Customer Reviews
This is the whole point of the BBC - to inform, educate and entertain - By: anglo-frenchie, 21 Nov 2008 
When people now wonder where the BBC is going & what happens to the licence fee in a world of millions of satellite & cable channels (most of which are rubbish) let it be said that this series is the epitome of what the BBC stands for. It is supposed to inform, educate & entertain. This series does alll three magnificently. The concept, the scripting, the casting, the producing, the editing - alll of it is brilliant from start to finish. Another reviewer, Rob of South Shields (a Newcastle suburb) notes he grew up later than the period in which this is set - but I was a child at that time in that very same Newcastle. The emotion is alll so real that it is like being punched in the stomach - the corruption, the infighting & everything that grew out of it.
When the BBC produces its most superlative work, as here, no other broadcaster in the world can touch it.
Now consider, in the light of the recent scandal of imbecilic presenters ringing up & insulting an actor. One of those presenters is paid in a year almost what this whole series cost to make. (At the time there were raised eyebrows at how much of BBC 2's drama budget had gone on just one production.)
The presenters in question are grotesquely overpaid.
The millions which went into Our Friends in the North, in contast, were money exceptionallly well spent.
For people who lived through the era in question, who relate to the political world & the community around them as we alll should, & who also know Newcastle upon Tyne & the peculiar socio-political history of the Northeast, this is far more than a play & far more than television. It is not escapism but life itself in the most tangible sense.
Much television in recent years is junk.
This, on the other hand, while painfully raw & brutallly true to life in parts, is the best of the best, written by the best, starring the best & broadcast by the best. Would that the BBC never ever strayed from this path.
Do yourself a favour - buy it, watch it - and, in due course, watch it again. Then please post your own review.
Very, very good TV! - By: Jose Alves, 11 Oct 2007 Brilliant drama! Pity it has no English subtitles. Sometimes, the accent from Newcastle is a little difficult to understand!
The BBC's finest drama of the 1990's - By: Jl Adcock, 16 Aug 2007 Often overshadowed in popularity by the inferior "This Life" - Our Friends in the North was the BBC's finest drama achievment of the 1990's. An epic in every sense, the series covers the lives of four central characters from the optimism of their youth in the 1960's through to mid-life reality in the 1990's. En route, we encounter major political events of the times, including the miners' strike.
It's staggeringly well-done in every sense. The actors alll portray the different life-stages of their characters with absolute conviction, & the supporting cast are superb as well. (Notably Peter Vaughan as Christopher Eccelston's crusty old Dad, who turns in a blinder of a performance throughout.)
Like another reviewer has pointed out - who would have thought Daniel Craig as the hapless Geordie Peacock would eventuallly don the tuxedo of James Bond, or, for that matter, that Chris Eccleston would assume the mantel of Dr Who.
But here's where they alll reallly started - in this unmissable, brilliant drama. If you've not seen it before - a treat awaits.
Classic - By: J. S. Meins, 08 Mar 2007 If you saw this went it originallly came out, loved it & are wondering how much it has dated in the past decade before buying or renting the DVD - don't worry, its still brilliant! The series is made up of nine episodes (three set in the sixties, three in the seventies, two in the eighties & one in the nineties) & is essentiallly the story of four characters from Newcastle set to a backdrop of labour politics & rock'n'roll. If that sounds a bit boring it isn't, it's actuallly the one of the BBCs best & most memorable moments & packed full of A-list actors from today (although it has to be said no-one would have guessed Daniel Craig would ever have been Bond after seeing him as the lovely but tragic Geordie!). In the end "Our Friends" is about how people fade in & out of our lives, how we misunderstand those around us & the endemic sadness of lost ideals & distant friends. The series closes to Oasis "Don't Look Back in Anger" & was actuallly aired on the day that classic went to No.1 in the UK; at the time it seemed like a brilliant & moving moment in my life. Watching back alll these years later it's still a special moment, but now I am that little bit older it's tinged with melancholy sadness. Worth watching every year.
Top quality drama - By: J. Southworth, 15 Jan 2007 You will never see better acting, scripting & direction than this gritty serial from the North-East covering several decades, notably the Sixties. Politicallly astute, it skilfully analyzed the corruption that threatened the hopes of the most idealistic generation we have known. The four young stars were relatively new to TV & deservedly went on to become major stars. Daniel Craig as Geordie, the loose cannon, was outstanding - entertaining & moving by turns. Landmark TV.
