Every now and a piece of television encapsulates the era in which it was made. In the '60's, Jeremy Sandford's 'Cathy Come Home' shocked the nation, the '70's gave us Jim Allen's equally bleak 'The Spongers', and in the '80's we got Alan Bleasdale's 'Boys From The Black Stuff'.
The five-part series was a sequel to an earlier play of the author's - 'The Black Stuff' - in which a group of Liverpool men - Yosser Hughes ( Bernard Hill ), Loggo Lomond ( Alan Igbon ), Dixie Dean ( Tom Georgeson ), Chrissie Todd ( Michael Angelis ) and George Malone ( Peter Kerrigan ) - travel to Middlesborough to lay tarmac on a new housing estate. A pair of rogues offer them a tempting deal - tarmac a farmer's drive on the firm's time and using its tools. Sensing a chance to make easy money, they do this ( without Dixie's knowledge ), only to be ripped off and worse, caught by their boss ( David Calder ), who then sacks them.
Two years later, the Middlesborough experience has left the boys in serious financial trouble, which is why a couple have taken to 'moonlighting' - claiming the dole whilst working. Dixie acts as night watchman on the docks ( turning a blind eye to all the pilfering that goes on ), while in the first episode Loggo and Chrissie help construct ( ironically ) a Labour Exchange. Their friend, Snowy Malone ( George's son ), is killed accidentally when Social Security officers raid the site. The show was a powerful depiction of ordinary, skilled men whose lives have been blighted by unemployment. So vivid and convincing was it that Norman Tebbit, then Minister of Employment in Thatcher's Government, objected. Well, he would. As Bleasdale pointed out, 'Blackstuff' concerns the consequences of unemployment, and does not blame anyone for its cause. A left-wing rant this most assuredly is not.
Each gang member had his own episode - the most memorable being 'Yosser's Story', later to represent the series in a B.B.C. retrospective in 1986. Bernard Hill bagged a B.A.F.T.A. for his electrifying portrayal of the deranged Hughes, abandoned by his wife, with no job, and left to look after three children. Everywhere he goes, he begs: "Give us a job...I can do that!". He also has a nasty habit of head butting people. It was harrowing stuff, but there was humour too, most notably his encounter with Graeme Souness at a charity event. Tom Georgeson's 'Dixie Dean' was equally moving. The Middlesbrough experience has made him bitter, refusing to speak to his former friends. In the episode 'Moonlighter', his wife is besieged in her home by Social Security officers posing as callers, and her terror is palpable. David Fleeshman's black-leather jacket wearing Social Security officer would be enough to give anyone nightmares. Also impressive are Jean Boht as the D.H.S.S. clerk and Julie Walters as Chrissie's wife 'Angie'.
The last episode - 'George's Last Ride' - featured one of television's greatest moments. Looking out across the Mersey, a terminally ill George Malone uttered a final cry of despair: "I can't believe that there's no hope.". There was to be no happy ending; the shot of Chrissie, Loggo and Yosser aimlessly walking off to an uncertain future said it all.
The series struck a chord with the public, won numerous awards, and was repeated several times. Today it is remembered as an important social document from a time when when unemployment was out of control and the Government of the day heartlessly told claimants to 'get on their bikes and look for work'. That Justin Lee Collins apparently considers 'The A-Team' to be 'the best series of the '80's' beggars belief. Nearly thirty years after its first broadcast, 'Blackstuff' still has the capacity to amuse, sadden, and, more importantly, enlighten.
The five-part series was a sequel to an earlier play of the author's - 'The Black Stuff' - in which a group of Liverpool men - Yosser Hughes ( Bernard Hill ), Loggo Lomond ( Alan Igbon ), Dixie Dean ( Tom Georgeson ), Chrissie Todd ( Michael Angelis ) and George Malone ( Peter Kerrigan ) - travel to Middlesborough to lay tarmac on a new housing estate. A pair of rogues offer them a tempting deal - tarmac a farmer's drive on the firm's time and using its tools. Sensing a chance to make easy money, they do this ( without Dixie's knowledge ), only to be ripped off and worse, caught by their boss ( David Calder ), who then sacks them.
Two years later, the Middlesborough experience has left the boys in serious financial trouble, which is why a couple have taken to 'moonlighting' - claiming the dole whilst working. Dixie acts as night watchman on the docks ( turning a blind eye to all the pilfering that goes on ), while in the first episode Loggo and Chrissie help construct ( ironically ) a Labour Exchange. Their friend, Snowy Malone ( George's son ), is killed accidentally when Social Security officers raid the site. The show was a powerful depiction of ordinary, skilled men whose lives have been blighted by unemployment. So vivid and convincing was it that Norman Tebbit, then Minister of Employment in Thatcher's Government, objected. Well, he would. As Bleasdale pointed out, 'Blackstuff' concerns the consequences of unemployment, and does not blame anyone for its cause. A left-wing rant this most assuredly is not.
Each gang member had his own episode - the most memorable being 'Yosser's Story', later to represent the series in a B.B.C. retrospective in 1986. Bernard Hill bagged a B.A.F.T.A. for his electrifying portrayal of the deranged Hughes, abandoned by his wife, with no job, and left to look after three children. Everywhere he goes, he begs: "Give us a job...I can do that!". He also has a nasty habit of head butting people. It was harrowing stuff, but there was humour too, most notably his encounter with Graeme Souness at a charity event. Tom Georgeson's 'Dixie Dean' was equally moving. The Middlesbrough experience has made him bitter, refusing to speak to his former friends. In the episode 'Moonlighter', his wife is besieged in her home by Social Security officers posing as callers, and her terror is palpable. David Fleeshman's black-leather jacket wearing Social Security officer would be enough to give anyone nightmares. Also impressive are Jean Boht as the D.H.S.S. clerk and Julie Walters as Chrissie's wife 'Angie'.
The last episode - 'George's Last Ride' - featured one of television's greatest moments. Looking out across the Mersey, a terminally ill George Malone uttered a final cry of despair: "I can't believe that there's no hope.". There was to be no happy ending; the shot of Chrissie, Loggo and Yosser aimlessly walking off to an uncertain future said it all.
The series struck a chord with the public, won numerous awards, and was repeated several times. Today it is remembered as an important social document from a time when when unemployment was out of control and the Government of the day heartlessly told claimants to 'get on their bikes and look for work'. That Justin Lee Collins apparently considers 'The A-Team' to be 'the best series of the '80's' beggars belief. Nearly thirty years after its first broadcast, 'Blackstuff' still has the capacity to amuse, sadden, and, more importantly, enlighten.