Three part drama The Long Song is set during the final days of slavery in 19th century Jamaica and adapted from the award-winning novel by Andrea Levy, The Long Song follows the trials, tribulations and survival of a wily, strong-willed slave July (Tamara Lawrance) on a plantation owned by her odious mistress Caroline Mortimer (Hayley Atwell).
July is born to a field slave Kitty (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) at the Amity sugar cane plantation, run by John Howarth (Leo Bill) and his younger sister Caroline. On a spoilt whim, Caroline decides she wants to train the adorable July as her personal maid. So, as a young girl, July is taken from her mother and forced to live in the great house. As July grows up and becomes a teenager, she learns how to ‘handle’ her mistress with her own small victories along the way.
The Christmas riots and the abolition of slavery turn the world of Amity upside down and throw July’s destiny into question. But when order is restored and a new overseer Robert Goodwin (Jack Lowden) arrives at Amity, July and Caroline are both intrigued by his seemingly revolutionary plans to improve the plantation. Could his ideals change everything?
production details
UK | BBC One | 3×60 minutes | Broadcast 18-20 December 2018 at 9.00pm
cast
Tamara Lawrence as July
Hayley Atwell as Caroline Mortimer
Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Kitty
Leo Bill as John Howarth
Jack Lowden as Robert Goodwin
Lenny Henry as Godfrey
Doña Croll as Old July
Ayesha Antoine as Molly
Arinzé Kene as Thomas
Ansu Kabia as James Richards
Jordan Bolger as Nimrod
Joy Richardson as Miss Rose
Madeleine Mantock as Miss Clara
