The Street (UK TV series)
| The Street | |
|---|---|
|
The Street title sequence | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Jimmy McGovern |
| Written by |
Jimmy McGovern Danny Brocklehurst Marc Pye Alice Nutter |
| Directed by | David Blair |
| Composer(s) |
|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 18 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Jimmy McGovern Sita Williams |
| Producer(s) |
|
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Picture format | 576i (PAL) |
| Original release | 13 April 2006 – 17 August 2009 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The Street is a British television drama series created by Jimmy McGovern, directed by David Blair, and produced by Granada Television for the BBC. The series follows the lives of various residents of an unnamed street in Manchester and features an all-star cast including Timothy Spall, Jim Broadbent, Jane Horrocks, Bob Hoskins and David Thewlis.
The Street won both the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series and RTS Television Award for Drama Series twice, in 2007 and 2008.[1][2] It also won two International Emmy Awards in November 2007 for Best Drama and Best Actor (Jim Broadbent).[3] The second series was nominated for the Best Drama prize at the 2008 Rose d'Or ceremony. Though it did not win, it received Special Mention from the jury.[4] In November 2010, the third series won the International Emmy Award for Best Drama and Best Actor (Bob Hoskins).
The third series began airing on 13 July 2009 and concluded on 17 August 2009. This was the final series to be made due to cutbacks at ITV Studios in Manchester (ITV produced the series, although it is shown by the BBC).[5]
Cast
The McEvoys are the only family to appear in more than one series, with Timothy Spall and Ger Ryan reprising the roles of Eddie and Margie for at least one episode per series.
Series One
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Series Two
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Series Three
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Episodes
Series 1 (2006)
| # | Title | Written by | Directed by | Original air date | Viewing figure[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Accident" | Jimmy McGovern | David Blair | 13 April 2006 | 5.67 million |
| Katy Quinn is run down in a car accident. | |||||
| 2 | "Stan" | Jimmy McGovern; based on an idea by Matt Leys | David Blair | 20 April 2006 | 5.47 million |
| When Stan approaches 65 he is forced to retire. In an attempt to get his pension to pay out to his wife he decides to commit suicide. | |||||
| 3 | "The Flasher" | Marc Pye | Terry McDonough | 27 April 2006 | 4.40 million |
| Brian is accused of flashing in the local park. When the news goes around the school, pupils start making malicious accusations. Under pressure from the locals Brian's wife disbelieves him. | |||||
| 4 | "Football" | Alan Field | Terry McDonough | 4 May 2006 | 3.74 million |
| Billy steals a pair of trainers and he is sacked from his football club. He is then tempted into the lucrative life of drug dealing. | |||||
| 5 | "Asylum" | James Quirk | David Blair | 11 May 2006 | 4.54 million |
| Eddie takes a non-English speaking asylum seeker on a fare and after failing to find somewhere to drop him off he invites him to stay at his house. This causes tension between him and his wife driving her to leave him. In her absence the two forge an unlikely friendship. | |||||
| 6 | "Sean and Yvonne" | Arthur Ellison | David Blair | 18 May 2006 | - |
| Sean and Yvonne have an unhappy marriage - Sean regularly loses his temper and beats Yvonne up. She finds the strength to leave him, changing the locks while he's out, but the strain proves too much for Yvonne's mum, Mary, so Yvonne and sister Kerry take revenge. | |||||
Series 2 (2007)
| # | Title | Written by | Directed by | Original air date | Viewing figure[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | "Twin" | Arthur Ellison | Terry McDonough | 8 November 2007 | 5.38 million |
|
