Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery will star in This Town , a new BBC series created by Peaky Blinders author Steven Knight .
The six-part series is a very personal project for Knight, and will tell the story of an extended family and four boys who are drawn into the world of 2 tone ska music, born in the UK in the late 70s and early ’70s 80, as a fusion between traditional ska and punk rock.
The series will be filmed in Birmingham, one of the origin points of 2 tone ska (along with Coventry). The cast will also include Nicholas Pinnock ( Django ) and David Dawson ( The Last Kingdom ).
Mercury Studios, a division of Universal Music Group, will co-produce This Town and bring in several high-profile musicians to help develop the series. Also producing with Mercury are Kudos and Nebulastar, in association with Kudos North, Stigma Films and Nick Angel . Knight said:
This project is very close to my heart. It’s about an era I lived through and know well, and characters I feel I grew up with. It’s a love letter to Birmingham and Coventry, but I hope people from other parts of the world will also be able to relate.
Knight created This Town and will executive produce alongside Karen Wilson, Martin Haines, Katie McAleese, Jo McLellan, Laura Conway, Matthew James Wilkinson and Nick Angel . Paul Whittingon ( The Crown ) will direct.