Idris Elba introduces The Idris Takeover

So, I called up the controller of BBC Three and I said, “Hello mate, how you doing? It’s Idris Elba. Are you comfortable? OK. Listen, can you leave your office please? I’m going to take over now.” And he said yes.

BBC Three is all mine for one week. I’m going to show you stuff that I think is interesting. Things that I think you should think about. Things that I think we should all think about.

There’s comedy, drama, some great documentaries, even some music. The message of the week, the idea driving it for me, was telling people to dare to dream – to think outside of your comfort zone, to look outside of your phone for a second and think about what you’re truly capable of.

One of my favourite stories is about Marcus, who is in a wheelchair and hasn’t let anything stop his dream to box - It’s such an inspirational story.

He embodies a belief of mine, which is that life isn’t about making it big – it’s about making yourself big. Be as big as you can in whatever you’re doing. I’ve said this before, but you’ve just got to climb as if you’re never going to come back down. You just keep on going. That’s what Marcus does.

There’s another guy, Moses, that we did a film on and his life has been tough. He probably wishes he hadn’t experienced some of it. But it’s what’s made him the amazing guy he is now.

I wanted to show lots of different people during my takeover because I grew up in a time when there wasn’t much diversity on television. Even using the word 'diversity' to describe characters on TV is a new thing. There was Trevor McDonald reading the news, and Lenny Henry doing comedy. But, on the whole, if you wanted to see a version of yourself on screen, you’d watch American TV. Now, I think British TV has overtaken America. Now, we don’t just mean race when we talk about diversity in the UK – we mean sexuality, class, gender.

This week is about stories that are very relatable for me, that I think are relatable to a wider audience, too.

Seventeen is about that strange time in your life, when you’re not a young kid anymore, but you’re not quite an adult either.

Working Class Barrister follows an incredible, fiery young woman, Leila, from Bradford on her journey to becoming a barrister.

Five By Five, one of my favourite pieces, is a drama told in five short episodes, each one showing the story from a different character’s perspective.

A big theme of Five by Five is peer pressure, and I think at some point in everyone’s life peer pressure is a real thing. I can relate to peer pressure. Everyone can relate to peer pressure.

I also worked with Jamal Edwards to find emerging artists from all over the UK, create a collaborative music track and wicked music video.

The people I’ve worked with on these shows are people who caught my attention, and caught BBC Three’s attention. You probably won’t have heard of them, but you’ll see them and think, 'wow'.

It's going up on BBC Three now and it's all yours to have.