Tearjerker moments, family reunions and the 80s Birmingham race riots are the focus of new BBC film, My Name Is Leon, based on Kit de Waal’s 2016 novel of the same name. It explores the story of nine-year-old Leon, a mixed-race boy who tries his best to reunite his family after he’s separated from his blonde, blue-eyed, white baby brother, Jake. When their mother struggles to look after her sons amid the breakdown of her relationship and ongoing mental health issues, Leon and Jake are taken into care – before long, Jake is adopted and Leon is left behind.
“What’s so emotional about this adaptation is the fact that you’re seeing life through the innocent eyes of Leon,” says Stylist’s digital entertainment writer Morgan Cormack. “He knows he looks different from his brother but doesn’t quite understand why they would be separated because of that. While I expected to be clutching fistfuls of tissues, it’s an incredibly heartfelt story of identity, life and finding love and family in unlikely places. As Leon discovers elements of his Black culture – music, food, political conversations – that he previously wasn’t aware of, he also finds a maternal figure in Maureen (Monica Dolan) and paternal figures in Tufty (Small Axe’s Malachi Kirby) and Mr Johnson (Sir Lenny Henry). Undoubtedly moving, it also weaves in humour and charm to create an inspiring tale of overcoming hardship.” 9pm tonight, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer