From In the Heat of the Night to Loose
Women, Black
British actors, directors and producers recall their landmark film and TV viewing experiences
![‘I jumped for joy’: Floella Benjamin, Adrian Lester and more on their top screen moments](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/33e9b909194072ea875afa97836a146381da9999/0_0_1441_864/master/1441.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=c75bad8d9fa8f14e88e299216157d5af)
I was about eight or nine years old. We had one TV in the house which sometimes people fought for control over. In those days, you watched one channel at a time and if you missed your programme, well, you missed it. I had been playing in the garden or something when I heard loud shouts of “Yes!” “Gwaan!” “You See Dat!?” I went to see what was going on. It was normally sport that got that kind of reaction, but I found my grandfather, uncle and aunt watching an
American Black man on television in a suit, staring at an older white man wearing an apron. I was only small but I realised something big had happened.