Capital (BBC-1 2015, Toby Jones, Rachael Stirling)

In three part drama Capital the mostly affluent residents of Pepys Road in South London are perturbed when they start to receive postcards saying “we want what you have,” is this simply some new marketing or ad campain or something more sinister. The street was once your average working to middle class suburban street but these day the houses are worth at least two million pounds each. The streets residents are now made up of the likes of banker Roger Yount and his wife Arabella but there are still a few older residents like Petunia Howe who has lived in the same house since she was married.

Other key characters on the street include the Kamals who run the corner shop, traffic warden Quentina who may be hiding something and Polish builder Bogdan.

Based on the novel by the brilliant John Lanchester Capital (which in a BBC interview adapter Peter Bowker compared to Dickens) is a well made drama that builds as the threats move from postcards to street graffiti to unwanted “gifts” through the letterbox. As Ben Lawrence writing in The Daily Telegraph said though “it’s the acting that makes this production sing. There was not a bad performance among the large ensemble cast and each brought something very different.” The Kamals who own the corner shop on Pepys Road.

production details
UK / BBC One – Kudos / 3×60 minute episodes / Broadcast 24 November – 8 December 2015

Writer: Peter Bowker / Novel: John Lanchester / Music: Dru Masters / Producer: Matt Strevens / Director: Euros Lyn

cast
Toby Jones as Roger Yount
Gemma Jones as Petunia Howe
Lesley Sharp as Mary
Robert Emms as Smitty
Adeel Akhtar as Ahmed Kamal
Danny Ashok as Shahid Kamal
Mona Goodwin as Rohinka
Hamza Jeetooa as Usman Kamal
Rachael Stirling as Arabella Yount
Zrinka Cvitešić as Matya
Andrew Gower as Mark
Wunmi Mosaku as Quentina
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Mashinko
Radosław Kaim as Bogdan
Krystian Godlewski as Piotr