History’s lavish remake of iconic 1970’s mini-series Roots premieres on BBC Four on Wednesday 8 February at 9.00pm. The four part drama follows West African boy Kunta Kinte after he is taken into slavery and transported to America in the late 1700’s.
Juffere, West Africa, 1767. Young, proud Kunta Kinte (Malachi Kirby) is being initiated as a Mandinka warrior and is ready to start thinking about his future.
But a feud with a rival family results in him being kidnapped and sold to English slave traders, who are in the business of transporting shiploads of enslaved Africans to America to be sold.
Following an attempted rebellion on board of the ship, Kunta is eventually brought to Maryland, where he is purchased by Virginia tobacco baron John Waller (James Purefoy). But the young warrior’s indomitable spirit is not ready to be subjugated.
Also featuring Laurence Fishburne as Alex Haley (voiceover narration), Forest Whitaker as Henry (Fiddler), Simona Brown as Jinna, Derek Luke as Silla Ba Dibba, Babatunde Olusanmokun as Omoro Kinte, Chris Obi as Kintango, Matthew Goode as Dr William Waller, Katie McGuiness as Elizabeth Waller, Tony Curran as Connelly, Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Samson and Kedar Williams-Stirling as Sitafa.
Roots Episode 1 (of 4) airs on Wednesday 8 February 2017 from 9.00pm-10.35pm on BBC Four.
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