In the Long Run

In the Long Run is a British comedy-drama television series created by Idris Elba which premiered on Sky One on 29 March 2018. Loosely based on Elba’s childhood, the show is set in the 1980s on the gritty, fictitious Eastbridge Estate in East London. The series follows the Easmon family; Walter (Elba), his wife Agnes (Madeline Appiah) and their 13-year-old British-born son Kobna (Sammy Kamara) who have settled in England after having arrived from Sierra Leone.^[2]

In the Long Run
Genre	Comedy drama
Created by	Idris Elba[1]
Written by	Claire Downes Ian Jarvis Stuart Lane Jon Macqueen Danielle Ward
Directed by	Declan Lowney Cecile Emeke Sandy Johnson Ian Aryeh
Starring	Idris Elba Madeline Appiah Jimmy Akingbola Bill Bailey Kellie Shirley Sammy Kamara Mattie Boys
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	19
Production
Producers	Charlie Hanson Alex Walsh-Taylor
Original release
Network	Sky One
Release	29 March 2018 (2018-03-29) – 27 August 2020 (2020-08-27)

Cast and characters

Main

• Idris Elba as Walter Easmon, patriarch of the Easmon family
• Madeline Appiah as Agnes Easmon, Walter's wife
• Jimmy Akingbola as Valentine Easmon, Walter's younger brother
• Bill Bailey as Terence "Bagpipes" De La Croix, Walter's best friend
• Kellie Shirley as Kirsty De La Croix, Bagpipes' wife
• Sammy Kamara as Kobna Easmon, Walter and Agnes' British-born son
• Mattie Boys as Dean De La Croix, Bagpipes and Kirsty's son

Supporting

• Deno (series 1) and Malaki Paul (series 2–3) as the singing boy
• Neil D'Souza as Rajesh, Walter, and Bagpipes' factory boss
• Jude Akuwudike as Uncle Akie
• Amani Johnson as Melissa (series 2–3), Kirsty's daughter
• Curtis Walker as Leon (series 2), Melissa's biological father
• Kadeem Ramsay as John "Barney" (series 2–3)
• Ellen Thomas as Mama (series 3), Walter's mother

Episodes

Series	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	6		29 March 2018 (2018-03-29)	26 April 2018 (2018-04-26)
2	6 (+1)		16 October 2019 (2019-10-16)	20 November 2019 (2019-11-20) 20 December 2019 (2019-12-20) (special)
3	6		23 July 2020 (2020-07-23)	27 August 2020 (2020-08-27)

Series 1 (2018)

#	Title	Original air date
1	"Episode 1"	29 March 2018 (2018-03-29)
Walter receives a letter from his mother telling him his fun-loving younger brother Valentine is coming from Sierra Leone to live with him. Agnes worries that Valentine will be a bad influence on the family.
2	"Episode 2"	29 March 2018 (2018-03-29)
Instead of just taking occasional odd jobs, Walter arranges an interview for Valentine at the car parts factory where he works. A simply cash-in-hand electrical job lands Bagpipes in hot water when it turns out to be a brothel and is spotted leaving by wife Kirsty.
3	"Episode 3"	5 April 2018 (2018-04-05)
Walter's wife Agnes rallies the neighbours to provide a decent send-off for a lonely pensioner who died in his flat. Bagpipes coaches Valentine after he signs up for open trials at Leyton Orient football club.
4	"Episode 4"	12 April 2018 (2018-04-12)
Walter and Agnes goddaughter Cynthia arrives at the Easmons pleading for help with her engagement party. Cynthia's father, Uncle Akie, disapproves of the union between her and Kevin, her white Glaswegian fiance. Walter and Agnes agree to help smooth things over between the two families.
5	"Episode 5"	19 April 2018 (2018-04-19)
Kirsty tries to revive her flagging sex life with Bagpipes on their romantic trip away, to Essex in a motorhome. Valentine is dumped by Adelaide, a British-born woman of Sierra Leone heritage he met at the engagement party. Meanwhile, Agnes starts taking driving lessons with Walter but quickly realises it is mistake. Frustrated, she convinces a heartbroken Valentine to take over as her instructor, and uses the chance to offer some relationship advice.
6	"Episode 6"	26 April 2018 (2018-04-26)
Walter and Bagpipes become anxious when they hear rumours of job cuts at the factory. But when young Kobna overhears Walter considering moving back to Sierra Leone, he resorts to running away. A heartbroken Valentine lands a delivery job.

