In 1980s Birmingham, nine year-old Leon, a mixed-race boy, embarks on a quest to reunite his family after being taken into care and separated from his blond and blue-eyed baby brother. Drama based on the novel by Kit De Waal, starring Olivia Williams, Christopher Eccleston and Cole Martin
“You’re a special kid,” an adult tells ten-year-old Leon at one stage in this touching drama adapted from Kit de Waal’s 2016 novel. He certainly is, and newcomer Cole Martin plays him with incredible poise as a child wise beyond his years caught in a strange and upsetting adult world.
We join Leon as his baby brother Jake arrives and their mum struggles to cope. The boys have different fathers, both absent, and as Leon tries to take care of the baby, his mother goes on a downward spiral and social services must step in. We’re in Birmingham in the early 1980s when, we gather, child protection could be a dicey business and, while kindly foster-parent Maureen (Monica Dolan) does her best, Leon has to weather some harsh blows.
Not all of the storytelling is slickly staged, but the heart of the drama is rich and sad, infused with a vein of kindness that elevates the story, along with classy cameos from Lenny Henry, Olivia Williams and Christopher Eccleston.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Mr. Atwal (Sikh Man) | Bobby Bedi |
| Tina | Aimee Berwick |
| Nurse | Therese Collins |
| Rioter | Largie David |
| Maureen | Monica Dolan |
| Mr. Devlin | Christopher Eccleston |
| Mike | James Eeles |
| Carol | Poppy Lee Friar |
| Salma | Shobna Gulati |
| Policewoman | Angela Harvey |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | Lynette Linton |
| Writer | Shola Amoo |
| Producer | Carol Harding |
| Composer | Vince Pope |
| Editor | Kristina Hetherington |
| Production designer | Malin Lindholm |
