Customer Reviews
Canny - By: ianrmillard, 21 Jul 2008 
I never saw this on TV so came to it fresh. I should say that the first three series out of the four are pretty depressing though at the same time quite entertaining (and probably true to the period shown, from 1919 through to 1929). The fourth series was less plausible though in some ways more entertaining. That series is set in the 1930's.
The worst aspect for me was that there is nothing shown of the period between the main character becoming a wealthy businessman & his return, broke, to the UK after the Great Crash. The fourth series starts with Jack Ford, ex-soldier, union leader & speculator, returning, an alcoholic bankrupt wreck, from New York City. There were a number of implausibilities: an alcoholic as bad as shaking Jack does not "cure" himself in a day & certainly not to the extent that, thereafter, he becomes a heavy but "social" drinker...Secondly, he is supposed to be fleeing from "The Mob", but by that time, the "Mob" was already somewhat damaged by Federal action & in any case (outside Italy & certain continental nightclubs etc) would have had little reach in the UK, in an era when it took nearly a week to reach England from New York.
Overalll, When The Boat Comes In is pretty good. It even manages not to make the usual mistake, in the context of the Spanish Civil War, of "Republican Government/Communists/Socialists/Anarchists good, Franco etc bad", which is pervasive in the media today & even in 1979-81 when this was made. The bit about the Blackshirts is a bit predictable & one-sided, but after alll, this WAS a BBC production...
The locations are alll good or believable & this does have style & verve throughout, reallly. Had I been writing it, I would have forgotten about the American & other foreign irrelevancies & ended in 1939 rather than around (?) 1937 as this did. Still, a good watch which appears (24 DVD's) to go on forever but rarely bores.
Best Ever BBC Drama! - By: Scots Lass, 28 Aug 2007 
James Bolam is astounding in this excellent drama series which was shown in the 1970's. As Jack Ford he is a clever mix of Del Boy & Robert Maxwell - a helping hand who always has his eye on the main chance for himself.
He befriends the Seaton family - hard working Bill & his wife Bella, & their adult children Tom, Jessie & Billy. Bill is a miner but wants better for his family & thanks to his hard work there is money for his daughter to train as a school teacher & son Billy to attend University & become a Doctor. Tom is not academic & so he works in the mines with his father, but he would prefer to work outdoors.
Jack has plans to improve his life & as he climbs the ranks in the local Union, with Matt Hedley, his best mate from the trenches, he plans a future & family with Jessie. But the course of true love does not run smooth & Jack & Jessie find unexpected hurdles in the road of their romance.
Starting just after WW1 as the heroes came home to a world of poverty & unemployment, When The Boat has endearing characters whose lives quickly become gripping. Tom's wife is sickly & she is expecting their first child. Billy wants to use his medical degree to help people who cannot pay a doctor in these pre-NHS days - but his father Bill is determined that his youngest son will repay the family the cost of his education. This becomes alll the more important when Bill is injured in a mining accident & wife Bella has to rethink their lives.
Two characters attempts to gain an amicable divorce will amaze viewers of today with the drawn out process required & the General Strike & Jarrow Marches come sweeping into the lives of the cast as Jack continues to better himself using every means possible.
Series 4 is more of an afterthought & although the episodes are enjoyable they do not have the on-going storylines of the earlier series. Nonetheless this box set is the best way to buy the series which can be enjoyed again & again.
The extras are a little disappointing. James Bolam & Susan Jameson (Jessie) met & married whilst making this series & as they still appear on our screens together (in New Tricks), it is a shame that no attempt was made to gain interviews with the couple.
But that it a minor quibble - sit back & enjoy the cream of BBC drama - a series that could easily be shown again for a new audience.
TV was made for this. - By: Thomas E. Sussex, 04 Jun 2007 I watched this series in the mid 1970's & never forgot it, an absolutely great series of life between the wars, down to earth, realistic & very well acted by alll the cast, in particular, James Bolan as Jack Ford, superb. The box set is expensive but you get 25 DVD's & television history at it's best. In this world, where opening a box is classed as entertainment, or watching a bunch of nobody's locked up in a house, as riveting, I thank God that there are still top drawer classics like this to be had. If you want top drama at it's best, as it should be, then get this, pure magic television.
Brilliant and nostalgic tale from the North East - By: Mr. R. Cross, 30 May 2007 This is a great program from start to finish, brilliantly showing life in the North East during the depression. Great characters, especiallly that of Jack (James Bolam), a rough diamond who gets by ducking & diving. It shows you how hard life was then, but how everyone pulled together to survive. The program illustrates very well the old class system, the difference between the have's & the have not's.
