TV series about Jews fighting fascism in 60s England resonates today

UK drama series, which launches on the ABC this weekend, tells the story of amateur Jewish spies infiltrating neo-Nazis in 1960s London, which has disturbing relevance today

A SUNLIT BEDROOM in a country house in Kent, 1962. An adorable moppet is helping a young blond woman make the bed. They are joined by the dapper man of the house. They gather in front of the window and smilingly give a Nazi salute.

So begins Ridley Road, the four-part adaptation by Sarah Solemani of Jo Bloom’s 2014 novel of the same name. It is an arresting opening, made even more so by the fact that the story about to unfold, we are told, was inspired by true events.

The true part is the rise of neo-fascism in 60s England, when the dismal rags of Oswald Mosley’s Union Movement, and the version of the British National party that would become the National Front, were supplemented by the National Socialist Movement led by a man called Colin Jordan. It is he – played by Rory Kinnear – who we see sieg-heiling in the sunshine.

The drama is named after the road that housed the headquarters of the coalition of Jewish men known as the 62 Group who took direct militant action against the NSM in particular. Their most famous confrontation was in Trafalgar Square in 1962, when Jordan – protected by the Free Speech Act – held an antisemitic rally where a riot broke out between attenders and protesters.

FULL STORY Ridley Road review – fascism thriller resonates in our current dark age (Guardian)

Photo: Agnes O’Casey as Vivien Epstein in Ridley Road (Ben Blackall/BBC/Red Productions)