This Town

From riots and rival gangs to poetry and ska music, This Town (the latest show from Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight) is bursting with thematic content that paints a rich portrait of disenfranchised youth in 1980s Birmingham and firmly anchors it within a tender family drama. It takes a moment for all the components in Knight’s well-oiled script to come together. When everything falls into place, this series becomes a highly ambitious piece of television that has a soundtrack that’s just as incredible.

The show centres around aspiring poet Dante (Levi Brown) who enlists the help of his friend Jeanie (Eve Austin) and cousin Bradon (Ben Rose) to help record a song to impress a girl who’s recently broken his heart. What makes This Town especially genius, though, is how Knight takes the getting-the-band-together premise and uses it as a jumping off point to touch upon much grander ideas.

For example, each band member comes from a wildly different background. Dante’s soldier older brother (Jordan Bolger) is connected to a Birmingham street gang, Jeanie’s thuggish boyfriend is a skinhead and Barton’s overbearing father (Peter McDonald) is deeply involved in the IRA. Together, the threesome represents a diverse microcosm of the city’s youth, each of which is associated with its own flavour of music. Alongside forming the basis of a soundtrack dripping with Tone-Tone goodness, music becomes a means for the characters to escape from the turbulent dramas shaking their lives and the force which unites them. In one early scene, Dante’s brother asks why fighting soldiers don’t just sing together.

The entire cast are spectacular. However, it’s Brown who stands out as a notable highlight. Dante may be the oddball of the estate, but Brown brings an enigmatic coolness to the role that’s only bolstered by Knight’s sharp writing that has all the wit of Peaky Blinders. While Dante isn’t as formidable as Tommy Shelby, he shares the gangster’s penchant for the English language.

On its surface, This Town is the story of troubled youths starting a band. But this series is much more than that. It’s a heartfelt family drama, a tale of escapism and, at times, a gripping thriller. In short, Knight’s latest show is nothing short of masterful.

Andrew Murray

This Town is released on BBC iPlayer on 31^st March 2024.

Watch the trailer for This Town here: