Review of GBH: The Complete Series

Introduction

Alan Bleasdale sat down in the mid 1980s when Neil Kinnock had expelled Militants from the Labour Party, including Derek Hatton, the notorious leader of Liverpool City Council. Disillusioned with the Thatcher government and repulsed by the methods, though not the motives, of the far and hard left, he started work on a screenplay. The project took several years to finish and by the time it came to film `GBH`, Thatcher was gone and John Major was in 10 Downing Street. Still, little had changed - many were sick of the government and New Labour had yet to be born.

Loosely based on Hatton, Michael Murray (Robert Lindsay) is the Labour leader of the council in an unspecified Lancastrian town and, to coincide with the State Opening of Parliament, calls a Day of Action. Jim Nelson (Michael Palin), the head teacher of a Special School and card carrying member of the Labour Party, is driven to work by his wife past picket lines, expecting one at the gates of his own school. When he gets there and there is no picket to cross, he opens the school as normal and thereby sets in motion a chain of events that will pit Murray and the resources of the city council against Nelson and his family, threatening both men`s mental well being and the stability of the city itself.

With a cast that not only includes Robert Lindsay and Michael Palin, but Lindsay Duncan and Julie Walters, `GBH` is widely regarded as a classic British TV drama depicting the turbulent era at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the `90s which had seen race riots in Brixton, Toxteth and Tottenham, the Poll Tax riots in Trafalgar Square and the Gulf War.

Video

Broadcast quality from 1991, so the transfer isn`t great, with some surface graining, lack of definition and under-saturation.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo soundtrack is reasonable, but the dialogue at times is slightly indistinct, so the excellent English HoH subtitles come in handy. The music coordinator was Harry Gregson-Williams so the score is, as you would expect, excellent.

Features

The first episode has a commentary with Michael Palin, Robert Lindsay and Peter Ansorge who was the commissioning editor of the series. The running time of 50+ minutes allows them to become comfortable with providing a commentary and say all they have to offer before the credits roll.

The interview with Alan Bleasdale on the last disc is revealing, funny and interesting. He talks about how he came to write the series, how he felt and feels about politics and how the two leads came to be cast.

Conclusion

In 1991 you would not have thought Michael Palin capable of dramatic acting, despite his roles in `Brazil` and `A Private Function`, Robert Lindsay (a tried and tested Shakespearean actor) was primarily known to a television audience as `Wolfie Smith` and Lindsay Duncan had appeared in numerous TV shows but was relatively unknown. The biggest name, at least in terms of dramatic acting, was Julie Walters who had burst onto the scene in `Educating Rita`, made `Personal Services`, `Buster` and collaborated with Alan Bleasdale in `Boys from the Blackstuff`, but was probably best known for her association with Victoria Wood in comedic roles. Supporting these four was a group of character actors, the sort of people whose names you never remember but immediately recognise from other TV dramas. Alan Bleasdale says that he wanted Palin and Lindsay for the main roles and wrote Michael Murray with Robert Lindsay in mind, so credit goes to Casting Director Anne Fielden for assembling such a large cast (including a young Anna Friel), and to the production team for agreeing to it.

I only knew of Alan Bleasdale by reputation - this is the first (and so far only) TV show of his that I have seen, yet I have heard of `Boys from the Blackstuff` and `Jake`s Progress` and know that they are highly regarded pieces of television. `GBH` was broadcast in 1991, when I was 10 years old, not politically aware nor watching hour long episodes of TV dramas at 9pm on a school night. I only became aware of Derek Hatton once he was out of office and appearing on such shows as `Have I Got News For You` and `The 11 O`Clock Show` as a personality rather than a politician. Thatcher`s term in office occurred when I was young, and I only know about it from studying Politics in further and higher education, so `GBH` is more of an historical drama to me, rather than one dramatising a period that I lived through.

Despite this, I found the series to be intelligently written, brilliantly acted and thoroughly engrossing - the political machinations, the mental problems, the personal and relationship dramas and the black humour, particularly the twitches! Michael Murray is almost the forerunner to Tony Blair as he is a politician with few principles, obsessed with style rather than substance and addicted to power and the limelight; in this respect `GBH` was ahead of its time.

This is highly recommended for anyone who lived through the turbulent period and even those who didn`t. Next stop `Jake`s Progress`.