The Murder of Stephen Lawrence

Last updated

The Murder of Stephen Lawrence
TheMurderofStephenLawrence.jpg
Genre True crime
Written by Paul Greengrass
Directed byPaul Greengrass
Starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Hugh Quarshie
Leon Black
Ashley Walters
Millicent Gezi
Joseph Kpobie
Brian Bovell
Jo Martin
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producersJeff Pope
Yvette Vanson
ProducerMark Redhead
CinematographyIvan Strasburg
EditorClare Douglas
Running time120 minutes
Production companies Granada Television,
Vanson Productions
Original release
Network ITV
Release18 February 1999 (1999-02-18)

The Murder of Stephen Lawrence is a British television true crime drama film, written and directed by Paul Greengrass, that first broadcast on ITV on 18 February 1999. [1] It won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Single Drama.

Contents

The film, based on the murder committed on 22 April 1993, follows Stephen's parents' Doreen and Neville's quest for justice as a gang of racist teenagers are tried for their son's murder. Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Hugh Quarshie star as Doreen and Neville, with Leon Black playing Stephen, and Ashley Walters, Millicent Gezi, Joseph Kpobie and Brian Bovell also amongst the main cast. [2]

Production

The film was first conceived in 1997, with then head of drama at ITV, Nick Elliott, commissioning the project before a script had even been written. Producer Mark Readhead said a key part of the film was to "concentrate on the personal, rather than police, procedures", in order to create a "true story". [3] The film was notable for being actress Jean-Baptiste's first British screen role since her Oscar nomination for Secrets and Lies .

Cast

Home media

The film was released on VHS in the United States on 23 April 2002, but this remains the only home release. [4]

Legacy and sequel

In the wake of various Black Lives Matter protests, and as part of ITV's "Black Voices" strand, the drama was repeated on ITV in July 2020, immediately after an hour-long debate programme titled Stephen Lawrence: Has Britain Changed? [5]

In July 2020, it was announced that a new, three-part sequel to the 1999 drama had been commissioned by ITV. The series will be set 13 years after Lawrence's death and will depict his parents’ fight for justice. [6] The series, entitled Stephen was broadcast from 30 August to 13 September 2021.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Stephen Lawrence</span> 1993 killing in London

Stephen Lawrence was a black British 18-years old from Plumstead, southeast London, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall Road, Eltham, on the evening of 22 April 1993. The case became a cause célèbre: its fallout included changes of attitudes on racism and the police, and to the law and police practice. It also led to the partial revocation of the rule against double jeopardy. Two of the perpetrators were convicted of murder on 3 January 2012.

<i>Sharpe</i> (TV series) British television historical drama series (1993–2008)

Sharpe is a British television drama series starring Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe, a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars, with Irish actor Daragh O'Malley playing his second in command, Patrick Harper. Sharpe and Harper are the heroes of the Sharpe series of novels by Bernard Cornwell; most, though not all, of the episodes are based on the books. Produced by Celtic Films and Picture Palace Films for the ITV network, the series was filmed mainly in Crimea, with recordings of other episodes in Turkey, England, Portugal and Spain. The two final episodes were filmed in Jaipur, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marianne Jean-Baptiste</span> English actress (born 1967)

Marianne Raigipcien Jean-Baptiste is an English actress. She is known for her role in the 1996 film Secrets & Lies, for which she received acclaim and earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Globe and BAFTA Award in the same category. Baptiste is also known for her role as Vivian Johnson on the television series Without a Trace from 2002 to 2009, and has since starred in television shows such as Blindspot (2015–2016) and Homecoming (2018).

Eamonn Roderique Walker is an English actor. On television, he began in the BBC sitcom In Sickness and in Health (1985–1987), the ITV crime dramas The Bill (1988–1989) and Supply & Demand (1998), and the HBO series Oz (1997–2003), for which he won a CableACE Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aml Ameen</span> British actor (b. 1985)

Aml Ameen is a British actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his roles as Trevor (Trife) in Kidulthood (2006), Malcolm Davies in Harry's Law, Lewis Hardy in the ITV television series The Bill, Capheus in the first season of the Netflix original series Sense8, and Alby in The Maze Runner (2014). His directorial debut was the 2021 romantic comedy Boxing Day.

Elizabeth Berrington is an English actress and graduate of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art; she is best known for her roles as Ruby Fry in Waterloo Road, Paula Kosh in Stella, Mel Debrou in Moving Wallpaper, and Dawn Stevenson in The Syndicate. She has also featured in British television series such as The Bill, Doctor Who, The Office, Casualty, The Lakes, The Grimleys, and Rose and Maloney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neville Heath</span> English murderer

Neville George Clevely Heath was an English murderer who killed two young women in the summer of 1946. He was executed in Pentonville Prison, London, in October 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Boynton</span> British-American actress (born 1994)

Lucy Boynton is a British and American actress. Raised in London, she made her professional debut as the young Beatrix Potter in Miss Potter (2006). She appeared in television productions Ballet Shoes (2007), Sense and Sensibility (2008) and Mo (2010), making guest appearances on Lewis, Borgia, Endeavour, and Law & Order: UK. Boynton portrayed writer Angelica Garnett on Life in Squares, which aired on BBC. She appeared as an isolated popular girl in The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015) and starred as a bold aspiring model in Sing Street (2016). She also appeared in horror films I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016) and Don't Knock Twice (2016).

