New London-shot Drama To Debut

Next week the BBC will premiere new drama Postcode. Aimed at a young audience and written by double BAFTA-winner Tony Marchant (The Mark of Cain, Holding On), Postcode follows a group of young people with very different backgrounds who live in the same postcode.
The three-part drama was commissioned for CBBC, the BBC's channel dedicated to children content, and was filmed entirely on location in South London.
In the show, Jamal - a Somali refugee from the local estate - and Zac - a privileged boy who lives in a house around the corner - meet and initiate a friendship.
However, tensions arise as Jamal's pals pressure him to join their gang and Zac's group urge him to stick to 'his end' of the postcode. Meanwhile Sheela, the daughter of the Pakistani owner of the local convenience store, plots to bridge the gap between the two boys.
Their experiences, including the threat of deportation and the fear of a broken family, will soon prompt the three characters to find common ground, stick together and stand up for one another.
Produced by Tom Mullens and directed by Stuart Orme, Postcode stars newcomers Roger Nsengiyumva, Manpreet Bambra, Robert Eades and Sebastian Nanena. It also features Yusra Warsama (Stolen), Amanda Abbington (Case Histories) and Shaun Dooley (South Riding).
The three 30-min episodes were shot in just three weeks in July at various locations in South London, including Lambeth, Stockwell and Kingston.
As executive producer Elaine Sperber recalls "early on we decided to shoot on real locations, necessitating a neighbourhood with a sizeable housing estate and nearby upscale homes, and South London was our choice. Our production designer created artful graffiti for the estate (there was none, it was very clean!) and dressed its local Mini Mart from top to bottom with international foods."
Postcode set out to offer a reflection of a society in transition, embodied in a cosmopolitan melting pot where opulence and deprivation live side-by-side.
About the result, Sperber believes that "Postcode is a very modern drama about the challenges of breaking down barriers to friendship and a sense of community in today's urban Britain. It deals with some of the issues and problems that kids face in the 21st century in a compelling but life-affirming way."
(LB)