For his first full-length feature with a proper budget, Meadows adopted more conventional forms of characterisation and plotting but still remained true to his roots. Set on a council estate in the East Midlands, TwentyFourSeven shows how Alan Darcy (Bob Hoskins) tries to give himself and the young unemployed lads he knows some purpose in life by forming a boxing club. His heroic effort to meld together his motley crew receives financial support and personal interference from a local gangster. Filming in crisp black and white, Meadows combines his natural gift for comedy with a surefooted ability to depict the seriousness and pathos of his characters’ lives.

I wanted to shoot in black-and-white, said Meadows, not for its gritty documentary feel but because it has a strength and clarity that lets the performances shine though and gives a feeling of dignity. The young lads have their own tight sense of community. It’s in their language, their humour, their attitude. They do the same thing twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Darcy comes in and pierces that. I made TwentyFourSeven for people like Alan Darcy and the other characters I knew when I was growing up.

U.K., 1997.
Black and white.
Dolby stereo SR.
96 min.