<i>No Woman No Cry</i> (painting) 1998 painting by Chris Ofili

No Woman No Cry is a 1998 painting created by Chris Ofili in 1998. It was one of the works included in the exhibition which won him the Turner Prize that year. The Financial Times has described it as "his masterpiece".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Maskell</span> English actor, writer and director

Neil Maskell is an English actor, writer and director who is known for his appearances in British crime and horror films. His credits include Nil by Mouth (1997), The Football Factory (2004), Rise of the Footsoldier (2007), Doghouse (2009), Bonded by Blood (2010), Kill List (2011), Wild Bill (2011), St George's Day and Piggy, The Great Train Robbery (2013), Raised by Wolves (2015), The Mummy (2017), King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017), Peaky Blinders (2019), Bull (2021), Litvinenko (2022), and Hijack (2023).

<i>Black Jack</i> (1979 film) 1979 British film

Black Jack is a 1979 British period adventure drama film directed by Ken Loach and based on the Leon Garfield novel. It is set in Yorkshire in 1750 and follows a young boy, Tolly and his adventures with a large French man, the Black Jack of the title, and Belle, a young English girl. It was awarded the Critics’ Award at the Cannes Film Festival (1979).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doreen Lawrence</span> British Jamaican activist and politician (born 1952)

Doreen Delceita Lawrence, Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon,, is a British Jamaican campaigner and the mother of Stephen Lawrence, a black British teenager who was murdered in a racist attack in South East London in 1993. She promoted reforms of the police service and founded the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust. She was appointed to the Order of the British Empire for services to community relations in 2003, and was created a life peer in 2013.

The Anti-Nazi League (ANL) was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups in the United Kingdom. It was wound down in 1981. It was relaunched in 1992, but merged into Unite Against Fascism in 2003.

<i>Unforgotten</i> British crime drama series (2015–)

Unforgotten is a British crime drama television series, which initially aired on ITV on 8 October 2015. It was created and written by Chris Lang and directed by Andy Wilson. The programme follows a team of London detectives led by DCI Cassie Stuart, DCI Jessie James and DI Sunny Khan as they solve cold cases of disappearance and murder.

The Anti-Racist Alliance (ARA) was a British anti-racist organisation formed in November 1991. It was established mainly by black activists in the Labour Party.

Loving You is a British television crime drama film, based upon the novel Trust by Margaret Leroy, first broadcast on ITV on 24 February 2003. The film was adapted from the novel by writer Matthew Hall and was directed by Jean Stewart. The film stars Niamh Cusack as Chloe, a divorced schoolteacher who falls in love with educational psychologist Dan, only to be left heartbroken when the police arrest Dan on suspicion of sexually abusing a six-year-old that he has been assessing. Chloe is forced to confront the possibility that Dan may have also sexually abused her two daughters, Alice and Lucy.

Stephen, also titled Conviction: The Case of Stephen Lawrence, is a 2021 British three-part limited crime drama TV series. It is the sequel to the 1999 TV film The Murder of Stephen Lawrence. It stars Steve Coogan, Sharlene Whyte and Hugh Quarshie. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Joe Cottrell Boyce and directed by Alrick Riley. The series was produced for ITV by HTM Television, a joint venture between Hat Trick Productions and the producer Jed Mercurio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Jay Abatan</span> Unsolved 1999 crime in Brighton, UK

In the early hours of 24 January 1999, Jay Abatan was attacked outside the Ocean Rooms nightclub in Brighton, United Kingdom. He had been celebrating a promotion at work when an altercation over a taxi resulted in several men assaulting him and his brother, Michael. Abatan was seriously injured, dying of his injuries five days later. The killing is believed to have been racially motivated by Abatan's family and Sussex Police.

<i>Riches</i> (TV series) British TV series or programme

Riches is a British drama television series created by Abby Ajayi, starring Deborah Ayorinde, Hugh Quarshie, and Sarah Niles. It premiered on 22 December 2022 in the United Kingdom, first on ITVX before airing on ITV on 30 June 2023. It premiered on Amazon Prime Video in the United States on 2 December 2022. In December 2023 The series was cancelled after one series.

References

  1. "The Murder of Stephen Lawrence". ITV Studios.
  2. "ITV to screen Lawrence drama". BBC News. 10 February 1999.
  3. "The justice game". The Guardian. 15 February 1999.
  4. "The Murder of Stephen Lawrence [VHS]". Amazon.
  5. "Stephen Lawrence: Has Britain Changed?". ITV Press Centre. July 2020.
  6. "New ITV drama about murder of Stephen Lawrence to follow parents' fight for justice". ITV News. 13 July 2020.