''The Left Behind'' is a 2019 British television film drama, written by Alan Harris and directed by Joseph Bullman for

BBC Studios BBC Studios Limited is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Wor ...

. It stars Sion Daniel Young,

Amy-Leigh Hickman Amy-Leigh Hickman (born 16 September 1997) is an English actress. Hickman made her television debut as Carmen Howle in the CBBC series '' Tracy Beaker Returns'', a role she reprised in the sequel series ''The Dumping Ground''. She then went on ...

Aimee-Ffion Edwards Aimee-Ffion Edwards (born 1986 or 1987) is a Welsh actress. She is best known for her television roles as Sketch in '' Skins'', Esme Shelby in ''Peaky Blinders'', Sophie in '' Detectorists'', Abi in '' Loaded'', and Shirley Dander in '' Slow H ...

and

Kimberley Nixon Kimberley Nixon (born 24 September 1985) is a Welsh actress. Nixon is known for her role as Sophy Hutton in the BBC One period drama '' Cranford'', and appearances in various films such as '' Wild Child'' and '' Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snoggi ...

. It was shown on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

on 10 July 2019. It won the BAFTA for Best Single Drama in

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as well as the

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award in the same category.

Synopsis

The drama was about the rise of far-right hate crime in working-class communities in post-industrial towns, in which poverty fuels anti-immigrant sentiment.

Cast

* Sion Daniel Young as Gethin *

as Yasmin *

as Annes *

as Hannah *

Sophie Melville Sophie Melville (born 1991) is a Welsh actress of stage and screen from Swansea, Wales. She has been the recipient of best actress at the Stage Awards for Acting Excellence and nominated for the Outstanding Solo Performance at the Drama Desk A ...

as Lisa * Jalisa Andrews as Tracey * Aled Ap Steffan as Titch * Ryan Nolan as Massey * Hassan Maarfi as Zac

Production

Development

The production was first inspired by a 2018 statistic that referrals to the UK government's de-radicalisation programme, ''Prevent'', had a 36% rise in the previous 12 months. Choosing to set the drama in an unnamed town in

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

, writer Alan Harris set to demonstrate how “perception of the far right in this country is outdated…We think of

skinheads A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide i ...

and '' National Front'' marches. But things have changed – especially in terms of the online influence” and that “we tend to either demonise this problem or ignore it.” Researching the project, the production used literature from ''

Hope not Hate Hope not Hate (stylised as HOPE not hate) is an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom which campaigns against racism and fascism. It has also mounted campaigns against Islamic extremism and antisemitism. It is self-described as a "non-pa ...

'' and spoke to ''Prevent'' consultants and academics, including Hilary Pilkington. Harris told ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' that it can be important “to write characters you don’t agree with sometimes but you do care about…to get an effective drama across, these can’t be two-dimensional, easily dismissed characters. If we dismiss it, we’re not heading towards any kind of understanding.”

Casting

Sion Daniel Young lived locally to the production and wrote a letter to director Bulman asking to be considered for the lead role and turned down a guaranteed part in a film in order to be available for the role.

said she wanted to be part of the cast after reading the script and praised the production team “who are fearless in telling stories that people would rather not engage with.”

Filming

Principal photography took place in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

and other parts of south Wales.

Accolades

The film won

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

and

awards for Best Single Drama, and was nominated for five

BAFTA Cymru BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

and was available on

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

from 10 July 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Left Behind (2019 film), The 2019 films 2019 television films BBC television dramas 2019 crime drama films 2010s English-language films Films shot in Wales Films shot in Cardiff 2010s British films Works about white nationalism Films about racism in the United Kingdom British crime drama films English-language crime drama films