‘Gangsters’ was an underworld drama set in Birmingham in the mid-to-late 1970s. It started on the BBC’s ‘Play for Today’ and subsequently ran for two series, featuring a large, multicultural cast of characters that battled for control of the city. Through endless liaisons and chases in memorably grim urban locations, its storyline became increasingly surreal and self-referential as the show went on.

Now, over the course of one weekend in a Digbeth warehouse, 7inch Cinema will immerse visitors in the world of this unique and rarely seen television programme. By tracking down a host of bit-part players and briefly-glimpsed locations ‘Gangsters’ will explore Birmingham as both a real and imagined place, marking some of the changes it has been through over the past thirty years and tracing the city’s appetite for demolition and renewal. The idea for the original programme was born from three months of field research by the writer Philip Martin. In turn, the exhibition will attempt to reconnect Martin’s screen version of the city’s underworld with the real-life stories that inspired it. And as darkness closes in on Saturday, elements of burlesque, Bollywood, and Kung Fu will be used to set the scene as we embark on an epic and perverse mission to watch all eleven hours of the show, starting with ex-SAS man John Kline’s arrival at New Street and ending early on Sunday morning with his demise at the hands of the sinister ‘White Devil’.

Incident room open from 2pm on Saturday 14 April to 6pm on Sunday 15 April, including screenings from 8pm to 8am

22 Green St, Digbeth
Birmingham B12 0NE

7inch Cinema
Ian Francis: ian(at)7inch.org
www.7inch.org.uk