A group of lads from Liverpool travels to Middlesbrough in their transit van to lay tarmac on the roads of a new estate on Teeside.
Shown in 1981 as a standalone between the initial drama and the subsequent series, it centres on Danny Duggan played by Peter Postlethwaite, the building boss who employs people cheaply by being complicit in the social security fraud of…
Bernard Hill remembers Boys from the Blackstuff, Alan Bleasdale’s iconic drama, which is being shown again as part of the BBC’s Centenary celebrations, and which was once described as ‘TV’s most complete dramatic response to the Thatcher…
The boys sign on at the Department of Employment and then collect George's son, Snowy, on their way to an off-the-books construction job for Malloy. Much to their amusement, the conversion job turns out to be the future new offices of the…
In desperation to feed and clothe his four children, Dixie takes an illicit job as a night security guard at the docks. He soon discovers that one man alone on a ship at night can do nothing but turn a blind eye to a gang of pilferers…
Pending the outcome of the moonlighting enquiry, Chrissie's dole money has been stopped, and this precipitates a showdown with his wife, Angie. Meanwhile, at the D.O.E., middle management is completely out of control since the Manager,…
Yosser reaches the end of the line as the utility men, rent collectors, and social workers invade his home. Why on earth doesn't he turn his three small children over to his estranged wife, Maureen, rather than let them be taken into care?
As George's health declines, his belief in the values of Old Labour remain unshaken. Chrissie takes him for one last tour of the now-abandoned docklands where he once worked, and they have what may well be the most important and heartfelt…
