Don Warrington Joins Saffron Cherry Productions

The Manchester-based Saffron Cherry Productions, creator of The Madame Blanc Mysteries, has named Trinidadian-born British actor Don Warrington MBE as executive producer.

The production company also created The World According to Grandpa, in which Warrington stars. The actor and producer has joined the team with a focus on developing his varied slate of established and emerging ethnically diverse writers and a vision of telling new stories.

Warrington currently stars as Inspector Patterson in the long-running Death in Paradise, produced by Red Planet. He is also well-known for his role in Rising Damp.

“Ethnic diversity in television is getting better, but it will only be where it should be when I’m not surprised to see a person of color on screen,” said Warrington. “How to improve things depends on whether you think art and culture should lead society or vice versa; I believe that art and culture should always lead so the more diversity within the industry, on every level, the better.

“I was asked to join the team at Saffron Cherry by Caroline [Roberts-Cherry, managing director], with whom I have a great working relationship. I saw it as a fantastic opportunity to work more closely with her and the team to develop new projects for television and film. I have always had a passion for new writing, and for ensuring that there are spaces and opportunities for Global Majority writers to develop their craft. I think authentic, original stories, told by British Global Majority writers are, to some extent, still missing from our screens. I’m excited to help fill that gap, alongside Caroline, Sally and the team at Saffron Cherry.”

Warrington continued: “It is always a pleasure to be involved at the very beginning of a creative process that brings inventive, new voices to as wide an audience as possible. This country is a hive of incredible cultural talent, and it is important that we continue to provide ways in which that talent can be cultivated and celebrated here. All I can say is: Watch this space…”

Sally Lindsay, creative director, added: “We are delighted that Don is joining us as part of our creative team. He is already working on an adaptation of Edson Burton’s Deacon drama series (Radio 4), and with him on board, we are excited by the different stories we can now tell.”