Episode 5: 1974

Available for over a year

Peter Flannery once famously said of Our Friends in the North, "it's just a posh soap opera - but it's a posh soap opera with something to say." And now he has rewritten his multi-award winning and highly acclaimed television series as an audio drama for BBC Radio 4. Ambitious in scale and scope, the drama chronicles the lives of four friends over three decades beginning in the 1964. The series tackles corporate, political and police corruption in the 1960s, the rise and fall of the Soho porn empires in the 1970s, the Miners’ Strike of the 1980s and the rise of New Labour in the 1990s. In episode five, it’s 1974, the start of the 3-day week introduced by Edward Heath’s government to conserve electricity. Nicky is back in Newcastle offering to campaign for the Labour Party, Geordie is determined to exact revenge on Benny Barratt, Mary is a local councillor and Tosker’s business interests continue to grow. Under the new leadership of Commissioner Jellicoe, the Met are finally beginning to crack down on the Soho porn industry, as well as their own internal corruption. Cast Nicky: James Baxter Felix: Trevor Fox Florrie: Tracey Wilkinson Austin Donohue / Claud Seabrook: Tom Goodman-Hill D.I. Conrad: Andrew Byron Commissioner Jellicoe: Darren Kuppan Commander Fieldson: Des Yankson Tosker / DI John Salway: Philip Correia Harold Chapple / Eddie Wells: James Gaddas Geordie / Ray: Luke MacGregor Paula / Lucille: Eve Shotton Mary: Norah Lopez Holden Benny Barratt: Tony Hirst John Edwards: Maanuv Thiara Writer: Peter Flannery Studio Engineer: Paul Clark Sound Design: Paul Cargill Producer: Melanie Harris Executive Producer: Jeremy Mortimer A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4