The BBC has today announced the casting for Danny And The Human Zoo, written by Lenny Henry. It is the fictionalised account of his life as a talented teenager in 1970s Dudley, made by RED Production Company for BBC One. Newcomer Kascion Franklin will play Danny, with Lenny Henry (The Syndicate, The Lenny Henry Show) playing his dad Samson and Cecilia Noble (Nurse, The Bill) his mum Myrtle. Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who, Broadchurch) plays Danny's Manager Jonesy, Richard Wilson (One Foot In The Grave, Merlin) plays promoter James Broughton, and Mark Benton (Waterloo Road, Land Girls) plays seasoned entertainer Syd Bolton. BAFTA Rising Star Destiny Ekaragha (Rogue, Gone Too Far!) directs. Lenry Henry, writer and playing Samson says: I cant believe that were finally shooting my screenplay Danny And The Human Zoo! This is a fantasy memoir of the first two years of my career - my beginnings, working on the Zoo, working mens clubs and all that stuff that happened to me in the mid-Seventies - but crammed into 90 minutes. The script took about three years with the help of Nicola Shindler and Caroline Hollick at RED Productions and now were going to make it in Dudley - led by a wonderful director Destiny Ekaragha. Theres an incredibly talented cast and I feel very lucky to be a part of it all. Danny's world is a series of complex minefields which he has to negotiate: his home life - which his ebullient mother rules with an iron fist in an iron glove; his love life - where the Irish girl hes in lust with wont give him the time of day until he wins his first competition; and finally the ups and downs of his emerging career. When Danny wins a talent competition at the local club, he soon finds himself working the comedy circuit. Audiences can't get enough and applaud Danny as he effortlessly morphs into Mohammed Ali, Tommy Cooper and Frank Spencer, eventually hitting the big time on TV - an unheard-of achievement for a young black boy. But an unscrupulous manager takes advantage of Danny and forces him to star in a show - Musical Minstrel Cavalcade. Danny hits rock bottom. Having made his name by becoming other people, Danny has to save himself by finding out who he really is. Nicola Shindler, Executive Producer for RED Production Company, says: I am delighted to be working with Lenny on this fantastic script. Danny And The Human Zoo gives the audience an entry into a world very little seen on TV. It's a funny, bold and at times shocking fictionalisation of his story. And is full of the warmth, wit and brilliance we associate with Lenny himself. Polly Hill, Head of Independent Drama at the BBC, adds: It's exciting to see Kascion Franklin gain his first screen credit, alongside our director Destiny Ekaragha in a fictionalised drama of Lenny Henrys early life. Lennys script gives us his take on Britain in the Seventies, often shocking but always with wit and a big heart. Its a beautiful script, with a great cast and we are proud to make it for BBC One. Danny And The Human Zoo will be filming in and around the Dudley area. Juliet Charlesworth is the producer. The drama was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Controller, BBC One, and Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning. It is made by RED Production Company for BBC One. The executive producers are Nicola Shindler and Caroline Hollick for RED Production Company and Polly Hill, Head of Independent Drama, for the BBC.
Danny and the Human Zoo
01/05/2015
The BBC has today announced the casting for Danny And The Human Zoo, written by Lenny Henry. It is the fictionalised account of his life as a talented teenager in 1970s Dudley, made by RED Production Company for BBC One. Newcomer Kascion Franklin will play Danny, with Lenny Henry (The Syndicate, The Lenny Henry Show) playing his dad Samson and Cecilia Noble (Nurse, The Bill) his mum Myrtle. Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who, Broadchurch) plays Danny's Manager Jonesy, Richard Wilson (One Foot In The Grave, Merlin) plays promoter James Broughton, and Mark Benton (Waterloo Road, Land Girls) plays seasoned entertainer Syd Bolton. BAFTA Rising Star Destiny Ekaragha (Rogue, Gone Too Far!) directs. Lenry Henry, writer and playing Samson says: I cant believe that were finally shooting my screenplay Danny And The Human Zoo! This is a fantasy memoir of the first two years of my career - my beginnings, working on the Zoo, working mens clubs and all that stuff that happened to me in the mid-Seventies - but crammed into 90 minutes. The script took about three years with the help of Nicola Shindler and Caroline Hollick at RED Productions and now were going to make it in Dudley - led by a wonderful director Destiny Ekaragha. Theres an incredibly talented cast and I feel very lucky to be a part of it all. Danny's world is a series of complex minefields which he has to negotiate: his home life - which his ebullient mother rules with an iron fist in an iron glove; his love life - where the Irish girl hes in lust with wont give him the time of day until he wins his first competition; and finally the ups and downs of his emerging career. When Danny wins a talent competition at the local club, he soon finds himself working the comedy circuit. Audiences can't get enough and applaud Danny as he effortlessly morphs into Mohammed Ali, Tommy Cooper and Frank Spencer, eventually hitting the big time on TV - an unheard-of achievement for a young black boy. But an unscrupulous manager takes advantage of Danny and forces him to star in a show - Musical Minstrel Cavalcade. Danny hits rock bottom. Having made his name by becoming other people, Danny has to save himself by finding out who he really is. Nicola Shindler, Executive Producer for RED Production Company, says: I am delighted to be working with Lenny on this fantastic script. Danny And The Human Zoo gives the audience an entry into a world very little seen on TV. It's a funny, bold and at times shocking fictionalisation of his story. And is full of the warmth, wit and brilliance we associate with Lenny himself. Polly Hill, Head of Independent Drama at the BBC, adds: It's exciting to see Kascion Franklin gain his first screen credit, alongside our director Destiny Ekaragha in a fictionalised drama of Lenny Henrys early life. Lennys script gives us his take on Britain in the Seventies, often shocking but always with wit and a big heart. Its a beautiful script, with a great cast and we are proud to make it for BBC One. Danny And The Human Zoo will be filming in and around the Dudley area. Juliet Charlesworth is the producer. The drama was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Controller, BBC One, and Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning. It is made by RED Production Company for BBC One. The executive producers are Nicola Shindler and Caroline Hollick for RED Production Company and Polly Hill, Head of Independent Drama, for the BBC.
