One Summer

I totally agree with the other user comments about One Summer. It made a huge impact to all my peers growing up as we did - in Liverpool - hours of discussion followed the next day at school.

What was even more unusual at the time, was a drama on TV that had young scousers in it!(TV was a very different place in the early 80's you see - dominated by 'proper' accents and everything).

I found it very powerful - and you just knew that David Morrisey was going to go far. A memorable performance by both the main leads, and I was interested to find out that Ian Hart was in it too! Brilliant stuff by Willy Russell.

If only UK TV produced this quality now instead of reality TV rubbish...

Just wish I could see it again...

This and a very young Kenneth Branagh in The Boy In The Bush we're landmark quality one off mini series everyone talked about.

I watched this series when it was first broadcast back in the 80s. I was a similar age to the main protagonists at the time so the themes struck a real chord with me. Although I am not from the Merseyside area I felt an affinity with the boy's characters with their desire to escape normality to seek adventure and excitement, I also recognised their angst with British society. I still reminisce about this series 40 odd years later and have very fond memories of the outstanding performances by the young actors. This series in my opinion was the early landmark series for British television in the 80s.

I can't begin to describe the effect this series had on me when it first aired in the mid-80's and has continued to have on me since.

Having recently purchased on DVD and re-watched a whole wave of thoughts and feelings (old and new) raced through my mind. Many things in this world don't age well but I feel 'One Summer' (With the obvious exception of the 80's clothing) is certainly not one of them. Is just as realistic, funny, sad, touching and ultimately rewarding as I remember it. Only this time watching through the eyes of a 35 year old it seems even more poignant.

The Story of Billy and Icky, 2 Liverpool lads from the wrong side of the tracks who escape to Wales one summer, seemed almost embedded into my life over the last twenty or so years. It seemed to be one of those series that the kids who saw it got to grips with very easily and often chatted about at school and yet it seemed to address some very adult and serious subjects possibly for the first time for many of us.

Reading the other comments on this site, its interesting to see how much of an impact it had on everyone of a certain era. TV dramas like these come along once in a blue moon and its bizarre how certain things (Jumping off the train when they reach Wales, Icky's plate-skimming antics, or the lads shear horror at being taking to the village country dance) were stuck in my memory. But there were many very touching and genuinely sad moments I had forgotten, like when they fed the mars bar to the baby birds, or when Kidder gave the boys the books he has written for them.

Now re-watching this series through the eyes of an adult I can see the various subjects and themes that were important but perhaps I didn't fully understand when I was 11....that now make more sense. For example I simply thought the character of Kidda wanted a life of solitude but in light of the pain he has been through in his past life you can practically see the anguish on his face that he doesn't want the boys to live there when Billy begs him to stay, because he knows the implications it will bring. Or the way Icky hangs on everything Billy says and does, as if he were his guardian angel, we all knew kids a bit like Icky growing up.

I had seen David Morrissey (Billy) in a number of things over the years and knew he had gone on to big things in Hollywood etc. but I had often wondered what happened to Spencer Leigh (Icky). It was a real pleasure watching the interview with them both on the special features. I actually found I was smiling to myself when I got to see Icky in the flesh - as he did finally get to grow up.

I am sure I am not alone in the tremendous feeling of sadness with what happens to Icky half way through the final episode. That had a profound shock then and still does now.

So in a way I felt comforted to see Spencer Leigh well again and laughing with his old pal. This might sound 'soft' as the boys would say but it indicates the lasting effect this series had on my psyche and growing up in general.

As one other reviewer on this site comments, they don't often make TV as good as this anymore - and indeed they hardly don't. See it again.

I received my copy of this DVD direct from Network DVD and what a superb package. The commentaries from David, Spencer and Ian were very informative and nostalgic in their content. What made this extra special was that I missed the final episode when it was first shown so I've waited 20+ years to see it and it was well worth the wait. The locations, the way that it was filmed and the atmospheric lighting was excellent. It really highlighted the tragic lives of these youngsters growing up in such a deprived environment. I am sure that there would have been scope for a follow up to see if Billy made anything of his life and whether he returned to Wales. If only there were more dramas of this quality on television today.