Rent Little Boy Blue (2017)

An earth-shattering & unbelievably emotional series about the fight to find Rhys Jones’s killer - Little Boy Blue review by TB

This series is amazing. The cast, some of whom are well-known, others in their first roles, are perfect. The scenes are masterfully set & directed. The emotion & pain on the screen sears into your very being and stays there, haunting you. This is some of the best TV I have ever watched. It is also meticulously researched and welcomingly has been made with the full cooperation of the Jones family, who at the end are featured in a short section where they talk along with the detectives who finally brought Rhys’s killers to justice. 

The series looks at the murder of Rhys Jones, who was a football mad little boy living in Liverpool with his family. One day after finishing football practice, he is walking back across the car park next to the training ground when he is caught in the crossfire of a gang feud. In no way is he involved & as the series progresses, it is slowly revealed just how heinous this crime was (literally a gang member who spots rivals across the park, pulls out a gun and shoots indiscriminately at them, with countless innocent bystanders in between him and them/in the car park.) 

One of the best parts about this series is how it starts. Even though as the viewer you will probably know even the bare bones of the story, it still starts as a completely normal, painfully painfully ordinary day. And the series just leaves you on the edge, waiting the moment when all hell breaks loose. The scenes in the hospital, as Rhys slips away, are so difficult to watch, I feel myself getting tears in my eyes just thinking back to the scene. That is the level of power this programme has.

From then on, the series barely lets up, even in the quiet moments. The main protagonist, for lack of a better word, is Stephen Graham’s Dave Kelly, the lead investigator who becomes absolutely dogged in his determination to bring not only the killer but also the people who aided & abetted him to try and avoid the law. Graham, who is himself from Liverpool and grew up 10 minutes away from where the murder happened, is absolutely incredible. Massive praise must also be given to the actors playing Rhys’s parents. Everyone is at the top of their game. 

Over the course of 4 episodes, you are simply blown away by what you see. And it is so emotional at times it is almost unbearable. One of the things which most affected me was the revelation that, after the killer had fired the first two shots and one had hit Rhys, which he would have been in full view of/been able to see, he then continues to fire. That level of evil is something which can never be reckoned with. 

This is extremely challenging viewing, but also essential. It is vital not only to understand the the case but also the fact that the killer & his accomplices almost got away with murder. I loved every minute, despite the fact it, at the time and still now, haunted me.

Essential viewing.