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Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle

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Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle
Promotional image of the series, featuring all characters
Written by
Directed by
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8
Production
Executive producers
  • Kwame Kwei-Armah
  • Lenny Henry
  • Angela Ferreira
  • Lamia Dabboussy
ProducerCarol Harding
Running time15 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkBBC Four
Release17 February (2019-02-17) –
20 February 2019 (2019-02-20)

Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle was a television series broadcast on BBC Four in February 2019. The series consisted of eight fifteen-minute monologues and portrayed the stories of a British Afro-Caribbean family across four generations, from their arrival to the UK in the 1940s to the present day. It was jointly produced by BBC Arts, Young Vic Theatre, and Sir Lenny Henry's Douglas Road Productions. The series was curated by Young Vic's artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah and featured writings from prominent playwrights of British Afro-Caribbean heritage.[1][2]

The series was nominated for Best Short Form in the 2020 British Academy Television Awards[3] and writer Roy Williams, who wrote episode 7, was nominated for Best Writer in the Drama category at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards in the same year.[4]

Background

[edit]

Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle aired in 2019, a year after the 50th anniversary of the arrival of a major wave of Caribbean migrants in the United Kingdom, who would later be known as the Windrush generation. Several real life events were woven into the series' narratives, including the New Cross house fire in 1981, Murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, the 2011 Tottenham riot, as well as the Windrush scandal.[5][6] For curator Kwame Kwei-Armah, the series was a personal tribute to his late parents, who had migrated to the UK from Grenada in the early 1960s.[7]

Sir Lenny Henry, executive producer for the series spoke of the monologue format chosen for the programme:

“Little monologues are a great thing. It’s somebody talking down the camera about specific issues and telling stories. Particularly in the developing world, we come from an oral tradition of people looking you in the eye and telling you a story. So I thought it was a perfect environment to tell the stories you may not have heard before about the black community.”[6]

The series was broadcast from 17 to 20 February 2019 on BBC Four and was part of its season of programming dedicated to the celebration of British diverse history.[8] It is also included in Young Vic's festival on the theme of identity, YV:ID. A discussion panel about the show featuring Kwei-Armah and British author Afua Hirsch took place as part of the festival on 21 February 2019.[9]

Some of the creatives who worked on the series
Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of Young Vic theatre, curated the series and wrote its second episode, "Cyrus 1951".
Sir Lenny Henry was one of the executive producers of the show in addition to starring in episode 7, "Cyrus 2011".
Clint Dyer, also known for his work as an actor and director, wrote episode 3, "Kev 1968".
Playwright Juliet Gilkes Romero wrote episode 4, "Yvonne 1981".
Actress and comedian Angie Le Mar wrote episode 7, "Samantha 1993".

Episodes

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No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Eunice 1949"Destiny EkaraghaCarmen Harris17 February 2019 (2019-02-17)

It’s 1949 and a year after arriving on the Empire Windrush, Eunice Daley finds herself moving into a room in her uncle’s house, her belongings crammed into cardboard boxes.
Cast:

2"Cyrus 1951"Christiana Ebohon-GreenKwame Kwei-Armah17 February 2019 (2019-02-17)

Cyrus Williams believes he has found the love of his life in a young nurse, Eunice Daley. A chance meeting was all it took for him to want to spend the rest of his life with her.
Cast:

3"Kev 1968"Dionne EdwardsClint Dyer18 February 2019 (2019-02-18)

It’s 1968, and while the world is exploding around him, racially and politically, 17-year-old Kev keeps a low profile as a mechanic, the only black man in a white-owned garage.
Cast:

  • Jonathan Jules as Kev[12]
4"Yvonne 1981"Christiana Ebohon-GreenJuliet Gilkes Romero18 February 2019 (2019-02-18)

In 1981, as Yvonne prepares to demonstrate for the young black victims of the New Cross fire, she finds herself giving expression to a deeper, personal loss for the first time.
Cast:

5"Samantha 1993"Destiny EkaraghaAngie Le Mar19 February 2019 (2019-02-19)

