Television – Drama Serial in 1997". British Academy of Film and Television Arts . Retrieved 2 September 2013. Our Friends in the North, broadcast on BBC2 in 1996, was hailed as a landmark show that combined gritty politics with personal relationships. “I’ve always said it’s just a posh soap opera – but it’s a posh soap opera with something to say,” Flannery, who was born in Jarrow, south Tyneside, once said. Milne, Paula (7 March 2012). "Paula Milne on what inspired her to write White Heat". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 2 September 2013. The focus of Our Friends primarily lay with the social and political events shaping the destinies of its white male heterosexual characters. The contraceptive pill, legalizing abortion, the emergent sexual revolution, racial tension, feminism and gay rights were also part of the second half of the twentieth century, and it was these that I wanted to explore as well with White Heat – to see how they too shaped the lives of those of us who had lived through them. Armstrong, Simon (27 August 2016). "Our Friends in the North: What made it so special?". BBC News . Retrieved 27 August 2016. In its original form the story went up only to the 1979 general election and the coming to power of the new Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher. [11] The play also contained a significant number of scenes set in Rhodesia, chronicling UDI, the oil embargo and the emergence of armed resistance to white supremacy. [12] This plot strand was dropped from the televised version, although the title Our Friends in the North, a reference to how staff at BP in South Africa referred to the Rhodesian government of Ian Smith, remained. [13]

BBC Radio 4 - Our Friends in the North BBC Radio 4 - Our Friends in the North

a b "The Devil's Whore mixes fact with fiction". Shields Gazette. 14 November 2008 . Retrieved 2 September 2013. I wanted to do Our Friends in the South for the BBC, which would have been a kind of prequel to Our Friends in the North, but it was never taken up, so it remained an idea only, with no actual play. A critically acclaimed and award-winning television drama series about politics, corruption and class in the north-east of England has been given a new modern-day ending in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation.

Customer reviews

Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. Our Friends in the North has been invoked on several occasions as a comparison when similar drama programmes have been screened on British television. The year following Our Friends in the North 's broadcast, Tony Marchant's drama serial Holding On was promoted by the BBC as being an " Our Friends in the South," after Marchant made the comparison when discussing it with executives. [73] The 2001 BBC Two drama serial In a Land of Plenty was previewed by The Observer newspaper as being "the most ambitious television drama since Our Friends in the North." [74] The writer Paula Milne drew inspiration from Our Friends in the North for her own White Heat (2012); she felt that Our Friends in the North had been too centred on white, male, heterosexual characters and she deliberately wanted to counter that focus. [75] The original stage version of Our Friends in the North was revived in Newcastle by Northern Stage in 2007, with 14 cast members playing 40 characters. [76] [77] In August 2016, Flannery was interviewed for an event, part of the Whitley Bay Film Festival, that celebrated the 20th anniversary of the series being broadcast. [78] Radio [ edit ] a b "Classic comedy drama voted TV's greatest". The Daily Telegraph. 27 August 2003 . Retrieved 2 September 2003. Television – Actor in 1997". British Academy of Film and Television Arts . Retrieved 2 September 2013. Walker, Lynne (27 September 2007). "Tyne and again". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022 . Retrieved 2 September 2013.

Our Friends in the North (TV Mini Series 1996) - IMDb Our Friends in the North (TV Mini Series 1996) - IMDb

The first episode of Our Friends in the North gained 5.1 million viewers on its original transmission. [51] In terms of viewing figures, the series was BBC2's most successful weekly drama until 2001. [52] Reception [ edit ] Critical response [ edit ] The floating nightclub Tuxedo Princess beneath the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle, pictured in 2005. Both of these locations feature prominently in Our Friends in the North. a b "Peter Flannery revives Our Friends in the North for Radio 4". BBC Media Centre. 24 February 2022 . Retrieved 24 February 2022. Rampton, James (4 September 2002). "The Best of Satellite, Cable and Digital". The Independent. Archived from the original on 11 October 2013 . Retrieved 2 September 2013. Saw it when it was first released but had forgotten most of it. Really enjoying it. Based on T Dan Smith and John Poulson but names have been changed. Saw it when it was first released but had forgotten most of it. Really enjoying it. Based on T Dan Smith and John Poulson but names have been changed.a b Slarek (6 October 2010). "Our Friends in the North DVD review". Cine Outsider . Retrieved 2 September 2013. Richards, Jeffrey (13 March 1996). "The BBC's voice of two nations". The Independent. p.15. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022 . Retrieved 2 September 2013. a b Thompson, Ben (25 February 1996). "The Interview: Mark Strong talks to Ben Thompson". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022 . Retrieved 1 September 2013. Williams, Zoe (27 March 2009). "Your next box set: Our Friends in the North" . Retrieved 1 September 2013. Daniel Craig's performance would first bring him to the attention of producer Barbara Broccoli, who later cast him in the role of secret agent James Bond in the long-running film series. [42] Christopher Eccleston went on to achieve success in a screen role when he appeared as the Ninth Doctor in the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who in 2005. Since then various media articles have noted the coincidence of the future James Bond and Doctor Who leads having co-starred in the same production earlier in their careers. [3] [43] [44] [45] Episode one re-shoot [ edit ] Mark Strong (pictured in 2010) played Terry 'Tosker' Cox across thirty years of his life in Our Friends in the North, from a young man in 1964 to middle-age in 1995.