Boys from the Blackstuff (1980)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Audio Bonus Episode-'The Black Stuff '(Play for Today) by Alan Bleasdale Audio Commentary-'The Black Stuff' , Alan Bleasdale(Writer) Jim Goddard (Dir)
Rating
Year Of Production	1980
Running Time	306:29 (Case: 305)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Philip Saville Jim Goddard
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Bernard Hill Michael Angelis Julie Walters Alan Igbon Tom Georgeson Peter Kerrigan
Case	?
RPI	$59.95	Music	None Given

    Boys from The Blackstuff is a series which I watched avidly on its original BBC broadcast back in 1982. I'm not ashamed to admit that it made me cry when I first watched it - and I'm not ashamed to say it made me cry again twenty years later. It has dated somewhat, but the basic themes of human dignity and the crushing destructive effect that long-term unemployment can have on the spirit remain as true today as they were back then.

    This series was extrapolated from the original 1980 play The Blackstuff by Alan Bleasdale. Fans of his work will be delighted to know that the original play (as televised) is included as a special feature in this collection from the BBC, along with all five lengthy episodes from the television series. The basic premise of the series is the often tragic tale of a group of asphalt workers, struggling through one of the worst recessions in recent times. Dixie (Tom Georgeson) is the "foreman" for this motley crew of tarmac layers, who travel the country laying roads in new housing estates. The larcenous Loggo (Alan Igbon) and kind, sensitive Chrissie (Michael Angelis) are joined by Yosser (Hill) and the ailing former union leader George (magnificently played by Peter Kerrigan).

    The series does contain some black humour - of the "if you don't laugh you'll cry" type - but the overwhelming emotional response is one of sadness and shame. Shame for how grown men were brought to their knees, how a once magnificent powerhouse city (Liverpool) was reduced to economic rubble and how men of pride and honour were driven to become law-breakers just to survive. Margaret Thatcher's UK was one of extremes - many people made a lot of money during those acquisitive years, but many thousands more found themselves stuck in the depressing trap of long-term unemployment. Throughout the series, the downward spiral of poverty and despair can be depressing. This is by no means an easy series to watch, but it is a definitive portrait of the zeitgeist of Britain in the 1980s. Each episode tends to concentrate on the plight of one or two of the main characters, but the well-written plot ensures that most of the cast makes an appearance in each episode, giving a cohesive feel to the series.

    The acting is excellent throughout, but the series was probably most famous for the barnstorming performance of Bernard Hill as Yosser Hughes - a mentally unbalanced man, with a desperate devotion to his children and a penchant for head-butting both people and walls. Fans of British television series will recognise numerous familiar faces throughout the series - particularly those who watched other Liverpool-based programmes such as Bread, The Liver Birds or Brookside. Amongst the crowd are atypically dramatic comedienne Julie Walters and the always excellent Ricky Tomlinson (The Royle Family).

    The DVD contains the following episodes. I have left the synopses deliberately brief, so as not to spoil your enjoyment of this powerful series:

• Jobs For The Boys (54:03) - A group of unemployed scousers are signing on for the dole. It seems that the cheques do not stretch far enough however, and they are soon working illegally for Malloy (Shay Gorman) on his building site, whilst trying to evade the investigators from the Department of Employment. They are joined by the militant but diminutive plasterer Snowy Malone (Chris Darwin) - the youngest son of George. Ironically, the building they are constructing is a new unemployment office.

• Moonlighters (57:19) - This episode focuses mainly on Dixie's attempts to moonlight at the docks as a security guard and his wife's paid (but undeclared) leaflet distribution. Unfortunately for him, when you lie down with dogs...you catch fleas.

• Shop Thy Neighbour (59:52) - Chrissie is finding it next to impossible to hold his family together. The stress created by the covert operations of the DOE investigators threatens to shatter his marriage to Angie (Walters), and destroy what little self-esteem he has left.

• Yosser's Story (67:37) - This episode follows Yosser in his desperate attempts to keep his children out "of care". Unfortunately, his rapidly declining mental health and increasingly violent behaviour suggest that he is doomed to fail. A bravura performance from Bernard Hill is quite likely to bring a tear to your eye.

• George's Last Ride (67:38) - Bleasdale saved his best for last. In a truly heart-rending finale, George's health is failing fast, but despite this he continues to act as the legal and social counsel to the poor and disenfranchised in his community. The wonderful performances of Angelis and Kerrigan will make a grown man weep.

    Boys From The Blackstuff is a seminal television series. Depressing, saddening and thought-provoking, it is not "fun" by any means. On this BBC Masterpiece Series DVD set, it is, however, a powerful and truly memorable collection of sad stories and bravura performances from an ensemble cast. A must-own for fans of the series, for whom powerful memories will come flooding back. For those of you unfamiliar with Bleasdeale's masterpiece, this is well worth a rental at least. Essential viewing, highly recommended.

Video

    The video quality of this transfer is rather disappointing overall, but is reflective of the original television source material. Don't get me wrong, it is certainly watchable, but reminiscent of VHS quality. It is presented in a ratio of 1.33:1 (obviously not 16x9 enhanced), which is the original televised aspect ratio. All episodes from the series were recorded on video, with the exception of "Yosser's Story", which was captured on film.

    The overall transfer is rather soft, with a somewhat dated feel to it, often verging on out-of-focus. This is certainly nowhere near the standard of sharpness one can expect from current television productions. Maybe Australian digital television is spoiling me? There is some noticeable graininess throughout but this is perhaps forgivable given the age and source of the footage.

