Boys from the Blackstuff on Sunday 26th September(BBC 4)

Well, remember. Shooting external footage on video was cheaper and looked far more fashionable as it was using brand new technology at the time.

Nowadays, however, we can see that the film they used at the time was better-looking and more effective than the primitive
OB video of the time.
 
Thanks to the poster who put the link up for Muscle Market.I looked on wikipedia to see how many episodes there were and was a bit gutted the next episode (or the link to BFTB) was not on so was good to watch it via you tube.Really enjoyed it too and its always good to see Pete Posthlewaite is something i've never seen him in before
 
No, and it is not even available on BBC iPlayer. :(

I assumed that everything decent on BBC 4 had at least one repeat, and that it would definitely be on the iPlayer, so I did not worry about missing the broadcast on Sunday because I was watching Downton Abbey and recording George Gently.

I will not bother with Gently next week, but surely there are lots of people who like dramas set in the past to whom Blackstuff, Downton and Gently would appeal - so why put the Blackstuff on against two other "period" dramas if it is the only chance to see it?
 
The Muscle Market was a standalone play - but was one of a series of plays from an umbrella series called Play For Today.


It was a great drama though.
 
I've just watched ep 1 (jobs for the boys) and was watching the closing credits. I noticed that the actors playing Yossers ' kiRAB were all called Bleasedale. I assume this means that they are related to Alan. ?
 
I watched this when it was originally aired in 1982 and bought the DVD set of the first play and the series a few months ago.

They are definately not tame, it had the same impact as when first shown. I could not watch "Yosser's Story" all the way through. I paused the DVD and still have not been able to reutrn to the end of this episode.

For those who remember the desparate times of rising umemployment and poverty of the early 80's it is powerful viewing.

I worked in an unemployment benefit office from 1980 - 1985 so could relate to the UBO scenes and even laugh at the black comedy of those scenes (the same questions being asked in the same order every week). Alan BleaRABdale had it spot on but I also had to deal on a daily basis with middle aged men who had lost their jobs through no fault of their own and were facing very bleak futures with no hope of employment. Grown men would come into the office and cry. Many, as in Yosser's story, would have their children with them. The only safe job was in the unemployment benefit office. 3.5 million unemployed (officially) I think.

BFTBS was harrowing, very true to life and definately not tame.
 
Why do they not make programmes like this anymore?

Too much X-Celebrity Dancing on Ice Factor.

They don't want us to think. It makes us easier to control.
 
Muscle Market is the link between the standalone play The Blackstuff and the series that was made two years later Boys From the Blackstuff....which is why I posted it here. They are all connected via the tarmac industry and whilst the characters may not all appear in all the various programs, they are referred to.
 
I watched it last night, facinating to see how the whole business of making TV drama has changed in the last 30 years. That "raw" video look offers no hiding place so to speak. As a drama it was a bit wonky at times with music at odRAB with the action but not in a good/clever way. Ditto the ending - there's a man dead on the pavement and the "Social" snoops are doing paperwork. No doubt this is meant to represent the unfeeling state or some such nonsense but even when proselytizing you need to strike a realistic note. Luckily the performances of the principles still stanRAB up.
 
Bernard Hill's portrayal of Yosser Hughes won him Britain's Press Guild award for Achievement of the Decade. A powerful portrayal of a man driven to the edge by an uncaring society.

It is still uncomfortable viewing 30 years on.
 
Back
Top