The Guardian reports that Our Friends in the North is regarded as one of the greatest British television series ever made. The series explores the decline of the Labour party, sleaze, social decay, dodgy developers, injustice, and how idealism can turn to disillusionment and cynicism. It will return this year in a new guise as a stage adaptation.
The writer Peter Flannery believes the series will be just as relevant now as it was 30 years ago. Peter Flannery said, 'That's not because I'm particularly prescient in any way. It's because fuck all has changed.
The world I wrote about has not changed, it is still as bent and corrupt today as it was then. ' The series is being adapted for the stage in Newcastle, the home city of the four characters. The stage adaptation will be staged in October at Newcastle's Theatre Royal.
I kind of attacked him with my enthusiasm.
Live Theatre, co-producing the adaptation, is one of the only theatres outside London dedicated to new writing. Jack McNamara, Live's artistic director and co-CEO, had the idea for a stage version and approached Peter Flannery. Jack McNamara said, 'He did not leap at it, but he was open to a conversation.
' Peter Flannery was impressed by Jack McNamara's passion, track record, and the idea of adapting two of the later Thatcher-years episodes into one stage play. ' He was concerned about the show's legacy and did not want the audience thinking they should have quit while they were ahead. Jacqui Kell, Live Theatre's co-CEO, said, 'That's the brilliant thing.
' Our Friends in the North was included in the BFI's list of the best British TV of the last century, topped by Fawlty Towers. The Guardian named Our Friends in the North the third best TV drama ever, after The Sopranos and Brideshead Revisited. The exact date for the stage production in October has not been announced, and details on how the adaptation will condense the series remain unclear.