List of Our Friends in the North episodes
This is an episode list of the British drama series Our Friends in the North. Dates shown are original airdates on BBC Two.
| # | Title | Writer | Director | Airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "1964" | Peter Flannery | Pedr James | 15 January 1996 | |
| Twenty-year-old Nicky Hutchinson returns to Newcastle in 1964 after several months working in the southern United States, where he participated in the emerging Civil Rights Movement in New Orleans. He visits his girlfriend, Mary Soulsby, who is living with her parents and her disabled brother Patrick. He later has a small birthday gathering with Mary, his parents, Felix and Florrie, best friend George 'Geordie' Peacock and local councillor Eddie Wells, a friend of Felix's. After arguing with Felix about his past involving the Jarrow March, Nicky begins to campaign for the Labour Party in the upcoming election, much to the annoyance of Felix. Geordie introduces Mary to his friend Terry 'Tosker' Cox, who begins to make romantic gestures towards her despite the presence of Nicky. Eventually, after feeling that Nicky no longer has time for her, Mary has sex with Tosker, who despite her warnings to "be careful" ejaculates inside her. Geordie, disheartened when Tosker and Nicky make it clear that they are no longer interested in forming a band, leaves Newcastle without warning and hitches down to London to get away from his forthcoming marriage to a girl he has made pregnant and from his drunken, abusive father. He gets a job working in a cafė, where he encounters a former police constable, Berger, who claims that the Metropolitan Police is corrupt. He gives Geordie a letter to post to the Commissioner outlining these allegations, and is promptly arrested. Following Labour's victory in the election, Nicky is offered a job by Austin Donohue, Leader of Newcastle City Council, who outlines a series of large building projects he wishes to bring in across the North. Despite protests from Felix that he should go to Manchester University, where he has been offered a place, Nicky accepts Donohue's offer. | |||||
| 2 | "1966" | Peter Flannery | Stuart Urban | 22 January 1996 | |
| Berger has been placed in a mental institution, where he is visited by Chief Inspector Roy Johnson and continues to proclaim that the Met is corrupt. After Johnson tells him that he is not senior enough to start an investigation, Berger hangs himself. Mary has married Tosker and is bringing up their one-year-old son in a newly built high-rise council flat on the Willow Lane Estate, which had been pushed for by Austin Donohue and developer John Edwards. The cafe Geordie worked in has been shut down, leading him to seek work with a Soho porn baron, Benny Barratt. Barratt is in collusion with the police, and uses Geordie to bribe Detective Chief Inspector John Salway and Commander Harold Chapple. Nicky is still assistant to Donohue, but has grown disillusioned and suspicious of Donohue's deals with Edwards. He is also finding it difficult to remain friends with Mary, whose marriage to Tosker is collapsing under the strain of Tosker's one-night stands and his suspicion of Nicky. Despite this, Mary falls pregnant again. Geordie is introduced to Julia, Benny Barratt's mistress, and falls in love with her. Nicky finally walks out on Donohue, chastising him for failing to fulfil his promises and for accepting bribes from Edwards to build poor quality housing. Nicky takes with him incriminating evidence of Donohue's corrupt dealings with Edwards. | |||||
| 3 | "1967" | Peter Flannery | Simon Cellan Jones, Pedr James, Stuart Urban | 29 January 1996 | |
| Mary and Tosker's marriage continues to fall apart, as does their Willow Lane flat. Geordie has become a confidante of Barratt's, enabling him to live comfortably, and he has been pursuing an affair with Julia. Barratt discovers the affair, but remains silent. Nicky, disillusioned with the Labour Party, has turned to the anarchist movement and is in a relationship with a radical, middle-class anarchist. The pair have a disastrous dinner with Mary and Tosker, who find they now have nothing in common with Nicky's attitudes, and find his girlfriend condescending. Wells discovers that Nicky has documents that prove that Donohue and Edwards acted illegally, and asks him to make them public. Nicky refuses and instead leaves for London. Edwards has abandoned Donohue and is expanding his affairs overseas with the help of corrupt Conservative MP Claude Seabrook. Tosker loses his job when the company has to halt illegal exports to Rhodesia because of the UK sanctions. Depressed, he travels to London to visit Geordie, who takes him out in Soho and introduces him to Barratt. The porn baron takes a shine to Tosker, giving him money and ensuring he is entertained. Barratt asks Geordie if he is having an affair with Julia and, rather than lie, Geordie confesses. Barratt states that for being honest, he will continue to employ Geordie, but takes him to see Julia having sex with a man for money to show that she was lying about being in love with him. This leaves Geordie devastated. | |||||
