Life is Complicated on Ridley Road

Vivien’s link to Colin is complicated by the arrival of his wife; the 62 Group takes matters into their own hands

• Christina Zeiders
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  Christina Zeiders is the Communications Specialist at WITF. She helps get the word out about all of WITF's programs, events and community conversations.

The MASTERPIECE mini-series Ridley Road continues this Sunday at 9pm on WITF TV and the PBS Video app. In part three of the four-part series, Vivien’s link to Colin is complicated by the arrival of his wife, and the police rebuff warnings from the 62 Group, who must act on their own.

Ridley Road is based on true events and Jo Bloom’s acclaimed novel. It explores London in the summer of 1962. The city is swinging with new music, hip fashion and a hedonistic spirit, but it’s also teeming with antisemitic violence perpetrated by homegrown neo-Nazis.

The unsasvory history of post-war London is not often explored, but Ridley Road tells it with daring, serious storytelling and stunning imagery.

Listen: Sarah Solemani Seeds Modern Moments In Vintage Anti-Fascist Fable

Newcomer Agnes O’Casey stars as Vivien Epstein, a young Jewish hairdresser who secretly infiltrates the British neo-Nazi hierarchy on behalf of Jewish antifascists to find her true love Jack, played by Tom Varey (Game of Thrones), who has mysteriously gone missing.

O’Casey is joined by Rory Kinnear (No Time to Die) as Colin Jordan, the leader of Britain’s post-World War II Nazi movement; Eddie Marsan (Little Dorrit) as Vivien’s uncle, Soly, and secret operative for the antifascist 62 Group; and Tracy-Ann Oberman (After Life) as Soly’s wife, Nancy.

MASTERPIECE: Meet the Cast & Characters

Rita Tushingham (Doctor Zhivago) plays as Nettie, Vivien’s right-wing landlady; Tamzin Outhwaite (EastEnders) as Barbara, the manager at the Soho salon where Vivien lands a job; and Gabriel Akuwudike (War of the Worlds) as Stevie, Barbara’s son, a leftist law student who gets the wrong idea about Vivien’s politics.

Watch Ridley Road on Sunday at 9pm on WITF TV. WITF Passport members can stream the entire mini-series now through the PBS Video app or at video.witf.org. Become a WITF Passport member today to unlock an extensive, on-demand library of quality public television programs.