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When The Boat Comes In : Complete BBC Collection (24 Disc Box Set) [2007]
![When The Boat Comes In : Complete BBC Collection (24 Disc Box Set) [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51bAOniT%2BKL._SL160_.jpg)
RRP: £120.99
Our Price: £51.95 (subject to change)
Best Ever BBC Drama!
Review date: 2007-08-28 Rating: 10 out of 10
James Bolam is astounding in this excellent drama series which was shown in the 1970's. As Jack Ford he is a clever mix of Del Boy and Robert Maxwell - a helping hand who always has his eye on the main chance for himself.
He befriends the Seaton family - hard working Bill and his wife Bella, and their adult children Tom, Jessie and Billy. Bill is a miner but wants better for his family and thanks to his hard work there is money for his daughter to train as a school teacher and son Billy to attend University and become a Doctor. Tom is not academic and so he works in the mines with his father, but he would prefer to work outdoors.
Jack has plans to improve his life and as he climbs the ranks in the local Union, with Matt Hedley, his best mate from the trenches, he plans a future and family with Jessie. But the course of true love does not run smooth and Jack and Jessie find unexpected hurdles in the road of their romance.
Starting just after WW1 as the heroes came home to a world of poverty and unemployment, When The Boat has endearing characters whose lives quickly become gripping. Tom's wife is sickly and she is expecting their first child. Billy wants to use his medical degree to help people who cannot pay a doctor in these pre-NHS days - but his father Bill is determined that his youngest son will repay the family the cost of his education. This becomes all the more important when Bill is injured in a mining accident and wife Bella has to rethink their lives.
Two characters attempts to gain an amicable divorce will amaze viewers of today with the drawn out process required and the General Strike and Jarrow Marches come sweeping into the lives of the cast as Jack continues to better himself using every means possible.
Series 4 is more of an afterthought and although the episodes are enjoyable they do not have the on-going storylines of the earlier series. Nonetheless this box set is the best way to buy the series which can be enjoyed again and again.
The extras are a little disappointing. James Bolam and Susan Jameson (Jessie) met and married whilst making this series and as they still appear on our screens together (in New Tricks), it is a shame that no attempt was made to gain interviews with the couple.
But that it a minor quibble - sit back and enjoy the cream of BBC drama - a series that could easily be shown again for a new audience.
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Reviews
TV was made for this.
Review date: 2007-06-04 Rating: 10 out of 10
I watched this series in the mid 1970's and never forgot it, an absolutely great series of life between the wars, down to earth, realistic and very well acted by all the cast, in particular, James Bolan as Jack Ford, superb. The box set is expensive but you get 25 DVD's and television history at it's best. In this world, where opening a box is classed as entertainment, or watching a bunch of nobody's locked up in a house, as riveting, I thank God that there are still top drawer classics like this to be had. If you want top drama at it's best, as it should be, then get this, pure magic television.
Brilliant and nostalgic tale from the North East
Review date: 2007-05-30 Rating: 10 out of 10
This is a great program from start to finish, brilliantly showing life in the North East during the depression. Great characters, especially that of Jack (James Bolam), a rough diamond who gets by ducking and diving. It shows you how hard life was then, but how everyone pulled together to survive. The program illustrates very well the old class system, the difference between the have's and the have not's.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Roger Avon
Geoffrey Rose
James Bolam
Michelle Newell
Malcolm Terris
Recording label: Acorn Media UK Ltd
Manufacturer: Acorn Media UK Ltd
EAN: 5036193090974
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 24
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2007-05-14
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 2542 minutes
Language: English (Unknown)
Language: English (Original Language)
Brand: Generic