| 4 | "1970" | Peter Flannery | Pedr James, Stuart Urban | 5 February 1996 | |
| Nicky is now living in a London squat with a group of anarchist extremists opposed to the Heath government. Geordie, through his connections with the Met, manages to track Nicky down and takes him for a night out in Soho, but the two men now have little in common. Geordie's position is threatened when a police officer names him as colluding with other officers, and an investigation into corruption is instigated. Johnson, who has been promoted, is asked to lead it, although Salway and Chapple lean on other officers to obstruct it. The anarchists, shaken by Geordie finding them so easily, ask Nicky to leave. Shortly after, they begin attempting minor terrorist attacks on government buildings and the home of a senior police officer. Back in Newcastle, Nicky meets up with Mary and Tosker, who have finally moved out of the Willow Lane flat. Tosker now runs a successful fruit and vegetable business from a van, bought with money given to him by Barratt, and he plans to buy his own shop with a flat above. Mary is pursuing a law degree and has gone into local politics. She and Tosker continue to grow apart. Johnson makes a breakthrough in his investigation, which he discovers leads all the way to Seabrook, who has become Home Secretary. His investigation is later stopped by the Commissioner, Colin Blamire, who fears the embarrassment of media publicity. Blamire promotes Salway, and Johnson's report is returned without being read. In despair, he retires to Newcastle. Geordie leaves London on business for Barratt, staying at a seaside boarding house where he falls in love with a woman. He leaves and promises to go back to her; however upon returning to London he discovers that Barratt has planted incriminating evidence in his flat in revenge for his affair with Julia, and he is arrested by Salway. Nicky's anarchist colleagues, including his girlfriend, are raided and arrested. At the same time, Nicky's family is horrified to discover that he has hidden a machine gun under his bed. Felix orders him out of his house and he and Wells dispose of the gun by burying it at the allotments. Nicky seeks comfort from Mary while Tosker is doing a delivery. When Tosker returns, he reveals to Mary that her disabled brother Patrick has died. Nicky, Tosker, Mary and their families and friends attend the funeral. | |||||
| 5 | "1974" | Peter Flannery | Pedr James | 12 February 1996 | |
| Under the new leadership of Commissioner Jellicoe, the Met is finally cracking down on the Soho porn industry, as well as their own internal corruption. Chapple announces his intention to retire, hoping to escape discovery. Meanwhile, the police have begun quietly to investigate the activities of Donohue, and interview a now bankrupt Edwards. Edwards gives the police Nicky's name in relation to a missing folder of Donohue's that they believe would prove incriminating. Nicky has remained in Newcastle, now living in the decrepit high-rise flat that he first found for Tosker and Mary in 1966. He runs a radical magazine alongside his factory job, and is a keen photographer. He has also reconciled with his family, as they together experience the Three-Day Week. Geordie is released and seeks revenge on Barratt, whom he discovers has fled to Spain. He seeks comfort with his former colleague Lucille, who is now living in his old flat, telling her that not one person visited him in prison. Wells asks Felix to be agent for his campaign to become the local MP at the upcoming election; despite losing selection as the Labour candidate to a wealthy businessman, Wells runs as an independent Labour candidate. Nicky offers his support but Wells tells him he does not want his help. During the campaign, Nicky begins to rekindle his relationship with Mary, who has become a councillor, whilst Tosker's business and other interests pull him away from his family. When Geordie hears that Barratt is visiting Soho, he gets a gun in an attempt to murder him. Before he is able to, Barratt is arrested by the police, who procure tapes from him that are instrumental in revealing all about the corruption and alliance between the police and pornographers. Before either can retire, Salway and Chapple are arrested. Donohue and Edwards are also arrested, the separate investigation having finally proven their criminality. Despite a Labour smear campaign, Wells wins the election by a narrow margin. Geordie returns to Newcastle unaware of the election, and by chance finds Wells’s victory party, and meets Nicky, Mary and Tosker; for the first time in a decade, the four friends are reunited. | |||||
