Damilola, Our Loved Boy – A tale of murder turned into a powerful BBC drama

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.

Playing Damilola’s mother Gloria is Wunmi Mosaku and Sammy 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.

  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:

• The Death Of Damilola Taylor
• Who was 10-year-old Damilola Taylor, how was he killed and who did it?
• Damilola: Carefree boy with big dreams