''Dancing on the Edge'' is a British television drama written and directed by

Stephen Poliakoff Stephen Poliakoff (born 1 December 1952) is a British playwright, director and screenwriter. In 2006 Gerard Gilbert of ''The Independent'' described him as the UK's "pre-eminent TV dramatist" who had "inherited Dennis Potter's crown". Early ...

and produced by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

about a black jazz band in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in the early 1930s. The series aired on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

between 4 February and 10 March 2013. It was nominated for three awards at the

71st Golden Globe Awards The 71st Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and American television of 2013, was broadcast live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on January 12, 2014, by NBC, as part of the 2013-14 film awards season. Th ...

Plot

The series follows a black jazz band's experiences in London in the 1930s. Made up of talented musicians and managed by the compassionate yet short-tempered Wesley Holt, the band gets a booking at the Imperial Hotel, through cunning journalist Stanley Mitchell. They prove to be a hit, and become a success at the hotel. Aristocrats — and the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

— ask the band to play at parties. The media rush to interview and photograph the band, who are also associated with the wealthy American businessman Walter Masterson and his enthusiastic British employee Julian. The band's success spirals, with them being offered record deals. But tragedy strikes, setting off a chain of events that may wreck the band's career.

Cast

The Louis Lester Band *

Chiwetel Ejiofor Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor ( ; born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, an NAACP Image Award, and nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy A ...

as Louis Lester: The band leader of the Louis Lester Band. Born in London, Louis travelled the world as an entertainer on cruise ships before returning to the UK. *

Angel Coulby Angel Leonie Coulby (born 30 August 1980) is an English actress in film, television, and theatre. She gained recognition for portraying the character Gwen (Guinevere) in the BBC fantasy series ''Merlin''. Early life Coulby was born and grew u ...

as Jessie Taylor: The lead singer with the Louis Lester Band. Beautiful and with an amazing voice, she fascinates even royalty. *

Wunmi Mosaku Oluwunmi Mosaku (born 1986) is a Nigerian-born British actress. She is known for her roles as Joy in the BBC Two miniseries ''Moses Jones'' (2009) and Holly Lawson in the ITV series '' Vera'' (2011–2012). She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best S ...

as Carla: The shy backing vocalist for the Louis Lester Band and Jessie's best friend. *

Ariyon Bakare Ariyon Bakare () is an English actor. He has appeared in the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'' (2001–2005) as Ben Kwarme, the Amazon Prime series ''Good Omens'' and ''Carnival Row'' (2019), and the BBC series ''His Dark Materials''. Prior to this, ...

as Wesley Holt: The irascible manager of the Louis Lester Band. Although born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, he has lived in Chicago for most of his life and lost his British birth certificate. ''Music Express'' magazine *

Matthew Goode Matthew William Goode (born 3 April 1978) is a British actor. Goode made his screen debut in 2002 with American Broadcasting Company, ABC's TV film feature ''Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister#Adaptation, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister''. His ...

as Stanley Mitchell: A music journalist at ''Music Express'' magazine, who helps bring the band to public attention. *

Jenna Coleman Jenna-Louise Coleman (born 27 April 1986), known professionally as Jenna Coleman, is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Jasmine Thomas in the soap opera ''Emmerdale'', Clara Oswald in the science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', Qu ...

as Rosie Williams: Stanley's assistant at the magazine. * Sam Hoare as Eric: A new journalist at the magazine. *

Allan Corduner Allan Corduner (; born 2 April 1950) is a British actor. Born in Stockholm to a German mother and a Russo-Finnish father, Corduner grew up in a secular Jewish home in London. After earning a BA (Hons) in English and Drama at Bristol Universit ...

as Mr Wax: The owner of ''Music Express'', who has little to do with the day-to-day operation of the magazine. The Elite *

Jacqueline Bisset Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in '' The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet Ride'', for which she rec ...

as Lavinia, Lady Cremone: A wealthy aristocrat who has become a recluse after the death of her sons in World War I. *

John Goodman John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He gained national fame for his role as the family patriarch Dan Conner in the ABC comedy series '' Roseanne'' (1988–1997; 2018), for which he received a Golden Globe Award, an ...

as Walter Masterson: An American real estate mogul and one of the richest men in the world. * Tom Hughes as Julian Luscombe: A debonair young man, who works as Mr Masterson's aide. *

Joanna Vanderham Joanna Vanderham (born 17 October 1990) is a Scottish actress. She was nominated for an International Emmy Award for her debut role in the Sky One crime drama '' The Runaway'' (2011). Early life Vanderham was born in Perth and grew up in Scone ...

