“Ridley Road” – BBC anti-fascist TV drama debuts 3rd October

A previous post highlighted that this show was in development and it finally airs this weekend with all episodes available on Iplayer.

That post also went into some detail about the real events that inspired the novel that the show is based on, including the role of the militant anti-fascist 62 Group in fighting fascists at Ridley Road in the 1960s.

I enjoyed Jo Bloom’s novel and am looking forward to the TV adaption. From the trailer it appears that the female lead plays more of a role in infiltrating the fascist group than in the novel, where she mainly worries about her square-jawed male lover doing that.

The BBC has a page dedicated to the show with details of the cast and interviews with some of the actors.

Unfortunately it seems that the show was actually filmed in Manchester rather than Hackney…

Just Another Asian

standupandspit

Savitri Hensman was a member of the Hackney Writers’ Workshop. The workshop came together in 1976 as a Workers’ Education Assocoation class.
Savitri was born in Sri Lanka and came to Britain in 1965. She lived in Stoke Newington was in her final year of school when this was published in the third Hackney Writers’ Group collection, which came out in 1979.

Just Another Asian

Watching were the stars that night
Watching was the moon
As Abdul left the bus-stop
Whistling a tune

The street was still and quiet
And the street-lamps they were bright
But something gleamed more brightly
In an alleyway that night

A cold breeze stirred and dwindled;
He did not see or hear
Th silent youths who played with
The knife as he drew near

His eyes were on the street ahead
His thoughts were on his wife
And then he heard the curses
And…

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