Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery and Top Boy's Nicholas Pinnock will star in This Town, an upcoming BBC drama that explores the beginnings of ska and two-tone music.
The six-part family drama, which is also a thriller, also includes The Last Kingdom's David Dawson and Calendar Girls actress Geraldine James among its cast.
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is the writer, creator and executive producer of This Town, which opens in 1981 at a moment of social tensions and unrest.
The 63-year-old said: "This is a project very close to my heart.
"It's about an era I lived through and know well, and it involves characters who I feel I grew up with.
"It's a love letter to Birmingham and Coventry, but I hope people from all over the world will relate to it."
🗣"It's a love letter to Birmingham and Coventry but I hope people from all over the world will relate to it."
— BBC Birmingham (@BBCBhamPR) November 24, 2022
Michelle Dockery, Nicholas Pinnock & David Dawson have been announced for Steven Knights's new drama series This Town.
Filming is now underway in Birmingham📽️ pic.twitter.com/cs7duHXwNw
Jo McClellan, BBC Drama Commissioning Editor, said: "Steven's scripts are absolutely brilliant - they capture the wild energy of youth and a pivotal moment in time, all set to a fantastic soundtrack, and we can't wait to see this incredibly talented cast bring it all to life."
Levi Brown, who starred in Loss and Return, Jordan Bolger, known for The Woman King, The Innocents' Ben Rose and You, Our Ladies' Eve Austin will star as the young leads who are drawn into the world of ska and two-tone.
The BBC said the music "exploded from the grassroots of Coventry and Birmingham in the late (1970s) and early (1980s), uniting black, white and Asian youths".
Filming is now under way for This Town in the Birmingham area.
Source: Press Association