Joe Jennerson envies his identical twin brother, Harry. His sibling has the freedom of a comfortable bachelor lifestyle, funded by a generous army pension, while Joe is in a dead-end job, with no money, squabbling children, a live-in mother and a wife who he thinks has fallen out of love with him. As the brothers watch a football match on television one evening, Harry chokes on a sweet and loses consciousness. As Joe waits for the ambulance to arrive, he realises that the chance of a lifetime is staring him in the face, and swaps clothes, taking on the identity of Harry. The assumed body of Joe is presumed dead at the hospital, while the real Joe is left comforting his wife, Mary, under the pretence that he is her brother-in-law. | |||||
| 8 | "Old Flame" | Andy Lynch & Jimmy McGovern | David Blair | 15 November 2007 | 4.95 million |
| Eddie McAvoy meets old friend Bob Hewitt and finds he is married to his own first love, Pat. Accepting Bob's invitation to a charity event, Eddie is out to impress Pat. Eddie's wife, Margie, discovers a lump on her breast and cancels her evening out - but Eddie is in no state to recognise her trauma. | |||||
| 9 | "Demolition" | Jimmy McGovern, based on a story by Danny Brocklehurst. | Terry McDonough | 22 November 2007 | - |
| Demolition man Charlie works away from home, leaving wife Roz at home with their teenage children Luke and Leah. At the end of a gruelling day, the crew get drunk before Charlie retires to the room he is sharing with fellow worker Tom, but Charlie is taken aback by Tom's actions. | |||||
| 10 | "Taxi" | Roy Boulter | Terry McDonough | 29 November 2007 | - |
| After a pub crawl, cousins Gary and Ian become involved in an altercation with a taxi driver. Ian stays to help the injured cabbie, but Gary runs away before he is caught. As other cab drivers arrive at the scene, they assume Ian must be guilty and he is eventually arrested. Jan, Gary's mum, suspects her son isn't as innocent as he claims but how far will she go to protect him? | |||||
| 11 | "The Letter" | Alice Nutter | Terry McDonough | 6 December 2007 | 5.26 million |
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For postman Wayne, life on the street has been less than kind recently. His wife Val has left him, taking their two sons and the dog; his back is deteriorating, which makes his postal round harder by the day; and he has no money. A potentially good night out speed-dating is ruined when Wayne takes a shine to Rachel, who is crippled by a stammer that Wayne seems incapable of being sympathetic about. Now at his lowest ebb, Wayne thinks his problems could be solved if only he could have a new start, somewhere nice and hot, like Greece. With a newfound determination, Wayne adopts a new approach to his work whereby he opens the mail that is addressed to the wealthier parts of the neighbourhood and removes any cash, before delivering the rest. Meanwhile, 15-year-old illiterate truant Damien has been watching Wayne closely and confronts him. Not wanting to lose his job, Wayne suggests that Damien help him with the heavy work. Damien takes the opportunity to earn some money whilst learning how to read.. | |||||
| 12 | "The Promise" | Jimmy McGovern | David Blair | 13 December 2007 | - |
| Paul Billerton strikes up a relationship with a local girl, but eventually drives her away when he mentions that he has a terrible secret. After catching sight of a woman one night, Paul runs home to consume a cocktail of whiskey and paracetamols, but when she follows him home it begins a journey to his redemption and their reconciliation. | |||||
Series 3 (2009)
| # | Title | Written by[7] | Directed by[7] | Original air date | Viewing figure[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | "Episode 1" | Jimmy McGovern | David Blair | 13 July 2009 | 5.65 million |
| Paddy Gargan, landlord of the Greyhound pub, bans Calum Miller for smoking on the premises. This antagonises the boy's father, Tom Miller, a man with a violent reputation who threatens Paddy if the ban is not lifted by the next afternoon. But when Paddy tries to rally support from the other locals, he finds it difficult to find anybody who is prepared to stand up to Miller. | |||||
| 14 | "Episode 2" | Jan McVerry & Jimmy McGovern | Terry McDonough | 20 July 2009 | 5.74 million |
| Dee is a single mother with two children, facing endless financial hardship and having to work two jobs to make ends meet. Mark is a plumber, also a single parent, who comes out to fix Dee's heating system. They date and he introduces her to his parents, Nessa and Joe. Though Nessa welcomes Dee, Joe is less welcoming because he knows Dee secretly works as a prostitute at a strip club as he has been one of her clients. | |||||
