# Empire Road

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British television series

Empire Road Genre Drama Written by Michael Abbensetts Directed by Alex Marshall[1] Starring Norman Beaton Allister Bain Sheila Kelley Frances Cox Meg Johnson Thomas Baptiste Wayne Laryea Rosa Roberts Country of origin United Kingdom Original language English No. of series 2 No. of episodes 15 Production Running time 30 minutes Original release Network BBC2 Release 31 October 1978 (1978-10-31) – 1 November 1979 (1979-11-01)

***Empire Road*** is a [British television](/source/British_television) series, made by the [BBC](/source/BBC) in 1978 and 1979. Written by [Michael Abbensetts](/source/Michael_Abbensetts), the programme ran for two series.[2]

The series was the first British television series to be written, acted and directed predominantly by black artists. A [soap opera](/source/Soap_opera), similar in format to *[Coronation Street](/source/Coronation_Street)*, *Empire Road* depicted life for the [African-Caribbean](/source/British_African-Caribbean_community), East Indian and South Asian residents of a racially diverse street in the city of [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham).

Cast members included [Norman Beaton](/source/Norman_Beaton) (Everton Bennett), [Corinne Skinner-Carter](/source/Corinne_Skinner-Carter) (Hortense Bennett), [Wayne Laryea](/source/Wayne_Laryea), [Joseph Marcell](/source/Joseph_Marcell), [Rudolph Walker](/source/Rudolph_Walker) and Rosa Roberts.[3] The programme also provided early TV exposure for [Julie Walters](/source/Julie_Walters), who appeared in a few episodes. The series was made at [BBC Pebble Mill](/source/Pebble_Mill_Studios) with location work in the [Handsworth](/source/Handsworth%2C_West_Midlands) area of Birmingham.[4]

The eponymously named theme song was recorded by the band [Matumbi](/source/Matumbi_(band)) and also released as a single in 1978.

The general premise of the series concerns the day-to-day life of a residential property landlord (Norman Beaton) who also owns a minimarket – where his brother-in-law is a junior partner – and sometimes deals with social concerns of the time, namely race issues, family issues and mixed relationships. Problems that arise are usually solved or at least calmed by the protagonist family's patriarch using reasoning based on his life experience, wisdom and common sense. Some of the younger characters affectionately regard him as a benign "godfather" figure. The patriarch's son runs a dry-cleaning business.

Norman Beaton later went on to star in the [Channel 4](/source/Channel_4) comedy series *[Desmond's](/source/Desmond's)*.[5]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Rugg, Akua, *Brickbats & Bouquets: Black woman's critique* (Race Today Publications, 1984), p. 43.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Donnell2002_2-0)** Ross, Karen (2002). ["Empire Road"](https://books.google.com/books?id=VfdpdZ9DwH0C&pg=PA104–5). In [Alison Donnell](/source/Alison_Donnell) (ed.). *Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture*. Routledge. pp. 103–04. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-134-70025-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-134-70025-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Empire Road (1978–79) | Cast"](http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/535304/credits.html). *Screenonline*. [BFI](/source/British_Film_Institute). Retrieved 29 July 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-x911_4-0)** Bakare, Lanre (16 April 2025). ["Five things you didn't know about Black British cultural history"](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/apr/15/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-black-british-cultural-history). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 16 April 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Jaafar, Ali. ["Desmond's (1988–94)"](http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/490845/index.html). *Screenonline*. BFI. Retrieved 29 July 2023.

## External links

- [*Empire Road*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196242/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

- [Action TV](https://web.archive.org/web/20050507210342/http://www.action-tv.org.uk/guides/empireroad.htm)

- [Onyekachi Wambu](/source/Onyekachi_Wambu), ["Empire Road (1978–79)"](http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/535304/index.html), *Screen Online*, [British Film Institute](/source/British_Film_Institute).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Empire Road](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Road) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Road?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.