Rent Blood on the Dole (1994)
3.8 of 5 from 47 ratings
1h 30min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
On the back of the success of landmark dramas including 'Boys from the Blackstuff', 'The Monocled Mutineer' and 'G.B.H.', in 1994 channel 4 gave Alan Bleasdale carte blanche to find and mentor new TV writers. Jim Morris's 'Blood on the Dole', adapted from his own stage play, tells the story of four Liverpool school-leavers looking for work and facing adulthood. Insolent, angry but wily underachiever Joey Jackson (Stephen Walters) is best mates with slow, goodhearted Ricky Jones (Philip Down). The boys are out to impress fellow ex-pupils Cathy Thompson (Suzanne Maddock) and Jean Kavanagh (Rachel Caldwell), but in a recession-hit Liverpool, the comforts and freedoms of a living wage are a tough ask. Joey's amorous intentions are thwarted when Cathy begins an affair with predatory teacher David Williams (Aneirin Hughes). Meanwhile Jean, tired of waiting for Ricky to make his move, snogs a stranger and moves on. Drifting between the dole office and low-paid, seasonal, barely legal gigs they each try their best to piece together a potential future. When Ricky joins the Army and goes to serve in Northern Ireland, all their lives are changed forever. - Actors:
- Stephen Walters, Suzanne Maddock, Rachel Caldwell, Aneirin Hughes, Philip Dowd, Amanda Mealing, Gill West, Jodie Draper, Kevin Knapman, Jake Abraham, Rachel Maxwell, Alan Igbon, Andrew Schofield, Dilys Price, Elwyn Hughes, Noreen Kershaw, David Thompson, Simon Fisher, Dorien Thomas, Ray Gravell
- Directors:
- Pip Broughton
- Producers:
- Alan Bleasdale, Keith Thompson
- Writers:
- Jim Morris
- Aka:
- Alan Bleasdale Presents: Blood on the Dole
- Studio:
- Simply Media
- Genres:
- Drama
