Damilola Taylor, born in Lagos, Nigeria to Richard and Gloria Taylor (died 8 April 2008) was a 10-year old Peckham schoolboy stabbed on his way home from the Peckham library in England on 27th of November 2000.
The death of Damilola raised huge media attention and became one of the most high-profile killings in England. The thought of an innocent boy left bleeding all alone on a stairwell is a touching and lonely image difficult to forget.
Damilola, Our Loved Boy is a BBC One drama by Levi David Addai, which takes us into the lives of the Taylor Family, telling the story from the perspective of Damilola’s father, Richard Taylor acted by Babou Ceesay, a Gambian-British actor.
Babou Ceesay as Richard Taylor (BBC/Minnow Films/Joe Albas)
Playing Damilola’s mother Gloria is Wunmi Mosaku and Sammy Kamara as Damilola.
Sammy Kamara and Wunmi Mosaku star in Damilola, Our Loved Boy CREDIT: BBCSammy Kamara as Damilola
The majority of the film focused on his parents’ grief and the quest for justice. The performances from Babou Ceesay and Wunmi Mosaku were superb, while Sammy Kamara was very much full of life.
Sensitively made with the support of the Taylor family, the film was above all a portrait of a family’s mealtimes, bedtimes, good times and bad times.
‘What drew me to this was the people who had to go through this – and how they fought to stay united’ … Addai started his telling of the Taylor family’s story in Nigeria.
Photograph: Joe Alblas/BBC/Minnow Films
Photograph: Steffan Hill/BBC/Minnow Films/Steffan Hill
Richard and Gloria Taylor outside the Old Bailey, London on 9 August, 2006.
Photograph: Bruno Vincent/Getty Images
‘What drew me to this was the people who had to go through this – and how they fought to stay united’ … Addai – Photograph: Joe Alblas/BBC/Minnow Films
Due to TV licensing restrictions, the film is available to only residents in the UK who have a TV license. If you live in the UK, you can stream the entire film on the BBC iPlayer site here. To read more about how Damilola was killed and learn more about his murderers, please use the links below:
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Damilola, Our Loved Boy is a BBC One drama by Levi David Addai, which takes us into the lives of the Taylor Family, telling the story from the perspective of Damilola’s father, Richard Taylor acted by Babou Ceesay, a Gambian-British actor.
