Was about 20 minutes at the end of what I think was the last episode.
There was a guy in a pub shaking peoples' hands and they let him do it even though they knew he'd crush their hands. There was another guy in a cheap tuxedo whistling and also the husband from 'Barbara' providing some simple minded social commentary while slowly getting drunk.
It was AWFUL!!! Please tell me the rest of the series was better than this...
No it wasn't better, in fact most of it was worse.
It was all about unemployed people being miserable, and not working, and it had lots of left wing philosophy, and a guy who went around headbutting people.
And it was full of Scallies, and a guy shoots his pets.
It's main fault was it presented a heartbreakingly relistic picture of the times, and was an accurate portrait of then working class Britain.
Don't bother watching it, you wouldn't enjoy it.
Stick with "Friends" or "Ugly Betty."
OK you're having a dig here... I don't watch programmes simply because I hope to enjoy them and see a rose tinted view of the world. Nor do I want to have someone's politics rammed down my throat in such a crude, simplistic way; I loved Our Friends in the North, perhaps because it avoided this stunt.
I haven't seen much of this programme, I caught the end of it and it was described but those I saw it with (who HAD seen the whole thing) that this was by far the weakest part of the story. I don't know much about the story and I intend to watch the rest asap. However, this much I do know...
I remember the years that immediately followed this story and this is NOT an accurate portrayal of working class Britain. It was a difficult time for everyone. Some people struggled and got on with it, there were others who claimed the benefits they were entitled to yet took cash in hand jobs and ever so sensibly spent that money down the pub.
I've struggled to find work, lost jobs and had to deal with it and it was VERY difficult so I can relate to these experiences. Everyone I knew overcame these issues by holding on to what they had, spending money on what was most important (i.e. not booze, thus avoiding Liverpool's answer to Mr Shake-Hands-Man) and working hard to improve their situation.
Hopefully when I've seen the whole thing, I'll have a much more positive view of the programme. But I can't get away from the fact that what I saw left an unpleasant taste in my mouth and it was not from witnessing the circumstances of the main characters. I didn't like what I saw and I hope that what went before it will be a little less preachy and a more accurate reflection of how most people dealt with these difficult times.
Ok, what you saw was 20 minutes of the end of one of five 50 minute programs.
You did not get the character development nor the atmosphere created by the build up.
I lived through those times, was made redundant twice in 1980, and scraped by.
It was the reality for some of us.
If you too lived through this period of unemployment in the UK, how come you missed what was , and still is, considered one of the most important dramas of the period?
The series was so successful upon its original broadcast that only nine weeks after it had finished transmission, it was re-shown on BBC 1. So it was shown twice within a short period.
So you're using the fact that I haven't seen this programme to question whether I was around to experience the unemployment of the time??
That's a very slim argument you're attempting there that I really can't be bothered with.
As I've already said, I'm giving my impression of one piece of the series having admitted that's it's a small part of the whole.
I hope when I see the whole thing, I'll think more highly of it.
So you're using the fact that I haven't seen this programme to question whether I was around to experience the unemployment of the time??
If you too lived through this period of unemployment in the UK, how come you missed what was , and still is, considered one of the most important dramas of the period?
Ermmmm because I didn't watch it is the obvious answer and my job situation had nothing to do with whether or not I saw it so I still can't see your point.
In any case, I've said all along that I was referring to one small part of the programme and admitted that I hadn't seen the rest. I said I hoped that doing so would change my view so I wasn't making a judgement on the whole thing.
Dear DC1977 - the series is vastly overrated. The characterisation is full of special pleading for characters who are actually a pretty dreary lot, unemployed or not, and Bleasdale's writing is slow, on-the-nose and over-emphatic much of the time.
"This Backwards Day a lot of *beep* ain't it? " - Desperate Living
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