A by-election in the solidly working-class constituency of Leighley sees left-of-centre Labour Party candidate Bill Brand (Jack Shepherd), a former lecturer, elected to Parliament by a slim majority.
Driven by a determination to improve the lives of his textile-worker constituents, he finds his ideas of representation are provocatively different from those of the whips, and in a world of oblique negotiations and hidden bargains – the uncomfortable realities of a minority government – Brand’s fundamental belief in the Party is assailed by doubts, while his troubled personal life further endangers his tenuous political career.
This groundbreaking and unashamedly intelligent drama series looked at the behind-the-scenes deception and power struggle of government proceedings.
Off-beat and non-commercial, this was a hard-hitting, gripping drama which had viewers glued to their sets through sheer fascination, if nothing else.
The Thames Television series was well-acted and scripted and deserved far more promotion. Class British television at its best.
Bill Brand
Jack Shepherd Miriam ‘Mim’ Brand
Lynn Farleigh Winnie Scoular
Rosemary Martin Alf Jowett
Allan Surtees Alex Ferguson
Cherie Lunghi David Last
Alan Badel Reg Starr
Douglas Campbell June Brand
Karen Silver Michael Brand
Philip Cox Cedric Maddocks
Peter Copley Sandford
William Hoyland Tom Mapson
Richard Butler Malcolm Frear
Geoffrey Palmer Wilkinson
Gary Roberts Eddie Brand
Dave Hill Bernard Shaw
Colin Jeavons Hughie Marsden
James Garbutt Venables
Peter Howell Waverley
Richard Leech Frank Hilton
Clifford Kershaw Albert Stead
John Barrett Angie Shaw
Carole Hayman Mrs Brand
Anne Dyson
Episodes
In | You Wanna Be a Hero, Get Yourself a White Horse | Yarn | Now and in England | August for the Party | Resolution | Tranquility of the Realm | Rabbles | Anybody’s | Revisions | It is the People Who Create
Video
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Driven by a determination to improve the lives of his textile-worker constituents, he finds his ideas of representation are provocatively different from those of the whips, and in a world of oblique negotiations and hidden bargains – the uncomfortable realities of a minority government – Brand’s fundamental belief in the Party is assailed by doubts, while his troubled personal life further endangers his tenuous political career.
Off-beat and non-commercial, this was a hard-hitting, gripping drama which had viewers glued to their sets through sheer fascination, if nothing else.
