Peaky Blinders boss Steven Knight has addressed whether the band in new show This Town is based on a real musical group.
The six-part series starring Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery, For Life's Nicholas Pinnock and Rogue One's Geraldine James tells the fictional story of the formation of a rock group, set against the backdrop of the political and social unrest of 1981.
Speaking during a Q+A for the show with cast members Dockery, Jordan Bolger, Ben Rose and Levi Brown, director Paul Whittington and executive producer Karen Wilson, the director addressed whether the fictional band had any real life roots.
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"No, I really didn't want to go there," Knight said. "The way I think of it is, this is the real world. It's what might have happened in a different circumstance. So these are different people."
Continuing, he conceded that, "What we did with the contemporary artists [involved in the soundtrack] was say to them, imagine it's 1981 what would you write?
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"And so that's what they've done and they've come up with some beautiful stuff. But it's not meant to be. The last thing I wanted to do was to make this story of whatever band, because that's a different thing altogether."
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Digital Spy's review of the show awarded it four out of five stars, and praised its characters and performances, but noted that the story was potentially over-stuffed with themes.
"This Town possibly attempts too much," it reads.
"Those here for the music may find their attention start to wander as we get bogged down in the social tensions, while others here for Knight's signature sprawling soap opera of criminality may not have the same stomach for characters spontaneously breaking into song. Still, there will be a sweet spot who enjoy both."
This Town will be available in full on BBC iPlayer from March 31, with episode one airing on BBC One at 9pm the same day.
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Previously Deputy TV Editor at Digital Spy and, before that, a TV Reporter at The Mirror, Rebecca can now be found crafting expert analysis of the TV landscape, when she's not talking on the BBC or Times Radio about everything from the latest season of Bridgerton or The White Lotus to whatever chaos is unfolding in the various Love Island villas. When she's not bingeing a boxset, in-the-wild sightings of Rebecca have included stints on the National TV Awards and BAFTAs red carpets, and post-match video explainers of the reality TV we're all watching.
