The Long Song | |
---|---|
Genre | Historical drama |
Created by | Andrea Levy |
Based on | The Long Song by Andrea Levy |
Screenplay by | Sarah Williams |
Directed by | Mahalia Belo |
Starring | Tamara Lawrance Hayley Atwell Jack Lowden Jordan Bolger Sharon Duncan-Brewster Gordon Brown Ayesha Antoine Leo Bill Lenny Henry Madeleine Mantock |
Composer | Jonathan Rhys Hill |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 3 |
Production | |
Producer | Roopesh Parekh |
Production location | Dominican Republic [1] |
Production company | Heyday Television |
Original release | |
Network | BBC One |
Release | 18 December 2018 |
The Long Song is a three-part BBC television serial, which is an adaptation of Andrea Levy's 2010 historical novel of the same name.
Produced by Heyday Television, its three episodes were adapted by Sarah Williams and directed by Mahalia Belo. It premiered on BBC One on 18 December 2018 and aired in the US on PBS on January 31, 2021 as part of the network's long-running series Masterpiece .
The story is set in early-nineteenth-century colonial Jamaica, focusing on the final years of slavery on the island, including the Christmas Rebellion of 1831, and the transition to freedom that took place after its abolition in 1833. It follows the life of July (Tamara Lawrance), an enslaved woman on a sugarcane plantation. The adaptation explores many of the novel's themes, including colonialism, slavery, racism, violence and love.
Tamara Lawrance plays July, the series' main character. Hayley Atwell plays Caroline Mortimer, the owner of the plantation, who eventually marries an idealistic overseer, Robert Goodwin (Jack Lowden). The cast also included Jordan Bolger, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Gordon Brown, Ayesha Antoine, Leo Bill, Lenny Henry, and Madeleine Mantock in supporting roles. [2] [3]
It received generally favourable reviews from critics. The Guardian 's Lucy Mangan awarded it four stars out of five, calling it "a beautiful, moving, horrifying adaption of [July's] unsimple tale, that honours the source and its subject." [4] The Independent offered similar praise in a four-out-of-five-star review, which called it a "moving reminder of the cruelty of slavery." [5] Stuart McGurk in GQ praised the acting, characterisation and story, but found the narration distracting and unnecessary. [6] For a review in The Radio Times , Eleanor Bley Griffiths concluded that "With wonderful acting from Lawrance and Atwell, a brilliant story from Andrea Levy, and sensitive screenwriting from Sarah Williams, this drama may be airing right at the end of the year—but it truly deserves a spot on the list of best dramas of 2018." [7]
Andrea Levy was an English author best known for the novels Small Island (2004) and The Long Song (2010). She was born in London to Jamaican parents, and her work explores topics related to British Jamaicans and how they negotiate racial, cultural and national identities.
Hayley Elizabeth Atwell is a British and American actress. After appearing in various West End productions, Atwell gained popularity for her roles in period-drama films, appearing in the films Brideshead Revisited (2008), The Duchess (2008) and the miniseries The Pillars of the Earth (2010); for the latter two, she was nominated for a British Independent Film Award and a Golden Globe Award respectively.
Doña Croll is a Jamaican-born British actress. She is best known for her roles in soap operas, playing Pearl McHugh in Channel 5's Family Affairs, Vera Corrigan in Doctors, and Emerald Fox in EastEnders, both on the BBC. She also played the regular role of nurse Adele Beckford in series 8 of Casualty.
William Ash is an English actor. He is known for roles in the television dramas Soldier Soldier, Where the Heart Is (1997–1998), Clocking Off (2001–2002), Waterloo Road (2009–2011), The Tunnel (2016–2017) and Emmerdale (2022–present). His film appearances include Mad About Mambo (2000) and Hush (2008).
Jack Andrew Lowden is a British actor. Following a four-year stage career, his first major international onscreen success was in the 2016 BBC miniseries War & Peace, which led to starring roles in feature films.
Sarah Williams is a British producer and screenwriter perhaps best known for writing the scripts to the 2005 television film Wallis & Edward and co-writing the 2007 feature film Becoming Jane. For her work adapting the novels Poppy Shakespeare and Small Island for television, Williams received two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award nominations.
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