Given the riches on television around this time this series had a lot to live up to when it first aired in 1983/1984.
The first and most memorable series was set on a German building site and the scenes involved a POW style lodging hut to house the foreign itinerate workers.
The drama at this point largely focused on the Geordie workers hence the title and the main back stories involved the characters Dennis , Neville and Oz .
They are thrust together with a number of other workers from various parts of England and the stories around the seven of them unfold.
This series is without a doubt the most memorable and the various themes of mass unemployment are played out along with the difficulties settling in a foreign environment.
Every episode is superbly written and each character is developed throughout each episode resulting in a wonderful final episode.
I would say to anybody reading this who hasn't seen this series to go and watch It as it hasn't dated in any way shape or form.
Series 2 had a very tough act following this first series and the gap of two and a half years made it very slow going at the start.
The drama sees the lads reunite first Barry's marital home to do it up and then on to a Derbyshire mansion to spruce up the place for an old folks home.
This is being done for a local criminal who Dennis owes a large of sum of money to and he then gets the lads out to Spain to do up his Villa.
The criminal is played brilliantly by Bill Patterson who blends in so well with the group that he almost steals the show.
The story weaves along strongly especially in the final Newcastle and Spanish based episodes and again to a fantastic climax however the tragic sudden death of the actor Gary Holton whomplayed altered the script and his absence is sadly very noticeable near the end.
Is this one as good as the first , absolutely not however it is still very good despite its very sluggish start.
It has many flaws which cannot be ignored notably Oz has changed into a sanctimonious type which is something he never was in series 1. Dennis seems to also have endless money for beer and cigs and nights out despite being supposedly in massive debt to the criminal he works for .
Oz has also become a bit of a ladies man in series 2 despite the fact he must have stank to high heaven in his sweat stained filthy clothing.
Other than that the series is good and well produced and achieved huge ratings when it went out.
Series 3 which went out nearly 16 years later on the BBC is completely different and beyond comparison to the first two series.
It moves to quickly and rather than tidy up what happened at the end of series 2 dives straight in to a bizarre storyline involving the Middlesbrough transporter bridge and an Indian tribe who wish to purchase it.
The characters have altered so much that it is difficult to engage and they must have struggled to find the characters after so long .
Oz now becomes the leader which is something he never was and the other characters bar Moxey have altered so much it is very difficult to reengage with them.
The final series 3 and 4 are very difficult to follow and beyond far fetched and a far cry from the brilliance of series 1.
The first and most memorable series was set on a German building site and the scenes involved a POW style lodging hut to house the foreign itinerate workers.
The drama at this point largely focused on the Geordie workers hence the title and the main back stories involved the characters Dennis , Neville and Oz .
They are thrust together with a number of other workers from various parts of England and the stories around the seven of them unfold.
This series is without a doubt the most memorable and the various themes of mass unemployment are played out along with the difficulties settling in a foreign environment.
Every episode is superbly written and each character is developed throughout each episode resulting in a wonderful final episode.
I would say to anybody reading this who hasn't seen this series to go and watch It as it hasn't dated in any way shape or form.
Series 2 had a very tough act following this first series and the gap of two and a half years made it very slow going at the start.
The drama sees the lads reunite first Barry's marital home to do it up and then on to a Derbyshire mansion to spruce up the place for an old folks home.
This is being done for a local criminal who Dennis owes a large of sum of money to and he then gets the lads out to Spain to do up his Villa.
The criminal is played brilliantly by Bill Patterson who blends in so well with the group that he almost steals the show.
The story weaves along strongly especially in the final Newcastle and Spanish based episodes and again to a fantastic climax however the tragic sudden death of the actor Gary Holton whomplayed altered the script and his absence is sadly very noticeable near the end.
Is this one as good as the first , absolutely not however it is still very good despite its very sluggish start.
It has many flaws which cannot be ignored notably Oz has changed into a sanctimonious type which is something he never was in series 1. Dennis seems to also have endless money for beer and cigs and nights out despite being supposedly in massive debt to the criminal he works for .
Oz has also become a bit of a ladies man in series 2 despite the fact he must have stank to high heaven in his sweat stained filthy clothing.
Other than that the series is good and well produced and achieved huge ratings when it went out.
Series 3 which went out nearly 16 years later on the BBC is completely different and beyond comparison to the first two series.
It moves to quickly and rather than tidy up what happened at the end of series 2 dives straight in to a bizarre storyline involving the Middlesbrough transporter bridge and an Indian tribe who wish to purchase it.
The characters have altered so much that it is difficult to engage and they must have struggled to find the characters after so long .
Oz now becomes the leader which is something he never was and the other characters bar Moxey have altered so much it is very difficult to reengage with them.
The final series 3 and 4 are very difficult to follow and beyond far fetched and a far cry from the brilliance of series 1.