The First Look at Steven Knight's 'This Town' Recreates the 1980s Music Scene

Although Steven Knight's best-known series — the gangland drama Peaky Blinders — wrapped up last year, the creator hasn't been taking much in the way of time off. His polished World War II drama Rogue Heroes is rolling into its second season and his upcoming Disney+ series A Thousand Blows will explore the world of an illegal boxing ring in Victorian London. But his latest BBC drama is set to tell what is said to be a much more personal story about the second chance that music and the found family it often creates can offer.

Set in 1981, This Town tells the story of four young people who are drawn into the world of ska and two-tone music, which exploded from the grassroots of Coventry and Birmingham in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, uniting black, white, and Asian youths. The six-part series is set during a moment of huge social tension and unrest, and follows the story not just of the formation of a band, but of a group of young people fighting to choose their own paths in life and explores the many ways that creative genius can emerge from a time of madness.

"This is a project very close to my heart," Knight said in a statement when the series was first announced. "It’s about an era I lived through and know well and it involves characters who I feel I grew up with. It’s a love letter to Birmingham and Coventry but I hope people from all over the world will relate to it."