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Post by Arthur Pringle on Feb 14, 2016 0:33:18 GMT
It's surprising how 'gizza job' caught on considering it was said within the confines of a pretty grim set of plays. There was even this terrible record released, who Yosser's Gang were & if they had anything to do with Alan Bleasdale I've no idea, can't find much info about it.
It's not as if Yosser Hughes had the charm of other anti-heroes like Oz or Arthur Daley, from the very start he is portrayed as aggressive & unstable. I watched the second play 'Moonlighter' last night & was reminded of how downbeat the series is, so much so that I couldn't face watching any of the other episodes or maybe it was because I remember them too well.
The Norman Tebbit puppet on Spitting Image had a patch on his leather jacket that reads 'ICUNDOOTHAT' & 'GIS A JOB'.
Funny how quick the public can latch onto a phrase. I remember a tv documentary series not so many years ago in which a scouser is approached in the street by the police & arrested for murder, the scouser responed with an incredulous "murder?" in a thick scouse accent & for a brief period the public picked up on it & mimicked him. The Liverpool 'gangster' Stephen French, as seen on 'Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men', is someone whose musings have become widely mocked.
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Feb 14, 2016 23:06:05 GMT
Brilliant review Dirty. I have a slight problem with this series though. On the one hand, I fully appreciated and applauded what Bleasdale was trying to do because I hated the Thatcher government with a passion. On the other hand, I found the programme too dark and depressing for my tastes.
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Feb 15, 2016 0:56:25 GMT
I know this is a cliche but it's very much of its time. The social problems are still very much with us today but the public perception of these problems has changed since the 80s. A show like BFTBS or Auf W Pet would not capture the public's imagination today as the media's representation of the working class now comes in the form of Jeremy Kyle & the many 'poverty p*rn' reality shows ( 'Ugly People On Benefits', 'I've got 30 kids so eff off', etc. ). The characters in BFTBS are not without their faults & are downright unlikeable much of the time but they were written & presented as human beings & we were asked to care about them & their problems. Today, outside of soaps, the media typically portrays the working class in negative terms as an 'underclass' of losers & degenerates to be ridiculed & hated.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Feb 17, 2016 9:41:26 GMT
I know this is a cliche but it's very much of its time. The social problems are still very much with us today but the public perception of these problems has changed since the 80s. A show like BFTBS or Auf W Pet would not capture the public's imagination today as the media's representation of the working class now comes in the form of Jeremy Kyle & the many 'poverty p*rn' reality shows ( 'Ugly People On Benefits', 'I've got 30 kids so eff off', etc. ). The characters in BFTBS are not without their faults & are downright unlikeable much of the time but they were written & presented as human beings & we were asked to care about them & their problems. Today, outside of soaps, the media typically portrays the working class in negative terms as an 'underclass' of losers & degenerates to be ridiculed & hated. Very well put Arthur and couldn't have put it better. Been working on the screengrabs and should have them up by next week at the latest too.
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Feb 17, 2016 14:11:22 GMT
Good points. I would say that because there only seems to be cheap and easy to reality shows filling schedule's these days,a quality drama series with in depth social comment that could offend people or hightlight thorny issues wouldn't be given the chance to get off the page.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Apr 4, 2016 20:16:14 GMT
As promised here come my before and after photos for Boys from the Blackstuff which I've taken between December 2015 and March 2016 in Liverpoool, Huyton and Kirkby. They're not exact before/after comparisons but I hope you like them and they were interesting for me to check out too - some of the locations I never properly been to before despite passing through these areas quite a lot.
A few locations I'm missing which include:
* The Teesside locations from The Blackstuff - a few of these are mentioned generally on the web so may look at checking them out at some point/some time in the future. * Birch Services M62, Heywood, Greater Manchester from The Blackstuff. However the buildings are long changed since 1978 and don't know which carriageway they filmed this from. * The Unemployment Benefit Office featured in Jobs for the Boys and Shop Thy Neighbour. I think this was a group of buildings in Princes Road, Toxteth but can't be 100% certain on this. Also these buildings may have been demolished at some point in the 1990's too if it's where I think it is. * Dixie's walk by the River Mersey in Moonlighter. Have a feeling this is near the former Herculaneum Dock in Dingle, Liverpool but also feels like Seaforth docks too. If this is the Dingle (Waterfront) location it has had extensive redevelopment since 1982. If it's Seaforth no chance of gaining access there as it's the main Port of Liverpool Seaport now. * Chrissie and Angie's house from Shop Thy Neighbour. I think this is in Dingle (maybe Dingle Vale) not too far away from Garswood Street which was used for the Malone family home but can't see anything like it on Google maps nor can properly id it on the DVD's. The location may also be off Rathbone Road in Wavertree as this too also looks familiar but again can't be certain. It's possible this location may have succumb to post 1980's demolition too.
* Housing estate Chrissie and Loggo visit in Shop Thy Neighbour. I think this is one built in 1982 in the Breckside Park area of Anfield, Liverpool but not 100% certain. * Yosser's 'Giz a Job' chat with the playing field groundsman. This could (?) have been the playing fields which were part of North East Technical College, Utting Avenue East, Norris Green, Liverpool but again not 100% and could have even been filmed outside the region (BBC building?). If it was filmed there unfortunately the college was demolished in 1994 and is now a housing estate. It's definitely not the Bill Shankly Playing Fields off Barnfield Drive, West Derby, Liverpool (location isn't the same). * The former Tate & Lyle sugar refinery, Love Lane, Vauxhall, Liverpool, L3. It's demolition is shown at the end of George's Last Ride and I do know where Love Lane is but all the buildings around there have been demolished/changed since 1982 and can't ID where exactly on Love Lane Tate & Lyle was. Also I'm not sure but I think the road layout on Love Lane was changed significantly changed in the 1980's/90's. This will be one I'll try to check out again some point soon.
If anyone does know these locations feel free to post or let me know and I'll have a go at checking them out.
Here come the photos!
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Post by Dirty Epic on Apr 4, 2016 20:19:15 GMT
Cockburn Street, Dingle, Liverpool, L8
Now
Then
Jobs for the Boys
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Post by Sam Tyler on Apr 4, 2016 21:20:22 GMT
Those were the days, no poxy speed humps!
Thanks for posting these up DE.
Sam
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Post by Dirty Epic on Apr 4, 2016 21:27:16 GMT
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Post by Dirty Epic on Apr 4, 2016 22:01:39 GMT
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