''White Teeth'' is a 2002

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

four-part

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

TV serial In television and radio programming, a serial is a show that has a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode-by-episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the complete run of ...

based on the 2000 novel of the same name written by

Zadie Smith Zadie Smith FRSL (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She has been a tenured professor ...

. The series was directed by

Julian Jarrold Julian Edward Peter Jarrold (born 15 May 1960 in Norwich, Norfolk) is a BAFTA Award-nominated English film and television director. Early life Jarrold was born into the family which founded Jarrolds of Norwich in 1823. He was educated at Gresha ...

, adapted by

Simon Burke Simon Gareth Burke (born 8 October 1961) is an Australian actor, active in films, television and theatre. Biography Simon Burke began his career at the age of 12, starring in Michael Cove's ''Kookaburra''; a painful look at a dysfunctional wo ...

, and stars Om Puri and Phil Davis. It was broadcast by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

over four consecutive weeks between 17 September 2002 and 8 October 2002.

Overview

''White Teeth'' consists of four self-contained short-stories, focusing on a major male character as he encounters a turning point in his life, with background cameos from other characters. The series spans 20 years of three cultures, chronicling the interlinked stories of three families over three generations in a multicultural area of north-west London from 1974 to 1992. The four-hour saga also features leaps back to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, where Samad and Archie served together, and even further back to the 1857 Indian Mutiny.

Cast

Main cast

* Om Puri as Samad Miah Iqbal * Phil Davis as Archie Jones *

Naomie Harris Naomie Melanie Harris (born 6 September 1976) is a British actress. She started her career when she was a child, appearing in the television series ''Simon and the Witch'' in 1987. She portrayed Selena in the zombie film ''28 Days Later'' (2002 ...

as Clara Bowden/Jones *

Archie Panjabi Archana Panjabi (born 31 May 1972) is a British actress. She has had various roles in both UK and US television including as Maya Roy in ''Life on Mars'' (2006–07), Nas Kamal in NBC crime drama '' Blindspot'' (2016–17, 2020), Kendra Malle ...

as Alsana Begum/Iqbal *

Geraldine James Geraldine James, OBE (born 6 July 1950) is an English film and television actress. Biography Early life and family James was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to a cardiologist father and an alcoholic mother, who had been a nurse. She failed her ...

as Joyce Malfen *

Robert Bathurst Robert Guy Bathurst (born 22 February 1957) is an English actor. Bathurst was born in The Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. In 1959 his family moved to Ballybrack, Dublin, Ireland and Bath ...

as Marcus Malfen *

Christopher Simpson Christopher Simpson (1602/1606–1669) was an English musician and composer, particularly associated with music for the viola da gamba. Life Simpson was born between 1602 and 1606, probably at Egton, North Yorkshire. He was the eldest so ...

as Magid Iqbal/Millat Iqbal *Sarah Ozeke as Irie Jones *

James McAvoy James McAvoy (; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in '' The Near Room'' (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his feature film career began. His notable television work includes ...

as Josh Malfen

Recurring cast

Mona Hammond Mona Hammond (born Mavis Chin; 1 January 1931 – 4 July 2022) was a Jamaican-British actress and co-founder of the Talawa Theatre Company. Born in Tweedside, Jamaica,

as Hortense Bowden *Kammy Darweish as Ardashir *

Charlie Creed-Miles Charlie Creed-Miles (born 24 March 1972) is an English actor and musician. Creed-Miles was born in Nottingham, and had his first starring screen role, aged 21, in ''The Punk'' (1993). His brief relationship with actress Samantha Morton Sam ...

as Ryan Topps *

Maggie O'Neill Margaret "Maggie" O'Neill (born 15 November 1962) is an English actress. She is known for her television roles in ''Peak Practice'' (2000–2002), '' Shameless'' (2004–2007) and ''EastEnders'' (2008). In 1986 she appeared in the music video f ...

as Poppy Burt-Jones *

Deepak Verma Deepak Verma MBE (b. 11 February 1969) is a British actor, writer and television/film producer of Indian Punjabi descent and Hindu heritage. His role as market-stall trader Sanjay Kapoor in long-running BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' brought ...

as Shiva *

Jeff Mirza Jeffrey Mirza (born 3 February 1964) is an English stand-up comedian and actor of British-Pakistani descent. Early life Mirza was born and brought up in East End of London, England to Pakistani parents. His family are from the Punjab region ...

as Mohammed Ishmael *

Nina Wadia Nina Wadia (born 18 December 1968) is a British actress and comedian. She is known for portraying Zainab Masood in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', Aunty Noor in Citizen Khan Mrs Hussein in the BBC comedy '' Still Open All Hours'', and for ...

as Neena *

Sophie Winkleman Sophie Lara Winkleman (born 5 August 1980) is an English actress. She is married to Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Prince Michael of Kent, a paternal cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Early life Winkleman was born in Primrose Hill, London. He ...

as Joely * Rufus Jones as Crispin * Chu Omambala as Brother Ibrahim * Jacob Scipio as Young Magid Iqbal/Millat Iqbal