| 15 | "Episode 3" | Esther Wilson & Jimmy McGovern | Terry McDonough | 27 July 2009 | 4.91 million |
| After a Muslim suicide bomber attack whilst on duty in Afghanistan, soldier Nick Calshaw returns home with half of his face terribly scarred. His family and schoolteacher girlfriend Gemma are horrified but try to act normally for his sake, however Nick cannot cope with his situation or come to terms with the horror that he went through. Following a row with Gemma he tries to kill himself by deliberately stepping in front of a taxi, the driver of which happens to be a Muslim. | |||||
| 16 | "Episode 4" | Peter Lloyd & Jimmy McGovern | David Blair | 3 August 2009 | 4.70 million |
| Kieran Corrigan resents all foreigners, abuses Polish bus drivers, barks at the African staff in the kitchen where he is head chef, and walks out of a blind date with a black woman. He then becomes a local hero when he takes the credit for saving a 7-year-old Polish girl from a house fire. This in turn leads him into a romantic relationship with the girl's mother, Olenka, a Polish immigrant. However he finds it difficult to tell her that her daughter's real saviour was Duffy, his friend who dare not take credit for the act of heroism as he is claiming Invalidity Benefit. | |||||
| 17 | "Episode 5" | Jimmy McGovern & Anthony Gannie | David Blair | 10 August 2009 | 4.55 million |
| Shay Ryan is the alcoholic manager of a betting shop. One day, ex-girlfriend Madeleine turns up out of the blue to tell him he has a 16-year-old son, Otto, who wants to see him. Shay is elated that his empty life may finally have some meaning, until he sees that Otto has Down's Syndrome. After initially rejecting him, Shay then tries to be a good father to the son he never knew he had but his alcoholism costs him his job, then his home, and perhaps Otto himself. | |||||
| 18 | "Episode 6" | Jimmy McGovern & Andy Lynch | David Blair | 17 August 2009 | 4.88 million |
| Former taxi driver Eddie McEvoy is annoyed when wife Margie opts to spend time with her abusive father after he has suffered a stroke, leaving him and his young son at home. Having lost his driving licence, he now works on the phones at Alpha-Zero Cabs, along with lonely Sandra. The two of them grow closer and end up in bed together, unfortunately on the night Margie returns home early. Unable to live with the guilt, Eddie confesses all to Margie, which leads to tragic consequences. | |||||
Reception
The Street was critically applauded during its three-year run. TV critic Nancy-Banks Smith writing for The Guardian praised The Promise episode from Series 2: "Everyone involved seems to have appreciated the little gem they had here. Jodhi May, acting half the time with only half her face, was almost too powerful for peace of mind. David Blair directed like a particularly gifted spider, filling the screen with holes, cracks, doorways, windows...This, the last and best play in The Street series, must have been as painful and exhilarating to write as it was to watch. I wouldn't say it was plausible. I'd say poetic."[8]
References
- ↑ "Victoria Wood scoops Bafta double". BBC News Online. 2007-05-20. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
- ↑ "TV Winners in 2008". BAFTA. 2008-04-26. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
- ↑ "International Emmys Awards to honor Al Gore". USA Today. 2007-11-19. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
- ↑ "Rose d'Or Winners 2008" (PDF). Rose d'Or AG. 2008-05-06. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-30. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- ↑ "'The Street' to end after current series". Digital Spy. 2009-07-14. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- 1 2 3 Weekly Top 30 Programmes. See relevant week. BARB.
- 1 2 "The Street Press Pack – Cast and Production Credits" (Press release). BBC Press Office. 2009-06-17. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
- ↑ Banks-Smith, Nancy (2007-12-14). "Last night's TV: The Street". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
External links
- The Street at the Internet Movie Database
- The Street at TV.com
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