See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Our Friends In The North (4 Disc Set) [DVD] [1996]
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

Our Friends In The North (4 Disc Set) [DVD] [1996]

DVD ~ Christopher Eccleston
4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


1 used from £149.99
Learn about Lovefilm
Amazon's choice for DVD rental.
With a 14 day FREE trial. Learn more

Product details

  • Actors: Christopher Eccleston, Mark Strong, Gina McKee, Daniel Craig, Peter Vaughan
  • Directors: Pedr James, Simon Cellan Jones
  • Format: PAL
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 4
  • Classification: 18
  • Studio: Sony Bmg
  • DVD Release Date: 19 Aug 2002
  • Run Time: 623 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000066NRN
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 15,666 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
An epic saga stretching from 1964 to 1995, Our Friends in the North follows the lives of four young people in North-East England. Nicky Hutchinson (Christopher Eccleston) is initially courting Mary Soulsby (Gina McKee) but the relationship cools when it takes second place to his campaigning for Harold Wilson's Labour Party. She weds Tory Tosker Cox instead, but their marriage is a miserable one, living in a rot-infested high rise block built following a dubious new housing scheme. Meanwhile, "Geordie" Peacock, finally tiring of his drunken, abusive father, headbutts him and hitches down to London, where he ends up working for a surrogate "family" led by Malcolm McDowell's flash Soho sex club baron.

Over the years, the paths of these characters intertwine, diverge then cross again, albeit occasionally stretching the bounds of plausible coincidence. The drama takes place against the backdrop of local authority and police corruption in the 60s, the radical far-left militancy of the early 70s, Thatcher's election, the 1984 miner's strike and the subsequent "murder" of Northern communities. What's brilliant about Our Friends is its melding of the personal and the political, with the soap opera of family estrangement played out against a backdrop of social decline. Peter Vaughn, playing Nicky's Dad as a former Jarrow marcher stricken by Alzheimer's, is especially poignant. If you didn't see this the first time, do so now.

On the DVD: Our Friends in the North has a bonus disc featuring a discussion with writer Peter Flannery and the producers and directors in which the making of the programme is revealed to have been as epic and protracted a saga as the drama itself. There are interviews also with stars Christopher Eccleston and Gina McKee. --David Stubbs

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

The entire BAFTA winning series
Comprehensive pop-up 'filmographies' for cast members
Complete soundtrack listing with chart history
Exclusive interviews especially for DVD with Gina McKee & Christopher Eccleston
Retrospective from the makers of the series including writer Peter Flannery and executive producer Michael Wearing
Photo Gallery
Precis and colour stills from an unscreened episode

See all Reviews

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

State Of Play : Complete BBC Series 1 [2003] [DVD]

State Of Play : Complete BBC Series 1 [2003] [DVD]

DVD ~ John Simm
4.8 out of 5 stars (60)  £3.98
Boys from the Blackstuff [DVD] [1989]

Boys from the Blackstuff [DVD] [1989]

DVD ~ Michael Angelis
5.0 out of 5 stars (8) 
The Lakes : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1994] [DVD] [1997]

The Lakes : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1994] [DVD] [1997]

DVD ~ Dicken Ashworth
4.1 out of 5 stars (15) 
GBH [DVD] [1991]

GBH [DVD] [1991]

DVD ~ Robert Lindsay
4.8 out of 5 stars (13)  £17.48
Mad Men - Complete Season 1 [DVD] [2007]

Mad Men - Complete Season 1 [DVD] [2007]

DVD ~ January Jones
4.4 out of 5 stars (72)  £9.98
› Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below
(3)
See all 2 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

19 Reviews
5 star:
 (18)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Panoramic, 26 Sep 2006
By A. Johnston (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
One of the best dramas to appear in the 1990s, whether on TV or film. A hugely ambitious project to chart the life and loves of a group of friends from Newcastle in the 60's - the 90's, it manages to achieve it's aim by concentrating on a few specific times rather than skipping quickly from one event to the next; it makes to want to start the next episode just to you can work out not just what happens immediately after the end of the previous one but in the next few years.

Good casting, combining actors who are familiar with some who have since become more well known, with not a weak link among them.

If you're looking at building up a DVD collection or just a fan of very high quality drama, get it!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Top quality drama, 15 Jan 2007
By J. Southworth (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
You will never see better acting, scripting and direction than this gritty serial from the North-East covering several decades, notably the Sixties. Politically 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 and deservedly went on to become major stars. Daniel Craig as Geordie, the loose cannon, was outstanding - entertaining and moving by turns. Landmark TV.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
115 of 123 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars State of the Nation, 20 Jul 2002
By A Customer
When it was first screened in 1996, Our Friends in the North reflected back the social decay of the sixties and seventies, at a time when a further big change, the rise of New Labour and Tony Blair's seemingly inevitable journey to Downing Street was providing the pivot for mid-nineties, pre-millennial self-examination. Tracing the lives of 4 friends from Newcastle, bonded by often clumsy and socially awkward situations, the epic piece of drama that unfolds remains one of the standout recent works in it's genre.

