The British musical drama television series is created by Candice Carty Williams’. It is set in south london and follows musician Bosco Champion(Malcolm Kamulete) and his sister Vita Champion (Déja J Bowens) who steps out of her brother’s shadow to become a performer in her own right, setting the Champion siblings against one another and dividing the whole family in the process. It premiered on 1st July 2023 on BBC one and stars Déja J Bowens, Malcolm Kamulete, Ray BLK, Nadine Marshall, Ray Fearon, Jo Martin and Karl Collins.
The series managed to explore interesting themes such as mental health, heartbreak, police brutality, The music business, family dynamics, culture and many more.
One of topics that drew me closer to the series was the discussions around mental health. We see this through Bosco’s character.
After being released from prison, we see Bosco trying to stand on his own two feet. It’s obvious that prison has had a negative effect on his mental health. He is Paranoid, anxious and uses substances to cope with it.
It got me thinking how life can be for people who have been released from prison. Should there be a rehabilitation centre? Where ex-prisoners could learn how to re-enter the society they once knew?
I also liked how they demonstrated the way some black families deal with mental health discussions. Throughout the series we saw Bosco’s parents denying that anything was wrong with him. In particular, his father who constantly told him to ‘toughen up’ because ‘he is a champion’. Sadly, this is too familiar with Black children.
I remember when I was trying to tell a family member about how I get depressed sometimes. He was quick to dismiss my concerns by saying ‘Nigerians don’t get depressed’.
I’m sure many of us could relate to Vita. Throughout this series Vita is underestimated particularly by her own parents. Her relationship with her mum is quite sad but very common. I’ve been seeing a couple of TikTok’s of girls discussing how their mothers are envious of their lifestyle.
It usually stems from mothers not getting to pursue their dreams when they were young, so they put their failures on their own daughter. This is demonstrated in the series also. We see Vita and her mother go back and forth as Vita is eager to chase her dreams. Her mother is reluctant as she would prefer vita to help run the family restaurant.
In the series, we see Vita finally muster up the courage to be bold and come out of her shell. This was satisfying to watch, sometimes in life it can be tiring trying to please others and push your own desires to the side.
The music in the series is parallel to the uk music scene today. It’s full of afrobeats, Dancehall, drill, soul and R&B. The music was easy to enjoy. It didn’t feel awkward or out of place. No surprise as some of UK’s top artists like Ghetts and Ray BLK helped write some tracks for the series. Each song fitted the scenes perfectly. Malcom, Déja J Bowens and Ray Blk really showcased their musical talents throughout.
I want to go in to so much more detail but I’m not spoiling anything because you need to watch the series, its full of twists and turns. I cannot wait for season 2!
Leave a Reply