Three Little Birds

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Shortly after World War II, the British government invited ­residents of the Commonwealth to live in England and help rebuild the weakened labor force. Inspired by real events, Three Little Birds tells the story of a trio of women who leave Jamaica in search of a better life in the U.K.

Settling into the motherland proves harder than the women anticipated, though. Some Brits aren’t happy to see these newcomers. “KBW”—Keep Britain White—is graffitied onto brick walls.

Tensions ran high during this time period, but the script still feels somewhat melodramatic. Every main character has a harrowing backstory, and it’s hard to keep track of everyone’s past trauma. Despite its clunkiness in the first couple of episodes, the show has some surprising insights about race relations.

All three women carry emotional baggage to England. Leah (Rochelle Neil) left Jamaica to escape her abusive husband. Her story takes up the most screen time, and she acts as the leader of the group. Leah’s children are still in Jamaica, and she’ll send for them as soon as she can afford their boat fare. Circumstances become even more complicated when she falls in love with a man she meets in Britain.

Her sister, Chantrelle (Saffron Coomber), dreams of becoming an actress. She’s self-obsessed, but working as a nanny for a snobby British family takes her down a peg or two. Hosanna (Yazmin Belo), the third member of the group, is betrothed to Leah and Chantrelle’s brother. She’s a devout Christian whose unwavering convictions make her character seem rather unrelatable. I don’t think ­director Charles McDougall was satirizing Christianity, but Belo’s performance seemed unconvincing.

In many ways, though, Hosanna’s faith highlights the importance of forgiveness even in the face of blatant and shameful discrimination. The storyline features several bigoted characters, but it doesn’t turn into a showdown between whites and blacks, at least in the first season. The director suggests that repaying anger with more anger doesn’t result in harmony. Even though the show is set during a time when racism was pervasive, racism isn’t portrayed as the original sin that necessarily infects every white character.

There’s some violence in the show, especially in an episode featuring a riot against the Jamaicans, but it’s not gruesome. Aside from a few racial slurs, there’s little foul language. The series does include some depictions of domestic violence and an instance of attempted assault. A bit of suggestive dancing makes it on screen.

The story seems to set up a ­lesbian romance toward the end of the series. If successive seasons go in that direction, it will be a shame because the show doesn’t pander to the zeitgeist in any other way.