A great series, filmed in early 80's East London using young local actors, it shows a side of London not often seen on TV at the time, too grim & dangerous to film East of Oxford Street back then. Sometimes naive in places & not always exact culturally or historically, it still handles topics of the time that went unchallenged by an older generation that was too unaware or uncaring to see how they failed Generation X The much missed Farmer & underrated Hargreaves bumble thru their adolescence to adulthood & the attendant issues that go with it, underscored with a soundtrack that highlights the social & economic issues of the era. The main protagonist is split between the titular character & his nerdy neighbour & schoolmate, whose lives go on separate tangents but still somehow remain intertwined thru love, death, family & villainy whilst combating uncertain futures, race issues, gangland violence et al that was all too abundant in those pre-interweb days. It's backdrop of the lean & mean times is it's charm, it's as close to what I remember growing up in the East End & what it was like to be in & leave School during the height of Thatch's era of chaos, finding first loves of different kinds, getting & losing jobs of no consequence, encountering creative & like-minded thinking, embracing family virtues & morals whilst entering into a World of limited possibilities, watching industry decline & fail nationally & ultimately the slow, unpleasant demise of the working class Londoner. On the flip side, the latter part of the 80's gave rise to a period of DIY creativity & industry & this series shows those first early steps of a lost generation forging new & different paths as the old construct lay dying and one where Thatch & her cronies fell foul of the people & the nation. A rare gem from the BBC, from a time when they took a chance on writers.Read full review
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Filmed in Hackney 1979-1982… Lots of dilapidation before the gentrification, especially Clissold road. Gritty characters. Slow tv too. Loved watching it. I think one of the first channel 4 dramas.
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A really gritty series I can remember watching in my childhood Spot a very young Cathy Barry
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Never saw this back in the 80's...but will now!! Thank you!!
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5*****
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Superb, many thanks.
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