Stars: Christopher Eccleston, Peter Vaughan, Gina McKee, Daniel Craig, Mark Strong, Alun Armstrong, David Bradley, Malcolm McDowell, Freda Dowie

Summary: A chronicle of the lives of four Geordie friends; Nicky, Mary, Tosker and Geordie. Winner of the 1996 BAFTA for Best Drama Serial and Gina McKee won the 1996 BAFTA for Best Television Actress.

This nine-part miniseries follows the lives of four Newcastle friends--Nicky (Christopher Eccleston), Mary (Gina McKee), Geordie (Daniel Craig), and Tosker (Mark Strong)--from 1964 to 1995. The highly acclaimed production also features Malcolm McDowell, David Bradley, and many other familiar faces.

WIN DVDs by rating this DVD

Average User Rating:

WIN DVDS by being amongst the first to review this DVD. Reviewing DVDs earns you bonus entries and lets you WIN DVDs!Please login before reviewing this DVD. If you're a new user, register for free and enter to WIN FREE DVDs!

An epic saga stretching from 1964 to 1995, Our Friends in the Northfollows the lives of four young people in North-East England. Nicky Hutchinson (Christopher Eccleston) is initially courting Mary Soulsby (Gina McKee) but the relationship cools when it takes second place to his campaigning for Harold Wilson's Labour Party. She weds Tory Tosker Cox instead, but their marriage is a miserable one, living in a rot-infested high rise block built following a dubious new housing scheme. Meanwhile, "Geordie" Peacock, finally tiring of his drunken, abusive father, headbutts him and hitches down to London, where he ends up working for a surrogate "family" led by Malcolm McDowell's flash Soho sex club baron.

Over the years, the paths of these characters intertwine, diverge then cross again, albeit occasionally stretching the bounds of plausible coincidence. The drama takes place against the backdrop of local authority and police corruption in the 60s, the radical far-left militancy of the early 70s, Thatcher's election, the 1984 miner's strike and the subsequent "murder" of Northern communities. What's brilliant about Our Friendsis its melding of the personal and the political, with the soap opera of family estrangement played out against a backdrop of social decline. Peter Vaughn, playing Nicky's Dad as a former Jarrow marcher stricken by Alzheimer's, is especially poignant. If you didn't see this the first time, do so now.

On the DVD:Our Friends in the Northhas a bonus disc featuring a discussion with writer Peter Flannery and the producers and directors in which the making of the programme is revealed to have been as epic and protracted a saga as the drama itself. There are interviews also with stars Christopher Eccleston and Gina McKee. --David Stubbs

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Interviews - 1. Christopher Eccleston - Star, 2. Gina McKee - Star, 3. Cast, Stills Gallery, Filmographies
Year:	1996
Release Date:	August 19, 2002
Runtime:	623 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	74321 94114 9
Label:	B B C
Keywords:	Friends, Our, General, Four, North, Tv, Drama, Discs
Genre:	Drama