It's an overtly political piece, but in a way that demonstrates how political changes inform social change. Nicky (Christopher Eccleston) is consumed by involvement in the grubby and incestuos world of sixties north-east Labour politics, dominated by the exotic Austen Donohue. As Donohue's corruption unfolds, and the hopes formed by the election of a Labour government at the end of the first instalment fade away, Nicky turns to radicalism and protest, spending the seventies as a political and social photo-journalist, eventually marrying his childhood companion, Mary - herself bruised by a violent and turbulent first marriage to their mutual friend Tosker, which decays with the passage of the seventies. Geordie meanwhile is drawn into the Soho strip-clubs, run by Malcolm McDowell's grimy, fragile Benny Barrett.

Throughout, their lives are underpinned by their 'friends in the north' - fixers like Eddie Wells, whose life of solid political service to Labour masters is blown away in the storms of 1987, as the political tide reaches the high watermark of Thatcherism. Geordie's escape from the vice dens of Soho is complicated by ongoing investigations into vice and corruption in the Met. Nicky and Mary's marriage collapses under the weight of Nicky's independence and Mary's prospective career as a Blairite new Labour MP. Tosker's business and home are sacrificed at the altar of free market capitalism that he previously worshipped. Returning to the Newcastle in the nineties for the funeral of Nicky's mother, they survey a landscape still scarred by the miner's strike, but hope and optimism about the future. Crossing the Tyne Bridge, they step into the next phase of their lives, as Newcastle itself prepares to cast off it's former image with ambitious social building programmes, and a Labour government prepares to take office in London. The symmetry of their lives is complete.

Taking such a broad sweep across political, social and economic landscapes whilst retaining a cohesive and compelling narrative is a challenge fraught with potential hazards. Our Friends in the North achieves all those aims. It is often icily uncomfortable, but it more than does justice to the themes and the times that it depicts. With some magnificent central performances, it remains both memorable, and essential viewing.

Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars OUR FRIENDS IN THE NORTH
I HAVE WANTED TO SEE THIS OUSTANDING SERIES AGAIN FOR YEARS BUT ALWYS SOMEHOW MANAGED TO MISS THE RE RUNS ON SKY. Read more
Published 5 months ago by J. Wilson

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the whole point of the BBC - to inform, educate and entertain
When people now wonder where the BBC is going and what happens to the licence fee in a world of millions of satellite and cable channels (most of which are rubbish) let it be said... Read more
Published 8 months ago by anglo-frenchie

5.0 out of 5 stars Very, very good TV!
Brilliant drama! Pity it has no English subtitles. Sometimes, the accent from Newcastle is a little difficult to understand!
Published 21 months ago by Jose Alves

5.0 out of 5 stars The BBC's finest drama of the 1990's
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. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Jl Adcock

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
If you saw this went it originally came out, loved it and are wondering how much it has dated in the past decade before buying or renting the DVD - don't worry, its still... Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2007 by J. S. Meins

5.0 out of 5 stars gutsy with raw emotion
I enjoy discovering new films to watch no matter where they come from. Subtitles are wonderful. I come from a small town in New Mexico, USA, so government corruption is common... Read more
Published on 5 Jul 2006 by Laura J. Eklund

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for all DVD collections
This is truly a masterpiece of drama, history, politics and family. I remember it well from the 1990s when it was screened and it remains as truly gripping, addictive and... Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2006

5.0 out of 5 stars best ever drama
I missed this the first time round on tv. Which I bitterly regret. 4 of us sat glued to the tv every Saturday night over a 2 month period, desparate to see where the fantastic... Read more
Published on 30 Jul 2005 by P. Seabert

5.0 out of 5 stars Too close to the truth for comfort
As a Geordie who wasn't around in the 60's during T Dan Smith's vision of a 'Brasilia of the north' for Newcastle, it was interesting to see how the city was corrupted by greedy... Read more
Published on 12 Aug 2004 by Robert James

4.0 out of 5 stars A television landmark.
I watched this series when it was first broadcast, seeing it again did not disapoint. A hugely ambitious project to chart the social and political history of Britain over four... Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2004 by Rolo

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

Fun for Everyone

Christmas Gifts
Achieve over 15,000 RPM with our great range of Powerballs.

›Shop the Powerball store

  

Let Olay Amaze You

Olay Total Effects Day Moisturiser SPF15 50ml
Amazon.co.uk sells all your favourite ranges from Olay, including Regenerist and Total Effects.

›Discover Olay at Amazon.co.uk

  

Up to 50% off Dental Care

Braun Oral-B Professional Care 6000 Rechargeable Toothbrush - Pack of 2
Put a sparkle in your smile with up to 50% off selected Oral-B and Philips rechargeable toothbrushes.

›Up to 50% off power toothbrushes

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates