+ Q&A with actors Vinette Robinson, Stephen Graham, Hannah Walters, Stephen Odubola, director Philip Barantini and writer James Cummings. Chaired by critic Rhianna Dhillon.
Eight months after her mentor Andy Jones suffered a heart attack, head chef Carly is battling to forge a name for new Dalston restaurant Point North alongside her old kitchen crew. We follow the team as the stresses of keeping the restaurant running bear down on them amidst a hospitality industry in crisis. With the pressure to draw in new, hungry customers and the financial squeeze to keep the business profitable, the team must find a way to manage their complicated personal lives whilst creating quality food day in day out.
Philip Barantini is an award-winning BAFTA and BIFA-nominated director who started his career in 1996 as an actor, appearing in Band of Brothers, Ned Kelly and Chernobyl, among others. Philip’s critically acclaimed second directorial feature Boiling Point was nominated for four BAFTAs in 2022, including Outstanding British Film, and received 11 BIFA nominations. Philip was awarded the Breakthrough British Filmmaker at The Big Screen Awards 2022, alongside a further six nominations for Boiling Point which included Best British Film of the Year. He won Best Rock Video at the 2022 UKMVAs for his music video for Sam Fender’s ‘Spit of You’. April 2023 saw the release of ITV’s thriller series Malpractice, starring Niamh Algar, with all five episodes directed by Philip. We can soon look forward to his next feature, Accused, which is due for release on 22 September on Netflix UK. Philip was a co-creator and executive producer on the Boiling Point series with It’s All Made Up Productions and he directed episodes one and two. He will soon commence filming his next exciting feature film, with more details to be announced in due course.
James Cummings is a BAFTA nominated screenwriter and co-creator of BBC’s Boiling Point. James led the writing team on series one and wrote across all four episodes. He returns after co-writing the highly acclaimed feature of the same name, garnering him nominations for Outstanding British Film and Outstanding Debut at the 75th BAFTA Film Awards. In 2023, he will also see the release of his second feature as screenwriter, the home invasion thriller Accused, co-written with Barnaby Boulton. James is a longtime collaborator with director and co-creator of Boiling Point Philip Barantini, having met on a third year uni project that James had co-written and that starred Phil as an actor. Since then, they have specialised in projects with strong social messages and a focus on realism in their technical approach.
Award-winning actress Vinette Robinson reprises her role as ‘Carly’ in Boiling Point – now head chef at an upmarket London restaurant. The role won Vinette Best Supporting Actress at BIFA. Later this year, Vinette is set to appear in the second season of Sky’s The Lazarus Project, a sci-fi action drama series centred around a secret government agency that prevents mass extinction events with the technology to turn back time. Vinette stars as Janet, alongside a cast that includes Paapa Essiedu and Tom Burke. With TV credits that include The A Word, Sherlock, Close to the Enemy, Six Four and Black Mirror, Vinette also has an established career onstage. Her previous theatre credits include Emilia (The Globe), Albion (Almeida Theatre), Hamlet (Young Vic), Tender Napalm (Southwark Playhouse) and Welcome To Thebes (National Theatre).
Stephen Graham was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours List for his services to Drama.
Stephen has enjoyed continued success following his critically acclaimed performance in the 2007 BAFTA Best British Film winner This Is England, directed by Shane Meadows, together with the follow-up Channel 4 mini-series:This Is England ‘86, ‘88 and ‘90,which also secured him a Best Leading Actor TV BAFTA nomination. Other notable credits include Jimmy McGovern’s Accused opposite Sean Bean, for which Stephen received his first Best Supporting Actor TV BAFTA nomination. Stephen is also known for playing the iconic role of Al Capone opposite Steve Buscemi in all five seasons of Martin Scorsese’s Boardwalk Empire for HBO.
In recent years Stephen’s TV credits include Jeff Pope’s Little Boy Blue and White House Farm Murders, as well as the highly acclaimed BBC1 series Line of Duty. Stephen was nominated for his second Best Supporting Actor award at the 2019 BAFTA TV Awards for Sky’s Save Me, created by Lennie James. 2020 saw the return of Stephen teaming up again with Shane Meadows for C4’s The Virtues, which earned him the RTS TV Award for Best Actor and a second BAFTA TV nomination for Best Leading Actor.
In 2021, Stephen appeared in Andrew Haigh’s The North Water for BBC1, alongside Colin Farrell. In the same year, Stephen collaborated as an executive producer with Jimmy McGovern and Sean Bean in the BBC1 prison series Time, for which Stephen won Best Actor at the BPG Awards and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2022 BAFTA TV Awards. Stephen also executive produced and starred in Help in 2021; Jack Thorne’s critically acclaimed feature length C4 drama, alongside Jodie Comer, which earned Stephen nominations for Leading Actor at the 2022 BAFTA TV Awards and Best Actor at the 2022 Satellite Awards.
Stephen’s film credits include his portrayal of Baby Face Nelson opposite Johnny Depp and Christian Bale in Public Enemies, and Pirates of the Caribbean, opposite Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz. Other credits include Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Idris Elba’s directorial debut Yardie and Journey’s End opposite Paul Bettany, Sam Claflin and Asa Butterfield. 2019 saw Stephen feature in Elton John biopic, Rocketman. Stephen starred in Scorsese’s Netflix feature The Irishman as Tony ‘Pro’ Provenzano opposite Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. In 2020, Stephen starred in Greyhound alongside Tom Hanks and filmed Marvel’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage alongside Tom Hardy.
In 2019 Stephen set up Matriarch Productions which released their first project Boiling Point in 2021, earning Stephen Leading Actor nominations for both BIFA 2021 and film BAFTAs 2022. Stephen recently appeared as Mr Wormwood in Netflix’s much-anticipated feature film Matilda (2022). Upcoming appearances include a lead role opposite Daisy Ridley in Disney’s Young Woman and the Sea; Netflix’s mind-bending graphic novel adaptation Bodies opposite Shira Haas; starring in and executive producing A Thousand Blows for Disney+; starring opposite Saoirse Ronan in Blitz, a film directed by Steve McQueen which follows the lives of Londoners during the Second World War German bombing campaign.
Hannah Walters’ upcoming projects include BBC film Sweet Sue and Disney +/Hulu’s anticipated British boxing drama, A Thousand Blows as Eliza Moody. Hannah’s notable film credits include Fox’s Walk like a Panther, Funny Cow, starring Maxine Peake, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and BIFA Best Film This Is England (2006), written and directed by Shane Meadows. In television, Hannah is most known for her roles in series 3 and 4 of BBC crime drama Whitechapel, as DC Megan Riley; and her regular role in This Is England ‘86, ‘88 and ‘90 shown on Channel 4 in 2010, 2011 and 2015. Her other television credits include roles in ITV’s Malpractice and Pru and Time for the BBC. Alongside Stephen Graham, she co-founded Matriarch Productions, an entertainment production company who aims to provide a much-needed platform for underrepresented voices and stories in the UK. Their credits include Boiling Point (2021) and its upcoming TV series for the BBC. They are currently filming A Thousand Blows with Disney+.
British actor Stephen Odubola is probably best known for his leading role as Timmy in Paramount Pictures’ acclaimed crime drama Blue Story opposite Micheal Ward and Sean Sagar, written and directed by Rapman. The film centres around a gang war that dooms the lifelong bond of south London friends and garnered exceptional reviews for the ‘elegant grit and volatile vibe’ it depicted of a world ruled by crazed-leader-of-the-pack bravado and vengeance. Other notable film and television credits include a leading role as Marcus Wainwright in Ascendant Films’ A Violent Man alongside Jason Flemyng; Netflix’s The Sandman with Tom Sturridge; SKY Studios’ Fields with Malcolm Kamulete and at this year’s London Film Festival will be seen in feature film Gassed Up.
Rhianna Dhillon (chair) has been a film critic for 12 years, beginning her career at BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra as their in-house film critic. Now a film and TV critic on BBC 6Music’s Breakfast Show with Lauren Laverne, Rhianna is also the BBC 5Live film reviewer and hosts the PodPod Podcast. Rhianna moderates events and Q&As for BAFTA, Disney, the BFI and others.
BOILING POINT (episode 1)
Directed by: Philip Barantini
Written by: James Cummings
Created by: Philip Barantini, James Cummings, Stephen Graham
Executive Producers: Hester Ruoff, Bart Ruspoli, Stephen Graham, Hannah Walters, Philip Barantini, James Cummings
Executive Producer for the BBC: Rebecca Ferguson
Producer: Graham Drover
Line Producer: Deborah Aston
Casting by: Shaheen Baig, Jonny Boutwood
Director of Photography: Matthew Lewis
Editors: Tommy Boulding, Alex Fountain
Post Producer: Rosanagh Griffiths
Production Designer: Adam Tomlinson
Chef Consultancy & Meal Design: Ellis Barrie
Costume Designer: Jessica Schofield
Hair & Make-up Designer: Sue Michael
Music by: Aaron May, David Ridley
Music Supervisor: Mark Kirby
Supervising Sound Editor: James Drake
Re-recording Mixer: Jules Woods
Location Manager: Tom Bartram
1st Assistant Director: Sarah Lucas
2nd Assistant Director: Liane O’Toole
Script Supervisor: Carley Armstrong
Cast
Stephen Graham (Andy)
Vinette Robinson (Carly)
Ray Panthaki (Freeman)
Hannah Walters (Emily)
Cathy Tyson (Vivian)
Izuka Hoyle (Camille)
Áine Rose Daly (Robyn)
Daniel Larkai (Jake)
Gary Lamont (Dean)
Hannah Traylen (Holly)
Stephen McMillan (Jamie)
Taz Skylar (Billy)
Ahmed Malek (Musa)
Joel MacCormack (Liam Astrid)
Missy Haysom (Kit)
Shaun Fagan (Bolton)
Stephen Odubola (Johnny Bale)
BBC 2023
56 mins
Total running time 110 mins
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Programme notes and credits compiled by Sight and Sound and the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
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