Our Friends In The North: The Complete Series

One of the landmark shows of the 1990s, Our Friends In The North is a prime example of "they don't make 'em like they used to" television.

A vision of the political and social landscape of England spread over the years 1964-1995, it can now be looked back upon for the coup of gathering a cast that would now cost a small fortune to reassemble. The friends of the title are Dominic "Nicky" Hutchinson, George "Geordie" Peacock, Terry "Tosker" Cox and Mary Soulsby. Their four stories intertwine over the three decades as we follow blossoming young friendships in the 1960s and watch them develop through to the disillusionment of the mid-90s, particularly focusing on the bleakness of the 1980s and the miners' strike.

The series itself, the brainchild of writer Peter Flannery, began life as a stage play that was mounted by the Royal Shakespeare Company, but owing to the BBC's fear of litigation due to the use of real-life political figures and issues, it was shelved from the production roster until a suitable distance from the memories of the events had elapsed. However, to a degree this benefited the production immensely since it enabled the superb cast to fall into place.

Nicky (Christopher Ecclestone), recently returned from the States having found his political voice by championing the burgeoning civil rights movement there, drops out of Manchester University and begins work for corrupt local politician Austin Donohue, much to his girlfriend Mary's (Gina McKee) chagrin. His best friend Geordie meanwhile (Daniel Craig) is trying to kick start a career in the music industry with his layabout friend Tosker (Mark Strong).

There's quite a formulaic structure to the episodes, whereby if we find ourselves in a certain year we can pretty much intuit what the social background of the episode will be. However, the scope of the show rides this minor criticism out, while cameos from the like of Malcolm McDowell, David Bradley and Tony Haygarth all make for the most solid of supporting casts.

Craig especially reveals great untapped potential as he demonstrates little of the gruffness that has informed his later work, though Strong is underused at times and once he becomes a cuckolded husband shows little opportunity to flex his undoubted skills. Contrary to placing Craig front and centre on the DVD cover, the series belongs to McKee and Ecclestone as the pathos of their characters cries longingly over the decades. The final episode in particular is quite unforgettable.



Released on DVD on 27th September 2010 by Simply Media Limited.

Reviewed by Simon Cole.