New drama: 1981, and Birmingham explodes. Dante, in love, wanders into a riot in BBC's This Town

Filmed around the Birmingham area, mostly at Knight’s new Digbeth Loc Film and TV Studios, the six-part series is partially based on Knight’s own adolescence.

Set in Coventry and Birmingham, it tells the story of an extended family and a group of young people who are drawn into the explosive and thrilling music scene in the Midlands during the 1980s.

During the red-carpet premiere in Birmingham earlier this month, Knight told BirminghamWorld where the inspiration for the new show came from.

“I wanted to do a story set in Birmingham and Coventry,” he said.

“There’s plenty of stories to choose from over the past 200 or so years, but this thing I remember myself from the early 1980s is something I think is very relevant to today, where we’re living in a time where people are deciding to be separate a lot and deciding to find differences.

“This is about a group of people in estates in Birmingham and Coventry, when these records were arriving from Jamaica and people in Coventry and Birmingham liked them and were dancing to them, and they happened to be black and white.

"The idea is if you take away the external pressures, people will be alright and get on.”

It begins in a time of civil unrest and violence, and we’re introduced to the main character Dante (Levi Brown), an aspiring poet.

After wandering through a riot, he finds himself in a new world that is surprising, full of opportunity, but very dangerous.

He meets Jeannie Keefe (Eve Austin), and the duo decide to form a band, helping Dante find the purpose he has been looking for.

But nothing is plain sailing – their fellow band member Bardon Quinn is seen being forced to join the IRA by his father, while Dante finds himself immersed in an unknown world of sex and drugs.

Brown, who has previously starring in Payback and Invasion, explains what drew him to the part.

“He’s a complex character – it’s a role you really dream of as an actor because he has so many different things going on, and when you start to go down one road with him you get taken in a completely direction and I think as an actor that’s a very exciting position to be in.”

Brown and Austin are joined in the cast by fellow leads Ben Rose and Jordan Bolger, alongside Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery, Marcella’s Nicholas Pinnock and The Last Kingdom’s David Dawson.

We’ll also see appearances from the likes of Bafta and Tony-nominated actor Geraldine James and The Batman’s Peter McDonald.

Meanwhile, music will obviously be an integral part of This Town, and the soundtrack/score is by performance artist and poet Kae Tempest and producer Dan Carey.

The title of the show obviously refers to the opening line of The Specials’ iconic hit Ghost Town.

Don’t be surprised if your own village, town or city is particularly quiet tonight (and tomorrow) as Knight fans tune in for the latest offering from one of the country’s most popular writers and directors.