Boys from the Blackstuff

This series is being reshown on T.V. at the moment and it reminds one on how drama should be made. True the subject matter about poverty and unemployment in 80's Britain was a strong one for the writer,producer,director& actors to rise to. But they do it with the peak of professionalism,realism & creativity, seldom seen in more recent T.V. ( or Film for that matter ) output.

All the episodes which make up the series really move the watcher even today and it sends echoes out to everyone living in 90's Britain towards the turn of the century where some similar themes as explored in this piece are still more than ever relevant today.

This series is a brilliant insight to the devastation of Liverpool during the 80's it shows the hardship of job seekers and the many people who went through these times unemployed and deprived of their jobs and their futures where therefore destroyed by the high level of Unemployement during this period the five episodes are all written with a hilarious wit and a brilliant raw expression of life during this time that will make you laugh cry and feel for the characters and their situations the most touching story is Yossers Story it is brilliant and well written with a sense of comedy throughout although the results are upsetting. Yosser Hughes the Liverpool lad with his three Children alone living in a squalor he is desperate for a companion and finds himself alone when his wife tells social services of her torment suffered at the hands of Yosser (This a complete lie Yosser would not hurt his children or his wife) so they take his children and evict him he is beaten by the brutal Police who feel no remorse after they beat him to a pulp in his bare living room then he is left alone in the house desperate for work he tries to find a job at various areas of work but is never successful and in the end he is arrested and tries to drown himself to escape the life he has bean given. The brilliance within the series is the ability to upset you and make you laugh at the same time and finally realise the severity of unemployment during this period the whole series is absolutely brilliant and should be viewed by all because it is an outstanding look at life the history of a time in which Liverpool suffered the most and is an outstanding portrait of life a ten out of ten experience you will never forget

Boys from the Black Stuff is more than just a story. It's a snapshot of a special time in a special place. Liverpool in the 1980's could be a bleak and despairing place, with only the common threads of unemployment and humour keeping spirits alive. The story centres on the struggle of a ragged band of workers trying to make ends meet. On the way we see scams, subterfuge, corruption and the ongoing battle between the workers and the 'sniffers' (welfare benefit fraud investigators).

The locations are superb, painting a grisly accurate portrait of the time, with much of the filming done in Liverpool 8.

The language and dialogue also help capture the spirit of the time, with idiomatic 'scouse' used without apology.

Perhaps the best summary of the whole series is encapsulated in a line from the opening scenes in the first episode. Whilst establishing the number of dependents a claimant has, he is told that his grown up children who are 'on the dole' don't count. His response: "Nobody on the dole counts,love".

Recently released on dvd, this series is a documented history of the sharp end of 'Thatcher's Millions' - watch it if you can.

Alan Bleasdale's defining production. Almost unbearably tragic characters, yet Bleasdale manages to find the opportunity for rare wit in his dialogue. As good a T.V. series as there has ever been. Truly the work of a genius.

TV executives could do with watching this masterpiece, in the hope that they remember that not all British TV dramas have to be set in a hospital or a police station......And they don't have to be sh*t either. Boys... had top scripts, top acting and even the BBC weather forecast camerawork gives it an unparralelled sense of authenticity. Pure quality.