What Sound of Metal and CODA did for American Sign Language (ASL) in indie dramas – the latter picking up a Best Picture Oscar along the way – hard-hitting BBC thriller Reunion is doing for its British equivalent – and it’s a game-changer.
A four-part revenge epic starring, and made by, a partly deaf cast and crew, and making ample use of British Sign Language (BSL) in dialogue, Reunion takes representation of the deaf community to a new level on prime-time telly.
Series creator William Mager, lead actor Matthew Gurney and his co-star Rose Ayling-Ellis are all deaf, while Lara Peake and Anne-Marie Duff both worked with a sign language consultant, Brian Duffy, to prep for their parts.
‘The deaf community has its own culture, its own ways of behaving, and its unique identity,’ Mager tells The Hollywood Reporter. ‘So [Reunion] is a thriller but it’s bringing all those things together: the sign language element, the location element – they all add different layers of intrigue, I hope.’
‘He's a strong-and-silent type, with a lot of emotional baggage and a raging internal conflict,’ explains Mager. ‘Our lead actor, Matty [Gurney], embodies that internal struggle beautifully – while having a bit of a Jason Statham and Marlon Brando thing going on.’
Here’s everything you need to know – from the gripping storyline to its Sheffield locations.
What is Reunion about?
Gurney plays Daniel Brennan, a deaf man who emerges from prison after a ten-year sentence for murdering his best friend. A brooding, intimidating man isolated by his deafness in prison and outside, he’s on a quest for revenge. Why and against whom, it’s not exactly clear. But not everything was quite as it seemed on the night of the murder.
His release creates immediate waves in his Sheffield community. His estranged daughter Cathy (How to Have Sex’s Lara Peake) is wary, and the wife and daughter of his victim, Christine and Miri Mokhar
(Anne-Marie Duff and Rose Ayling-Ellis) react with understandable shock. Christine’s new boyfriend, Stephen Renworth (Happy-Go-Lucky’s Eddie Marsan), is an ex-cop who is soon asking why Brennan’s probation officers have let him go off the grid. He, too, has secrets to keep hidden as an investigating officer involved in Brennan’s conviction.
Where was Reunion filmed?
A hard-hitting but fond love letter to the city of Sheffield, the hometown both of its writer William Mager and Warp Films, the production house behind this and similarly edgy British fare like Dead Man’s Shoes and Kill List.
‘I always wanted to write something set in Sheffield,’ Mager tells the BBC. ‘It feels like we haven't seen much of the Steel City on screen since the days of Threads, The Full Monty and, of course, This is England.’ Here’s where the series was shot.
Bath Hotel, Sheffield
This corner pub, dating back to 1867, is where the fateful incident that led to Daniel’s imprisonment was filmed. Flashback scenes show his best mate, Ray (Ace Mahbaz), being stabbed in the adjacent alleyway. South Yorkshire’s The Star newspaper reported that the cast and crew were filming inside and outside the pub in July 2024.
Sheffield City Hall
This Grade II* listed municipal building – not to be confused with the more ornate Sheffield Town Hall – hosts a scene between Duff’s Christine and Marsan’s Stephen. ‘Me and Anne-Marie (Duff) had a scene outside Sheffield City Hall opposite a Wetherspoons with numerous hen parties,’ remembers Marsan, ‘which was an experience.’
Tapton Hall, Sheffield
A popular wedding venue in Sheffield’s Crosspool area, Tapton Hall is used for a scene where Daniel tries to track down an old acquaintance at Ray’s memorial service.
Endcliffe Park, Sheffield
Another scene between Marsan and Duff takes place in this park, the tip of a stretch of green space southwest of the city centre. The pair chat about the at Endcliffe Park Cafe.
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Hell’s Kitchen, East Bank Road
This diner, a great spot for a full English, was transformed into fictional café Three Aces for the series. Cathy is working here when we meet her and she chats warily with her dad in the first episode.
Winnats Pass, Derbyshire
The stunning, windswept hills of the Peak District, just southwest of Sheffield, offer stark contrasts to the concrete cityscape in the show and give the feel of a western-style showdown about to happen. Winnats Pass, a spectacular limestone gorge, and Blacka Moor, a stretch of moorland only 20 minutes of so from the city proper, both feature. ‘It’s not just showing the grimy bits of Sheffield that are often shown on TV, but it’s actually showing the beauty in the Peak District,’ says producer Mark Herbert. ‘It was important to him to show a mixture of the two.
Where can I watch Reunion?
The series starts on BBC1 at 9pm on Monday, April 7. All four episodes will be on iPlayer after episode 1 airs.
Is there a trailer?
There is, and you can watch it below.
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