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IMDbPro

Little Boy Blue

  • TV Mini Series
  • 20172017
  • TV-14TV-14
  • 1h
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
4.7K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,132
417
Stephen Graham, Sinéad Keenan, Brían F. O'Byrne, and Sonny Beyga in Little Boy Blue (2017)
  • Crime
  • Drama
  • Mystery
The story about the murder of an 11-year-old boy, Rhys Jones in Croxteth, Liverpool, in 2007 and his parents, Melanie's and Steve's ordeal, and how Rhys's murderer and associates were eventu... Read allThe story about the murder of an 11-year-old boy, Rhys Jones in Croxteth, Liverpool, in 2007 and his parents, Melanie's and Steve's ordeal, and how Rhys's murderer and associates were eventually brought to justice.The story about the murder of an 11-year-old boy, Rhys Jones in Croxteth, Liverpool, in 2007 and his parents, Melanie's and Steve's ordeal, and how Rhys's murderer and associates were eventually brought to justice.
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
4.7K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,132
417
  • Stars
    • Sinéad Keenan
    • Brían F. O'Byrne
    • Matthew Roberts
Top credits
  • Stars
    • Sinéad Keenan
    • Brían F. O'Byrne
    • Matthew Roberts
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 27User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 BAFTA Award
      • 5 wins & 5 nominations total

    Episodes4

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated
    1 Season
    2017

    Photos12

    Little Boy Blue (2017)
    Little Boy Blue (2017)
    Little Boy Blue (2017)
    Sonny Beyga in Little Boy Blue (2017)
    Sinéad Keenan in Little Boy Blue (2017)
    Sinéad Keenan and Brían F. O'Byrne in Little Boy Blue (2017)
    Stephen Graham in Little Boy Blue (2017)
    Faye McKeever in Little Boy Blue (2017)
    Little boy blue
    Little boy blue
    Little boy blue

    Top cast

    Edit
    Sinéad Keenan
    Sinéad Keenan
    • Mel Jonesas Mel Jones
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Brían F. O'Byrne
    Brían F. O'Byrne
    • Steve Jonesas Steve Jones
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Matthew Roberts
    • Owen Jonesas Owen Jones
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Stephen Graham
    Stephen Graham
    • Det Supt Dave Kellyas Det Supt Dave Kelly…
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Elizabeth Berrington
    Elizabeth Berrington
    • Debra Tayloras Debra Taylor
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    James Nelson-Joyce
    James Nelson-Joyce
    • James Yatesas James Yates
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Michael Moran
    • Kevin Moodyas Kevin Moody
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Sara Powell
    Sara Powell
    • ACC Pat Gallanas ACC Pat Gallan…
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Nathan Clark Smith
    • Jordan Olssenas Jordan Olssen
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Faye McKeever
    Faye McKeever
    • Claire Olssenas Claire Olssen
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Jodie McNee
    Jodie McNee
    • DC Jackie Carteras DC Jackie Carter…
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Paddy Rowan
    Paddy Rowan
    • Sean Merceras Sean Mercer
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Laura Dos Santos
    Laura Dos Santos
    • Donna Kellyas Donna Kelly
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Kerrie Hayes
    Kerrie Hayes
    • Sandra Oxleyas Sandra Oxley
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Robbie O'Neill
    Robbie O'Neill
    • DC Danny Jonesas DC Danny Jones
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Stephen Walters
    Stephen Walters
    • DCI Mark Guinnessas DCI Mark Guinness…
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Jak Corrie
    Jak Corrie
    • Nathan Quinnas Nathan Quinn
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    Heather Bleasdale
    • Vida Moodyas Vida Moody
    4 episodes4 eps • 2017
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      When the Chief of Police asks Stephen Graham how he takes his coffee, he declines sugar with "I'm sweet enough." Graham was in Snatch with Alan Ford, who plays Bricktop, who also says "[...] I'm sweet enough" about taking sugar.
    • Goofs
      The setting is 2007 and 2008, but the uniformed police officers all wear the ribbon of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, given away in 2012.
    • Connections
      Featured in Good Morning Britain: Episode dated 20 April 2017 (2017)

    User reviews27

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    A sobering truthful lesson of the disintegration of humanity among today's youth
    Few people in the United Kingdom will not have heard of the murder of Rhys Jones, an eleven-year-old boy from a middle-class family in Liverpool killed unintentionally by 16-year-old Sean Mercer, a low- level drug dealer who fired a revolver at two rival gang members over a postcode.

    It was the innocence of Rhys, a promising child with aspirations of playing for Everton Football Club that brought the attention of the national media on the case. The police were under tremendous pressure to bring the killer and those who supplied the gun to justice while the gang did their best to intimidate potential witnesses and pass off the murder onto a completely innocent party. This superb four-part drama, written by Jeff Pope tells the story of how those involved in both the murder and the concealing of the evidence were eventually brought to trial and the impact that Rhys death had on his parents, the investigating officers, and the local community. Bring the remorseless murderer to trial proved a complex issue, with two innocent families court in the middle of the lies of his alibi.

    The drama follows three narrative strands - The witness who was forced to hide the gun (an excellent performance from relative newcomer Michael Moran) and the family whose fragile son (An appropriately vulnerable performance from Nathan Clark-Smith) Rhys Parents (Sinead Keenan in her best ever performance as the Mum and Brian F O'Bryne finally getting the sort of meaty role he deserves) and the police investigation team led by Detective Dave Kelly (Stephen Graham whose versatility continues to expand with every performance) and DCI Mark Guinness (The always superb Stephen Walters in a very grounded role)

    Through these three narratives, we see the extreme pressures everyone was under both to stay in a wall of silence or break the case and bring the killers of Rhys to justice. One of the reasons this drama works so well is because of the generous four episodes, which gives adequate screen time to convey the truthfulness of each characters journey and the actor's performances which makes for a stronger production. It is good to see ITV drama giving this sort of material the running time that it so richly deserves.

    All the cast here doing a fantastic job including those portraying murderer Mercer his accomplices but the real stand out performance for me was that of the conflicted Kevin Moody (Portrayed by Michael Moran) the one witness the police depended on in order to conflict the intimidating Mercer.

    I read somewhere that the senior policewoman stated having watched this production that she was displeased with her portrayal in the show. I find it hard to believe that these scenes were in anyway fictional, knowing the pressure they were under to get a result in this case and how the upper echelons of the police always behave in such circumstances. To its credit LLB did not end with the conviction of those involved followed by a brief summary. A good number of scenes were shown after the case, covering the impact on the marriage of the parents and the other lives affected by the actions of Mercer. It is incredulous that the killer and his accomplices (Most of whom are now out of prison) had no remorse for the killing of Rhys whatsoever and it is this vagrant display of complete lack of empathy for causing the loss of life which makes this show have such wider viewing implications beyond the case it deals with. As Mrs Rhys says at one point 'Our Rhys was not in the wrong place at the wrong time, Sean Mercer was when he fired that gun'

    Essential and compelling viewing and an outstanding credit for everyone who worked on the production.
    helpful•12
    0
    • azanti0029
    • Oct 22, 2017

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 24, 2017 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • El crimen de Liverpool
    • Filming locations
      • Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • ITV Broadcasting
      • ITV Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo

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