BBC’s new drama This Town, the brainchild of Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, is hitting screens on Sunday.
Levi Brown, who stars as protagonist Dante Williams in the six-part series, opened up about an injury he received while filming the drama.
The programme, filmed in the Birmingham area, tells the story of an extended family and group of youngsters who are drawn into the Midlands’ two-tone music scene at the dawn of the 1980s.
Talking about his role in the programme, Brown was asked about the challenges that came with it.
Opening up on an unexpected injury the character gave him, he admitted: “One of the biggest challenges was the guitar. My fingers are not my fingers anymore.
“They were sort of broken and healed over and now I have got guitar hands.”
This Town explores the Midlands in the 1980s
BBC
He went on: “I am from Dudley and the accent is different to a Birmingham accent, but it came quite naturally.
“I think the way that Steven writes, the rhythmic nature of it helps you naturally form this rhythm with your voice and the way you say things.”
A BBC synopsis of the drama reads: “Set in a world of family ties, teenage kicks and the exhilarating music of a generation, This Town tells the story of a band’s formation against a backdrop of violence, capturing how creative genius can emerge from a time of madness.
“Both a high-octane thriller and a family saga, This Town opens in 1981 at a moment of huge social tensions and unrest.
Levi explained his fingers were injured by using the guitar in the role
BBC
“Against this backdrop, it tells the story of a group of young people fighting to choose their own paths in life, and each in need of the second chance that music offers.”
Creator Knight explained: “The setting and backdrop for This Town is 1981, Birmingham and Coventry.
“1981 was a time of turmoil and change in every sense - in society, in politics but in music as well.
“This series opens with a riot and I hope the sense of ‘riot’ continues throughout the whole thing.
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Levi stars as protagonist Donte
BBC
“The riot was a real thing, it happened in Handsworth, Birmingham and I’ve used that to introduce four very different characters who will come together.”
He continued: “I didn’t really want to do a thing about people who form a band, which is part of what it is, I wanted to create a group of people who have no choice other than to form a band because all the other options are so bleak.”