THIS WEEK’S CHOICE
The much-anticipated adaptation of the first book of Malorie Blackman’s awardwinning young adult series.
Over 700 years ago, the Aprican Empire invaded Europe. Aprica colonised the continent and reached as far as Albion. Albion has been under Aprican rule ever since.
Noughts + Crosses follows two young people,
Sephy and Callum, who are divided by their colour but united by love. Sephy is a Cross, a member of the black ruling class and daughter of a prominent politician. Callum is a Nought, a white member of the underclass. The two have been friends since early childhood, but their relationship grows ever more complicated as they come of age. It’s the story of two families separated by power and prejudice, but forever entwined by fate.
BAFTA Cymru winner Jack Rowan is Callum McGregor and newcomer Masali Baduza is
Sephy Hadley. Paterson Joseph plays Sephy’s father, Home Secretary Kamal Hadley and Helen Baxendale and Ian Hart play Callum’s parents. Stormzy is newspaper editor Kolawale.
“We’ve taken the first novel of the book series and aged up the central characters by a few years. Series one sets up this world and the two warring families at the centre of the story, and covers much of the action of the first novel. With four more books published and one more to come, there is plenty of scope for this series to return again and again”
“I have been writing and researching the black presence in the UK since the Roman times, and with this drama we have an incredible story that is almost in reverse. When I took on the role of Kamal Hadley it was a question of how do I depict a racist who is black, in a country where he is in the minority, but also where they are ruling? That is somewhere I have never had to go with any character I have played before, so that fascinated me.”