Damilola Our Loved Boy, BBC1: four things you need to know

Feature-length drama looks at the murder of 10 year-old Damilola Taylor in Peckham
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Ben Travis8 November 2016

Damilola Taylor was killed sixteen years ago – but his name certainly hasn’t been forgotten in the intervening time.

The 10 year-old Peckham schoolboy was stabbed on his way home from the library, sparking huge amounts of media attention on his family as the tragedy was widely reported across the UK.

Now the BBC are presenting a 90-minute one-off drama about the fall-out of Damilola’s death – and the result it had on his loved ones.

Here’s what you need to know about the film.

1) It stars Babou Ceesay

The rising Gambian-British actor, who has starred in the likes of ’71, Eye in the Sky, Channel 4’s National Treasure, and soon to be seen in Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire, takes one of the lead roles here, as father Richard Taylor.

“It was spiritual for me, honestly,” he said. “I know that sounds crazy but from the moment I heard about it and read it, I felt like no one else was going to me do it but me.

“Once I read it, I felt this great weight of responsibility also coupled with a strong desire to tell the story.”

Playing Damilola’s mother Gloria is Wunmi Mosaku, most recently seen in the terrifying Playtest episode of Black Mirror.

2) It’s about what happened after Damilola’s death

The BBC’s film aims to give a personal look on Damilola’s death, and how it affected the entire Taylor family.

“I think it’s right that the nation gets to see the real family behind the story, to help it move on from just ‘a piece of tragic news’,” writer Levi David Addai explained.

“The image of a united and dignified Richard and Gloria Taylor, standing on the Old Bailey steps stuck with me since I first saw it. Now I wondered what they went through when they went home.”

Babou Ceesay as Richard Taylor 
BBC/Minnow Films/Joe Albas

3) It was made with the approval of the family

Addai has spoken about treating the story “with sensitivity and respect”, and met with the real Richard Taylor during the creation of the film.

“He was extremely gracious, warm and humble,” he revealed. “He even gave me what he has given many youth he has worked with – encouragement!

“He was aware of all my previous work and took a moment to praise and encourage me to keep on writing. To keep at it and to keep going. That meant a lot to me.

Wunmi Mosaku as Gloria Taylor
BBC/Minnow Films/Joe Albas

4) It’s still a hugely relevant story

While Damilola’s death happened 16 years ago, similar tragedies are still taking place on a regular basis.

“Even when we were filming, someone was stabbed yards away from where Damilola was killed,” said Mosaku.

“Knife crime is still so present in our society and I think people just need to watch it and if one person decides not to carry a knife as a result, I think that’s a success. That’s important.”

BBC One, 8.30pm

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