John Boyega on Seeing Damilola Taylor Before His Death | BBC Documentary Revealed

Star Wars actor John Boyega will publicly share his recollections of being among the last people to spot Damilola Taylor before his death, in a new BBC documentary examining the circumstances surrounding the 10-year-old’s tragic stabbing in 2000.

The documentary, currently titled Damilola Taylor: The Last 24 Hours, will feature Boyega, who grew up in Peckham, South East London, reflecting on his relationship with Taylor and the impact of the event on his life. The film aims to reconstruct the events leading up to Taylor’s death, focusing on his final day and the environment in which he lived.

Damilola Taylor was stabbed in a stairwell in Peckham on December 2, 2000. His death sparked widespread grief and a national conversation about youth violence and knife crime in Britain. A previous BBC drama, Damilola: Our Loved Boy, which aired in 2016, garnered critical acclaim and won two BAFTA awards, including one for Wunmi Mosaku’s performance.

The new documentary will also include interviews with other friends and family members of Taylor, offering their perspectives on the events and the lasting consequences of his murder. Director Alex Thomas, known for his work on Bibaa & Nicole: Murder in the Park, aims to present the story through the eyes of those who experienced it firsthand.

“Damilola’s story has never been told through the experience of the young people who were living it at the time,” Thomas said. “This film shows what it meant to grow up in an environment shaped by fear, bullying and the need to protect yourself — and how those pressures influenced the choices people made. Twenty-five years on, those experiences still stay with them, and many of those pressures still exist for young people today.”

Jack Bootle, the BBC’s Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual, stated that the film is intended to honor Taylor’s memory and trace the stories of those most affected by his death. “The killing of Damilola Taylor shocked the UK and changed the lives of those closest to him forever,” Bootle said.

The documentary is being produced by Optomen, the company behind At Home With the Furys, with Becky Cadman serving as executive producer and Nelson Adeosun as producer. All3Media International will handle global distribution of the film. The project was developed by Ruby Rookes, with creative direction from Nick Hornby and Tina Flintoff.

The BBC has not yet announced a broadcast date for Damilola Taylor: The Last 24 Hours.