Radio Times: Review by:; David Crawford

This landscape is the blighted, post-riot neighbourhood of Hackney. Walking the streets during the febrile atmosphere of the week after the area exploded into violence, Alan Dein talks to a range of inhabitants, from the assistant manager of a looted warehouse who was stopped and handcuffed by police on his way to work, to the doctor who found himself the focus of rioters’ attentions as he took photographs from his flat’s balcony. But at the heart is the pitiful tale of shopkeeper Ziva, who was so bewildered and upset by the damage to his shop that he spent the whole day after the riots crying — and who then took great strength from the support he received from his loyal customers and neighbours.

About this programme

New series. Alan Dein hears how this summer's London riots affected the livelihood of a shopkeeper whose business in Hackney fell prey to looters. He explores the immediate aftermath of the disturbances, and the community's efforts to raise money and help the Tamil refugee rebuild his store.