Step aside Romeo and Juliet, we’ve got a new crime love story to obsess over – BBC’s Mint. It’s been a good time for new releases, from Netflix’s Beef to Channel 5’s Missed Call.
The eight-part series is created, written, directed, and executive-produced by Charlotte Regan, and follows a forbidden romance plot set in a wider gangster drama. Sign us up.
Here’s what we know so far about Mintincluding who makes up the stellar cast for the new BBC series.
What is Mint about?
A synopsis reads: “Twenty-two-year-old Shannon is the daughter of the dominant crime family in the area. Standing in the shadow of her father Dylan, she is desperately searching for romance and falls head over heels for Arran, a member of a rival crime family which has recently arrived in town. They develop a deep bond that changes both their lives for good, but not everyone around them is willing to accept it.
“While Shannon and Arran are pursuing their forbidden love, elsewhere things are imploding for Shannon’s family. However, rather than focusing on the crime world or the politics of succession, our gaze is directed towards the distinct emotional worlds of Shannon’s family – her parents Dylan and Cat, her older brother Luke and her indomitable grandma Ollie.”
Mint cast
Here’s who you may recognise from the cast of Mint:
Emma Laird
PHOTOGRAPHER:,Screengrab
Emma plays female protagonist Shannon, whose romance with Arran (Loyle Carner) is the forbidden love that lies at the centre of the series. Having grown up around crime – with her dad at the centre of a criminal organisation, no less – she is now navigating matters of the heart while her family deal with their own dramas.
Emma has already opened up about the importance of Mint‘s “female-centric storytelling”. “I’ve spent a very long time playing people’s girlfriends and not having much of a story arc, but this is a great project with great people,” she says. “You really see into the souls of the women, which I think will make the show really special, and not just for a female audience. We need something with heart, to rest our eyes from violence, and audiences needs a break from guns and fights, right? You need those moments of stillness, heart and story, and Mint has so much of that.”