| 6 | "1979" | Peter Flannery | Simon Cellan Jones | 19 February 1996 | |
| Tosker and Mary's marriage has disintegrated but, for the sake of their children Anthony and Bernadette, they stay together. Depressed and worried about the loss of his hair, Tosker frequents local nightclubs with Geordie and enjoy one-night stands. Nicky has returned to mainstream politics and wins selection as Labour Party candidate in the constituency next door to Wells, who has also rejoined the Party. His Conservative opponent Claudia Seabrook, daughter of the now disgraced former Home Secretary, is given Colin Butler as agent, and he begins an extreme smear campaign against Nicky. Geordie, now living next door to Nicky, has been selling drugs for corrupt Newcastle policemen. Shortly before his flat is raided, he discovers that Julia has apparently committed suicide and is convinced that Barratt was responsible. He travels to London, leaving his flat empty for a disillusioned Anthony to enter. The police find Anthony in Geordie's flat, drunk and waving a gun around. In London, Geordie confronts Barratt, who is recently out of prison, but Barratt denies having anything to do with Julia's death. The now retired Johnson, who has become a neighbour and friend of Felix, asks to meet Commissioner Jellicoe to vent his frustration about his ignored report, but is called away to deal with an attack on his allotment. The culprit is Anthony, who having escaped from the police has vandalised the allotment, but on Mary's insistence he later apologises to Johnson, forming a tentative friendship with him. Horrified at the campaign, Claudia sacks Butler. Felix begins to show signs of memory loss. At a disco, Tosker meets Elaine and falls in love with her. He finally asks Mary for a divorce, but cannot bring himself to tell Anthony and Bernadette, who have grown to dislike him. Returning to Newcastle to find his flat raided and the police looking for him, Geordie goes on the run. It is announced that the Willow Lane are finally to be demolished. Nicky is unable to find happiness in this long-desired goal being fulfilled as he is certain to lose the election, despite Mary agreeing to help him. Despite their feelings for each other, and with Tosker now engaged to Elaine, Mary tells Nicky that she must put her children first and walks away from him. | |||||
| 7 | "1984" | Peter Flannery | Simon Cellan Jones | 26 February 1996 | |
| As the miners' strike dominates political life, Mary has become Leader of Newcastle City Council and is supporting the miners. Her son Anthony finds himself on the frontline having become a policeman. Nicky, whose career as a photographer has begun to take off, works with Wells to investigate the involvement of local businesses in breaking the strike, at the same time as a now balding Tosker is doing deals with these men. When police from the Met are sent in as reinforcements and some workers try to break the strike and enter the pit, a riot ensues. Anthony is disturbed by the violence, in particular the brutality of the London policemen. With conflicted loyalties, he asks to be taken off policing the strike. Mary tends Nicky’s wounds, his having been injured whilst taking photos of the riot, and they sleep together. Mary offers to defend two miners in court, and pressures Anthony to testify on behalf of the miners, knowing that that would swing the verdict. His decision to testify leads to the prosecution reducing the charge against one of the miners. Anthony is told he has destroyed any chances of advancement in the police. Florrie and Felix are frequently pestered and berated by local youths, including young Christopher Collins. When he goes to complain to Collins's family, Felix is attacked by his stepfather and his Rottweiler, and ends up in hospital. Nicky arranges for his mother to move to a bungalow, but the attack has accelerated Felix’s deterioration. Tosker, happy with Elaine, has begun to become wealthy through his acquaintances the business community, including Alan Roe, and joins the Freemasons. Nicky and Mary propose to one another and agree to marry. Geordie's fate remains unknown, as he does not appear in this episode. | |||||
| 8 | "1987" | Peter Flannery | Simon Cellan Jones | 4 March 1996 | |
