In this single play, a young Jamaican mother’s isolation in London is challenged by her son’s desire to meet Santa Claus.
Esme (Cheryl Branker), a recent immigrant from Jamaica, is frightened by the cold and unfriendly atmosphere of London. Confined by her anxieties, she remains secluded in her bedsit with her young son, Sam (Paul Newney). As Christmas Eve arrives, Sam’s only wish is to visit a department store Santa Claus. Encouraged by her Auntie (Nadia Cattouse), Esme must decide if she can overcome her fear of the unwelcoming city to make her child’s modest festive dream come true.
This ATV single play uses the simple framework of a child’s Christmas wish to construct a quiet study of cultural dislocation. Broadcast on Christmas Eve, the story of Esme’s self-imposed exile in a London bedsit offered a poignant counterpoint to the celebratory mood of the season. The drama makes her personal anxiety emblematic of the wider immigrant experience of alienation in 1970s Britain. Its power comes from this contrast, grounding a story about Santa Claus in the emotional reality of loneliness and the challenge of finding a place in a new world.
Broadcast: ITV – ATV, 1 Episode, 24 December 1977
Adapted by: Roy Russell
From a story by: Rick Ferreira
Producer: Richard Bramall
Director: Richard Bramall
Designer: Michael Eve
Main Cast: Cheryl Branker (Esme), Paul Newney (Sam), Nadia Cattouse (Auntie), Loftus Burton (Young man), Andrew Lane (Bus Conductor), Kevin Mathurin (Clifton), Joanna Kirby (Mrs Henson), Terry Kinsella (Pete Henson)
