Sir Lenny Henry’s new drama utilises a number of different real-life stories.
Sir Lenny Henry is behind the brand new ITV drama Three Little Birds, which tells the story of three women travelling from Jamaica to the UK in the late 1950s, in search of a new life.
The series stars Rochelle Neil, Saffron Coomber and Yazmin Belo, while supporting roles are played by Javone Prince, Leemore Marrett Jr, Bobby Gordon, Arthur Darvill and Amy Beth Hayes.
Henry has spoken at length about what inspired him to tell this story, but is it based on specific real events, and if so, where have these stories come from?
Read on for everything you need to know about the true story behind Three Little Birds.
Is Three Little Birds based on a true story?
Three Little Birds is dramatising a real period of history, but the specific characters of Leah, Chantrelle and Hosanna, and the exact details of what they go through, are not based entirely on real people.
Sir Lenny Henry previously told RadioTimes.com that the series is “based on stories my mum and my aunty told me about coming to Britain in the ’50s”.
He continued: “It’s about overcoming, it’s about women and feminism. They literally came to this country and they worked hard, got their kids and men over here, and the show is about that. It’s happy, it’s moving, it’s sad at times, and it looks beautiful.”
This means that while many of the experiences Leah, Chantrelle and Hosanna have will be based on real-life stories, they were not themselves real people.
What was Windrush and who are the Windrush generation?
HMT Windrush was a passenger liner which brought a large group of immigrants from the Caribbean to the United Kingdom in 1948, and has since become synonymous with the mass-migration movement at the time.
It was not the first ship to transport those from the Caribbean to the UK and nor was it the last, but those who came to the UK on the same route and similar ships until 1971 became known as the Windrush generation.
This followed the passing of the 1948 British Nationality Act, which gave people from British colonies the right to live and work in Britain, so as to fill post-War labour shortages.
Many of those who came to the UK did so because of the economic struggles back in the Caribbean, and because they had previously served in the British armed forces. Many who arrived in the UK then took jobs in manual labour, or as drivers, cleaners and nurses.
Leah, Chantrelle and Hosanna arrive on a ship post-Windrush, but would be considered part of the Windrush generation.
What has Lenny Henry said about the true story behind Three Little Birds?
Lenny Henry has spoken at length about the process of writing the series, and has explained the various sources which have had input into the story he has told.
Speaking at a Q&A for the series, Henry said: “There’s a lot of me in it, there’s a lot of research gone into it, there’s a lot of my family got into it. We talked to lots of people about this story and it turns out that there are many people with similar experiences, and we tried to put everybody’s experience into this, read through a lot of research.
“I wanted it to be something that could resonate not just with us, but with everybody.”
Henry also spoke about how the series represents the racism the Windrush generation experienced during the 1950s, when the show is set. While this is certainly represented in the series, Henry has explained that it is not as “blunt” in its depiction as it could have been
Henry explained: “I live in Dudley. I grew up three miles from Smethwick, where the guy nearly got in under the thing ‘if you want an N word for a neighbour vote Labour’. I live like six miles from Wolverhampton, where Enoch Powell made the Rivers of Bloods speech. We existed in a time of overt racism.
“And so what’s so brilliant about these people who came to this country and walked cold streets and overcame, overcame, overcame, is that they did survive. And they made friends and they had allies, and they had relationships here. And they learned and they figured and they hustled, and they got over. And they made Saturday soup and invited people round.
“And they trusted, and they got money, even though they didn’t have money. They played cards. These people overcame and they made friends and they got allies. This not a Disneyfication of what happened to them, but it’s not as hard as it could have been portrayed.”
Three Little Birds will air on ITV1 from Sunday 22nd October at 8pm. Looking for something to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide, or visit our Drama hub.
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