This “consistently entertaining” BBC drama was written by Candice Carty-Williams, whose 2019 novel “Queenie” was a publishing sensation, said Ellen E. Jones in The Guardian.
The plot revolves around two rival siblings: Bosco Champion (Malcolm Kamulete), a 25-year-old rapper who is fresh out of prison (“trumped-up charges, M’lud”), and his sister Vita (Déja J. Bowens). She is rumoured to have written many of his best bars, but she has never made it in her own right – until a rival of Bosco’s gives her a shot. Like the hip-hop saga “Empire”, the series is “satisfyingly soapy”; and the soundtrack is full of “certified bangers”.
The BBC announced “Champion” as part of a raft of shows that it said would “push the boundaries”, said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. “This is TV code for ‘if you’re middle-aged and from Middle England, you won’t like it’.” Despite being older than its target audience and so “un-edgy that one of my greatest thrills is a scone and pot of tea in a John Lewis café”, I rather liked it. The performances are “excellent”; the drama’s portrayal of south London life seems authentic; and “you’ll be rooting for Vita from the start”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“Ironically for a show about rap”, it is rather “let down by some verbose scripting, contrived plotting and lax pacing”, said Dan Einav in the Financial Times. “Repeated arguments and recriminations soon become wearing, while even quieter moments can suffer from characters spelling out obvious thoughts and emotions.” Still, it “comes alive whenever it brings the music to the fore”.
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
-
6 homes with fall foliagefeature An autumnal orange Craftsman, a renovated Greek Revival church and an estate with an orchard
-
Bugonia: ‘deranged, extreme and explosively enjoyable’Talking Point Yorgos Lanthimos’ film stars Emma Stone as a CEO who is kidnapped and accused of being an alien
-
The Revolutionists: a ‘superb and monumental’ bookThe Week Recommends Jason Burke ‘epic’ account of the plane hijackings and kidnappings carried out by extremists in the 1970s
-
Film reviews: ‘Bugonia,’ ‘The Mastermind’ and ‘Nouvelle Vague’feature A kidnapped CEO might only appear to be human, an amateurish art heist goes sideways, and Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Breathless’ gets a lively homage
-
Book reviews: ‘Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity’ and ‘Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice’feature An examination of humanity in the face of “the Machine” and a posthumous memoir from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, who recently died by suicide
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago
-
Salted caramel and chocolate tart recipeThe Week Recommends Delicious dessert can be made with any biscuits you fancy
-
6 trailside homes for hikersFeature Featuring a roof deck with skyline views in California and a home with access to private trails in Montana
