Play For Today gave birth to several series . GANGSTERS was one while RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY was another . Perhaps the most acclaimed series was BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF which become so acclaimed and popular that the one off TV play that gave birth to the legend was very quickly forgotten . While the series got high profile repeats in the 1980s the original PFT did not . With hindsight one can perhaps understand why because THE BLACKSTUFF has a rather different feel to the 1982 black comedy
Before I saw this I had predictable expectations that the narrative was going to revolve around Chrissie or Yosser but this isn't how things pan out . If there's a main character it's Kevin Deans the son of Dixie a 16 year old school leaver setting out in to the bitter sweet journey of life and rather self conscious that he's not had sex . For long segments the story focuses on this character subplot which is strange because Kevin later gets relegated to a few walk on scenes in three episodes of the 1982 series
Another striking element is the fact the characters are working in legal employment , well almost . I say " almost " because with the exception of Dixie and his son the other members of the tarmac gang are what's known as cowboy builders whose standard of work leaves a lot to be desired . When they get involved in a get rich quick scheme with a couple of Irish Gypsies things go from bad to suicidal This aspect is by far the most enjoyable part of the unfocused story and found myself laughing out loud at some of the on screen action towards the end . It does however illustrate a fundamental problem with Alan Bleasdale's writing and that is there is no subtlety involved . Interesting that Yosser isn't the entirely psychotic maniac of the later show , here he's merely a violent misogynistic sociopath but enough of a streetwise sixth sense to think he and his gang might be ripped off . The ways events unravel on screen at this point leave no doubt that Yosser and the boys are getting ripped off and the audience are one step ahead of the suspicious Yosser . If only he'd trusted his instincts which the script feels the need to constantly point out
This leads to a different appreciation of the later series - much of their later problems are entirely self inflicted because the protagonists didn't quit while they were ahead . It's easy to see how all the critics and social commentators picked up on the parable of greed seeing it as a scathing attack on the ethics of Thatcher's Britain . The truth is slightly less political and the reality is that this teleplay was produced and filmed before Thatcher came to power in 1979 and it was an internal dispute that delayed its broadcast for almost two years . Indeed much of the scripts of BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF were also written before the 1979 Tory election victory too
In summary it's somewhat bizarre watching this today . Bizarre in the sense that the play itself is obscure in some ways but features some of the most memorable and colourful characters British television has ever produced but these characters are often off centre and the script lacks a character focus . It's also rather unsubtle . Despite these flaws it's an often entertaining slice of social realist black comedy
Before I saw this I had predictable expectations that the narrative was going to revolve around Chrissie or Yosser but this isn't how things pan out . If there's a main character it's Kevin Deans the son of Dixie a 16 year old school leaver setting out in to the bitter sweet journey of life and rather self conscious that he's not had sex . For long segments the story focuses on this character subplot which is strange because Kevin later gets relegated to a few walk on scenes in three episodes of the 1982 series
Another striking element is the fact the characters are working in legal employment , well almost . I say " almost " because with the exception of Dixie and his son the other members of the tarmac gang are what's known as cowboy builders whose standard of work leaves a lot to be desired . When they get involved in a get rich quick scheme with a couple of Irish Gypsies things go from bad to suicidal This aspect is by far the most enjoyable part of the unfocused story and found myself laughing out loud at some of the on screen action towards the end . It does however illustrate a fundamental problem with Alan Bleasdale's writing and that is there is no subtlety involved . Interesting that Yosser isn't the entirely psychotic maniac of the later show , here he's merely a violent misogynistic sociopath but enough of a streetwise sixth sense to think he and his gang might be ripped off . The ways events unravel on screen at this point leave no doubt that Yosser and the boys are getting ripped off and the audience are one step ahead of the suspicious Yosser . If only he'd trusted his instincts which the script feels the need to constantly point out
This leads to a different appreciation of the later series - much of their later problems are entirely self inflicted because the protagonists didn't quit while they were ahead . It's easy to see how all the critics and social commentators picked up on the parable of greed seeing it as a scathing attack on the ethics of Thatcher's Britain . The truth is slightly less political and the reality is that this teleplay was produced and filmed before Thatcher came to power in 1979 and it was an internal dispute that delayed its broadcast for almost two years . Indeed much of the scripts of BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF were also written before the 1979 Tory election victory too
In summary it's somewhat bizarre watching this today . Bizarre in the sense that the play itself is obscure in some ways but features some of the most memorable and colourful characters British television has ever produced but these characters are often off centre and the script lacks a character focus . It's also rather unsubtle . Despite these flaws it's an often entertaining slice of social realist black comedy