The film was adapted from Dark Days and Light Nights, a stage play by Jamal Ali, who also wrote the screenplay.

In London in the late 1970s, Guyanese immigrant Ben Jones arrives at Heathrow Airport with a suitcase and a wallet full of money.

Dave realises that Ben is still a virgin and arranges a trip to Soho where they visit sex shops, strip clubs and a prostitute.

In a bid to cement his relationship with Miriam and Ben, Dave takes advantage of a car deal arranged by Jomo, a loan shark and sometime boyfriend of Saffra.

Simmons has said of Black Joy:'I wanted to show the reality of life in an immigrant area, angry and frustrated like so many other parts of Britain – but full of hope and humour'.

The exuberant energy bursting from every frame, combined with the (over-emphasised) Dickensian aspects of the community life, leads one to admit that Simmons has rather overlooked the harsher realities and produced instead an enjoyable lightweight 'musical fable'.

(Lou Reizner's amazing soundtrack adds immeasurably to the film, giving the impression of collecting – through the many artists and styles represented – all that is best a in one continuous, marvellous sound.)

This impression is reinforced by the fact that the question of integration with the white population is completely excluded; indeed, apart from a few brief, jokey cameos, Ben might have moved into a totally alienaisolatedted black community which is clearly only partially true.

However, if one has to be content with the spirit of black joy, then Simmons and co-writer Jamal Ali certainly ensure that it is extremely infectious and entertaining, notably in the splendid dialogue, which is inimitably salty ... and coarsely funny.

Although some of the acting is over-strident, the two main roles are both excellently played: Norman Beaton, ideally cast as the flashy, untrustworthy but likeable rogue, Dave; and particularly Trevor Thomas in the more difficult, utterly conventional part of the perennial innocent.