126: Michael Abbensetts and Empire Road

Join us this week as I chat with Dr Michelle Yaa Asentewa and Craig Riley to talk about Michael Abbensetts and Empire Road. Empire Road is a British television series that was aired by the BBC from 1978 to 1979. It was produced by Peter Ansorge and written by Michael Abbensetts. It was the first British TV series to be written, directed and acted by predominantly Black artists and creatives.

Born in Guyana, Michael Abbensetts was the first Black British playwright to be commissioned to write a television drama series. Michael settled in Britain in the 1960s and gave a voice to people from a Caribbean heritage, through his writing for the theatre and television. He worked on several Pebble Mill dramas in the 1970s and early ’80s, often with producer Peter Ansorge. His first Pebble Mill production was Black Christmas, in 1977; followed by Empire Road (series 1 and 2), the first black British soap opera, 1988-9; and Easy Money, part of Playhouse, 1982. He also wrote an episode of Doctors in 2001, which was his last television script. Michael Abbensetts, sadly died on 24th November 2016. This episode honours his life and commitment to writing the experiences of Black people for TV in post-war Britain.