We were filming Black Christmas [...] and I went to see a friend and it struck me that the atmosphere in Birmingham was very different from London. I… - Michael Abbensetts

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We were filming Black Christmas [...] and I went to see a friend and it struck me that the atmosphere in Birmingham was very different from London. It was more relaxed and black people seemed to have more time for other black people and it was easier to see what their problems were. The rent, work and all that kind of thing. And you could hear all the black kids and the Asian kids talking in this brummie accwnt. That was strange, I thought I had to write about it.
I talked it over with the producer and the series started there. It's supposed to be funny but something peculiar happened ... [A]s I wrote it, the situation got darker and darker.
In Empire Road I start off with one character who's supposed to be comical and by the fourth episode I've got him turning round and saying—I've been laughed at all my life—by the next episode the situation is enough to make you weep. I can't write about black people just as funny characters, because that seems like an insult to lives we lead in Britain.