Series 2 (2019)

#	Title	Original air date
1	"Episode 7"	16 October 2019 (2019-10-16)
Walter has been elected union representative at the factory and tasked with the difficult task of making job cuts. Kirsty is shocked when Melissa's biological father, Leon, turns up. Valentine finally moves out of the Easmons' home, but finds bachelor life is not what he thought it would be.
2	"Episode 8"	23 October 2019 (2019-10-23)
Feeling threatened by Leon's arrival, Bagpipes plans to run him out of town. When Valentine gets ripped buying a van from crooked garage owner Don, Agnes and Kobna are forced to intervene. The workers at Walter's and Bagpipes' factory go on strike.
3	"Episode 9"	30 October 2019 (2019-10-30)
With money tight due to strike at the factory, Agnes manages to get a job at the council. Bagpipes joins Valentine on a road trip delivering paper in Southend. Kobna helps the Easmon household income by getting a Saturday job at Don's garage.
4	"Episode 10"	6 November 2019 (2019-11-06)
Walter is struggles to resolve the strike at the factory. With finances tight, Kirsty gets a job at the local bookies. Leon agrees to start to share in his responsibilities with Melissa. Kobna falls in love for the first time - with Don's daughter Kerry.
5	"Episode 11"	13 November 2019 (2019-11-13)
Valentine DJs Don's daughter Kerry's birthday party and gives Kobna advice on how to impress her. Valentine confronts Don after overhearing an insensitive nickname he uses for Kobna at work. Leon decides to let Bagpipes adopt Melissa. First appearance of Kadeem Ramsay as John "Barney"
6	"Episode 12"	20 November 2019 (2019-11-20)
Bagpipes persuades Walter to come along with him and help smooth things over when they visit his estranged parents. Kirsty is busy organizing Melissa's adoption party at the Milton Arms.
7	"X-Mas Special"	20 December 2019 (2019-12-20)
Walter, Christmas obsessed, throws the annual Easmon party together with Agnes and Bagpipes, only for it to spiral into chaos. Kobna and Dean try to earn some extra money by carol singing – despite not being actually being able to sing – and Valentine gets a job as a Christmas elf to make some extra cash.

Series 3 (2020)

#	Title	Original air date
1	"Episode 14"	23 July 2020 (2020-07-23)
Walter's mother comes to visit from Sierra Leone. Valentine is worried that he will lose his place as Mama's favourite to her grandson Kobna. After a panic attack, Bagpipes assesses the fragility of life. Meanwhile, Agnes gets involved in the plans to improve the estate.
2	"Episode 15"	30 July 2020 (2020-07-30)
Mama tries to find a nice lady for her lothario grandson Valentine. Agnes and Kirsty bump into a group of men who are planning to redevelop the estate. This leads to Kirsty to spot an opportunity for her catering business at the Milton Arms.
3	"Episode 16"	6 August 2020 (2020-08-06)
Hearing that their boss Rajesh is having trouble getting his wife pregnant, Bagpipes and Walter hatch a plan to break Rajesh out of work. Valentine bumps into Dawn and uses all his charm to woo her. Meanwhile, at an overnight work conference Agnes discovers Charles Lander's plans for the estate.
4	"Episode 17"	13 August 2020 (2020-08-13)
Charles and Agnes join forces to present a new vision of the Eastbridge estate to the residents. Valentine's night DJing a gig does end well after he offends Dawn and her friend Andy. Kobna's plan to impress his friends with his new car end spectacularly badly.
5	"Episode 18"	20 August 2020 (2020-08-20)
Kirsty gets her first posh catering job but Agnes is reluctant to help when she realizes it's for a friend of her arch-rival - Charles Lander. Walter and Rajesh help Bagpipes get over his fear of death during a day out fishing. Valentine must use all his willpower to avoid the advances of an attractive lady at a boat party.
6	"Episode 19"	27 August 2020 (2020-08-27)
Agnes and Kirsty fall out over the redevelopment of the estate. Valentine invites Walter and Agnes to a meal at his flat to introduce Dawn. Kobna comes clean about the car accident, and how he is being exploited by Uncle Akie. When the vote for the redevelopment of the estate ends in a tie, Walter realises he forgot to vote.

Production

Development

In the Long Run is filmed at various locations across London including Kingston, Lewisham, Southwark and Lambeth. The housing estate scenes are filmed at Cambridge Road and Czar Street Estates in Lewisham and Kingston upon Thames, respectively.^[3] The Milton Arms pub interior scenes are shot at the Peckham Liberal Club, with exterior shots filmed at the Wheelshunters Club in Hornshay Street, Southwark.^[4][5]

The singing boy in series 1, known only as Singing Boy in the show’s credits, is young Eritrean-British singing sensation Deno Michael Mebrahitu aka Deno. The singer has had over 46 million listens on Spotify.^[6] 2012's Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist Malakai Paul is the current Singing Boy, after taking over from Deno from series 2.^[7]

Reception

The Guardian described In the Long Run as "less likely to prompt belly laughs than instil a warm glow, and has the unmistakable feel of a comedy still finding its feet. At its heart, however, it's a joyful portrait of community and camaraderie, of home and belonging, of dreams and joie de vivre."^[8]