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Dreaming Whilst Black (stylised as Dreaming Whilst B\@*k) is a British comedy television series written by and starring Adjani Salmon. Originally a webcast, a television pilot (2021) developed into a series, which was broadcast on BBC Three from 24 July 2023. A second series was commissioned in February 2024.
| Dreaming Whilst Black | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Written by | Ali Hughes & Adjani Salmon |
| Directed by | Koby Adam, Joelle Mae David & Sebastian Thiel |
| Starring |
|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers | Nicola A. Gregory Gina Lyons |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Three |
| Release | 19 April 2021 – present |
Kwabena works in recruitment but dreams of being a filmmaker with his video producer friend from film school Amy, who has just returned from three years in Nigeria.[1]
Amy offers to pass Kwabena's script, Jamaica Road, on to the development team at the production company where she works.
Kwabena's lives with his cousin Maurice and Maurice's wife, Funmi, who is heavily pregnant. The couple are reading up on the latest tips on pregnancy, and researching practices including hypnobirthing.
The first season follows Kwabena's attempts to negotiate the filmmaking sector, his necessary forays into the gig economy, and his developing relationship with Vanessa, a woman he meets by chance at a bus stop.
Amy has her own problems, feeling passed over for promotion and frequently enduring clumsy comments from her colleagues.
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- Adjani Salmon as Kwabena
- Dani Moseley as Amy, an old school friend of Kwabena's
- Demmy Ladipo as Maurice, Kwabena's cousin and flatmate
- Rachel Adedeji as Funmi, Maurice's pregnant wife
- Babirye Bukilwa as Vanessa, Kwabena's girlfriend
- Martina Laird as Aunt Polly, Funmi's aunt
- Roger Griffiths as Uncle Claude, Polly's husband
- Jo Martin as Grace, Kwabena's mother
- Will Hislop as Lewis, Kwabena's colleague at the recruitment firm
- Jessica Hynes as Drew
- Akemnji Ndifornyen as William
- Isy Suttie as Helen, the founder of Kwabena's filmmaking programme
- Peter Serafinowicz as Howard, Amy's boss
- Steve Furst as Pastor
- Ovie Soko as Amar
- Angus Wright as Timothy Eastly
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Pilot (2021)
| Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.K. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Pilot" | Sebastian Thiel | Adjani Salmon & Ali Hughes | 19 April 2021 | N/A |
Series 1 (2023)
| No. | Title [2] | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [2] | U.K. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Dream" | Sebastian Thiel | Adjani Salmon & Ali Hughes | 24 July 2023 | N/A |
| 2 | "The Reality" | Koby Adom | Adjani Salmon & Ali Hughes | 24 July 2023 | N/A |
| 3 | "The Friends" | Koby Adom | Adjani Salmon & Ali Hughes | 31 July 2023 | N/A |
| 4 | "The Birth" | Joelle Mae David | Adjani Salmon & Ali Hughes | 31 July 2023 | N/A |
| 5 | "The Pitch" | Joelle Mae David | Adjani Salmon & Ali Hughes | 7 August 2023 | N/A |
| 6 | "The Premiere" | Jermain Julien | Adjani Salmon & Ali Hughes | 7 August 2023 | N/A |
Development
The web series of Dreaming Whilst Black began in 2018. A television series pilot aired on BBC Three in 2021, and it was awarded a BAFTA Craft Award for "emerging talent: fiction" in 2022 and the Royal Television Society's 2022 Breakthrough Award.[3] The pilot was directed by Sebastian Thiel with producers for Big Deal Films, including Gina Lyons, Thomas Stogdon, Dhanny Joshi, Nicola Gregory and Salmon.[4]
The full series is co-produced by A24 and Big Deal Films.[3] Co-written by Ali Hughes, producers on the series include Natasha Jatania, Laura Seixas, Max Evans, Chadley Richards and Salmon.[5]
A second series was commissioned in February 2024.[6]
Casting
The cast includes Demmy Ladipo and Rachel Adedeji from the original pilot.[7] The series cast also includes Babirye Bukilwa, Martina Laird, Roger Griffiths and Jo Martin.[8] In June 2023, Will Hislop, Jessica Hynes, Akemnji Ndifornyen, Isy Suttie, Peter Serafinowicz, Steve Furst, and Ovie Soko were revealed as part of the cast.[9]
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The series was broadcast on BBC Three from 24 July 2023.[10] In the United States, the series was broadcast on Paramount+ from 8 September 2023, and Showtime from 10 September 2023.[11]
Critical reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval score based on 17 reviews.[12]
Michael Hogan in The Daily Telegraph praised the "humour and heart" of the series, which "confidently balances serious points about discrimination, health inequality and history".[13] Dan Einav in The Financial Times noted the satire of the creative industries' "superficial application" of buzz phrases such as "diversity" and "inclusivity" with Salmon a "natural, charming leading man".[14]
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The series was nominated in the Best Casting category, and Ashley White was nominated in the Best Editing - Entertainment and Comedy category at the 2023 Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards.[15]
For his work on the series, Adjani Salmon was shortlisted for the BAFTA Breakthrough Award in November 2023.[16]
In February 2024, the series won at the Broadcast Awards in the International Programme category as well as being nominated for the Best Comedy Programme award.[17] The series was nominated for Best Comedy at the 2024 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards.[18]
In March 2024, the series was nominated for Scripted Comedy and Salmon was nominated in the Male performance in a comedy programme category at the 2024 British Academy Television Awards.[19]
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