Culture, music, and television professionals expect to see a significant increase in tourism for Birmingham and Coventry following the broadcast of the new BBC One prime-time drama ‘This Town’.
Experts have shared predictions of a boost in domestic and international visitors to key music and filming locations in the region, ahead of a special BBC event exploring the Midlands’ role in shaping the global music phenomenon 2-Tone. BBC WM Celebrates 2-Tone in Birmingham will explore the impact of the global music phenomenon - as immortalised in the latest Steven Knight-written work for TV - through a series of on-stage interviews with key figures from the worlds of music and television, alongside live performances.
Featuring a headline set from The Beat featuring Ranking Jnr, a performance from BBC Introducing-supported act Lobster and DJ sets from Mazzy Snape (The Night Owl, Birmingham International Ska and Reggae Festival), the one-off event also marks the culmination of the broadcast of This Town. BBC Radio WM Celebrates 2 Tone in Birmingham, hosted by broadcaster and journalist Adrian Goldberg, will see Horace Panter (The Specials) and Pauline Black (The Selecter) each share their experiences and memories of 2 Tone, and Mark Almond (costume designer, This Town) talking about his work on the programme.
The evening, marking around 45 years since The Specials, The Selecter and The Beat broke through and established Coventry and Birmingham as the epicentre of the 2-Tone movement, will also be recorded for a one-hour special to be broadcast on BBC Radio WM, Monday 6 May 2024 at 1800. Pete Chambers BEM, Curator-Director of the Coventry Music Museum and consultant for This Town, said: “As soon as the Steven Knight Drama This Town hit the TV screen The Coventry Music Museum was inundated with visitors looking for the real roots of 2-Tone music and our This Town Exhibition.
“At last, the West Midlands is finally flexing its musical muscle thanks to This Town. It's a fantastic moment to show the world how much we have to offer.” The BBC One drama saw its finale broadcast on Sunday 28 April.
The full season, available on iPlayer, was filmed in Midlands locations including Coventry, West Bromwich, Aston, Walsall and Digbeth’s Loc Studios - a short walk from the O2 Institute. Starring Michelle Dockery (Downtown Abbey) and Jordan Bolger (Peaky Blinders) along with newcomer Levi Brown as the main character Dante, the six-part series follows a group of disaffected young people from Birmingham making their way in the socio-economic and racist turbulence of 1981 through a shared love of music.
The major production drew heavily on specialist resources across the Midlands, including music tutors from BIMM Birmingham, vintage amplification equipment from Black Country manufacturer Laney, and the expertise of cast and crew who have grown up in the region, including This Town Assistant Costume Designer Mark Almond - who hails from Newtown in Birmingham. Mark, who has contributed to renowned film and TV productions such as Masters of the Air, Mission Impossible, and Dunkirk, said: “Working on a production so focussed on telling the story of our cities, people, and history was a genuinely memorable experience.
“To have a major drama not only about 1980s Birmingham and Coventry but shot here using local talent is surely a sign of confidence in the Midlands screen industries.” Mark added: “We’re sure that This Town will trigger another ‘Peaky Blinders effect’ which will see tourists from domestic and international markets visit the locations we worked in and look forward to local authorities and the creative industries capitalising on the interest.”
The predictions follow interviews with This Town creator Steven Knight, who told journalists recently that it is now the turn of Birmingham and Coventry as European cities to bang the drum and tell their story, with This Town playing a key role in showcasing the two West Midlands hotspots. Pauline Black OBE, vocalist with The Selecter, said: “Anything that brings people into the West Midlands to look at its musical history is a fantastic thing.”
BBC Radio WM Celebrates 2 Tone in Birmingham is at 1900 on today (Thursday 2 May) at O2 Institute 3 Birmingham.
