Product Details
ASIN : B00004CUCG
Customers who bought this goods also bought.
Editorial Reviews
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
Customer Reviews
Very, very good TV! (2007-10-11)  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 (2007-08-16) 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 (2007-03-08) 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 (2007-01-15) 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.
Panoramic (2006-09-26) One of the best dramas to appear in the 1990s, whether on TV or film. A hugely ambitious project to chart the life and loves of a group of friends from Newcastle in the 60's - the 90's, it manages to achieve it's aim by concentrating on a few specific times rather than skipping quickly from one event to the next; it makes to want to start the next episode just to you can work out not just what happens immediately after the end of the previous one but in the next few years.Good casting, combining actors who are familiar with some who have since become more well known, with not a weak link among them.If you're looking at building up a DVD collection or just a fan of very high quality drama, get it!
Look for similar items by category
Related Link
Powered by Amazon Web Services + Amazon Associates.
|
![]](http://resource.hanamoku.com/img/hanamoku_uk/00bar_top_right.gif){kind=small}
![]](http://resource.hanamoku.com/img/hanamoku_uk/00bar_bottom_right.gif){kind=small}
Goods, Product Information![Our Friends In The North - 1979-1995 [1996]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412KH78C03L._SL160_.jpg)
