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Peacock Preview: NOUGHTS + CROSSES

Sep 02, 2020 Posted by in Features, Preview | Comments

Premiering on Friday September 4, Peacock’s latest original series, Noughts + Crosses, is based on the first novel of author Malorie Blackman’s award-winning YA series. While the novel was first published in 2001, the series feels quite timely and relevant to what’s going on in the world today.

Noughts + Crosses is set in an alternate reality, where racial roles are reversed. In this alternate version of history, over 700 years ago the Aprican empire (what we know as Africa) invaded Europe, colonizing the continent. Albion (our United Kingdom) has been under Aprican rule ever since, but there is unrest and those who would like to see this Aprican control to come to an end. The lighter, white-skinned race, known as the Noughts, have been oppressed and treated like second-class citizens by the wealthy, dark-skinned Crosses, who are in power across the political system. Segregation is the law, and in general the Crosses believe this is the way things should remain. However, years of police brutality, oppression, and excessive force has brought the Noughts to the brink of revolt. The Noughts’ Liberation Militia (LM) is just looking for the spark to ignite the flames and set things in motion, and that comes when an innocent young man is brutally beaten by the police.

Noughts + Crosses follows the story of two families, the McGregors and the Hadleys. The McGregors are a working class Nought family. Ryan (Ian Hart, The Last Kingdom) was a member of the LM when he was younger, but became a more responsible man once he had his own children. His wife Meggie (Helen Baxendale, Cuckoo) has worked as a trusted housekeeper and nanny for the wealthy and powerful Home Secretary Kamal Hadley (Paterson Joseph, Avenue 5) and his family for over a decade. Kamal is an ambitious and staunch conservative, who looks down on the Noughts. He is upset with the current Prime Minister’s more liberal stance on things, and is plotting his own coup to take over.

Meggie knows the Hadley family’s dark secrets, such that Kamal’s wife Jasmine (Bonnie Henna, Vagrant Queen) is unhappy in her marriage, has a drinking problem, and is having an affair, and that Kamal has a secret, illegitimate “halfer” son. However, Meggie is an honest women who would never try to use these things against the family. The McGregors have two sons. Jude (Josh Dylan, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) is a rebellious hothead, and is seduced by the ideas of riots, revolt, and revolution preached by LM leader Jack Dorn (Shaun Dingwall, DCI Banks). Callum (Jack Rowan, Peaky Blinders), on the other hand, is a bit more level-headed and responsible. He has ideas that he can change the world, and has applied to Mercy Point, a Cross military academy that is accepting Nought cadets for the first time. However, his fellow Noughts—including his own brother—see this as selling-out his own race.

As Callum assists his mother with a function at the Hadley home, he reconnects with Persephone “Sephy” Hadley (Masali Baduza, Trackers). When they were young, Callum and Sephy would play together when Meggie was working at the Hadley home, but the two hadn’t seen each other in over a decade. Sephy is interested in studying politics, but she is much more open-minded than her father. She is dating Mercy Point cadet Lekan (Jonathan Ajayi, Wonder Woman 1984), who isn’t thrilled with the idea of Noughts being let into Mercy Point, and grows suspicious when he sees Sephy and Callum talking. However, his fears may be justified as there is a fast connection that forms between Callum and Sephy, and the two begin to explore their attraction in secret.

I’ve watched the entire first season, and found it to be quite compelling and entertaining—I was especially surprised by how timely the events of the series feel given the current state of the world today. The series provides a fascinating and thought-provoking look at a very relevant story. The Noughts live in poor, crowded cities while the Crosses are in the more lavish gated communities. The Noughts are constantly treated like criminals as they go through their daily lives, openly provoked by the Crosses, and beaten or searched by the police for no reason other than the color of their skin. They are called “blankers”, receive stares as they walk down the streets, and the Crosses look nervous and clutch their purses as they pass by. Some of these Noughts have decided that enough is enough, and have turned to rioting and violence as a way to express their anger and frustration over the endless years of oppression. Meanwhile there is also this Romeo and Juliette like love story about two people from opposite sides who have found one another. Callum and Sephy both have ideas of changing the world but are slowly realizing that that may be impossible as the system is designed to prevent that from happening.

The series has excellent production value, and really makes this alternate reality feel real. In this world, the Aprican empire is the ruling entity, and so the show’s costumes, music and score all feel very African-inspired. The series also does an excellent job of showing even the smallest ways in which the Noughts are treated like second class citizens, such as the glances on the streets, the looks Callum and the other Nought cadets get at Mercy Point, posters in the subway using Nought images to warn about crime, or when Callum gets a cut on his hand and Sephy hands him a dark-skin colored bandage. Many of the TV and newspaper headlines also feel ripped out of today’s world, but from the opposite race perspective. It is a very interesting and eye-opening look at today’s society from a different lens, but does so in a smart way that never feels overly political or preachy.

At launch, all 6 hour-long episodes of the first season will be available to watch for Peacock Premium subscribers, while those with the basic free tier should be able to at least check out the first episode. The series aired earlier this year on BBC One in the UK.