as Pamela Luscombe: Julian's sister and a playful, beautiful society girl. *

Janet Montgomery Janet Ruth Montgomery (born 29 October 1985) is an English film and TV actress. She first gained attention for her role as Ames in the second season of the television series ''Human Target'' (2010–11), and also for her appearance in the 2009 ...

as Sarah Peters: A photographer and Pamela's best friend. She is the daughter of a Russian immigrant. *

Anthony Head Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954) is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, w ...

as Arthur Donaldson: A wealthy and influential businessman. * John Hopkins as

Prince George, Duke of Kent Prince George, Duke of Kent, (George Edward Alexander Edmund; 20 December 1902 – 25 August 1942) was a member of the British royal family, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary. He was a younger brother of kings Edward VIII and Geo ...

: Son of the King George V. Non-elite *

Mel Smith Melvyn Kenneth Smith (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English comedian, actor and director. Smith worked on the sketch comedy shows ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' and ''Alas Smith and Jones'' with his comedy partner, Griff Rhys Jones. S ...

as Nathan Schlesinger: The manager of the Imperial Hotel. *

Miles Richardson Miles Richardson (born 15 July 1963) is a British actor, born in Battersea, London to parents Ian Richardson (the well-known Shakespearean actor) and Maroussia Frank (daughter of dancer and critic Elizabeth Frank), both founder members of th ...

as Harry Thornton: Mr Schlesinger's right-hand man at the Imperial. * Maggie McCarthy as Mrs Mitchell: Stanley's mother. *

Caroline Quentin Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in ...

as Deirdre: The owner of a small music club. * David Dawson as D.I. Horton: A police detective investigating a murder. *

Gerard Horan Gerard James Pertwee Horan (born 11 November 1962) is an British actor. He is known for playing Firefighter Leslie "Charisma" Appleby in '' London's Burning'' from 1986 to 1989 and again in 1994. Partial filmography * ''My Beautiful Laundrette ...

as D.I. Gunson: A police detective investigating a murder.

Episodes

Locations

Filming took place on location at the

Grand Hotel A grand hotel is a large and luxurious hotel, especially one housed in a building with traditional architectural style. It began to flourish in the 1800s in Europe and North America. Grand Hotel may refer to: Hotels Africa * Grande Hotel Beir ...

and

Council House A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...

in Birmingham, where the hotel scenes were shot, the

Black Country Living Museum The Black Country Living Museum (formerly the Black Country Museum) is an open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings in Dudley, West Midlands, England.Ragley Hall Ragley Hall in the parish of Arrow in Warwickshire is a stately home, located south of Alcester and eight miles (13 km) west of Stratford-upon-Avon. It is the ancestral seat of the Seymour-Conway family, Marquesses of Hertford. History ...

in Warwickshire was used as Lady Cremone's home. The headquarters of Music Express are located at No. 4 Princelet Street,

Spitalfields Spitalfields is a district in the East End of London and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area is formed around Commercial Street (on the A1202 London Inner Ring Road) and includes the locale around Brick Lane, Christ Church, ...

and later at

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

. The railway scenes in the first episode were shot on the preserved

Bluebell Railway The Bluebell Railway is an heritage line almost entirely in West Sussex in England, except for Sheffield Park which is in East Sussex. It is managed by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. It uses steam trains which operate between an ...

Wilton's Music Hall Wilton's Music Hall is a Grade II* listed building in Shadwell, built as a music hall and now run as a multi-arts performance space in Graces Alley, off Cable Street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is one of very few surviving music ha ...

was used as the club.

Fenton House Fenton House is a 17th-century merchant's house in Hampstead in North London which belongs to the National Trust, bequeathed to them in 1952 by Lady Binning, its last owner and resident. It is a detached house with a walled garden, which is ...

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, stands for the house of Donaldson. Some scenes for Donaldson's house were also shot at

Upton House, Warwickshire Upton House is a country house in the civil parish of Ratley and Upton, in the English county of Warwickshire, about northwest of Banbury, Oxfordshire. It is in the care of the National Trust. History The house was built on the site of the ...

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...

, on the

Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...

, was used as "Folkestone" in the fifth episode. Manze's Eel, Pie and Mash shop in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

also makes an appearance in that episode.

Accolades

References

External links

* * * ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 4 February 2013
"Dancing on the Edge: what was life really like for black jazz bands in 1930s Britain?"
Retrieved 2013-02-06 {{Satellite Award Best Miniseries or Television Film 2010s British drama television series 2013 British television series debuts 2013 British television series endings BBC Film films BBC television dramas 2010s British television miniseries English-language television shows Television series set in the 1930s