| LINK: | http://www.redproductioncompany.com/latest-from-red/danny-and-the-huma... |
| See more stories from redproduction |
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/07/2026
Imagine Communications Acquired by Lumine Group
Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...
02/07/2026
Rise AV APAC Brings Mentoring Conversation to InfoComm As...
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out Brie Clayton July 2, 2026 0 Comments Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, media and communications infrastructure
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversary Celebration of the Declaration of Independence
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
LiveMode builds agile content ingest with Cinegy
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Synamedia Appoints Dr Tzvi Gerstl CEO
Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digitals blueCORE Wins Futures Best of Show Award...
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia Appoints Dr Tzvi Gerstl as CEO as Company Enter...
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiatives
Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiativ...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Documentary Development
Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Docume...
02/07/2026
Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables
Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026 0 Comments An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...
02/07/2026
Boston Conservatory's Soire Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships
Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...
02/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Med Tech Without Missing a Beat
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Med Tech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might thin...
02/07/2026
Joyride Through July With 12 Games Coming to GeForce NOW
Summer is heating up - and GeForce NOW is taking players along for the ride. Start the month with Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains, bringing a galaxy fa...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group Appoints Kathy Samuels as Director of Creative Services
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade Launches Custom Objects and Automations
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America Adds Two Regional Sales Leaders
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports To Present All 15 MLB Games Nationally on July 4 Weekend Star-Spangled Sunday'
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com Upgrades Wireless Communications for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England Deploys Sony STATSports Live GPS Tracking at FIFA World Cup 2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology Appoints Neil Hillier as CEO
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral Splits Into Two Companies: Bitcentral and ViewNexa
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN48 Creator Initiative Draws Global Participation for FIFA World Cup 2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
IDEA To Induct Daktronics Sarah Rose Into Hall of Fame
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media Delivers Distribution and Streaming Services for World Economic Forum in Dalian
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions Launches Insight Storm, a 53-Foot Esports Broadcast Truck
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN Announces America 250 Content Initiatives Across Platforms
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
At Cosm, FIFA World Cup 2026 Is a Coming-of-Age Moment as Shared Reality Becomes Bucket-List Entertainment
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
SVG Regional Sports Production Summit Draws Industry Leaders to Denver for Deep Dive on Evolving RSN Landscape
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
Mountain West Launches MW+ Streaming Platform Powered by Kiswe
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
Tracktion unleash Waveform 14 DAW
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
The Crow Hill Company release Brackish Pads
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Sweetwater & Andertons launch Darkglass Anagram Limited Edition Guitar Essentials
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
Call for NFVF funding applications to attend Film Festivals and Markets taking place from 01 August 2026 - 31 October 2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/07/2026
FCC Plans to Auction 160 MHZ of Midband Spectrum
Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...
01/07/2026
CBS Miami Launches Hope 4 Venezuela' Relief Effort
Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...
01/07/2026
Riedel, SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive Integration
Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...
01/07/2026
Gray Media to Buy American Spirit Media's TV Stations
Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...
01/07/2026
Cascade PBS Launches App Solution Provider 'Local Public
Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camerabag collection for modern hybrid creators
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition Brie Clayton July 1, 2026 0 Comments Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Riedel, SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration WithSimplyLive Integration
Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology Publishes State of Broadcast Infrastru...
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
