Praise for This Town
“Bold, brilliant” – The Guardian ****
“Something special” – The Telegraph ****
“Ambitious, thrilling” – The Big Issue
This Town (Music From The Original BBC Series) is out now on Polydor Records. Featuring classic covers and brand new, original compositions from the hit Steven Knight drama, the This Town finale airs on BBC1 this Sunday at 9PM and all episodes are on BBC iPlayer now.
The This Town soundtrack brings together the show’s genre-wide mix of timeless anthems, original songs, and iconic hits of the era. With tracks dropping weekly, the album features a world-class mix of artists at the top of their field, paying tribute to this hugely formative period in British life. The double-premiere launched alongside Self Esteem’s vivid reimaging of ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’ and Ray Laurél’s new version of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, with subsequent episodes including Olivia Dean’s rework of the reggae classic ‘The Harder They Come’ and Celeste’s evocative cover of ‘Blue Moon’. The songs played by **** The Factory – the band at the heart of This Town – have been created by trailblazing producer Dan Carey (Fontaines D.C, Wet Leg, and founder of the seminal Speedy Wunderground label), who has collaborated with singer-songwriter ESKA and musician, novelist and poet Kae Tempest in work that adds another chapter to this vital story.
On This Town (Music From The Original BBC Series), co-president of Mercury Studios Marc Robinson comments: “it has been a privilege to be working with Paul Whittington, Steven Knight and the entire Kudos team in bringing the musical narrative of This Town to life. Music is at the heart of the series and it has been a thrill to work with such excellent musical talent on this project. Excited to share and celebrate the music that compliments this exceptional series.”
Kudos’ Executive Producer Karen Wilson also adds: “we always knew that getting the music right was going to be key to the success of This Town. Mercury Studios have been the perfect partners in this. With Dan Carey, Kae Tempest and Eska creating the thrilling original songs performed by the band, and a roster of amazing contemporary artists covering iconic tracks, we couldn’t be more excited to share this music with the world.”
Full track-listing for This Town (Music From The Original BBC Series) is detailed below. All episodes of This Town are available on BBC iPlayer now, with the six-part series concluding at 9PM on Sunday nights on BBC1.
This Town (Music From The Original BBC Series)
01. Self Esteem: ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’
02. Ray Laurél: ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’
03. **** The Factory: ‘Estella’
04. Olivia Dean: ‘The Harder They Come’
05. **** The Factory: ‘Birdsong’
06. **** The Factory: ‘Pelicans’
07. Celeste: ‘Blue Moon’
08. **** The Factory: ‘Farewell To Matty And Her Flowers’
09. Gregory Porter: ‘The World’s Going Up In Flames’
10. **** The Factory: ‘This Town’
11. Sekou: ‘Wonderful World, Beautiful People’
ABOUT THIS TOWN:
This Town was produced by Kudos (a Banijay UK company) and Nebulastar for the BBC, co-produced with Mercury Studios, in association with Kudos North and Stigma Films. It was filmed on location in the Birmingham area, and at Steven Knight’s new Digbeth Loc. Film and TV Studios.
The show stars an exciting cast including Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey, Anatomy of a Scandal), Nicholas Pinnock (For Life, Marcella), David Dawson (My Policeman, The Last Kingdom) alongside rising talent including Levi Brown (Loss and Return), Jordan Bolger (The Woman King, The Book of Boba Fett), Ben Rose (Line of Duty, The Innocents), Eve Austin (You, Our Ladies) Freya Parks (The School of Good and Evil, Here We Go) and Shyvonne Ahmmad (Annika, Karen Pirie). Geraldine James (Back To Life, Anne with an E), Peter McDonald (The Batman, Dublin Murders), John Heffernan (Dracula, The Pursuit of Love), Stefan Asante-Boateng (Coronation Street, Suffering), Séainín Brennan (The Fall, Hidden), George Somner (This Is Going To Hurt, Sex Education) and Brendan Gibson (Peaky Blinders, Mr Selfridge) will also feature in the series.
This Town is created, written and executive produced by Steven Knight. It is directed by Paul Whittington and produced by Tim Whitby and Charlotte Surtees. Executive Producers are Karen Wilson, Katie McAleese and Martin Haines for Kudos, and Jo McClellan for the BBC. Matthew James Wilkinson (Stigma Films), Nick Angel and Laura Conway (Kudos North) serve as Co-Executive Producers, Alice Webb, Marc Robinson and Lucie Avery (Mercury Studios) as Co-Producers.
ABOUT MERCURY STUDIOS:
Mercury Studios is a full-service production studio, focused on telling compelling stories through the lens of music.
Current and recent projects include Oscar and BAFTA Award nominated AMERICAN SYMPHONY, directed by Matthew Heineman for the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions/Netflix, IF THESE WALLS COULD SING, directed by Mary McCartney for Disney+, MY LIFE AS A ROLLING STONE for the BBC and MGM+, SHANIA TWAIN: NOT JUST A GIRL for Netflix and THIS TOWN, a six-part series for the BBC from writer, creator, and executive producer Steven Knight. Mercury Studios also produced SAM SMITH: LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL for BBC, Billie Eilish’s OVERHEATED at the O2 London and LANG LANG PLAYS DISNEY for Disney+.
Editorially independent, Mercury Studios is powered by Universal Music Group and represents the world’s leading catalogue of music-related content, consisting of thousands of hours of premium music-driven film and television programming.
For more information please contact rob@toastpress.com
