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Peter Flannery once famously said of Our Friends in the North, "I've always said 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 Â鶹Éç Radio 4.

Ambitious in scale and scope, the drama chronicles the lives of four friends over three decades beginning in the 1960s. The series tackles corporate, political and police corruption in the 1960s, the rise and fall of the Soho porn empires in the 1970s, the nouveau riche and the Miners’ Strike of the 1980s and the rise of New Labour in the 1990s. Some of the stories are directly based on the real-life controversies involving T. Dan Smith and John Poulson in Newcastle during the 60s and 70s.

And the adapted series will now end with a new, tenth episode by writer Adam Usden, bringing the story up to the present day.

In episode 7 it’s now 1984 and the miners’ strike dominates political life throughout the country. Mary is leader of Newcastle City Council and supports the miners. Her son Roy is a young police constable, with divided loyalties. Nicky’s career as a photographer is taking off and Tosker, with his new wife Elaine, is becoming a wealthy businessman. No one knows where Geordie is.

Cast
Felix: Trevor Fox
Florrie / Claudia Seabrook: Tracey Wilkinson
Mary: Norah Lopez Holden
Nicky / Christopher Collins: James Baxter
Anthony: Luke MacGregor
Eddie Wells: James Gaddas
Tosker / Toby Roddy: Philip Correia
Alan Roe / The Close Encounterer / Tony Hirst
Superintendent: Darren Kuppan

Writer: Peter Flannery
Studio Engineer: Paul Clark
Sound Design: Steve Brooke
Trainee Production Co-ordinator: Emma O'Mahoney
Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Jeremy Mortimer

A Sparklab production for Â鶹Éç Radio 4