Sarah Solemani adapts Jo Bloom’s neo-Nazi thriller Ridley Road for new BBC drama
search

The latest Jewish News

Read this week’s digital edition

Click Here

Sarah Solemani adapts Jo Bloom’s neo-Nazi thriller Ridley Road for new BBC drama

The drama tells the story of a young Jewish hairdresser who falls in love with a member of the 62 Group, a coalition of Jewish men who stood up to neo-Nazism in post-war Britain

Francine Wolfisz is the Features Editor for Jewish News.

Sarah Solemani has adapted Jo Bloom's neo-Nazi thriller, Ridley Road, for the BBC
Sarah Solemani has adapted Jo Bloom's neo-Nazi thriller, Ridley Road, for the BBC

Actress and award-winning writer Sarah Solemani has adapted Jo Bloom’s acclaimed novel Ridley Road for a new BBC thriller.

The four-part drama tells the story of a young Jewish hairdresser, Vivien Epstein (played by newcomer Aggi O’Casey) who falls in love with Jack (Tom Varey), a member of the 62 Group, a coalition of Jewish men who stood up against rising neo-Nazism in post-war Britain.

When Jack vanishes, she rejects her middle-class life in Manchester and joins the fight against fascism by infiltrating the NSM, a neo-Nazi movement becoming increasingly prominent in London.

The cast also includes Years and Years actor Rory Kinnear as Colin Jordan, leader of NSM; Eddie Marsan as hot-headed, sharp-witted cab driver Soly Malinovsky, leader of 62 Group; Tracy-Ann Oberman as Soly’s wife Nancy, who plays a crucial role in group operations; and Samantha Spiro as Vivien’s mother, Liza.

Solemani says: “A young hairdresser from Manchester makes an unlikely hero in this little-known slice of British history. But in these unprecedented times, it is the unlikely heroes whose stories are now worth telling.”

Support your Jewish community. Support your Jewish News

Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.

For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.

Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.

You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.

100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...

Engaging

Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.

Celebrating

There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.

Pioneering

In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.

Campaigning

Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.

Easy access

In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.

Voice of our community to wider society

The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.

We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.

read more: