''You Don't Know Me'' is a British four-part crime drama television series. It is based on the 2017 crime novel of the same name by

Imran Mahmood Imran Mahmood (born 1969) is a British novelist and barrister. His first novel ''You Don't Know Me'' (2017), which was shortlisted for the Glass Bell Award in 2018, was dramatised by the BBC in 2021. Biography Mahmood, whose parents are first-g ...

. The first episode premiered on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

on 5 December 2021, with the series available to stream on

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

following broadcast. It had an international release on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on 17 June 2022.

Premise

On trial for killing a drug dealer, Hero (Adewunmi) tries to convince the court of his innocence. To do so, he provides context which ties into his tumultuous relationship with Kyra (Wilde), and how it led to murder.

Cast

Samuel Adewunmi Samuel Adewunmi (born 1994) is a British actor. He won British Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performance, Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards 2019, British Independent Film Awards as well as receiving a BIFA Aw ...

as Hero * Sophie Wilde as Kyra *

Bukky Bakray Bukky Bakray (born 2002) is a British actress and writer. She is known for her debut role in the film ''Rocks'' (2019). At 18, she became the youngest BAFTA Rising Star Award recipient as well as one of the youngest Best Actress in a Leading Role ...

as Bless * Roger Nsengiyumva as Jamil *Tuwaine Barrett as Curt *Yetunde Oduwole as Adebi *Nicholas Khan as Sam *Michael Balogun as Face * Duayne Boachie as Binks

Episodes

Production

Development

It was announced in February 2020 that Snowed-In Productions would adapt Mahmood's novel for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

with Tom Edge as writer and

Sarmad Masud Sarmad Masud, also known as Sam Masud, is a British filmmaker whose 2017 movie '' My Pure Land'' was the first Urdu language film nominated by the UK for a Foreign Language Oscar award. Personal life Sarmad Masud was born in Bradford to immigrant ...

as director. Jules Hussey is series producer and Rienkje Attoh is producer. Set to executive produce are Kate Crowe and Lucy Richer of the BBC as well as Ruth Kenley-Letts, Neil Blair, and Jenny Van Der Lande.

Casting

joined the cast in March 2021.

Filming

Principal photography began in February 2021 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Release

First look images were revealed in May 2021. The

released a trailer on 16 November 2021.

Reception

Ed Cumming from ''

The Independent ''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 ...

'' gave the first episode four out of five stars, commending the clever storytelling. Rebecca Nicholson of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' awarded the first episode three stars out of five, praising the performances but criticizing the pacing and format.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 12005828 2021 British television series debuts 2021 British television series endings 2020s British crime drama television series 2020s British television miniseries BBC crime drama television shows Black British television shows British English-language television shows Netflix television dramas Television series by Snowed-In Productions Television shows based on British novels