6 × 30’ | Ensemble Comedy–Drama | London

A funny, quietly devastating ensemble drama about nine strangers brought together while queuing to see HM the Queen lying in state

After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, a queue forms along the Thames — and within it, nine strangers find themselves temporarily bound together.

Some arrive out of duty, some out of curiosity, some because they don’t quite know where else to put their grief. Over hours — and in a few cases, days — waiting, fatigue strips away politeness. Irritation turns to intimacy. Differences soften. Gallows humour surfaces.

Among them are a weary civil servant keeping the line moving, an NHS doctor haunted by COVID wards, a traumatised veteran, a young Scottish student, an eco-warrior and his mum, a journalist, and two elderly friends with unfinished business. Their lives brush together in fleeting but formative ways, as the queue becomes a living portrait of modern Britain: multicultural, fractious, tender, and unexpectedly kind.

The Queue is a story about public mourning and private loss — about identity, endurance, and the strange dignity of standing still together.

Status: 

Early development