    Black levels are acceptable, with rather limited shadow detail evident in the darker scenes. The colours are generally a little the worse for wear, with a slightly faded and washed out look. Some of this is, of course, likely to be intentional and reflects the grim surroundings of much of the series. There is very little vibrancy to the picture, but the dour colour schemes generally fit the sombre tone of the piece. The exposure settings are occasionally poor, with the contrast looking quite flat sometimes and at others the imbalance leading to an almost monochromatic picture (for example as Loggo climbs into the van at 8:32 in Episode 1, Disc 2). The footage occasionally displays flaring from candles and lights, which is typical for television video footage of the times.

    There are some noticeable MPEG artefacts present throughout the series, with a frequent shimmer in the image and some low level macro blocking and posterisation evident. Edge enhancement was frequently present and occasionally annoying. I imagine that the halos around many characters and objects would be more annoying on a large projector screen. Aliasing is omnipresent and often a little distracting (only the intensity of the acting prevents it from becoming really aggravating). Obvious culprits are the old faithfuls of car chrome and road markings, but there are many, many other villains here (for example buildings and patterned fabrics). There is some telecine wobble evident during the series, but this is relatively innocuous.

    The transfer does suffer from a number of film (video) artefacts, in the form of fleeting white scratches and specks. The most significant recurring defect is, however, a white speck which crops up in almost every scene shot in the dole office. It appears across discs and across episodes and is always in the same location on the screen (for example see 1:21, 1:42 and 2:20 in Episode 1, Disc 2 or numerous times (for instance at 0:14) in the final episode on Disc 3), which leads me to believe it is a physical defect in the camera itself.

    The English for the Hearing Impaired subtitles are well timed and highly legible, despite being presented in a rather small font. They do drop a fair few words for the sake of brevity, but get the message across very well overall.

    This series is presented across three DVDs. The first disc is single sided and single layered and carries the original play only. The second and third discs are RSDL formatted, carrying three and two episodes from the series respectively. The layer change on the second disc is evident in the Moonlighters episode at 33:00 with the layer change on the third disc unnoticeable on my setup.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The overall audio transfer is acceptable, but dated and unremarkable.

    The English Dolby Digital 2.0 (mono) soundtrack is encoded at 192 kbps. It is free from major defects, with no significant clicks, pops or dropouts noticed. Dialogue was usually clear although the overall audio quality is not great, with a slightly muffled feel to it. Audio sync problems were not evident.

    The original music is credited to Ilona Sekacz who has mainly composed music for television. It is a serviceable score, with an improvised jazz feel to it that sounds somewhat "reedy" by today's television standards. Whilst a 5.1 surround mix would be overkill, I certainly felt that the lack of any significant bass left the sound feeling rather hollow. I note that the cover states that "For contractual reasons certain music edits have been made", so presumably there was some contemporary pop music in the original series - I'm afraid I cannot remember that far back with any accuracy.

    The soundstage is fully frontal. This is pretty well as basic a soundtrack as you can get - but it allows you to hear the dialogue and that's ultimately the main point in material such as this. Dolby Pro Logic II will redirect sound to the surround speakers, but this adds little to the audio environment if truth be told.

    The subwoofer, unsurprisingly, is silent throughout.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    The original play is listed on the case as a Special Feature and is an essential addition to the set. It should be watched before the individual episodes as it sets the scene for the entire series.

Menu

    The main menus are static, accompanied by the theme music. The options available are playing the feature, selecting one of the individual episodes, choosing chapter stops (typically eight per episode, or twelve for the play) or activating subtitles. On the first disc, there is also the following extra:

The Blackstuff

    The Blackstuff (102:25) - The original "Play For Today" which introduces the major characters who appear throughout the series. Whilst carrying out a job in Middlesbrough, the lads are joined by Dixie's son Kevin (Gary Bleasdale), and are soon approached by a couple of duplicitous gypsies, who con them into doing a "foreigner" (another job, carried out for cash in hand, which is not sanctioned by their employer). After investing their extremely limited life savings, Yosser, Chrissie and Loggo come to realise that they have been ripped off. To put the icing on the cake, their employer discovers their scam and the entire team is sacked on the spot. This sets the gang up for a life "on the dole" in the UK, and sets the backdrop for the subsequent television series.

Audio Commentary

    Alan Bleasdale and director (of the play) Jim Goddard provide a commentary to The Blackstuff. Note that this applies to the original play only, and not the television series. This appears to have been recorded quite recently and is fairly interesting. There are numerous pauses throughout and the commentary, although fairly wide-ranging (for instance Bleasdale is married into the asphalting business), can be a little dry at times. I am sure it will be essential listening for fans of Bleasdale's work.

    This DVD does not appear to be available in Region 1. The Region 2 release appears to be identical to our own version (which is in fact dual coded for both regions). Buy whichever is cheaper.

    Boys From The Blackstuff can be a little depressing. The series is however a powerful snapshot of a depressing period in recent British social history. The quality of the acting and the writing have stood the test of time remarkably well, even if the technical quality has not. Watch it for the bravura performance of Bernard Hill and the excellent performances of a great ensemble cast. This is indeed, as the DVD case proclaims, "Classic Drama". Highly recommended for collectors of serious, quality BBC television drama.

    The video quality is adequate, but is spoiled slightly by aliasing and edge enhancement.

    The audio transfer is acceptable for a television series which is twenty years old.

    The extras, in the form of the original televised play and audio commentary, are substantial.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall