City tower blocks in new Knight drama 'gorgeous'

The series tells the story of an extended family and four young people

"When the sun is setting they're gorgeous and when you're on top of them looking out, it's amazing."

This is not how you would expect to hear the tower blocks that dominate the skyline in a deprived part of Birmingham described, but these are the words of Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight.

He's talking about Druid's Heath, a suburb in the south of the city where part of his new series, This Town, was filmed.

For Birmingham born Knight, it was important the drama was shot in the place it is set.

"I insisted on that this time. We've got to do it here," he said.

"You'll see some very iconic buildings.

"It’s very much Birmingham and Coventry are characters in it, if you like, and they're really important."

This Town was filmed in and around Birmingham

Viewers will recognise a housing estate in Druid's Heath and parts of Coventry, the city at the centre of the 2 Tone Music explosion in 1979.

Considered not "particularly desirable", Knight's vision was to "make it beautiful".

"And it is beautiful," he said, "you’ve got these tower blocks but when the sun's setting they’re gorgeous and when you’re on top of them looking out, it’s amazing.

"The idea is not to depict working class life as 'oh my god, isn't it a shame, poor people, isn't it awful'. It's not. It's a laugh. And it is beautiful if you see it in a particular way."

The six-part drama tells the story of an extended family and four young people who are drawn into the Midlands' ska and two-tone music scene in 1981.

A time of social upheaval in the West Midlands, the music forms a backdrop to the turmoil and civil unrest.

Knight said: "It's about four working class people in a particular predicament, facing a lot of pressure to go in the wrong direction with their lives. The question is, can they get out? Can they escape?

"These four people are living very hard lives in quite tough places. But they have a laugh. It's fun, because that's the way it really is, and really was.

"And the thing that sort of galvanises it and the thing that brings them together is the music.

"The way I'm trying to frame it is they have no choice - let’s get famous or go to jail."

Knight recalls it as an era when he was going to St Andrew's to watch Birmingham City matches before going for a post-match pint in the pub.

"Then somebody will turn up with a record player and play this music and the place would erupt, and it was just so much part of who we were," the award-winning writer said.

The cast are all from the Midlands

With a local cast - the lead is from Halesowen - the criticism of poor local accents faced by Peaky Blinders should not be an issue.

"It's difficult to do a Brummie accent if you're not a Brummie, but all of the cast are as close enough for them to be able to do this accent properly, because that's their accent," Knight said.

Part of the series was filmed at Knight's new Digbeth Loc Studios, which he says are now fully booked.

He added: "I really want this to be a city of choice for people who are making anything, whether it's set in Birmingham or not.

"Anybody who knows Digbeth knows what it's like - fantastic and it is fun and irreverent.

"Moving forward, we're going to be building state of the art studios, brand new studios. But right now, we're taking these beautiful old Victorian buildings, a lot of these grand old ladies sitting there.

"They've been neglected for 20 years, and we're turning those into the studios that we're using.

"It's just so exciting. I love it."

All episodes of This Town will be available from 06:00 Sunday 31 March on BBC iPlayer, the series begins on BBC One at 21:00 that evening