Small Axe: Alex Wheatle
BBC1, 9pm The penultimate drama in Steve McQueen’s series follows the early life of Alex Wheatle (Sheyi Cole, right) in the 1970s and 1980s, as he was thrown from a traumatic upbringing in care homes onto the streets of London. He spent time in prison after the 1981 Brixton uprising, before becoming a successful novelist.
McQueen’s unrelenting reminder of the casual racism in Britain is leavened by the depiction of a closely knit Afro-Caribbean community in Brixton. Occasionally heavyhanded and flat moments in the script mean that this doesn’t quite achieve the heights of earlier films in the series.
However, Cole’s fine performance provides the emotional anchor as we witness the transformation of Wheatle from a naive youngster to the troubled yet more self-aware individual who finds creativity and purpose.