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Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight's hit TV drama filmed in Wednesbury and Wolverhampton 'dropped after one series'

A hit television series filmed in the Black Country has been reportedly cancelled after just one series.

By Mark Andrews
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This Town, by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, was screened last year to great public acclaim, and it was hinted that there would be a follow-up series.

The Coach and Horses pub in West Bromwich served as the Happy Trooper in the series
The Coach and Horses pub in West Bromwich served as the Happy Trooper in the series
A period VW Golf parked outside the Coach and Horses in West Bromwich for filming. Modern vans can be seen in the background, though.
A period VW Golf parked outside the Coach and Horses in West Bromwich for filming. Modern vans can be seen in the background, though.
Filming at the Tame Parkway in Wednesbury
Filming at the Tame Parkway in Wednesbury

But in a surprise move the drama, set in Birmingham and Coventry in the early 1980s, has been dropped by the BBC.

Scenes were filmed in Wolverhampton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich for the six-part biopic, which covered the rise of the Two-Tone music scene amid growing social unrest.

A scene filmed beneath the motorway junction at Wednesbury
A scene filmed beneath the motorway junction at Wednesbury

Filming took place in Skinner Street, Wolverhampton, which was dressed up to look like the riot-plagued Lozells district of Birmingham. While great attention to detail was paid to making the set look period-authentic, including a burned-out Daf car, eagle-eyed viewers would have spotted the modern bus stop and the logo for the Wulfrun Centre in the background.

Skinner Street in Wolverhampton made up to represent Lozells
Skinner Street in Wolverhampton made up to represent Lozells

Many scenes of the drama, which starred Levi Brown, Jordan Bolger, Ben Rose, and Eve Austin, also saw extensive filming at Tame Bridge motorway junction in Wednesbury, where the M5 meets the M6.  

The Coach and Horses pub in Hateley Heath, West Bromwich, was also used to replicate the Happy Trooper pub in Chelmsley Wood, which featured in the series.

Knight, who was educated at Streetly School in Walsall, believed This Town would be his next major hit after long-running gangster series Peaky Blinders - filmed at the Black Country Living Museum.

A riot scene recreated in Skinner Street, Wolverhampton
A riot scene recreated in Skinner Street, Wolverhampton

He said: “I certainly have enough ideas for more episodes going forward. I hope we are with these characters for a long time to come.”

But cancelling the drama, a BBC spokesman said: “We’re hugely grateful to Steven Knight and the cast and crew for bringing This Town to life — in no small part due to ­Steven’s passion for the West Midlands.

Levi Brown starred as Dante Williams
Levi Brown starred as Dante Williams

“We look forward to working with him on new projects in the future and we’re in talks about what’s next.”

This Town won the Royal Television Society Award for Limited Series and Single Drama earlier this year.

The Express & Star captured the This Town cast filming at the Coach and Horses in West Bromwich
The Express & Star captured the This Town cast filming at the Coach and Horses in West Bromwich

But it lost more than a million viewers over its six-week run, having pulled in more than 3.2 million for the first episode at the end of March last year.

A scene filmed at the Coach and Horses in West Bromwich
Dante, Bardon and Gregory stand outside of The Happy Trooper

Last week it was announced that Knight would be writing the script for the next James Bond film.