Adapting to the end of slavery
The Long Song
BBC1, 9pm
ADAPTED from the award-winning novel by Andrea Levy, the three-part period drama The Long Song (which is showing over consecutive evenings) may initially sound quite heavy for festive TV fare. Set in 19th-century Jamaica during the final days of slavery, it explores a shameful chapter in British colonial history which isn’t always acknowledged.
But while it’s undoubtedly powerful, it’s also a story of love, hope and survival, which is told with more humour than you might expect.
The Long Song also has an impressive cast, which includes Lenny Henry, Doña Croll and Ayesha Antoine, but the story is explored from the perspective of the wily, strong-willed July (rising star Tamara Lawrance). She’s born to a field slave Kitty (Sharon Duncan-brewster) at the Amity sugar cane plantation run by John Howarth (Leo Bill) and his younger sister, the odious Caroline (Hayley Atwell).
On a whim, Caroline decides to train July to be her personal maid, meaning she will live in the big house. As well as learning the job, July discovers how to “handle” her mistress and even scores a few small victories along the way.
Fans of the Marvel Universe may know Atwell as the brave Agent Carter, who made her debut in Captain America: The First Avenger before getting her own TV series. However, it seems the actress is relishing letting someone else play the hero.
She says: “I am delighted to be part of this beautiful story written with warmth, sensitivity, humour and intelligence by Andrea Levy.
“Playing the deeply flawed Caroline Mortimer is a thrilling challenge and entirely new territory for me as an actor. Audiences will fall in love with the story’s remarkable heroine, July, who endures on-going abuses of power with dignity and poise, surviving injustices that were devastatingly prevalent during this time and place in history. It is a story that demands to be told.”
In the opening episode, life at Amity is disrupted by the Christmas riots and the abolition of slavery. Order is later restored and a new overseer arrives in the form of Robert Goodwin (Jack Lowden), who intrigues both July and Caroline with his revolutionary plans for the plantation. Can he really improve the lives of both the former slaves and the mistress?
For rising star Lawrance, whose previous credits include Undercover and King Charles III, The Long Song’s mixture of history and drama has been eye-opening. She says: “Every day at work is enlightening. It’s a real blessing to be amongst this cast and crew, playing a character as subversive as July.
“She relishes mutiny with wit and courage; finding ways to win in spite of her circumstances.
“She also rings true to Jamaica’s national heroes – Nanny, Paul Bogle and Sam Sharpe – who, by standing up for their own humanity, shifted world history.
I believe stories like these illuminate the legacy of slavery in relation to where we are today. It’s all still relevant!”
Jo Martin, Ethan Hazzard, Gordon Brown, Richard Pepple and Joy Richardson also star.