| Nicky and Mary have been married for two years, and Mary has just become a grandmother. Nicky has become a successful photographer. As Council Leader, Mary is faced with hard decisions about service cuts. Felix has become senile from Alzheimer's disease and Florrie, realising she cannot cope, puts him into a home. Collins is involved in a siege on his estate and is shot and injured by a police marksman. Whilst on a book-signing trip to London, Nicky meets student Alice McDonald who is writing a dissertation on his work, and begins an affair with her. However, Alice suddenly ends the relationship. Tosker is still married to Elaine and has become a slum landlord. Elaine dislikes this and is worried by the influence that Roe has over him. So Tosker sells his properties, planning to set up a mortgage lending scheme for council tenants wanting to buy their homes. Mary tells Elaine that this is little more than a scam, and Elaine physically attacks Tosker, after which the two sit down and talk. Elaine tells him to put their money into shares, whilst sort out their relationship. Whilst taking photographs of down and outs in London, Nicky discovers Geordie amongst them; he has become an unstable alcoholic who does not recognise Nicky. Nicky is later unable to find him again and feels guilty. Wells, still a Labour MP, is frustrated at how the country has changed, and is a heavy drinker. He begins investigating the role of PR firms’ illegal "payments for questions", particularly the firm run by Butler. Nicky discovers that Wells’s researcher Francine is a plant by Butler, who has leaked her false information. Nicky manages to inform Wells, and he has to give up his planned exposé. Wells decides to retire and tries to persuade Mary to stand in his place, but she refuses. She also suspects that Nicky has been seeing someone else, and Nicky walks out on her. He tries to go out with Alice again, but she is not interested. Mary tries to save their marriage. Geordie ends up in a hostel and, after seeing Wells on television, becomes confused and sets fire to his bed. He is tried for arson and unexpectedly given life imprisonment. "Black Monday" occurs, wiping out the value of Tosker and Elaine's investments. They decide to sell their house and buy a couple of karaoke pubs to get back on their feet. Mary makes it clear to Nicky that their relationship has failed. The 1987 Storm hits, during which Wells suffers a heart attack and dies. | |||||
| 9 | "1995" | Peter Flannery | Simon Cellan Jones | 11 March 1996 | |
| Nicky, who has been living in Italy, returns to Newcastle to arrange Florrie's funeral. Felix is now in the full grip of Alzheimer's disease. Reading letters left by his mother, Nicky finds out more about his father and learns of his lifetime feeling of failure after the Jarrow March achieved nothing. Nicky takes him to see a woman in Yorkshire who remembers the Jarrow Marchers coming through her village. However it is impossible for Felix to register what is being said to him. Mary has become a Labour MP and quarrels with her policeman son as they deal with unrest on a local estate. Sean Collins, son of Christopher Collins, is being allowed to run wild, neglected by both mother and father and spending his time joyriding. Residents want the family moved, but Anthony sticks up for him. Tosker has become a successful businessman again, and he and Elaine prepare to open their floating nightclub on the River Tyne. Geordie arrives, having been released from prison, and encounters Sean Collins by the river. He goes to the floating nightclub looking for work and is recognised by Elaine. Tosker is worried about Geordie's state of mind and prison record for arson. Nevertheless, he invites Geordie to stay at his house, and a job playing keyboard with the band for the opening night. Geordie sleeps on the floor of his room and leaves early in the morning. Mary is on her way to the opening night when Anthony calls round and announces that he is leaving his wife and children. The two row and Anthony pours out his resentments, saying she has been a martyr all her life. Nicky and Geordie meet by chance and have a drink. As they are leaving for Tosker's opening night, Geordie spots Sean who has come to see his father. When Collins is brusque with his son and tries to get rid of him, Geordie begs him to talk with his son, only to be head-butted. Sean steals a car, subsequently crashing into a wall and killing himself. Since Geordie fails to turn up, Tosker finally achieves his dream of playing with a band and he and Elaine are happy at the night's success. At Florrie's funeral, Nicky breaks down in tears and at the wake the four friends are briefly alone together for the first time in 31 years. Tosker leaves to be with Elaine and their young grandchildren. Just after Mary leaves, Nicky has a revelation and chases after her car, realising that he wants to renew their relationship. He catches her and asks to spend the day with her, which Mary happily agrees to. Geordie briefly watches Tosker playing with his family on his boat, before walking off along the Tyne Bridge alone. | |||||
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