[DanaC]

The second major landmark drama for me, again from the 90s, when Brit tv was really on a roll on dramas, was Our Friends in the North. Based on a stageplay - it tells the story of a group of friends in the North of England. Told across nine episodes, with each episode catching up with the four main characters in a different year: 1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1987, and 1995. Through the story of the four friends, we see also the story of the changing face of Britain across three decades.

Superbly written and acted, it pretty much launched the careers of several of our best actors (including Chris Ecclestone and Daniel Craig).

Here's episode one: I recommend watching the first few minutes to get a sense of the flavour of the drama.

Mildly nsfw


Most of it's intelligble, but from time to time a character will speak in full on geordie - at which point I would suggest the use of subtitles :P Most people probably won't understand much of what the kid says in this clip - but it's one of the very few clips available - though whole episodes are all available on Youtube. I'm posting it though because I thought you might interested to see Daniel Craig (james Bond) looking rather different. His character arc takes the long way round, via the sex industry in 60s London, and back to Newcastle in the 80s, now down and out:



One of the brilliant things about this series was the way it veered between glamour and squalor, personal and political.


Here's the advert for the box set: