After penning an episode of HBO\u2019s acclaimed comedy drama Barry in 2018, actor Sarah Solemani has now taken on the challenge of translating Ridley Road from page to screen.<\/p>\n
The recently released trailer looks very promising indeed, featuring what could be a major breakout role for O\u2019Casey as well as supporting roles for the likes of Eddie Marsan, Tracy Ann-Oberman and Rory Kinnear as real-life fascist Colin Jordan.<\/p>\n
Read on for everything we know so far about the BBC\u2019s long-awaited drama Ridley Road.<\/p>\n
Ridley Road release date<\/strong><\/h2>\nThere\u2019s no confirmed premiere date for Ridley Road just yet, but the adaptation is likely to arrive before the end of the year, as a recent tweet from the BBC\u2019s press office stated it would be \u201cstreaming soon\u201d on iPlayer.<\/p>\n
“You don’t know anything about me\u2026”#RidleyRoad<\/a> – streaming soon @BBCiPlayer<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/INCE5AymHK<\/a><\/p>\u2014 BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) September 12, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>The project has been a long time coming, first announced all the way back in August 2019, with production delayed by the onset of the pandemic early the following year.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, filming did eventually get started in September 2020, with the finished series set to deliver four hour-long episodes of suspenseful drama.<\/p>
Ridley Road cast<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\""Agnes\"]( "\\"\"ridley-road-agnes-o'casey\"\\"")
<\/div> Agnes O\u2019Casey in Ridley Road<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\nNewcomer Agnes O\u2019Casey is making her television debut as Vivien Epstein, with her previous work being on stage productions with Irish drama school The Lir Academy.<\/p>\n
Speaking about her casting, she said: \u201cSarah Solemani has blown me away with the detail, sensitivity, and complexity with which she has written Vivien. I can\u2019t wait to bring this vital and little-known story to life\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n\n\nTom Varey (Game of Thrones) plays love interest Jack Morris, while Rory Kinnear will portray real-life fascist Colin Jordan, who led the NSM and was a prominent far-right voice until his death in 2009.<\/p>\n
On the flipside, Eddie Marsan (Ray Donovan) plays the fictional Soly Malinovsky, leader of an antifascist organisation by the name of 62 Group, who sends Vivien on her dangerous mission.<\/p>\n
The supporting cast includes Tracy-Ann Oberman (Friday Night Dinner), Samantha Spiro (Sex Education), Tamzin Outhwaite (EastEnders) and Rita Tushingham (A Taste of Honey).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Ridley Road plot<\/strong><\/h2>\nBased on Jo Bloom\u2019s novel<\/a>, the story is inspired by the struggle of the 62 Group, a coalition of anti-fascists who stood up against rising neo-Nazism in post-war Britain.<\/p>\nSet in 1962, Ridley Road unfolds from the perspective of young Jewish woman Vivien Epstein, who moves from Manchester to East London after the death of her father.<\/p>\n
She attempts to track down Jack Morris, a man with whom she once had an intense love affair, but with little information to go on she is unsuccessful \u2013 at first.<\/p>\n
After bagging a job at a hair salon in Soho, Vivien becomes involved in London\u2019s anti-fascist movement and is selected to infiltrate the National Socialist Movement (NSM), a neo-Nazi group set up by Colin Jordan.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a dangerous mission that will bring her face-to-face with the leader himself as well as her lost love, Jack, with screenwriter Solemani hoping it will bring awareness to the threat of fascism in the UK today.<\/p>\n
![\""Ridley\"]( "\\"\"ridley-road-bbc\"\\"")
<\/div> BBC<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n\u201cBritain\u2019s relationship with fascism is closer and more alive than we like to think,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cLuckily, so is our rich heritage of fighting it.<\/p>\n
\u201cJo Bloom\u2019s gripping book revealed a darker side of sixties London and the staggering contribution the Jewish community made in the battle against racism. I am thrilled to be working with [production company] Red and the BBC to bring this little-known slice of British history to the screen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The BBC synopsis reads: \u201cRidley Road is a thriller set against the backdrop of a swinging sixties London we haven\u2019t seen: an East End world where far right fascism is on the rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Vivien Epstein follows her lover into danger and he is caught between life and death, Vivien finds herself going undercover with the fascists, not only for him but for the sake of her country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is Ridley Road based on a true story?<\/strong><\/h2>\nWhile the story of Ridley Road involving Vivien Epstein and lover Jack Morris is fictional, the backdrop against which it is set is very much drawn from real history.<\/p>\n
In the 1960s, fascism was on the rise in East London \u2013 where Ridley Road is located \u2013 fuelled by the disgusting comments and actions of Colin Jordan\u2019s National Socialist Movement.<\/p>\n
The 62 Group was a real organisation created in response to anti-semitic attacks that had started to become more frequent, taking action in a variety of ways including planting informers within fascist groups.<\/p>\n
The most well-known incident in the war between these groups occurred in 1962 at Trafalgar Square, where Jordan\u2019s attempt to hold a fascist and anti-semitic rally led to a riot.<\/p>\n
\n\n\nRidley Road trailer<\/h2>\n
Yes! The BBC revealed a teaser trailer for Ridley Road in September 2021, introducing O\u2019Casey\u2019s protagonist and Rory Kinnear as real-life neo-Nazi leader, Colin Jordan. Watch below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n\n\nRidley Road premieres on BBC One in 2021. While you\u2019re waiting, check out more of our Drama<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> to see what\u2019s on tonight.
