The director of the BBC’s Windrush scandal drama Sitting In Limbo has said that the Home Office tried to view the programme before it aired on television.
Stella Corradi said during a panel discussion at the Edinburgh TV Festival that making the programme was a “real eye-opener” to the effect that drama can have on politics.
The feature-length drama was written by Stephen S Thompson and is based on the true story of his brother Anthony Bryan’s personal struggle to be accepted as a British citizen.
Corradi said the Home Office “were trying to view the film before it aired”.
“It was a real eye-opener to see the impact that drama can have and how it can contribute to the conversation,” she said.
Home Secretary Priti Patel personally tried to contact people working on the programme, she said.
“It was bubbling up, there was going to be a reaction, the Government knew that the film was coming,” Corradi added.
Ms Patel praised the programme after it aired in June, saying it “epitomises the unimaginable suffering” endured by the Windrush generation.
“On behalf of successive governments, I apologise again to victims and their families,” she added on Twitter.
The programme is set in 2016, four years after the coalition government introduced the hostile environment policy.
The Home Office has been contacted for comment.