Based on Jo Bloom’s novel, Sarah Solemani’s drama tells the story of amateur spies infiltrating neo-Nazis in 60s London. Despite some cartoonish moments, it is highly disturbing
A sunlit bedroom in a country house in Kent, 1962. An adorable moppet is helping a young blond woman make the bed. They are joined by the dapper man of the house. They gather in front of the window and smilingly give a Nazi salute.
So begins Ridley Road (BBC One), the four-part adaptation by Sarah Solemani of Jo Bloom’s 2014 novel of the same name. It is an arresting opening, made even more so by the fact that the story about to unfold, we are told, was inspired by true events.