism and dedication of the police officers who hunted down her killers”, has also been met with criticism.“[It’s] a strange way to see this,” tweeted Murdered by My Father and Doctor Who screenwriter Vinay Patel, “especially since [Mahmod’s] boyfriend, who was torn apart by these events, ended up dying by suicide years later.”Honour, which will be broadcast as a two-part miniseries, begins production in September.](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/CBfPl7S5DcS3Q1VWtWkKag--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcyMA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_independent_577/036acc5aab7458159ea4d48418822fc0)
Keeley Hawes has said that, although it’s always nice to be recognised in public, she’s “slightly horrified” when it’s for her Line Of Duty role.
The actor, 43, played Detective Inspector Lindsay Denton in seasons two and three of the BBC police procedural.
She told the Radio Times: “I look different to how I look on television. I simply don’t go out looking like this, so people are often unsure. They think they knew you at school, sometimes, and they’re always very nice.”
“I get it a lot with The Durrells. People bring their children up to me and say, ‘Oh my God!’ That’s really lovely, people appreciating your work. They’re not rude.”
She added: “Though if people recognise me and say, ‘Are you Lindsay Denton?’ I’m always slightly horrified that I look that bad walking around the supermarket.”
The actor – who has also had roles in The Missing and Bodyguard – said that she doesn’t expect her fame to last forever.
“These are only very brief moments in our lives,” she said. “I don’t live in the bubble. I live in a world with three children and paying the mortgage, worrying about the world, my family, my friends. That’s the real bubble, your life.”
The finale of season five of Line of Duty recently aired on the BBC. You can read our review here.
