John Bardon
In 1971 Salford fish-and-chip shop owner George Khan expects his family to follow his strict Pakistani Muslim ways. But his children, with an English mother and having been born and brought up in Britain, increasingly see themselves as British and start to reject their father's rules on dress, food, religion, and living in general.
Jessie Fielding is a young MP who is trying to get an anti-hunting bill through the two Houses of Parliament, which is a little surprising as she hunted as a teenager with friend Barb Gale. Matters are complicated when she rekindles her friendship with Barb, who still works for a hunt. The plot thickens further when it becomes aparent that the House of Lords is likely break with convention and block the bill, an event which the Prime Minister hopes to use for his own ends.
Get Back is a British sitcom written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran that ran for two series between 1992 and 1993. It followed the Sweet family, led by father Martin, played by Ray Winstone, a self-made man who lost his money in the recession of the early 1990s and has to downsize, moving in with his father in a council flat. It is notable for the early appearance of Kate Winslet, who played one of the family's daughters. The series title, the character names and the titles of each episode were all inspired by Beatles songs.
This one-off was shown on ITV in 1991, and by different writers, then the original Talbot Rothwell & Sid Colin. In my opinion a brilliant come-back for Howerd, with a new cast, and funny script. This could have seen a good return as a series on ITV, although Howerds own death in 1992 limited this. The cast in this one-off feature some regulars from other sitcoms from the 1970's including Roy Evans who now stars in Eastenders. The set was more like a theatre than a TV set, no reality at all which, was actually quite a good move. In summing up they successfully bought a true classic back to life with Further Up Pompeii. It's well worth watching at least 2.
Set in a commercial radio station in an enterprise zone called ‘Riverside’, Thin Air involved property development on a massive scale, the disruption and forced exodus of a local community, the stripping away of local authority powers, left-wing activism, designer drugs, media hacks.
When a humorous script-reader in her New York apartment sees an ad in the Saturday Review of Literature for a bookstore in London that does mail order, she begins a very special correspondence and friendship with Frank Doel, the bookseller who works at Marks & Co., 84 Charing Cross Road.
The everyday lives of working-class residents of Albert Square, a traditional Victorian square of terrace houses surrounding a park in the East End of London's Walford borough.
When Pericles discovers the dread answer to Antioch's riddle, he flees for his life straight into famine, shipwreck, love, fatherhood, and another shipwreck; he loses his wife and daughter, and doesn't find them again until the story moves us through resurrection, attempted murder, pirates, prostitution, and divine revelation.
Up the Elephant and Round the Castle was an ITV sitcom which aired from 1983 to 1985, starring comedian Jim Davidson, who played the role of Jim London. The show spawned a sequel, Home James, which was also made by Thames Television. Home James ran from 1987 to 1990. "Up the Elephant and Round the Castle" also gave early exposure to Anita Dobson. The show was made for the ITV network by Thames Television.
Johnny Jarvis and Alan Lipton are two teenagers in their final year of secondary school at a comprehensive in Hackney in 1977. Energetic, anxious and occasionally naïve, the unlikely pair are on the brink of entering the adult world of the late '70s and early '80s when prospects are slim.
Two evacuated children in wartime rural England find two German airmen hiding out in the woods. An adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's 1977 novel from writer/director John Krish .
The horse Gay Future is at the centre of an Irish betting syndicate in 1974 which saw trainer Antony Collins present a poor performing horse at his stables. The betting stakes were subsequently raised, before the real horse was entered in the race.
John Thaw plays Vinny Mathews a small time boxing promoter who struggles with his conscience as to whether or not to provide a fighter for a Sporting Club promotion, a fighter he knows is unfit against an opponent who is way out of his league. However Mathews needs sponsorship and this would be the ideal opportunity to mix with the "frilly shirted" sportsmen who enjoy their lavish lifestyle as fighters slug it out as the steak is served!
