Boom Box: Beats and Betrayal review – the most astonishing British TV

2026-03-26 - 14:10

Try not to Google this true story of a London record shop used by undercover police to ensnare teens. As the astonishing details of what really happened unfold, you will pray for more fantastic telly like this to be made The UK launch of HBO Max has brought with it some major US series (no more waiting for The Pitt!). More unexpectedly, perhaps, its launch slate also includes this distinctly British true-crime docudrama about a record shop/recording studio in Edmonton, north London. Teens involved in petty crime came to Boom Box to keep off the streets – only to find that the studio itself was a hotbed of gang-related activity. It’s an astonishing tale which is told totally fantastically here, in a series that hopefully heralds HBO Max as a platform that will champion British (as well as American) TV. I strongly advise against Googling Boom Box (the show), or Boom Box (the recording studio), lest you spoil the eventual, frankly ridiculous revelations this series contains. There is one piece of information, however, that does feel impossible to merely hint at: the people these teenagers were getting involved with were not criminals – they were undercover police officers, who had targeted the area after a spate of murders in 2008. As its four episodes unfold, the ethics of what those officers did is questioned by those who feel they were ensnared at Boom Box, and manipulated to commit serious crimes they would never have thought about otherwise. Dramatic reconstructions are contrasted with interviews, which are then contrasted with more dramatic reconstructions which feature the same cast but tell a different story – one from the point of view of law enforcement. The whole thing is very meta, and that’s before the people playing the Boom Box teens get talking to the actors playing them. Boom Box: Beats and Betrayal is on HBO Max now. Continue reading...