IMDb > "Boys from the Blackstuff" (1982)

"Boys from the Blackstuff" (1982) More at IMDbPro »TV mini-series

Overview

User Rating:
8.9/10   379 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 9% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Contact:
View company contact information for Boys from the Blackstuff on IMDbPro.
Seasons:
1 full episode list
Release Date:
10 October 1982 (UK) more
Genre:
Drama more
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
6 wins & 5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Goodbye Toronto: Fish Tank and Le Refuge
 (From FilmExperience. 21 September 2009, 9:56 AM, PDT)
Bleasdale writes WW2 drama for BBC Two
 (From digitalspy. 17 July 2008, 11:44 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
I can't believe there's no hope left more (13 total)

Cast

 (Series Cast Summary - 10 of 16)
Michael Angelis ... Chrissie Todd (5 episodes, 1982)

Bernard Hill ... Yosser Hughes (5 episodes, 1982)
Alan Igbon ... Loggo Lomond (5 episodes, 1982)
Peter Kerrigan ... George Malone (5 episodes, 1982)
Gary Bleasdale ... Kevin Dean (3 episodes, 1982)
Tom Georgeson ... Dixie Dean (3 episodes, 1982)
Tamana Bleasdale ... Anne Marie Hughes (3 episodes, 1982)
Jamie Bleasdale ... Dustin Hughes (3 episodes, 1982)
Timothy Bleasdale ... Jason Hughes (3 episodes, 1982)
Shay Gorman ... Malloy (3 episodes, 1982)
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
50 min (5 episodes)
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Filming Locations:
Dingle, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK more
Company:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Yosser's children were played by Alan Bleasdale's children, while Dixie's son Kev was played by Bleasdale's cousin Gary Bleasdale. more
Quotes:
Yosser Hughes: You're Graham Souness... you look like me. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in "Tory! Tory! Tory!" (2006) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
13 out of 13 people found the following comment useful.
I can't believe there's no hope left, 2 October 2001
Author: hamactor from Kettering, UK

When Bleasdale's original one-off play "The Black Stuff" received critical acclaim in 1980, the BBC approached the writer to expand his ideas into a mini-series of five 50 minute episodes. The result was "Boys From The Blackstuff". Each episode focuses in on the life of a different character (Snowy, Tommy, Chrissy, Yosser, George) and winds even tighter knots of anguish around their desperate struggles to find work in Liverpool, 1982, as well as starkly portraying the devastating effects of unemployment on their domestic lives (and mental health). In the first episode "Jobs For The Boys", Snowy Malone, a committed socialist and workers' revolutionary activist, tells of his inner struggles to maintain his beliefs amongst his workmates, whose understandable need for money forces them to forego their principles. Snowy dies tragically whilst fleeing the pursuing DHSS officials from the dole office. (Bleasdale's portrayal of the devious tactics of the DOE was actually very close to real life, and not at all fantastic or overplayed). More DHSS v. Claimant stuff ensued in ep. 2 "Moonlighter", wher Tommy, a decent down to earth family man, is forced to take part in a robbery while working nights as a security guard on a cargo ship. The unbearable tensions of trying to keep his family together wear away at Tommy's nerves, and the episode realistically shows the awful effects of unemployment on the family. Tommy ends up crying silently, knowing that he has in fact been degraded and dehumanised by his predicament. (I forgot to tape ep.3 "Shop Thy Neighbour", which focuses on Chrissy, so I haven't seen that one, and can't comment on it). The last two episodes are by far, the real masterpieces. Nothing can prepare the viewer to witness the sheer descent to rock-bottom which faces Yosser Hughes (brilliantly played by Bernard Hill). Yosser, a weak and flawed young man, has his home and his dearly loved children mercilessly snatched from him as his finances crumble, and ends up on the streets, clinging painfully to his washed out dream of "being someone". This is very bleak viewing indeed, but the despair is counterpointed by moments of sharp, surreal, mocking black humour. This episode surely ranks as one of the finest fifty minutes you'll ever have the privelige to spend sitting in front of the box. The superb high quality and surreal sense of resignation/defeat/humour carries on into the final episode "George's Last Ride". George Malone, ex-docker, socialist/Labour activist, political icon to a generation of workers, and symbol of an earlier era fast fading, is terminally ill. Yet still the fire of hope burns bright within him, hope for a better time, a better deal for his class. We see George's body grow weaker, as his inner spirit remains strong. He reminisces about the old days at the docks, where the workers stood shoulder to shoulder, fighting for better conditions. George breathes his last, after a passionate final cry of hope....and thos e left behind seem to realise that his passing represents the death of all that he stood for. After the emotional funeral, we cut to the utterly surreal insanity of the local pub, filled with crazy characters, the victims of unemployment, trying to drink themselves into oblivion. (This pub scene is truly unforgettable). Yosser, Chrissy and (? - sorry, forgot his character name!) exit the pub and drift aimlessly down the street, as age-old factories are being demolished on either side... "Boys from the Blackstuff" remains one of the most important and enduring TV programmes ever made in Britain, and the last two episodes (at least) can rightly be called masterpieces of television drama.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (13 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for "Boys from the Blackstuff" (1982)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
The Original 'Blackstuff' malo-14
Song search: New Wave song in the girl's room? globalplayer
Loggo Pipnick
The kid with the airgun in Yosser's story showerheadsuk
This is how it was... johnmorley44
Available in the US? chrisjac
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Priest Liam Limelight Swimming Upstream "Oliver Twist"
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Episode guide Full cast and crew Company credits
External reviews News articles IMDb TV section
IMDb Drama section IMDb UK section Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.

You may add a new episode for this TV series by clicking the 'add episode' button