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British series on The BBC, 2007-2009, created by Jimmy McGovern, a TV writer also known for Cracker and Brookside. It will not be returning for a fourth series as the show is made by ITV Studios, which has closed the relevant unit for cost-cutting reasons.
Which is a shame, because it's an excellent series and has won Baftas, as well as International Emmys.
The series is a batch of loosely linked stories revolving around the residents of a single street in Manchester (you may only see a character once or twice). The stories are hard-hitting kitchen sink dramas of the sort McGovern is famous for, although happy endings are common.
This series contains examples of:[]
- All-Star Cast: Bob Hoskins, Frances Barber, Jim Broadbent, Anna Friel, Timothy Spall...
- Christianity Is Catholic: Eddie, Ojo, and of course, the priest.
- British Footy Teams: A lot of characters support Manchester City and don't have nice things to say about United.
- Can'tHelpEnough: Eddie.
- Eddie: I've got two options. One: Kill meself. Two: Kill the wife.
- Friend: You could just tell the truth.
- Eddie: That's worse than one and two combined.
- Drama Club: We see Jenna perform a snippet of Lady Macbeth's dialogue.
- Foreshadowing: "You'll be in the ground before me," is said to Sean by Yvonne's mum, who dies soon after. Yvonne and her sister murder Sean and hide his body in the grave where their mother is buried, so he is literally in the ground before her. Also a Meaningful Echo.
- Henpecked Husband: Eddie.
- Love Martyr: Yvonne, to a point.
- Meaningful Music: Upon getting home from the doctors after finding out the results of her breast cancer biopsy were inconclusive, she puts on "I Will Survive".
- Not What It Looks Like: "The Flasher". A teacher stops to pee while out for a jog. A young girl sees him.
- Single Mom Stripper: Dee, who worked as a prostitute at weekends. to try and get her kids into a better school.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Dee.
- Teacher's Pet: Jenna.
- The War on Terror: One episode revolves around a soldier wounded in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan.