Storm Damage | |
---|---|
Genre | Drama |
Written by | Lennie James |
Directed by | Simon Cellan Jones |
Starring | Adrian Lester Mona Hammond Kate Ashfield |
Theme music composer | Chris Whitten |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producer | Ian Madden |
Cinematography | Nicholas D. Knowland |
Editor | Kristina Hetherington |
Running time | 95 minutes |
Production company | BBC Films |
Original release | |
Network | BBC Two |
Release | 23 January 2000 |
Storm Damage is a 2000 British television drama film directed by Simon Cellan Jones, written by Lennie James, and stars Adrian Lester, Mona Hammond and Kate Ashfield. The film is about a young teacher who returns to the children's care home where he grew up, and becomes involved with the lives of the troubled teenage children. It was broadcast by BBC Two on 23 January 2000.
Danny (Adrian Lester) is an English teacher in a South London comprehensive. When three youths break into his class and threaten one of his pupils, Patrick "Shinehead" (Alexis Rodney), Danny intervenes and is himself threatened with a knife before the youths leave. A shaken Danny confronts Patrick and demands that he tells him the name of the ringleader.
Danny discovers that the 16-year-old boy, Stefan Ortiz (Ashley Walters), lives at the care home known as Number 66, where he himself spent much of his youth. He visits the home and is welcomed by his former foster mother Agnes Miller (Mona Hammond), who runs the home. He confronts Stefan and is shocked and infuriated by the boy's unruly and hostile attitude.
Danny becomes increasingly obsessed with Stefan and visits the home frequently. Eventually, he resigns his teaching job and takes a job at the home, but his hot-headed and sometimes confrontational approach does not go down well with some of Number 66's troubled children, particularly Stefan. At the same time, Danny begins an affair with Kay (Kate Ashfield), another worker at the home.
Meanwhile, Stefan has fallen under the control of Steven Bonaface (Lennie James), a local gangster, and is being drawn deeper into a life of petty crime. On Christmas Day Stefan burgles his mother's house.
At a New Year's Eve party, one of the girls at Number 66, Annalise (Ashley Madekwe), overdoses on solvents. Her friend, Melody (Nicole Charles), is persuaded to leave Annalise by her boyfriend Shinehead, and Annalise subsequently dies in hospital. Later, Stefan blames Shinehead and vows revenge.
Stefan, on the run from the police, leaves Number 66 to hide out at the home of Rosa (Anastasia Hille), Annalise's mother, a drug addict. Some days later, Danny comes upon a confrontation between Stefan and Shinehead. When Shinehead pulls a knife on Stefan, Danny intervenes and Shinehead leaves. Back at Number 66, Stefan fights with his best friend from Number 66, Paul (Roland Manookian), over a stolen jacket. Stefan runs off and Danny follows him and confronts him with Bonaface. Stefan is defiant and Danny leaves. However, a furious Stefan follows Danny back to Number 66. In his anger Stefan ransacks the kitchen, throwing anything he can find at Danny until he finally breaks down in tears. Danny comforts him.
Later, Stefan, who seems to have ended his hostilities with Danny, is out in an amusement arcade with Paul and Milton MacDaddy (another child from Number 66) when they are confronted by Shinehead and his gang. Stefan is stabbed repeatedly by Shinehead.
At Stefan's funeral the preacher, Mister (T-Bone Wilson), begs the young people to value themselves and their lives.
|
|
The film was written by actor Lennie James and was closely based on his own experiences. James was fostered after spending some time in a council-run home following the death of his mother. His foster mother subsequently set up a children's home, and James helped out while training to be an actor, but found it difficult. [1]
Stephen Bourne in his 2001 book Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television said, "Storm Damage proved to be the best film or television drama written about the displacement and alienation of Britain's black working-class youth since Horace Ové's film Pressure." [2]
Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Single Drama | Ian Madden, Simon Cellan Jones, Lennie James | Nominated |
Royal Television Society Awards | BBC | Won | ||
Lennie Michael James is a British actor. He is best known for portraying Morgan Jones in the AMC series The Walking Dead and in its spin-off, Fear the Walking Dead, and starring as DCI Tony Gates in Line of Duty series one.
The Bourne Supremacy is a 2004 action-thriller film featuring Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne character. Although it takes the name of the second Bourne novel (1986), its plot is entirely different. The film was directed by Paul Greengrass from a screenplay by Tony Gilroy. It is the second installment in the Bourne franchise, a direct sequel to The Bourne Identity (2002).
James Patrick Sheridan is an American actor known for playing a wide range of roles in theater, film, and television. He's best known for Randall Flagg in The Stand (1994), Captain James Deakins on Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001–2006), and Robert Queen on Arrow (2012–2019).
Juliet Anne Prowse was a British-American dancer and actress whose four-decade career included stage, television and film. She was born in Bombay then of British India, raised in South Africa, where her family emigrated after World War II. Known for her attractive legs, she was described after her death as having "arguably the best legs since Betty Grable."
Son of Dork were a British pop punk band formed by James Bourne after his previous band, Busted, split in January 2005. The name of the band came from a scene in the 1990 film Problem Child where the chant "Son of Dork" is used. Their debut single, "Ticket Outta Loserville", was released in November 2005, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Their second single, "Eddie's Song", reached No. 10 in January 2006.
Carmen Esme Munroe, is a British actress who was born in Berbice, British Guiana, and has been a resident of the UK since the early 1950s. Munroe made her West End stage debut in 1962 and has played an instrumental role in the development of black British theatre and representation on small screen. She has had high-profile roles on stage and television, perhaps best known from the British TV sitcom Desmond's as Shirley, wife of the eponymous barber played by Norman Beaton.
Mona Hammond was a Jamaican-British actress and co-founder of the Talawa Theatre Company. Born in Tweedside, Jamaica, Hammond immigrated to the United Kingdom in 1959, where she lived for the rest of her life. Hammond had a long and distinguished stage career. She was best known for her work on British television and played Blossom Jackson in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.
Danny Foster is an English pop/soul singer and television personality, who appeared in the inaugural series of the British television talent-show Popstars, going on to become a founder member of the pop group Hear'say.
Blossom Jackson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Mona Hammond. The character originally appeared from 16 May 1994 to 29 May 1997. Hammond was installed as a matriarchal figure of the Jackson clan but quit the role in 1997, reportedly because she was suffering from nervous exhaustion. She reprised the role on 25 October 2010 for two episodes.
Mark Gottlieb is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, acted by Bruce Samazan. Samazan hoped the role would help him further his aspirations to become a popular Australian actor. He relocated from Sydney to Melbourne for filming and signed a six-month contract, which he then required to extend. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 13 August 1993. Mark was introduced as the brother of established regular Stephen Gottlieb. The role initially required Samazan to put on a French accent, which he based on his own father's. In order to distinguish Mark from his E Street character Max Simmons, Samazan got a Caesar cut and Mark had a trendy European wardrobe.
Danny Ramsay is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, played by David Clencie. He made his first appearance during the serial's debut episode broadcast on 18 March 1985. Danny was the first character to speak in the show. Danny's storylines focused on his troubled relationship with his father Max and his subsequent discovery that Tim Duncan is his real father, his friendship with Scott Robinson and his job as a bank teller. Danny moved away from Ramsay Street on 31 July 1986. In 2005, Clencie reprised his role as Danny for a cameo in Annalise Hartman's documentary on Ramsay Street.
Rambo: The Force of Freedom is a 1986 American animated series based on the character of John Rambo from David Morrell's book First Blood and the subsequent films First Blood (1982) and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985). This series was adapted for television by story editor/head writer Michael Chain and also spawned a toy line.
Five Days is a British dramatic television series produced by the BBC in association with Home Box Office (HBO). The first series was first broadcast on BBC One from 23 January to 1 February 2007, and repeated on BBC Four from 9 to 13 April 2007.
Outlaw is a 2007 action-thriller film written and directed by British filmmaker Nick Love. Outlaw stars Sean Bean, Danny Dyer, Bob Hoskins, Lennie James, Rupert Friend and Sean Harris.
The Hi-Lo Country is a 1998 Western film directed by Stephen Frears, starring Billy Crudup, Penélope Cruz, Woody Harrelson, Cole Hauser, Sam Elliott, Patricia Arquette, Enrique Castillo, and Katy Jurado. It is set in post-World War II New Mexico and is based on the Western novel by Max Evans.
The Whistle Blower is a 1986 British spy thriller film directed by Simon Langton and starring Michael Caine, James Fox, Nigel Havers, Felicity Dean, John Gielgud, Kenneth Colley, Gordon Jackson, David Langton, and Barry Foster. It is based on the 1984 novel of the same name by John Hale.
Deep in My Heart is a 1999 American drama television film directed by Anita W. Addison. It stars Anne Bancroft and Lynn Whitfield. It is based on a true story. The film was broadcast on CBS on February 14, 1999. Bancroft received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her role.
Colombiana is a 2011 French English-language action thriller film co-written and produced by Luc Besson and directed by Olivier Megaton. The film stars Zoe Saldaña with supporting roles by Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis, Lennie James, Callum Blue, and Jordi Mollà. The film is about Cataleya, a nine-year-old girl in Colombia whose family is killed by a drug lord. Fifteen years later, a grown Cataleya seeks her revenge.
Stephen Bourne is a British writer, film and social historian specialising in Black heritage and gay culture.