This Town BBC 1

[Aquarius1234]

This Town starts tonight 9PM bbc 1

I neve really got into peaky blinders but it's the same writer.
Period drama set in the early 80s. Part family drama, part political , part music scene.

i loved ska music, the specials particularly and UB40

accents are dire apart from the lad who is actually from coventry. having same accent myself it really grates on me. good drama though

There was the ranting poetry scene that was inspired by punk. John Cooper Clark was the most famous but both Craig Charles and Phil Jupitus started off as ranting poets.

There was also dub poetry done by Linton Kwesi Johnson, Benjamin Zephaniah and others

I liked it as it's something a bit different and it's enjoyable as I remember the 80s well (though now a little shocked to realise the 80s is period drama). The characters were interesting I thought and bringing the political background into it was necessary for context. I was also relieved that Lenny Henry wasn't in it!

I fell asleep 😆 it was slow going.
DH is massively in to ska so loved it.
i’m a tad younger than him so in early 80s was still in primary school.

Loved the music and backdrops but it's quite slow and somehow doesn't seem to work. We gave up after half an hour. I'm going to give it another go as I feel it's going to rev up and draw you in.

I'm hoping it's not too annoying as I was at Uni in Birmingham in the 80s.
If a scriptwriter is here - could we have a scene in Druckers? I loved that place (and it did put pounds on me).

I have just watched the first 2 episodes, it definitely got better for me after episode 1. I might be imagining it but some of the dialogue could come from Peaky Blinders.

could we have a scene in Druckers?
What! The one round the back of Rackhams!?

I agree, though. Awesome patisserie.

I've watched the first two episodes now and it really is very slow but there are a few threads drawing me in. Loved Michelle Dockery as a messed up addict.

could we have a scene in Druckers?

Gosh, haven't heard anyone mention Druckers for eons.
Thanks for the memory.

Thought the acting was terrible. People just reciting lines in an odd rhythm ( don’t mean the poetry). Won’t be pursuing it

i enjoyed it

I've just been watching 'The Specials Live in Session for 6 Music' on BBC iPlayer, which some of you might enjoy.

It is about a more recent album, not their older stuff, but I really enjoyed it.

Already seen it @NewName24, loved it!
RIP Terry (and Rico)

I'm intrigued so will keep watching. All the scenes seem to take place at dawn or dusk which I'm finding weird from a time stand point and Dante doesn't half talk some rubbish and people would have told him so in the real world!
Feel quite sorry for Bardon being forced into the IRA stuff, wonder where his mother is?

I really enjoyed Ep 2 (except for the fingers scene). I think Dante and Bardon are likeable, engaging characters and Michelle Dockery is brilliant as Estella. I'm really looking forward to the music coming more to the fore, but think it's been really cleverly done with the different music styles bringing together the different characters.

Surely the IRA bomb codes weren't really so easy to guess though! That was weird - may as well have just gone with "Up the Ra"!

The IRA would supply the code words to the Irish Garda who would then share the information with the security services. The passwords changed periodically. From memory quite a few warnings were called into the press. It did rely on whoever receiving the information calling it in to the police.

^just to add, the code words would then verify the caller wasn’t some sort of crank call

Oh no, I remember all that. I know how the code words worked. I just thought they'd be a bit more random than "Michael Collins".

I tried again last night but gave up. Dante is portrayed as a goodie two-shoes dreamer who doesn't drink, doesn't smoke - generally just doesn't. Then he started a fight (out of character) and beat up three Zulu (really? somebody who has never been in a fight in his life can best three skinheads?) That's when I gave up.

At the start of the first episode, as a scene-setter, we were introduced to several factions which were, basically, Men Causing Trouble. My heart sank at that point. I should have listened to my gut instinct.
I thought that this was supposed to be about Two-Tone music. If it is, it's taking far too long to get to the point. I'm out.

They probably were but it wouldn’t be very sensible to portray real-life codes for obvious reasons?

Oh, this is disappointing.
I've not started to watch it yet (will pick it up on catch up) but, I was looking forward to the music and to spotting locations.
From this thread it is sounding like I'm going to be disappointed.

I've enjoyed it so far, but Dante is a shite poet

I enjoyed it very much once all the disparate threads came together.

Great to see new / unfamiliar to me actors playing some interesting roles. And the look and sound of the thing were both luscious. I found it utterly fascinating that the main actors delivered the script with exactly the diction of Cillian Murphy and the rest of the Shelby family in Peaky Blinders. I have never heard any real life Birmingham resident speak like this - so assume it’s a Steven Knight thing? I don’t mind - I like a bit of theatrical distancing on screen.

The only severe disappointment was the song lyrics written by Kae Tempest. But that’s not a surprise.