Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery is to lead Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight’s personal drama This Town for the BBC.
Knight’s six-parter is rolling the cameras in Birmingham and has cast a string of other British actors including Nicholas Pinnock (Marcella) and David Dawson (My Policeman).
Previously called Two Tone, the show tells the story of an extended family and four young people who are drawn into the world of ska and two-tone music, which exploded from the grass roots of Coventry and Birmingham in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, uniting black, white and Asian youths.
Universal Music Group’s Mercury Studios is co-producer and will “bring in an exciting range of high profile musical artists to help lay the backdrop for Knight’s incredible story,” according to the BBC. Mercury is co-producing alongside Banijay-backed Kudos and Nebulastar in association with Kudos North, Stigma Films and Nick Angel.
“This is a project very close to my heart,” said the prolific Knight, whose war drama SAS: Rogue Heroes is currently airing on BBC One.
“It’s about an era I lived through and know well and it involves characters who I feel I grew up with. It’s a love letter to Birmingham and Coventry but I hope people from all over the world will relate to it.”
Knight is creator, writer and exec producer alongside Karen Wilson, Martin Haines, Katie McAleese, Jo McLellan, Laura Conway, Matthew James Wilkinson and Nick Angel. Paul Whittingon is director, Charlotte Surtees is producer and Banijay Rights is distributing internationally.