Guest cast

John Simm John Ronald Simm (born 10 July 1970) is an English actor, director, and musician. He is best known for playing Sam Tyler in ''Life on Mars'', the Master in ''Doctor Who,'' and DS Roy Grace in ''Grace.'' His other television credits include '' S ...

as Mr Hero * Russell Brand as Merlin *

Vernon Dobtcheff Vernon Dobtcheff (born 14 August 1934) is a British actor, best known for his roles on television and film, he has acted in numerous stage productions. Biography Dobtcheff was born in Nîmes, France, of Russian descent. He attended Ascham Pre ...

as Devil of Dachau

Episodes

Production

''White Teeth'' was originally due to become a

BBC drama BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importan ...

series. However, after Channel 4 acquired the rights, it compressed a £3.5 million version of Smith's novel into four one-hour episodes. Company Pictures originally approached

to adapt the screenplay for the series from her novel. However, she declined the offer in order to continue with her next novel ''

The Autograph Man ''The Autograph Man'', published in 2002, is the second novel by Zadie Smith. It follows the progress of a Jewish-Chinese Londoner named Alex-Li Tandem, who buys and sells autographs for a living and is obsessed with celebrities. Eventually, hi ...

''. Smith was later given the role of creative consultant. In February 2002, the adaptation went into production. It was shot mainly in

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has forme ...

and Cricklewood as well as the Caribbean and the Indian sub-continent.

Soundtrack

Track listing

Release

In the United Kingdom, ''White Teeth'' was broadcast on

over four consecutive weeks from 17 September 2002 to 8 October 2002. In the United States, the series aired as part of the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

Masterpiece Theatre anthology over two consecutive weeks on 11 May 2003 and 18 May 2003. The series was also broadcast in; Australia in November 2002, Sweden in March 2003, Finland in September 2003 as ''Valkoiset hampaat'', and Denmark in December 2004 as ''Hvide tænder''. The DVD of the series was released on 9 May 2011.

Reception

''White Teeth's'' first episode received 2.2 million viewers and a 14 percent audience share between 10pm and 11.05pm, according to unofficial overnight figures. The series gained healthy viewing figures throughout and peaked at 3.5 million during the final episode. In October 2002, the series was hailed as one of the must-watch shows that autumn on British television.

William Feaver William Feaver (born 1 December 1942) is a British art critic, curator, artist and lecturer. From 1975–1998 he was the chief art critic of the Observer, and from 1994 a visiting professor at Nottingham Trent University. His book ''The Pitmen P ...

called the series "an enjoyable epic sweep type romp... liked the way in which topics are brought in, adroitly dealt with and dealt out."

Bonnie Greer Bonnie Greer, OBE FRSL (born 16 November 1948) is an American-British playwright, novelist, critic and broadcaster, who has lived in the UK since 1986. She has appeared as a panellist on television programmes such as ''Newsnight Review'' and ''Q ...

thought "the adapter did a very good job... broke it open and made it into something else... lovely multicultural sweep... The cast was wonderful." Mark Lawson "thought the director... was trying to put a visual style to replace the prose style."

Tim Lott Tim Lott (born 23 January 1956) is a British author. He worked as a music journalist and ran a magazine publishing business, launching '' Flexipop'' magazine in 1980 with ex-''Record Mirror'' journalist Barry Cain. Early life and education In ...

said "it captured the energy of the book very well... more successful than the book, artistically... very well cast... It's very brilliantly cut. It has great pace... It's one of the best adaptations." ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'' reported "''White Teeth'' lives up to the book but arguably betters it. The screenplay captures the book's grand scale and intimacy. But it also keeps up the pace where the novel began to flag... it is fresh, energetic and effortlessly played out by a great cast." ''

TV Quick ''TV Quick'' was a British weekly television listing magazine published by H Bauer Publishing, the UK subsidiary of family-run German company Bauer Media Group. It featured weekly television listings running from Saturday to Friday, and began pub ...

'' thought the series was "a fabulous four part drama, with a cracking soundtrack." John Leonard '' New York'' called it "superb... rambunctious...''White Teeth'' is a wild ride..." Sean O'Hagen of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' described it as "taut and fast-moving... On the television screen, ''White Teeth'' unfolds as a thing of often surreal and impressionistic beauty..." Also adding that "it features a strong cast... as well as strong performances from relative newcomers..." '' Daily Express'' thought the series was "beautifully shot, beautifully acted, this modern classic is a screen triumph." ''

'' thought "the cinematography has a understated beauty rarely seen in television adaptations." '' Book Magazine'' reported "wonderful... Indian superstar Om Puri is masterful." '' Express on Sunday'' reported "''White Teeth'' may finally make Phil Davies the superstar he deserves to be." ''

Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' reported "a beguiling performance from newcomer Naomie Harris."

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
Company Pictures website
{{DEFAULTSORT:White Teeth (TV Serial) 2002 British television series debuts 2002 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series 2000s British television miniseries British comedy television shows British comedy-drama television shows English-language television shows Channel 4 miniseries Television series by WGBH Television series by All3Media Television shows based on British novels Television series set in the 1850s Television series set in the 1940s Television series set in the 1970s Television series set in the 1980s Television series set in the 1990s Television shows set in London Television shows set in India Television shows set in Jamaica Indian independence movement fiction Films directed by Julian Jarrold