The Birmingham-based six part series will star newcomers
Chenée Taylor, Kaydrah Walker-Wilkie and Akins Subair alongside Romola Garai, Sam Buchanan, Ivanno Jeremiah, Jamelia and Jennifer Metcalfe guest stars
The BBC has announced that newcomers Chenée Taylor, Kaydrah Walker-Wilkie and Akins Subair will lead the cast of Janice Okoh’s new drama We Go Again (working title), based on Janice’s 2011 play Three Birds, which starred Michaela Coel and won the prestigious Bruntwood Playwriting Prize. The Midlands-set series is produced by The Forge Entertainment (The Buccaneers, Help and Ackley Bridge), a Banijay UK Company, and is currently filming in and around Birmingham and Coventry for transmission on BBC iPlayer and BBC Three.
We Go Again is a comedy drama about three stubbornly optimistic siblings – Tiana (Taylor), Tanika (Walker-Wilkie) and Tionne (Subair) – with a dark secret. When their mum disappears, they will do anything to keep it quiet so they can stay together as a family, but – as feistily resilient and fiercely loyal as they are – can they really outwit the authorities and carry on with life under the radar?
The series also stars Romola Garai (Scoop, Atonement) as Tanika’s well-intentioned but somewhat overzealous schoolteacher Ms Jenkins, and Sam Buchanan (Sherwood, Back to Black) as amateur drug dealer Dr Feelgood, whose initial self-serving efforts turn into an attempt to actually do good when it comes to the siblings. Ivanno Jeremiah (Humans, Lockwood & Co.) plays the trio’s distant father Leo while Jamelia stars as ‘Fake Jackie’, a version of their missing Mum. Talitha Wing (The Full Monty) plays aspiring influencer Rome, while Jennifer Metcalfe (Hollyoaks) guest stars as Leo’s new partner, Candy.
We Go Again is an irreverent portrait of black working-class teenage life. A coming-of-age story of sorts. The first times, the f*ck-ups, and the excruciating desire to be more grown up than you’re ready to be. It’s a celebration of black joy, of council estates, and corner shops. Of working-class living and working-class dreams. It is human and tender, with a thumping great heart.
Writer and Creator Janice Okoh says,
“I am over the moon to be adapting my stage play with the BBC and The Forge. It’s been a joy to see the project grow and change but still keep the story of these three wonderful kids home alone and how they handle the adults around them at its heart. As soon as I saw Chenee I knew she was my Tiana, a beautiful young adult with an inner strength that shines through. Kaydrah and Akins are phenomenal, too – so naturalistic and funny. I feel lucky we found them. I’m so excited about the rest of the cast joining them – Romola, Sam, Ivanno, Jamelia and Jennifer – and can’t wait for the world to meet the characters they portray.”
Executive producer George Ormond says,
“Janice’s scripts are a rollercoaster – laugh out loud funny with a gut punch of emotion and three wonderful, surprising, irrepressible characters at their heart. It’s been so exciting to see Chenee, Kaydrah and Akins bringing them to life and we can’t wait for the audience to meet them.”
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama says,
“One of the many exciting things about We Go Again is the fact that Janice Okoh has created three brilliant and complex lead roles for talented young newcomers. In Chenée, Kaydrah and Akins we’ve found the perfect central trio, and I can’t wait for BBC viewers to see them alongside this fabulous ensemble cast.”
Director and Co-executive producer Nathaniel Martello-White says,
“It’s been a privilege to helm We Go Again with the Forge. When I read the pilot episode I immediately connected with Janice’s brilliant writing. Her ability to find humour and irony in the most human and dramatic spaces. She never judges her characters, merely presents them with all their contradictions and quirks. Working with a cast of mostly new actors and taking them on a formative journey as people and artists has been most rewarding. I look forward to audiences seeing this unique and entertaining show.”
We Go Again (w/t, 6×45) was commissioned by Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, and Fiona Campbell, Controller Youth Audience, BBC Three and BBC iPlayer. The series is created and written by Janice Okoh and will be directed by Nathaniel Martello-White (The Strays), who also serves as co-executive producer. The producer is Jade Taylor (Ackley Bridge, Becoming Elizabeth). Executive producers are George Ormond (Ackley Bridge, National Treasure) and George Faber (Shameless, Skins) for The Forge Entertainment (a Banijay UK company), Danielle Scott-Haughton for the BBC, and Janice Okoh. We Go Again will be distributed internationally by Banijay Rights.
Filming is underway in and around Birmingham and Coventry, and the series is due to air on BBC iPlayer and BBC Three in 2025.