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Our Friends In The North (4 Disc Set) [1996]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

An epic saga stretching from 1964 to 1995, Our Friends in the North follows the lives of four young people in North-East England. Nicky Hutchinson (Christopher Eccleston) is initially courting Mary Soulsby (Gina McKee) but the relationship cools when it takes second place to his campaigning for Harold Wilson's Labour Party. She weds Tory Tosker Cox instead, but their marriage is a miserable one, living in a rot-infested high rise block built following a dubious new housing scheme. Meanwhile, "Geordie" Peacock, finally tiring of his drunken, abusive father, headbutts him and hitches down to London, where he ends up working for a surrogate "family" led by Malcolm McDowell's flash Soho sex club baron.

Over the years, the paths of these characters intertwine, diverge then cross again, albeit occasionally stretching the bounds of plausible coincidence. The drama takes place against the backdrop of local authority and police corruption in the 60s, the radical far-left militancy of the early 70s, Thatcher's election, the 1984 miner's strike and the subsequent "murder" of Northern communities. What's brilliant about Our Friends is its melding of the personal and the political, with the soap opera of family estrangement played out against a backdrop of social decline. Peter Vaughn, playing Nicky's Dad as a former Jarrow marcher stricken by Alzheimer's, is especially poignant. If you didn't see this the first time, do so now.

On the DVD: Our Friends in the North has a bonus disc featuring a discussion with writer Peter Flannery and the producers and directors in which the making of the programme is revealed to have been as epic and protracted a saga as the drama itself. There are interviews also with stars Christopher Eccleston and Gina McKee. --David Stubbs


This is the whole point of the BBC - to inform, educate and entertain
Review date: 2008-11-21 Rating: 10 out of 10

When people now wonder where the BBC is going and what happens to the licence fee in a world of millions of satellite and cable channels (most of which are rubbish) let it be said that this series is the epitome of what the BBC stands for. It is supposed to inform, educate and entertain. This series does all three magnificently. The concept, the scripting, the casting, the producing, the editing - all of it is brilliant from start to finish. Another reviewer, Rob of South Shields (a Newcastle suburb) notes he grew up later than the period in which this is set - but I was a child at that time in that very same Newcastle. The emotion is all so real that it is like being punched in the stomach - the corruption, the infighting and everything that grew out of it.

When the BBC produces its most superlative work, as here, no other broadcaster in the world can touch it.

Now consider, in the light of the recent scandal of imbecilic presenters ringing up and insulting an actor. One of those presenters is paid in a year almost what this whole series cost to make. (At the time there were raised eyebrows at how much of BBC 2's drama budget had gone on just one production.)

The presenters in question are grotesquely overpaid.

The millions which went into Our Friends in the North, in contast, were money exceptionally well spent.

For people who lived through the era in question, who relate to the political world and the community around them as we all should, and who also know Newcastle upon Tyne and the peculiar socio-political history of the Northeast, this is far more than a play and far more than television. It is not escapism but life itself in the most tangible sense.

Much television in recent years is junk.

This, on the other hand, while painfully raw and brutally true to life in parts, is the best of the best, written by the best, starring the best and broadcast by the best. Would that the BBC never ever strayed from this path.

Do yourself a favour - buy it, watch it - and, in due course, watch it again. Then please post your own review.

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Reviews


Very, very good TV!
Review date: 2007-10-11 Rating: 10 out of 10

Brilliant drama! Pity it has no English subtitles. Sometimes, the accent from Newcastle is a little difficult to understand!

The BBC's finest drama of the 1990's
Review date: 2007-08-16 Rating: 10 out of 10

Often overshadowed in popularity by the inferior "This Life" - Our Friends in the North was the BBC's finest drama achievment of the 1990's. An epic in every sense, the series covers the lives of four central characters from the optimism of their youth in the 1960's through to mid-life reality in the 1990's. En route, we encounter major political events of the times, including the miners' strike.

It's staggeringly well-done in every sense. The actors all portray the different life-stages of their characters with absolute conviction, and the supporting cast are superb as well. (Notably Peter Vaughan as Christopher Eccelston's crusty old Dad, who turns in a blinder of a performance throughout.)

Like another reviewer has pointed out - who would have thought Daniel Craig as the hapless Geordie Peacock would eventually don the tuxedo of James Bond, or, for that matter, that Chris Eccleston would assume the mantel of Dr Who.

But here's where they all really started - in this unmissable, brilliant drama. If you've not seen it before - a treat awaits.



Classic
Review date: 2007-03-08 Rating: 10 out of 10

If you saw this went it originally came out, loved it and are wondering how much it has dated in the past decade before buying or renting the DVD - don't worry, its still brilliant! The series is made up of nine episodes (three set in the sixties, three in the seventies, two in the eighties and one in the nineties) and is essentially the story of four characters from Newcastle set to a backdrop of labour politics and rock'n'roll. If that sounds a bit boring it isn't, it's actually the one of the BBCs best and most memorable moments and packed full of A-list actors from today (although it has to be said no-one would have guessed Daniel Craig would ever have been Bond after seeing him as the lovely but tragic Geordie!). In the end "Our Friends" is about how people fade in and out of our lives, how we misunderstand those around us and the endemic sadness of lost ideals and distant friends. The series closes to Oasis "Don't Look Back in Anger" and was actually aired on the day that classic went to No.1 in the UK; at the time it seemed like a brilliant and moving moment in my life. Watching back all these years later it's still a special moment, but now I am that little bit older it's tinged with melancholy sadness. Worth watching every year.

Top quality drama
Review date: 2007-01-15 Rating: 10 out of 10

You will never see better acting, scripting and direction than this gritty serial from the North-East covering several decades, notably the Sixties. Politically astute, it skilfully analyzed the corruption that threatened the hopes of the most idealistic generation we have known. The four young stars were relatively new to TV and deservedly went on to become major stars. Daniel Craig as Geordie, the loose cannon, was outstanding - entertaining and moving by turns. Landmark TV.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Barbera Peirson
Harry Fielder
Judith Parker
Michael Fish
Steve Hillman

Creators:
Harry Fielder (Primary Contributor)
Steve Hillman (Primary Contributor)
David Spiers (Editor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Sony Bmg
Manufacturer: Sony Bmg
EAN: 0743219411495
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 4
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2002-08-19
Universal product code (UPC): 743219411495
Number of discs: 4
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 623 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1999-09-30
Language: English (Original Language)

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