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This Town (TV series)

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This Town
Created bySteven Knight
Written bySteven Knight
Directed byPaul Whittington
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producers
  • Laura Conway
  • Martin Haines
  • Steven Knight
  • Jo McClellan
  • Katie McAleese
  • Matthew James Wilkinson
  • Karen Wilson
  • Nick Angel
Producers
CinematographyBen Wheeler
Running time57 minutes
Production companies
  • Kudos
  • Nebulastar
  • Mercury Studios
  • Kudos North (uncredited)
  • Stigma Films
  • Kudos Knight (uncredited)
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release31 March (2024-03-31) –
28 April 2024 (2024-04-28)

This Town is a 2024 British six-part television series. Written and created for BBC One by Steven Knight and directed by Paul Whittington, the series follows a group of young people in the early 1980s in Birmingham and Coventry. The cast is led by Levi Brown, Jordan Bolger, Ben Rose, and Eve Austin. The series premiered on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 31 March 2024.

Synopsis

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This Town tells the story of an extended family and four young people who are drawn into an explosive and iconic music scene in the early 1980s. It is set across the streets of Coventry and Birmingham, and opens with rioting in both places. This Town tells the story of a band's formation against a backdrop of violence.

Cast

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Episodes

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No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date [1]
1"Episode 1"Paul WhittingtonSteven Knight31 March 2024 (2024-03-31)
2"Episode 2"Paul WhittingtonSteven Knight31 March 2024 (2024-03-31)
3"Episode 3"Paul WhittingtonSteven Knight31 March 2024 (2024-03-31)
4"Episode 4"Paul WhittingtonSteven Knight31 March 2024 (2024-03-31)
5"Episode 5"Paul WhittingtonSteven Knight31 March 2024 (2024-03-31)
6"Episode 6"Paul WhittingtonSteven Knight31 March 2024 (2024-03-31)

Production

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This Town was written and created for BBC One by Steven Knight and directed by Paul Whittington. It is produced by Kudos and Nebulastar and co-produced by Universal Music Group’s Mercury Studios.[2]

Development

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Knight and producer Nick Angel began working in November 2020 with the production companies Kudos and Stigma on a project set during the early 1980s UK music scene.[3] A six-part series was commissioned by BBC One in April 2022.[4]

For Knight, it is a project he has said is more personal work to him than his previous Birmingham based television series Peaky Blinders, with Knight describing This Town as his “love letter” to the area he grew up in and “an era I loved through and know well and [involving] characters who I feel I grew up with.”[5]

Casting

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Michelle Dockery, David Dawson and Nicholas Pinnock were announced to be cast in November 2022, it was also revealed that original music would be written specifically for the series by Dan Carey and Kae Tempest.[6] That same month Séainín Brennan was added to the cast.[7] Other main roles in the series are played by Levi Brown, Jordan Bolger, Ben Rose and Eve Austin.[8]

Filming

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Principal photography started in Birmingham in November 2022 on location in the city and at Knight’s Loc. Film and TV Studios.[9] Filming locations also included Wolverhampton where a race riot was filmed.[10] A casting call for extras to play skinheads was put in the local media[11] and music press.[12] In March 2023, filming took place in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.[13]

Music

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The series features music recorded for the programme from Sekou, Gregory Porter, Celeste, Olivia Dean, Ray Laurél, and Self Esteem, with each artist recording a cover version to play over the closing credits.[14][15] It also features the original classic hits of artists such as UB40, the Specials, Toots and the Maytals, Blondie, Desmond Dekker & the Aces, the Clash, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the Selecter.[16]

The soundtrack also features original songs performed by the actors, with lyrics by poet Kae Tempest and music by Dan Carey. Carey also worked with the actors, who had varying levels of musical skills, to play the instruments and sing the songs as a band, eventually named Fuck the Factory.[17][18]

On 26 April 2024 Polydor Records released This Town, an album of selected music from the soundtrack, on LP and CD.[19][20]

Broadcast

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The series premiered on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 31 March 2024.[2]

Reception

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Hamish McBain in The Evening Standard wrote that the "period specific sets are perfect” but commented that the pacing of the series was slower than the trailer suggested.[21] Carol Midgley writing for The Times awarded the first episode three stars out of five, writing that it is “sharp and the music is, as with most of Steven Knight’s dramas, expertly weaponised. But episode one was also meandering, slow and, dare I say it, often self-indulgent.”[22]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 67% approval rating with an average rating of 6.5/10 based on 15 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Steven Knight's This Town has a shapelessness that will sag some viewers' investment, but it holds intriguing insights into its specific cultural milieu."[23]

References

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  1. ^ Hibbs, James (2 April 2024). "This Town: Release date and news for Steven Knight drama". Radio Times. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Pictures provide glimpse of Steven Knight's This Town production". bbc.co.uk. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  3. ^ "'Peaky Blinders' Creator Steven Knight Teams With Kudos, Stigma & Nick Angel For Series About UK's Two Tone Music Scene". Deadline. 12 November 2020.
  4. ^ "BBC1 Orders Ska And Two-Tone Music Drama From 'Peaky Blinders' Creator Steven Knight". Deadline. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  5. ^ "Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight continues his Birmingham chronicles with ska series This Town". GQ Magazine. 18 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Michelle Dockery, Nicholas Pinnock and David Dawson announced for This Town, Steven Knight's original new drama series for the BBC". BBC.com.
  7. ^ "This Town: Belfast actor cast in new BBC drama written by Peaky Blinders creator". Belfast Live. 26 November 2022.
  8. ^ "TV crews spotted 'filming for new Steven Knight drama' as Wolverhampton turned into '80s riot scene'". Birmingham Mail. 23 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Steven Knight's new BBC drama This Town starts filming in Birmingham". Birminghammail.co.uk. 24 November 2022.
  10. ^ "TV crews spotted 'filming for new Steven Knight drama' as Wolverhampton turned into '80s riot scene". Birmingham Mail. 23 January 2023.
  11. ^ "'Skinheads' asked to appear in BBC drama This Town inspired by two-tone and ska bands like The Specials". Coventry Telegraph. 25 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Peaky Blinders' creator wants skinheads for new BBC drama 'This Town'". NME.com. 29 January 2023.
  13. ^ Knapper, Dave; Andrews, Rob (21 March 2023). "Film crews descend on Burslem to film new BBC drama by Peaky Blinders writer". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  14. ^ Garrett, Lee (3 March 2024). "Ashby's Sekou to perform theme song for Peaky Blinders creator's new BBC show This Town". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Steven Knight's new drama This Town to feature music from Celeste, Gregory Porter, Olivia Dean, Ray Laurél, Sekou and Self Esteem". bbc.com. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  16. ^ Hibbs, James (6 April 2024). "All songs in the BBC drama". Radio Times. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  17. ^ Lobb, Adrian (31 March 2024). "Kae Tempest talks songwriting, 80s unrest and new BBC drama This Town". Big Issue. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  18. ^ Crampton, Robert (21 March 2024). "Steven Knight: Peaky Blinders, Cillian Murphy and my new BBC drama". The Times. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  19. ^ Paine, Andre (29 April 2024). "'It's celebrating an era': The story behind the soundtrack to Steven Knight's BBC drama This Town". Music Week. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  20. ^ "This Town (Music From The Original BBC Series) LP". Polydor Store UK. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  21. ^ McBain, Hamish (28 March 2024). "This Town on BBC One review: the music is great, shame about the story". Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  22. ^ "This Town review — riots, ska and self-indulgence in 1981 Birmingham". The Times. 31 March 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  23. ^ "This Town: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
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