Steven Knight is a bloomin’ genius – and a Brummie one too! It wasn’t enough for him to create Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and write countless Hollywood movies, like Locke, Eastern Promises and The Girl in the Spider’s Web. But he’s also the man behind the global phenomenon that is Peaky Blinders. Now he’s continuing his flag-waving for Birmingham with his new show, This Town.
This Town “tells the story of an extended family and four young people who are drawn into the world of ska and two-tone music.” Many will remember the subgenre that birthed such iconic bands as The Specials and The Beat well – and united people of all backgrounds in Coventry and Birmingham in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. With the show coming out on March 31, we’ve only now seen our first glimpse of it.
In the trailer, we open on Birmingham in 1981, a time of huge social tension and unrest. There’s a lot to take in, but we see topics of racial discrimination, the IRA bombings and rock ‘n’ roll glamour all touched upon. But the best thing about it? Everyone has a Brummie accent, which we all know is the best in the world!
It’s also been filmed in the Birmingham area, particularly at Steven Knight’s new Digbeth Loc. Film and TV Studios. This is only the beginning of the state-of-the-art studio, which opened last year, which will also be used for the highly anticipated Peaky Blinders movie and its countless spin-offs. But back to This Town…
The six-part series’ cast is made up of plenty of new faces with Levi Brown (Loss and Return), Jordan Bolger (The Woman King, The Book of Boba Fett), Ben Rose (Line of Duty, The Innocents) and Eve Austin (You, Our Ladies) as its four young leads. Meanwhile, music producer Dan Carey; Brit and Mercury nominated musician, novelist and poet Kae Tempest; and singer-songwriter ESKA have written the songs performed by the band in the series.
This Town will be available in full on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Sunday, March 31, with a double premiere of episodes airing at 9pm on BBC One on March 31 and Monday, April 1.