Stephen (Monday, ITV, 9pm)
It’s indelibly imprinted on minds that on April 22, 1993, Stephen Lawrence, 18, was murdered in a racist attack in Eltham, south London. This drama by Frank Cottrell-Boyce starts 13 years later, with his parents, Doreen (played by Sharlene Whyte) and Neville (Hugh Quarshie), still pursuing justice for their son after a public inquiry damned the Metropolitan Police as institutionally racist. Trying to right wrongs is DCI Clive Driscoll (Steve Coogan), who initiates his own review of the case after discovering the abandoned files, calling on “a bit of common-sense coppering” to catch the suspects. Carefully written and performed — especially by the excellent Whyte — Stephen acts as a sequel to ITV’s 1999 drama The Murder of Stephen Lawrence, yet if its focus shifts to the effects of police corruption and the justice system, Stephen still keeps the Lawrence family at the centre of the drama. And was supported and assured by Baroness Doreen Lawrence.
