SUPACELL
A HEROIC VICTORY
WORDS ALEX GODFREY
Top to bottom:
Superpowered South Londoners assemble;
The eyes have it: Sabrina Clarke (Nadine Mills);
Director Rapman on set.
AFTER RELEASING HIS London crime drama Blue Story in 2019, writer/director Rapman knew what he wanted to do next: a TV show about a group of Black people who develop superpowers. But unlike cinema’s super-worlds, this would be different. There would be no heroes here, as such: this would be a grounded show, about regular people who wouldn’t quite know how to handle their burgeoning powers, using them just to get through the day. And these powers would all be connected to sickle cell, the genetic blood disorder that predominantly affects Black people. Rapman was confident that he was onto a good thing, but had no idea how the show would be embraced once it hit Netflix on 27 June. He takes us through his wild few months.