As the only white person in her husband’s large family, Samantha Williams has had to counter racial assumptions from both his family and her own.
Cast:

6"Malcolm and David 2000"Tinge KrishnanNathaniel Martello-White19 February 2019 (2019-02-19)

At the start of a new century, 21-year-old cousins Malcolm and David reflect on their radically different upbringings and consider their current situations.
Cast:

7"Cyrus 2011"Tinge KrishnanRoy Williams20 February 2019 (2019-02-20)

It is 2019, but in Cyrus’s confused mind it could be London 2011, and there are riots outside the house. Dementia forces his memories to fragment.
Cast:

8"Michaela 2019"Dionne EdwardsCarol Russell20 February 2019 (2019-02-20)

Teenager Michaela Williams has always considered herself black but looks white. Now, the Windrush scandal has brought the question of her heritage and belonging into sharp relief.
Cast:

Reception

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The series received overall positive reviews across major British newspapers, receiving 4 out of 5 stars from both The Guardian[18] and The Telegraph.[19] The Evening Standard praised the show for its ability to pack in profound messages, such as those concerning identity and belonging, without feeling like a lecture.[20] Lenny Henry's performance as Cyrus in episode 7 was universally praised.[19] As noted by the Evening Standard: "Henry gives a moving performance: funny, likeable and asking broad philosophical questions about the toll that immigration takes on a family".[20]

The series won the Diversity in Drama Production category at the 2019 Screen Nation Film and Television Awards.[21] It also received a nomination at the 2020 British Academy Television Awards for Best Short Form,[3] in addition to Roy Williams's nomination for Best Drama Writer at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards in the same year.[4]

Awards and nominations received by Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle
Year Awards ceremony Category Nominee(s) Result Note/Refs
2019 Screen Nation Film and Television Awards Diversity in Drama Production N/a Won [21]
2020 Royal Television Society Programme Awards Writer (Drama) Roy Williams Nominated [4]
2020 BAFTA Television Awards Best Short Form N/a Nominated [3]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle on BBC Four air dates…". The British Blacklist. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Kanter, Jake (31 July 2020). "BAFTA TV Awards Winners: Night Of Surprises, As 'Chernobyl' & 'The End Of The F***ing World' Take Two Prizes Each". Deadline. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 "Winners of the RTS Programme Awards 2020 announced". rts.org.uk. Royal Television Society. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  5. ↑ Henry, Lenny (15 February 2019). "Lenny Henry on his Windrush series: 'We felt the sting of injustice sharply'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 Rampton, James (15 February 2019). "Lenny Henry: 'We haven't time to be depressed. We've got work to do'". The i Paper. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  7. ↑ Thorpe, Vanessa (13 January 2019). "My Windrush TV series is personal, says Kwame Kwei-Armah". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  8. ↑ "BBC Four announces season celebrating British diversity". rts.org.uk. Royal Television Society. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
  9. ↑ Wood, Alex (14 January 2019). "Kwame Kwei-Armah announces Young Vic YV:ID festival line-up including Lenny Henry and Lynette Linton". WhatsOnStage.com. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
  10. ↑ "BBC Four - Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, Series 1, Eunice 1949". BBC. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  11. ↑ "BBC Four - Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, Series 1, Cyrus 1951". BBC. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "BBC Four - Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, Series 1, Kev 1968". BBC. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "BBC Four - Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, Series 1, Yvonne 1981". BBC. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  14. ↑ "BBC Four - Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, Series 1, Samantha 1993". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  15. ↑ "BBC Four - Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, Series 1, Malcolm and David 2000". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  16. ↑ "BBC Four - Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, Series 1, Cyrus 2011". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "BBC Four - Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, Series 1, Michaela 2019". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  18. ↑ Gentleman, Amelia (15 February 2019). "Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle review – beautiful and epic family drama". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  19. 1 2 Wilson, Benji (21 February 2019). "Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, review: Lenny Henry gave a terrific performance in this short, sharp monologue". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  20. 1 2 Butter, Susannah (18 February 2019). "Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle interlaces history with human stories". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
  21. 1 2 "OFFICIAL WINNERS LIST 2019". www.screennation.org. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
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