The Story

Sharon Smith is different. It’s not simply that she is the sixth daughter of a football mad thatcher. Or that she was born on the day that England won the World Cup in 1966. Or that she was christened Robert Gordon George Ray Jackie Bobby Martin Alan Roger Geoff Nobby Smith after the victorious winning team.

It’s more than that. Despite living in the only thatched cottage on a council estate in ‘glamorous’ Grays, Sharon Smith knows that she really wants to do something with her life.

It’s not really her father who stands in her way. Ronnie Smith is a well-meaning man who loves his daughters and West Ham with an equal passion. It’s not her first boyfriend Phil, loyal, faithful Phil, who would do anything for her and proposes to her in a packed Working Men’s Club as 'Meatloaf' in his tribute band “Bat Outta Chadwell” Or the love of her life, Colm, whose turbulent past threatens to ruin their future together.

No the only thing that gets in the way of Robert Gordon George Ray Jackie Bobby Martin Alan Roger Geoff Nobby Smith, is herself. Even changing her name to Sharon Smith doesn’t help. She has to find the self belief and potential deep within her to achieve her ultimate ambition – to become a writer.

“Single to Southend” is a funny, heart-warming story of one girl’s search for her heart’s desire and her triumphant celebration of her Essex roots.

© 2025 Richard Ahsam, Suki Ahsam & Amulet Films Limited.