A soap opera, similar in format to Coronation Street, Empire Road depicted life for the African-Caribbean, East Indian and South Asian residents of a racially diverse street in the city of Birmingham.
[3] The programme also provided early TV exposure for Julie Walters, who appeared in a few episodes.
The series was made at BBC Pebble Mill with location work in the Handsworth area of Birmingham.
The general premise of the series concerns the day-to-day life of a residential property landlord (Norman Beaton) who also owns a minimarket – where his brother-in-law is a junior partner – and sometimes deals with social concerns of the time, namely race issues, family issues and mixed relationships.
Problems that arise are usually solved or at least calmed by the protagonist family's patriarch using reasoning based on his life experience, wisdom and common sense.