15a. Our Friends In The North - Part 1 (1964-1974)

An A to Z of UK Television Drama

Ho'way man! It's time to gan 'yem hinny. Andy, who grew up in the North East, first watched the series half his lifetime ago, aged 24, while Martin enjoys it for the very first time. They both agree however that 'Our Friends' is a stone-cold classic. Because there was just too much to say about this phenomenal series we've divided our episode on Peter Flannery's epic award-winning drama about love, politics, police corruption, and housing policy, into two parts. In this first part we discuss the four leading characters: idealistic Nicky (Christopher Eccleston), long-suffering Mary (Gina McKee), troubled Geordie (Daniel Craig) and flawed dreamer Tosker (Mark Strong). We also share our favourite moments and plotlines from the first five episodes which were set between 1964 and 1974. Next time we'll cover 1979 onwards. We don't always find this watch of Our Friends a comfortable experience with it's vivid depiction of corruption, self-serving Tories, and self-defeating Labour factionalism, all of which underline that very little has changed here in the UK. However, at the same time we absolutely revel in the series' ambition, complex characters, and intricate plotting. The soundtrack is pretty awesome too. "I'm coming home Newcastle. You can keep yer London wine. I'd walk the streets al day al neet, for a bottle of the River Tyne." Next Time: Our Friends in the North - Part 2 (1979-1995)