Lenny Henry told to tone down harsh reality of 50s Britain so show 'watchable'

16 October 2023 , 23:01

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Lenny Henry told to tone down harsh reality of 50s Britain so show 'watchable'

As a child of immigrant parents, Sir Lenny Henry certainly had no shortage of tales of how his family were treated when they first arrived in England during the fifties.

So when it came to creating his powerful new TV series, Three Little Birds, that tells the story of two sisters and their friend arriving in Britain for the first time in the mid fifties, it's perhaps only fitting that he would naturally include the violence and insults that he grew up hearing of. However, during the production of the six-part historical drama series, it was suggested that certain scenes should be less blunt so viewers aren't left horrified.

Speaking at the press screening for the show, which is set to air on ITVX later this month, the 65 year old star said: "What happened to them (Jamaican immigrants) is not as hard as it could have been portrayed. We were advised sometimes 'it might be nice to not have that'. There is a riot in episode two but (he was told) 'perhaps it might be a nice riot, could they all be friends at the end?'"

Sir Lenny Henry wrote and produced ITV's Three Little Birds

But Sir Lenny, who split from his wife and fellow TV personality Dawn French in 2010, recalls that his own exprience living in Dudley, was completely different. He revealed that he remembered someone nearly got into power within local government by saying, "if you want an N-word for a neighbour vote Labour" and he was only six miles away from where British politician, Enoch Powell made his infamous Rivers Of Blood speech.

In the first episode viewers see Leah, played by Rochelle Neil, Hosanna, played by Yazmin Belo and Chantrelle played by Saffron Coomber, board a ship to take them to the UK. But their high expectations of England were soon dashed to one side after police officers burst into a house party and Hosanna, who is a god fearing woman, is arrested, insulted and placed in jail for no apprent reason.

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Three Little Birds tells the story of three Jamaican women who arrive in the UK during the fifties

And this incident, along with their poor living conditions, start to open their eyes to what their new life in England is going to be like. Further into the screening event, Sir Lenny added: "There is a way of handling things. Whenever I watch anything about slavery I always go 'well it was worse than that wasnt it'. But there has to be a sense of balancing it out so that you're not completely repulsed."

He went on to say: "You've got to be able to watch the thing. So I think in terms of what your taste is and what your editing is and your creating tone - all of those things come to make it something like this. It's got to be watchable if you want people to engage with it. You cant just think about repulsing people, there has to be a sense of light and shade otherwise there is no learning."

And his co-star Rochelle Neil also contirbuted to the discussion by saying that there is an old saying that says "nothing is learned from a place of shame."

Lucretia Munro