STREET GANGS, a new documentary series presented by Graeme Armstrong and inspired by his novel THE YOUNG TEAM, will premiere on the BBC this Wednesday (5 October 2023). In Scotland, the programme will be broadcast on BBC Scotland at 10pm on Wednesday; viewers in both Scotland and the rest of the UK will be able to watch on BBC iPlayer shortly after.

In the three-part series ex-gang member Graeme Armstrong travels to forgotten areas of Scotland to shine a light on the allure of gang life. He encounters drill musicians and street gang members, while also exploring his own past, and tries to understand why young people are seduced by the perceived glamour and excitement of gang life by speaking to young people themselves. The series will also include interviews with the actor and filmmaker Peter Mullan (TRAINSPOTTING, MY NAME IS JOE, NEDS) and Dundonian rapper Eugene.

About the series, Graeme told Connie McLaughlin for BBC Radio Scotland: ‘this is the natural evolution for me now – if you’re not part of the gang, you’re trying to prevent gang culture… If you want to interrupt something like gang culture, you need to understand it. Looking at the past will tell you a lot of information about it, but what we need to do is go and listen and speak to young people, and see what they want to say: so we’ve given a voice to people who don’t have one, and that opportunity, that’s what the series is all about. There’s two journeys: there’s my journey into the past, but there’s also these kids’ journey into the future.’

You can hear more of Graeme’s interview with BBC Radio Scotland here (from 1:11:10).

The series is produced by Harry Bell for Tern TV, and the series producer is Pete Stanton. The directors are Jo Pagan and Alistair Ferguson, as part of BBC Scotland and Screen Scotland’s new initiative backing emerging directors.

About Graeme Armstrong

Graeme Armstrong is a Scottish writer from Airdrie. His teenage years were spent within North Lanarkshire’s gang culture. Alongside overcoming his own struggles with drug addiction, alcohol abuse and violence, he defied expectation to read English as an undergraduate at the University of Stirling; where, after graduating with honours, he returned to study a Masters’ in Creative Writing. He is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Strathclyde.

Graeme regularly works within the community visiting prisons and schools, giving talks on his experiences of gang-culture and substance abuse. He promotes a message of anti-violence and abstinence-based recovery.

His bestselling debut novel, THE YOUNG TEAM (Picador, 2020), is inspired by his experiences. It won a Betty Trask Award, a Somerset Maugham Award, and the Scots Book o the Year 2021.

In 2021, Graeme presented Scotland: The Rave, a documentary broadcast by the BBC that explored Scotland’s rave and PCDJ culture, subsequently nominated for a BAFTA Scotland and RTS Scotland Award 2022.

In 2023, Graeme was chosen as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists, an accolade that is awarded once a decade.

Praise for Graeme Armstrong and THE YOUNG TEAM

‘Graeme Armstrong is the real deal.’ – Douglas Stuart

‘One of the most admired young voices in British fiction’ – Mike Wade, The Times

‘Has proved the novel form is still alive and kicking… a genuine literary phenomenon… Indeed, Armstrong is that rare thing, a writer whose work has become a tangible part of a social material, as has Armstrong himself.’ – James Taylor, Metal Magazine

‘Gives us a voice from a place – geographically and socio-economically – we don’t often hear from’ – John Self, The Times

‘Armstrong’s hard-hitting novel is TRAINSPOTTING for a new generation’ – Independent

‘An instant Scottish classic… While its dialect might make THE YOUNG TEAM seem like a story rooted in the specificity of its location, the novel’s exploration of mental health and drug use tells a universal tale of working-class masculinity’ — The Skinny

‘A swaggering, incendiary debut… Sharp yet tender and mischievously funny, THE YOUNG TEAM pitches Armstrong straight into the first division of Scottish writers.’ – Jude Cook, The Guardian

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