New HBO drama 'Get Millie Black' brings Jamaica to the forefront
Key Points(5)
- This six-part series centers on ex-Scotland Yard detective Millie-Jean Black, portrayed by British actress Tamara Lawrance, as she returns to Kingston, Jamaica, to work in the Jamaican police’s missing persons division.
- Her journey soon morphs into a complex and dangerous investigation that pulls her from Kingston’s streets to elite hillside plantations and eventually back to the UK as events spiral internationally.
- Alongside Lawrance, the cast includes Game of Thrones star Joe Dempsie, Gershwyn Eustache Jnr, and Jamaican actress Dorothy “Patra” Smith, who plays a bar owner known as Hit Girl.
- Rising Jamaican talent Chyna McQueen also stars as Hibiscus, one of Jamaica’s ‘gully queens.’ The show’s production filmed across seven prominent locations in Kingston, capturing the rich culture, vibrant streets, and deep-seated social contrasts of Jamaica.
- The show’s synopsis teases a gripping and unpredictable journey as Millie-Jean hunts for a missing boy and faces her own past.
Get Millie Black, an anticipated HBO and Channel 4 drama created by Booker Prize-winning Jamaican novelist Marlon James, is set to debut on November 25 on HBO, with streaming available on Max.
This six-part series centers on ex-Scotland Yard detective Millie-Jean Black, portrayed by British actress Tamara Lawrance, as she returns to Kingston, Jamaica, to work in the Jamaican police’s missing persons division. Her journey soon morphs into a complex and dangerous investigation that pulls her from Kingston’s streets to elite hillside plantations and eventually back to the UK as events spiral internationally.
Alongside Lawrance, the cast includes Game of Thrones star Joe Dempsie, Gershwyn Eustache Jnr, and Jamaican actress Dorothy “Patra” Smith, who plays a bar owner known as Hit Girl. Rising Jamaican talent Chyna McQueen also stars as Hibiscus, one of Jamaica’s ‘gully queens.’ The show’s production filmed across seven prominent locations in Kingston, capturing the rich culture, vibrant streets, and deep-seated social contrasts of Jamaica.
The show’s synopsis teases a gripping and unpredictable journey as Millie-Jean hunts for a missing boy and faces her own past. “This is just another story about Jamaica,” says the narrator in the recently released trailer. “It won’t add up. It won’t make sense. But like every story about this country…this is a ghost story.”
Get Millie Black marks Marlon James’s first screenwriting project. Produced by Motive Pictures, the series brought together a diverse creative team, including lead director Tanya Hamilton and writers Theresa Ikoko, Lydia Adetunji, and Joshua St. Johnston. Motive Pictures CEO Simon Maxwell praised the talent assembled for the show, noting that it showcases some of the most exciting actors from both Jamaica and the UK.
In 2022, when filming began, Maxwell commended the quality of the production’s Jamaican and British actors.
“We are immensely proud to announce such a stellar line-up of talent on Get Millie Black – from directors Tanya Hamilton and Annetta Laufer, to writers Theresa Ikoko, Lydia Adetunji and Joshua St Johnston, to a cast that showcases some of the most exciting acting talents from Jamaica and the UK, led by Tamara Lawrence, Joe Dempsie, Gershwyn Eustache Jr and a debut performance destined to electrify audiences from rising Kingston star, Chyna McQueen,” said Maxwell.