<\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The four-part adaptation tells the story of a Jewish woman who goes undercover in a neo-Nazi organisation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":4355,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The four-part adaptation tells the story of a Jewish woman who goes undercover in a neo-Nazi organisation.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/4354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
“You don’t know anything about me\u2026”#RidleyRoad<\/a> – streaming soon @BBCiPlayer<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/INCE5AymHK<\/a><\/p>\u2014 BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) September 12, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote> The project has been a long time coming, first announced all the way back in August 2019, with production delayed by the onset of the pandemic early the following year.<\/p>\n Fortunately, filming did eventually get started in September 2020, with the finished series set to deliver four hour-long episodes of suspenseful drama.<\/p> Newcomer Agnes O\u2019Casey is making her television debut as Vivien Epstein, with her previous work being on stage productions with Irish drama school The Lir Academy.<\/p>\n Speaking about her casting, she said: \u201cSarah Solemani has blown me away with the detail, sensitivity, and complexity with which she has written Vivien. I can\u2019t wait to bring this vital and little-known story to life\u201d.<\/p>\n Tom Varey (Game of Thrones) plays love interest Jack Morris, while Rory Kinnear will portray real-life fascist Colin Jordan, who led the NSM and was a prominent far-right voice until his death in 2009.<\/p>\n On the flipside, Eddie Marsan (Ray Donovan) plays the fictional Soly Malinovsky, leader of an antifascist organisation by the name of 62 Group, who sends Vivien on her dangerous mission.<\/p>\n The supporting cast includes Tracy-Ann Oberman (Friday Night Dinner), Samantha Spiro (Sex Education), Tamzin Outhwaite (EastEnders) and Rita Tushingham (A Taste of Honey).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Based on Jo Bloom\u2019s novel<\/a>, the story is inspired by the struggle of the 62 Group, a coalition of anti-fascists who stood up against rising neo-Nazism in post-war Britain.<\/p>\n Set in 1962, Ridley Road unfolds from the perspective of young Jewish woman Vivien Epstein, who moves from Manchester to East London after the death of her father.<\/p>\n She attempts to track down Jack Morris, a man with whom she once had an intense love affair, but with little information to go on she is unsuccessful \u2013 at first.<\/p>\n After bagging a job at a hair salon in Soho, Vivien becomes involved in London\u2019s anti-fascist movement and is selected to infiltrate the National Socialist Movement (NSM), a neo-Nazi group set up by Colin Jordan.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a dangerous mission that will bring her face-to-face with the leader himself as well as her lost love, Jack, with screenwriter Solemani hoping it will bring awareness to the threat of fascism in the UK today.<\/p>\n \u201cBritain\u2019s relationship with fascism is closer and more alive than we like to think,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cLuckily, so is our rich heritage of fighting it.<\/p>\n \u201cJo Bloom\u2019s gripping book revealed a darker side of sixties London and the staggering contribution the Jewish community made in the battle against racism. I am thrilled to be working with [production company] Red and the BBC to bring this little-known slice of British history to the screen.\u201d<\/p>\n The BBC synopsis reads: \u201cRidley Road is a thriller set against the backdrop of a swinging sixties London we haven\u2019t seen: an East End world where far right fascism is on the rise.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Vivien Epstein follows her lover into danger and he is caught between life and death, Vivien finds herself going undercover with the fascists, not only for him but for the sake of her country.\u201d<\/p>\n While the story of Ridley Road involving Vivien Epstein and lover Jack Morris is fictional, the backdrop against which it is set is very much drawn from real history.<\/p>\n In the 1960s, fascism was on the rise in East London \u2013 where Ridley Road is located \u2013 fuelled by the disgusting comments and actions of Colin Jordan\u2019s National Socialist Movement.<\/p>\n The 62 Group was a real organisation created in response to anti-semitic attacks that had started to become more frequent, taking action in a variety of ways including planting informers within fascist groups.<\/p>\n The most well-known incident in the war between these groups occurred in 1962 at Trafalgar Square, where Jordan\u2019s attempt to hold a fascist and anti-semitic rally led to a riot.<\/p>\n Yes! The BBC revealed a teaser trailer for Ridley Road in September 2021, introducing O\u2019Casey\u2019s protagonist and Rory Kinnear as real-life neo-Nazi leader, Colin Jordan. Watch below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n The four-part adaptation tells the story of a Jewish woman who goes undercover in a neo-Nazi organisation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":4355,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/ridley-road-release-date-rumours-cast-trailer-and-latest-news.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The four-part adaptation tells the story of a Jewish woman who goes undercover in a neo-Nazi organisation.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/4354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Ridley Road cast<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Agnes\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2020\/11\/ridley-road-agnes-ocasey-2889272.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"ridley-road-agnes-o'casey\"\\"")
<\/div>Ridley Road plot<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Ridley\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2020\/11\/ridley-road-bbc-ecce79e.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"ridley-road-bbc\"\\"")
<\/div> Is Ridley Road based on a true story?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Ridley Road trailer<\/h2>\n
<\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"