Lenny Henry’s Windrush drama Three Little Birds, which follows three women as they emigrate from Jamaica to Dudley in the late 50s, is full of humour, tragedy and stunning period detail…
Inspired by its creator, Lenny Henry’s own mother Winifred’s journey to the Midlands in the late 50s, new ITV series Three Little Birds, explores untold stories of sisterhood, love, friendship, and the joys, laughter and struggles of making a new life in the so-called mother-country. Leah Whittaker (Rochelle Neil) runs out on her abusive husband in Jamaica, and travels to Britain determined to make a new life for herself – with hopes of bringing her three children over once she has settled.
She and her younger star-stuck, glamorous sister Chantrelle (Saffron Coomber) chaperone their pious Christian friend Hosanna (Yazmin Belo) who they have chosen as a potential bride for their brother Aston. As each woman starts to find their feet, they must navigate unexpected, sometimes shocking challenges. Will they hit rock bottom with a resounding thud, or will they eventually fly? Writer and creator, comedian and actor Lenny Henry, 65, tells us more…
Lenny, so what or who inspired Three Little Birds?
Originally, my family. All the stories of mum, her sister and best mate coming to Britain, ten years after Windrush. Plus, researched narrative too. We looked at great photographs by Vanley Burke and Roy Mehta, characterful shots of life in a predominantly Black neighbourhood in the Midlands at that time. These tales are about immigration; of migrants arriving on boats, then becoming embroiled in their lives in this supposed motherland where the work is meant to be better. However, on arrival, they discover that day-to-day life is difficult.
Difficult, in what ways, specifically?
My brothers would tell me stories about having to walk around in pairs, because you’d get attacked in the streets; a lady told me about people touching her hair on the bus and asking her what part of Africa she was from… However, at the same time there were acts of kindness from unexpected quarters. There was immense joy, a bustling, multi-cultural life, of a community doing its best to unite. There were all these anecdotes I had heard that don’t just belong to me – but are also a part of the fabric of our country and our people. And they apply to anyone who’s ever travelled from one place to another in search of a new home.
How would you describe the three fabulous female leads?
I suppose, though she’s a fictional character, the spirit of my mum lives in Leah, who is like John Wayne but in a skirt! She is a stoic. She doesn’t take any crap from anyone, and she knows her stuff. She will fight for her friends and her family. Chantrelle is the flighty flibbertigibbet – the clown who wants to be a movie star. When she gets here, she realises that there are no movies with a calling for a dramatic and good-looking person who can recite plays but happens to be Black in 1957. Lastly, Hosanna (Yazmin Belo) is essentially a mail order bride, but she has secrets. She’s had her fare paid, but there are other reasons for her being here. Everyone’s got a secret. Chantrelle, particularly, goes on quite a dark journey. So, it’s tough, but they have each other.
Can You expand on that?
It celebates that kind of immigrant stoicism. “Yes, this chair has springs coming out of it. Yes, there are mice. Yes, there’s hardly anything in the cupboard. But you will be fed, it could be a biscuit or a piece of bread, but there’s margarine, and you will have somewhere to sit, sleep, and it will be comfortable, even if it’s a bit damp.”. All those things. My mum absolutely did that. It was an honour when I was able to buy her a house and say, “This is your house”, because leading up to that point, things had been very, very difficult. The people who came here, they were told the streets were paved with gold, and they weren’t. So, this drama has got tough times, and there’s also tragedy in there. But there is humour as well. It’s going to make you laugh and move you.
Is Three Little Birds a celebration of your mother’s generation?
Yes, but it’s still a story- and it’s not just relevant to that generation, it’s a celebration of strong Black womanhood, about people moving from one place to another, about community and adversity. What’s great is, young people will ask, “Wow, was it really like that?” And the older ones will go, “Yeah, it was. You need to watch this. This is what we had to put up with when we came here.” I think it’s going to take people on an amazing ride. And not just for Jamaican people in their living room in Dudley – this is for all of us, black, brown, white – the post Windrush happened to everyone. We need to celebrate that.
Credit: Three Little Birds continues on ITV and ITVX Sundays, at 8pm.
