ferdinand1932
When this was broadcast in 1996 it was really important. Britain was tired of the Tories and they were incompetent but also the soul of what drives political ideals was gone. A year after this series was shown the Labour party swept to power. Not that there is a correlation there but the mood of the country had changed.Fourteen years later - in 2010 - there is so much to admire here, even if the political urgency has past: the writing, production, casting, and threads to the long story, but there also parts that don't work anymore: the sex and corruption theme stands out here. As this is a single writer's work it has great features in character and in the human play that covers 40+ years. It also tends to fall into dirge over the miner's strike - as important as that was but like some other elements it is a bit close to agitprop-theater of the 1970s.The biggest impression made now is that we have lost this type of story on TV. We are too involved with reality TV rubbish and contest shows of dubious merit and consuming more junk than stories about how people live. And finally, in an era of spin politics it reminds us that politics starts from simple things like housing and respect.It's over 9 hours to watch the whole series and it's worth the time.
Richard Hart
Forgive the hyperbole but I want to make it very clear how highly I rate this incredible series.A little background on the series first: Set from the 60's through to that strange decade the 1990's, Our Friends In The North was at the time, a benchmark series for BBC and was the most expensive drama series produced up to then. Featuring hundreds of characters, a huge and talented cast, good production values and a truly unrivalled script and story, OFITN set the benchmark for a dramatic production that only a few other TV projects have ever matched.The story sees four characters, linked as a circle of friends at first, go about their lives in England and attempt to make sense of the world. All four are different in their own right and more so than the broad brush strokes that first mark them out. Geordie (Daniel Craig) is sensitive, charming and intelligent and a long time friend of both Tosker and Nicky. He is arguably the most vulnerable of the four and his terrible home life causes him to run away to seamy London. Nicky (Chris Eccleston) is brash, opinionated and full of pretencion but is an optimist and has genuine beliefs. he also sees his father a burn-out who doesn't understand that the world is at a crossroads. Nicky makes the most attempts to change the world by varying means, politics, journalism and even terrorism. By the end, Nicky has seen his dreams utterly destroyed.Mary (Gina McKee) is the adult character, being that she has a tough family to deal with (her brother is disabled) but she makes the most of things. She is Nicky's girlfriend at first but it isn't to last as she has plans that don't include saving the world. Mary has to deal with being a young mother in a crumbling tower-block before her husband makes good of himself. Tosker (Mark Strong) gives the most unsympathetic performance as the rather basic Tosker. He seduces Mary away from Nicky and gets her pregnant. He is hell-bent on his plan to get rich and despite many different methods, A fruit and veg van, real estate and a restaurant, it seems that Tosker is destined to always just fall short of his aims. And in love he also fails to win over Mary as the two contest a loveless marriage.Over the series it covers myriad issues, from Poverty to Organised Crime and Police Corruption. The entire storyline with the criminal world of London is the most exciting but equally gripping is Mary's struggle to raise her son and make something of herself which she does ably. Nicky goes through a rough ride with his parents but ultimately finds a redemption. Geordie however is almost totally destroyed by following the wrong people the wrong way and ends up in prison. For Geordie, the system has no time for him.The four lead performances are varied but all very good. Gina McKee gives the best all round performance across the series but Chris Eccleston is typically fiery. Daniel Craig has perhaps the easiest role to play but does it brilliantly. Mark Strong has less to work with but does well with the rather weak Tosker.The supporting cast is a packed house of likable and hatable and inbetweens. Daniel Webb is great as honest cop DS Ron Conrad, equally David Bradley is superb as grass roots Labour politician Eddie Wells. Malcolm McDowell gives an epic performance as vice kingpin Benny Barret and Tony Haygarth is brilliant as optimistic old cop Roy Johnsen. There really are no poor performances and the whole story passes by like a real life watched in intervals.The project isn't perfect, but as a piece of evolving art is quite without comparison. Over the 30 years of the story, people come and go, die and are born, grow up and fall apart, love and lose love and all end up being badly hurt by the system and when their beliefs are challenged. Nicky learns that the world is a hard place to change, Mary that she has become a martyr to her family, Geordie that if you fall through the cracks you are left behind and Tosker, perhaps he learns that sometimes it is right to be satisfied with what you have.The stand out scenes in this epic are many, from young Anthony cox's crazy ride into Geordie's past, to the shocking double cross in London, to the sad collapse of Nicky's father to the beautiful ending where the four share a moment of pathos and are "in the moment" together, perhaps for the last time.In all of TV history, only HBO's phenomenal Band of Brothers even comes close to this level of excellence. Not to be missed.10/10
ricardorat
Everyone should watch this. Epic and novelistic in its scope the series is believable, informative, interesting, well-acted and a based-on-real-life drama that won't put you to sleep. The way that the lives of the 4 principle characters are intertwined through the 30 years that the series maps is dramatic brilliance. Also the police corruption plot that links all 4 characters is wonderfully subtle. All the cast stand out and as the story progresses, the level to which we become involved with them just shows how good the writing is.
magicman80_uk
This is one of the very few programs in British TV that actually lived up to the hype. It was billed as one of the best TV drama's we would see and it delivered. It is the story about a group of friends from Newcastle and how they grow up from being angry young teenagers to mild middle aged parents. It starts off in the 60's and finished in the 90's. In that time it documents the change that they themselves have and the change that the north east had during the 30 years. The rebellious 60's to the 70's strikes and power shortages and the 80's hard times for working class families dished out by thatcher.The series culminates in one of the most unforgettable endings in British dramatic history. Never has and Oasis song been more appropriate. I also have to admit that i cried at the end. This truly was top quality drama from the writing to the acting..
