It’s rare that a drama takes months to emotionally recover from – think Stephen Graham’s hit Adolescence. But we’ve come across an equally compelling BBC crime drama that has made just as big an impact. The powerful film Common explores a controversial legal issue through the devastating fallout of a fatal stabbing – and it’ll leave you speechless.
The drama follows teenager Johnjo (Nico Mirallegro), who unwittingly drives his cousin and friends to a pizza shop without realising they’re planning a confrontation. When a young man is stabbed to death, Johnjo finds himself at the centre of a frightening legal battle. What follows is an emotional rollercoaster as two families are torn apart.
With the film available to stream now, here’s everything you need to know about Common, including the plot, cast and how to watch it.
What is Common about?
The feature-length drama, which first aired on BBC One in 2014, is set in the North West of England and centres on the fallout of a fatal stabbing, as well as the controversial legal doctrine of joint enterprise. The story starts with 17-year-old, Johnjo O’Shea (Nico Mirallegro), a haemophiliac who gives his cousin a lift to the pizza shop, in a bid to fit in. But, what he believes is a quick trip to pick up food, is a plot to confront a rival gang member.
Before the planned confrontation even goes ahead, an argument breaks out with an innocent bystander, Thomas Ward (Harry McMullen), who is stabbed to death. Johnjo remains in the car, but he’s arrested alongside the others and drawn into the murder investigation.
Thomas’s mother, Margaret (Susan Lynch), is devastated by her loss, while we also meet his father, Tommy (Daniel Mays), who was estranged from his son after a bitter divorce. We see Margaret unable to process the magnitude of her grief, while also struggling with the financial burden of her son’s funeral.
Meanwhile, Johnjo’s parents, Coleen (Jodhi May) and Pete (Andrew Tiernan), are desperately worried and disagree on how they should advise their naive son through the police proceedings. But before they can even speak to him, he makes his own way to be interviewed by DI Hastings (Robert Pugh).
Rather than say ‘no comment’, he cooperates and lays the blame with Kieran Gillespie (Andrew Ellis). But the detective is determined for everyone to be tried for murder using the principle of joint enterprise, which allows multiple people to be convicted of the same crime even if only one person committed the fatal act. What follows is a nail-biting trial as Johnjo and the other families wait to discover how being in the wrong place at the wrong time could impact the rest of their lives.
Who’s in the cast of Common?
The cast of Common includes:
• Nico Mirallegro (The Village, My Mad Fat Diary) as Johnjo O’Shea
• Daniel Mays (Mrs Biggs, Public Enemies) as Tommy Ward
• Jodhi May (The Ice Cream Girls, Strike Back) as Coleen
• Philip Hill Pearson (Good Cop, United) as Tony
• Ben Smith (Hidden) as Patrick
• Andrew Ellis (This Is England ’86) as Kieran Gillespie
• Susan Lynch (Monroe, The Secret Of Crickley Hall) as Margaret
• Andrew Tiernan (Prisoners’ Wives) as Pete
• Robert Pugh (Game Of Thrones) as DI Hastings
• Michelle Fairley (Game Of Thrones, Misfits) as Shelagh
• Jack McMullen (Waterloo Road) as Colin McCabe
• Sir Michael Gambon (Quartet, Restless) as the Royal Courts Judge
• Harry McMullen (Ted Lasso) as Thomas Ward
Is Common any good?
Yes – the film is an absolutely heart-wrenching portrait of how one senseless act can send devastating ripples through several families. As with Adolescence, the power comes not from the crime itself, but from watching how the parents cope with their children’s lives changing irreversibly. Susan Lynch is extraordinary as a grieving mother, while Jodhi May echoes Stephen Graham’s role in Adolescence as a parent desperately watching her son’s future slip beyond her control.
How can I watch Common?
You can watch Common now on BBC iPlayer.
What other crime dramas can I watch now?
If you’re in the mood for a crime thriller, we’d recommend The Sounds, a crime drama that follows Canadian married couple Tom (Matt Whelan) and Maggie (Rachelle Lefevre), who relocate to a small town in New Zealand to start a sustainable salmon farm. But when Tom vanishes, their lives are torn apart, with Maggie forced to piece together what happened. The Sounds is available to watch now on Prime Video via Acorn TV. For something a lot cosier, try The Chelsea Detective. We follow Detective Inspector Max Arnold (Adrian Scarborough), who’s a tad different from the wealthy residents he helps out, as he cracks puzzling cases in the upmarket west London borough. The Chelsea Detective is available to stream now on U.
