Smoggie Queens creator Phil Dunning will also star as Dickie, an unpredictable young performer handling life, love and Middlesbrough patriotism alongside Mam the drag queen (Mark Benton, Shakespeare & Hathaway), Lucinda (Alexandra Mardell, Coronation Street), Sal (Patsy Lowe) and Stewart (Elijah Young).
Steven Knight is a writer, executive producer and director but he’s also passionate about the creative economy and the opportunities it affords for regeneration of cities and promoting the next generation of talent.
Him and Katie Razzall discuss his personal investment in the studios in Digbeth, Birmingham, creating hits both sides of the Atlantic (Peaky Blinders, SAS Rogue Heroes) and where his next big idea is coming from.
ITV police drama DI Ray, which returns for a second series next month, boasts both a showrunner and a star of south Asian heritage. Surely that’s a first for a British primetime drama?
Fortunately, a summer Futures event offered a glimpse into this mysterious world with the help of three experts from the world-renowned Curtis Brown agency.
“My role is to be the best advocate for my clients,” said literary agent Jess Molloy.
Her colleague, Cynthia Okoye, represents screenwriters and directors from shows such as One Day, Succession and Peaky Blinders. “Ultimately, on a very basic level, we are getting clients work,” she explained.
Although known for his stand-up, Bill Bailey has had his fair share of acting roles, from Black Books to Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang. As host of Bring the Drama he will guide the eight contestants through an acting bootcamp like no other.
Kelly Valentine Hendry, casting director of shows such as Ghosts, Broadchurch, and Bridgerton, will be acting as mentor throughout the series, taking the wannabe actors to the sets from popular dramas Peaky Blinders, EastEnders and Silent Witness.
Over six episodes, the show follows two people trying to foil the hacking of an overnight train from Glasgow to London in real time. The pair have never met, and will need to overcome mutual distrust to work together, not least because one of them is trapped on the train.
Written, created and produced by Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight, SAS Rogue Heroes is the “mostly true” account of the unbelievable origins of the SAS, in the midst of the Second World War.
Series one saw David Stirling, played by Connor Swindells (Sex Education), seeking out the best and most reckless soldiers to push back the Nazis in a series of raids in North Africa.
The creative partnership comes after the creation of Knight (Peaky Blinders, Taboo, See) and Kudos’ BBC series SAS Rogue Heroes. The deal will give Kudos a first look at Knight’s UK based projects, and will utilise Knight’s Digbeth Loc. Studios in Birmingham, showing a firm commitment to increasing financial investment in skills and training in the West Midlands.
A Thousand Blows will see Knight, the writer who breathed new punk energy into the period piece with series like Peaky Blinders and Taboo, portray the perils of illegal boxing in the 1880s in Victorian London.
Across 12 parts, the thrilling series will follow Hezekiah and Alec, two best friends from Jamaica who are thrust into the melting pot of London’s East End post-industrial revolution.
Following last year’s impactful documentary Finding Derek, ITV revisits the Garraway family as Derek Draper continues to recover from the effects of Covid-19 at home.
