Six Part series for Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen is to bring a six-part drama series to BBC One which will tell the stories of people whose voices haven’t been heard or seen by a wide audience.

“These stories are passionate, personal and unique. They are testimony to the truth of real lives and urgently need to be told. This is about a legacy which has not only made my life as an artist possible, but also has shaped the Britain that we live in today.” – Steve McQueen

The story follows a West Indian community at the heart of our capital city whose lives have been shaped by their own force of will, despite an often hostile environment. Set during the late Sixties, Seventies and Eighties, these lives encompass not just the daily battle for survival, but the rich cultural inheritance of their Caribbean history.

The drama starts in 1968 at the moment of Enoch Powell’s notorious River of Blood speech. In the same year, a small restaurant called The Mangrove opens in Ladbroke Grove: a place of cameraderie and friendship that becomes a social heart for the community – and, over time, a flashpoint for resistance.