London's Burning

As it says in the title, London's Burning was one of the greatest drama's to appear on British television. It's mixture of gritty realism and humour made it one of the staples of ITV and was compulsive Sunday night viewing. Action packed story lines and superb acting ensured, in it's heyday, that viewing ratings were in excess of 18-19 million each episode. There were some bad points about the show, namely characters being alive and well at the end of a series, and in the next one not being there at all with no mention of them or explanation to where they went. E:g Carole Webb (Zoé Heyes), Rob Sharpe (Connor Lee). This was reinforced in 1998 when the show had it's first revamp with new opening titles and theme tune. Oh and Jim Alexander joined as well :P (!) Story lines changed and the programme was more focused on the personal lives of the characters (Chris Hammond's gambling debts, Jack's divorce and mental breakdown) Added to that in 2001 Richard Walsh (Sicknote) who was the only original character from the movie/pilot episode was killed off and that left Glen Murphy (George Green) as the only original character from the 1988 series when it first started. 2002 was the final straw as story lines were more sexual and unbelievable (A satellite was going to fall from Outer Space and crush London (!) (!) ) London's Burning was promptly axed and lets be honest, it was ITV/LWT that killed it off with it's new direction. But the show still deserves a 10/10 for the enjoyment and legacy it left behind. Oh and Jim Alexander was in the show as well...... Oh yeah I already mentioned that!! :P

After 9/11, the producers thought they could cash in on the hero status of firemen. They junked the episodes already made and remade the 2002 series - and it was rubbish! They alienated the existing fan base and failed to attrach new fans, so that it plumetted in the ratings. Yet another example of a long-running favourite being destroyed by producers who "updated" a successful favourite. ITV has done this so often, you wonder why they don't learn!

I like the series very much.. Especially the great actors and the great stunts, of course! Here in Finland we follow the series 96-97 season (after Bayleaf´s leaving and Hallam´s death)

I don't know who the target audience for this show is

One minute there is a huge explosion And lots of action

5 minutes later there is a tedious relationship scene, where the couple argue or they profess their love for each other

The rest of the episode is filled with predictable banter and dull drama , it's exactly like that awful show " where the heart is" but instead of being set up north it's in saarf landan innit

The show now seems incredibly dated, for instance whenever there is a sad scene they play slow saxophone and close-ups of the actors faces, it is this aspect of the show which ruins it for me, ITV did the same thing with minder and they ruined an amazing show.

Another really bad thing about the show is most of the main characters are identical And have no strong personalities, they are all good natured and predictable,

characters like sicknote recall and bayleaf really are completely identical

the show really needed to have a few bad firefighters to liven it up,but the director was incapable of thinking ahead, and just wanted a dull predictable series.

Just discovered the entire series on Sky, so started to watch it again. Just finished Ep 3 of Series 1 - I guess seeing it again makes me realise how much London has changed since 1987 and from when this was filmed. A lot of the acting is really wooden and poor, and the scripts focus too much on their personal lives instead of actual emergencies.

Another thing noticeable is how awfully unattractive most of the wives & girlfriends & partners of the Blue Watch firefighters are - I guess the low budget is partly to blame.

But it's also interesting to see how the London Fire Brigade evolves over the course of the series - in terms of vehicles, equipment, uniforms etc. and makes you really appreciate how hard things were for them back in those days - so kudos and hats to them - for the excellent job they did back then and they do today & everyday to keep us and London safe!