The Black Country Cowboy documentary shortlisted for prestigious Royal Television Society Award

The Black Country Cowboy was written and directed by Stourbridge filmmaker Ryan Davis and gave pensioner Pete Boddis a new lease of life as live performer. 

Pete, known as The Governor in his home town of Stourbridge due to decades of live performances, was spotted singing by Ryan who realised he would be the perfect subject for a documentary.

The Midlands Royal Television Society agreed and have shortlisted The Black Country Cowboy for The Best Short Film 2025. The awards 

The film chart's Pete's determination to continue to play live gigs despite being diagnosed with cancer and the delightful romance between the singer and his wife Lynn.

Ryan told the Star: "I'm absolutely thrilled that The Black Country Cowboy has been nominated for The Best Short Film at The Midlands Royal Television Society Awards 2025. 

"The film has been around the world and every country that has shown it has fallen in love with Pete and his music. I think it really comes down to   a few important things: passion, talent,  persistence and love."

He added: "They are universal themes that  everyone can relate to. At the heart of the film is the love storyline between Pete .and his wife Lynn. And obviously, his songs are unparalleled- they feel like classics. Now we have a feature film in development based on Pete and hopefully it will feature many of his songs. I was a musician before I was a filmmaker, so Pete's story was one that resonated with me."

"Its an uplifting film  about the resilience of the human spirt Something people need to watch in these unsettled times."

The film created new interest in Pete's back catalogue from across the world and led to his first publishing deal in his ninth decade. Poster Records released a Best Of album which delighted Pete and saw his music become available on Spotify. 

Ryan, 49, wrote and produced his first feature film during Covid lock down Fixed, which was nominated for Best Thriller at The National Film Awards 2022.

The Black Country Cowboy has won a clutch of awards since its release and Ryan will have to don his Matalan tuxedo again on Friday, December 12 for the awards at Resorts World.

The film won Best Short Documentary at the London Independent Film Festival 2024. It was nominated for the Best Short Documentary at the Louth International Film Festival and Golden Eyes Film Festival. The film was also lauded at The Flat Pack Film Festival being nominated for Best Short Documentary.

But for Ryan the best consequence of his film was Pete finally getting the recognition he deserved after six decades of writing and performing music despite stardom eluding him. 

Pete said:"I started playing rock n roll, then changed to country and western, and then I have changed direction and perform folk music now. You never know who will be in the audience when you perform and Ryan is the perfect example. 

"His film was such a lovely surprise and made my 80th birthday celebrations even more special."

More than 100 musicians descended on Stourbridge to perform at Pete's 80th birthday concert at The Queen's Head, Enville Street.

He added: "I've had people from all over the world get in touch after they saw the film. Ryan deserves to win as many awards as possible."

Pete Boddis is still performing and can be found on stage at the Claptrap Open Mic night, The Venue, Stourbridge High Street, on Sunday evenings.