This Town

 

This Town

by Pete Clemons

Radio Times online:
'......set in the Midlands during the 1980s, exploring the ska and 2 Tone scene'.

Given that kind of hype you could be forgiven for expecting and going with certain assumptions. The programme title, it appears, has not helped either.

Bear in mind that This Town is set in 1981, after the whole 2 tone scene had peaked. It was also the beginning of a journey for Aston Villa football club that would see them win the European Cup. But with the programmes creator being a Birmingham City fan then I guess he can be forgiven for that omission.

Additionally, the era was not all about Ska. Far from it. It was the year, for example, that Duran Duran released their debut album. Along with the singles 'Planet Earth' and 'Girls on Film' it contained some instant classics.

Admittedly the programmes creator, Steven Knight has attempted to smooth things out. Steven said during an interview 'Its about a period of time I knew well, the early 80s, and its about this city that I knew well, Birmingham'. But as well as it has been written I cant help but feel that a selective memory has been engaged.

Steven continues 'The theme is the music. There is a style of music that really began in Coventry and migrated to Birmingham'.

With Peaky Blinders, and given the era that programme was set, there would be few around who could separate fact from fiction. Crossing that hurdle is so much different this time around.

Praise is never normally a thing that is universally positive. And reading the negative criticism from the targeted audience, the general public, the understandable expectations by many were just not there. And that's what led to the criticisms. Without the hype and maybe a different title the series would have been just another series.

But it's not all negative. There has been positives too. And rightly so. As a storyline, in this era of mediocrity it is, I think, very good. I get the narrative. But it is a bit of a slow burner. The overall portrayal is a bit overblown and exaggerated. But I personally am enjoying it and the acting really is very good.

It appears to draw loosely on related incidents around at that time. They in turn have been exaggerated and the history skewed. But it has very little do with what the hype and title led you to initially believe.

Was it really that bad?. The worrying aspect is that I really hope that the early 1980s are not tarnished forever. It really wasn't all about bombs and football violence.

Sometimes you just got to listen to the public at large. They can't be all wrong. If thousands of comments are consistent then maybe just maybe, as hard as it is to swallow, those comments might bear validity.