Watch the Trailer for Masterpiece Drama 'The Long Song'
MASTERPIECE “The Long Song” Shown from left to right: July (TAMARA LAWRANCE) and Caroline (HAYLEY ATWELL) For editorial use only. (C) Heyday Television - Photographer: Carlos Rodriguez
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The full trailer for the upcoming Masterpiece drama The Long Song has arrived, and it promises a story full of hardship, survival, and long-hoped-for change.
The three-part series is based on the novel of the same name by the late Andrea Levy, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2010. The story is set during the dying days of slavery on the British-ruled island of Jamaica in 1838, a time of great social turbulence and unrest.
The Long Song is framed by the reminiscences of July, a woman who grew up as a slave on the Amity sugar plantation and is now looking back on her life. In extended flashbacks, she recounts her tumultuous story, which has been shaped by villains, heroes, and well-meaning people who are an unsettled mix of the two.
As a young girl, July is callously taken from her mother at the whim of Caroline Mortimer, the capricious plantation mistress. She wants to train July as a lady's maid and decides to call her Marguerite, which she considers a more genteel name. July grows up catering to Caroline’s impulses, though she is surrounded by other slaves, including the canny Godfrey, the spiteful Molly, and the haughty Clara.
A moment of truth arrives with the Christmas Rebellion of 1831, a slave uprising that heralds the end of official slavery in Jamaica and other English colonies—but that comes at a great cost in lives, including some who are near and dear to July. In the aftermath, a handsome new overseer, Robert Goodwin, rides into the story. He will set hearts aflutter, establish an enlightened tone with the emancipated slaves, and play a tragic role in the fates of all.
Watch the trailer for yourselves below.
King Charles III's Tamara Lawrence plays July, opposite Howards End star Hayley Atwell as Caroline, backed up by an ensemble cast that includes Jack Lowden, Jordan Bolger, Ayesha Antoine, Sir Lenny Henry, and more. The series is written by Flesh and Blood's Sarah Williams, who previously adapted Levy's Small Island for Masterpiece in 2010.
The Long Song will premiere on Masterpiece on Sunday, January 31, 2021. Mark your calendars!
