Thursday 23 July 2009

The Street - TV Review




It’s been a welcome return for Jimmy McGovern’s “The Street” this month on UK TV. The BBC drama is now in it’s third series and is just as hard hitting as ever.

For those who haven’t yet seen this, The Street is a collection of one- off short stories about life for the residents on one particular street in the north of England. It has so far won seven awards, including three BAFTAs, and displays the acting talents of some of the best in the business.

So far, the first two episodes have been shown in this series…

The first involves pub landlord Paddy Gargan (Bob Hoskins) and his wife (Frances Barber), who bar the son of local gangster Tom Miller for smoking in the pub. As he has already served out the same punishment for someone else, Paddy feels that this is justified. However, the boy’s father disagrees. He demands that his son be allowed into the pub, and repeatedly threatens Paddy. Finally, he gives Paddy an ultimatum, either he serve his son the following day, or he will give him a severe beating as punishment.

This gives Paddy a dilemma. He can’t go back on his word without losing face, but he can’t bring himself to serve him either. He rallies round the community for support, but everyone is too scared to side against Tom Miller. Should he give in, or take his punishment?

The second episode is the story of Dee (Anna Friel), a young single mother, struggling to provide for her two sons. When her boiler breaks down, she calls in Mark (Daniel Mays) a plumber, who she falls in love with. However, Dee has a secret that she tries to hide from Mark. At the weekends she works as a prostitute in a brothel in a nearby city. The secret comes out when she meets Mark’s parents, as she discovers that Mark’s father is one of her regular clients! He tries to force Dee to break off the relationship, although Mark is determined not to let go. How can she avoid revealing her secret to Mark?

If these two powerful episodes are anything to go by, the rest of the series will be unmissable! You will find youself glued to the edge of your seat for each episode on an hour long white knuckle ride!

You can catch up with The Street on BBC1 on Mondays at 9.00pm or on the BBC iplayer (click the link below):


http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search/?q=The%20Street


Happy viewing!

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