Ashton-under-Lyne sees new 1960s drama series for BBC One being filmed in the town
- New BBC One thriller series filmed in Ashton
- Ridley Road is a four-part series written and adapated by Sarah Solemani
- Series is based on novel by Jo Bloom.
A new BBC One series written by award-winning writer Sarah Solemani is being filmed in Ashton-under-Lyne.
Ridley Road is on the novel by Jo Bloom nasd has been adapted for television.
Produced by RED production company and Bafta-Award winning executive producer Nicola Shindler (Years And Years, Happy Valley, Trust Me, Safe), the series stars James Bond actor Rory Kinnear, former EastEnders stars Danny Hatchard, Tamzin Outhwaite ,Tracy-Ann Oberman, Game Of Thrones and Babs actress Samantha Spiro and Doctor Zhivago and A Taste Of Honey star Rita Tushingham.
The drama is set against the backdrop of a swinging sixties London in an east end world where far right facism is on the rise.
The series, however, reveals a very much dark and different side of the sixties in London.
Sharing light on the staggering contribution of the Jewish community and their battle in their fight against racism.
The series tells the story of Vivien Epstein (played by Aggie O’Casey), whom rejects her stable and very comfortable middle-class life in Manchester.
Vivien falls in love with a member of the ’62 group’, a coalition of Jewish men who stood up against rising neo-nazism in post-war Britain.
Ridley Road sees Vivien commence work with these, when she realises that her missing boyfriend Jack (played by Tom Varey) has been badly injured.
Vivien infiltrates the NSM, neo-nazi movement which is becoming increasingly prominent in London, risking everything for both her beliefs and the man she loves dearly.
Piers Wenger, controller of BBC drama, sayid: “Sarah’s brilliant scripts tell a unique story of doomed love and undercover espionage against a backdrop of a fascist uprising in 1960s London.
“This story couldn’t feel more timely and we are hugely indebted Sarah for bringing this story to life in her own style.”
Last week Stamford Street in the town centre of Ashton-under-Lyne was transformed with a flashback to life in the swinging 1960s.
Images of the set have been taken by local residents and business owners, including these taken by Carl Hibbert owner of the Living Canvas Tattoo shop in the centre of Ashton.
