Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Just a few years ago the BBC could and did make quality drama that was not a poor impression of American shows (Spooks), yet another costume drama or a mere vehicle for whatever large TV star had recently been signed up.Back in 1996 the BBC amazed us over 9 weeks with a sprawling drama covering the lives of four friends over 31 years and the immense changes in the UK over that time.It's not without its faults - Malcolm is an odd London porn baron; I can think of several actors who would have been better suited, and it does display its left wing credentials - although of course some of the chief villains are Labour councillors.The scenes in Scotland Yard in 1966,67,70 and 74 are the most compelling, and a little research will reveal the accuracy of the tale; the northern property corruption was famously accurate too, the real life persons died in 1993, paving the way for the screening of this show.I remember reading an interview with Daniel Craig, complaining that he was typecast as Daniel "Geordie Peacock" Craig; presumably his present 007 status has exorcised that ghost!

Realistically, words cannot describe just how superbly written and beautifully played this drama is. It grips so tight that it's almost hard to imagine that it is in fact a story and the characters become real people, almost giving the impression that their very existence influenced certain political factors throughout the 1970's and 1980's. It begins in 1964 with the main character Dominic Hutchinson (Christopher Eccleston) arriving home in Newcastle after a trip to New Orleans, and follows his life and the lives of his three childhood friends. It begins so innocently in fact that it's hard to imagine where the story is heading when one first sits down to view. It's soon apparent though that the main driving subject of the drama (and in fact the stake that's driven through the friendships of the characters) is the politically uneasy period in British history, and the story is exceptionally deftly woven with real life occurrences, from the electricity rationing and the resulting three day working week to the surge of pornography, strip clubs and Police corruption in Soho, from the uprise of Thatcherism to the destruction of the mining industry. Everything that happened in this time period in Britain has a showing here, whether it be a main hinge-point of the story or a television programme in the background. And just as it affected our lives at the time (storm of 1987 for example), it affects the lives of the characters in turn. It also highlights the rags to riches to rags nature of life that luckily only taints a few of us, but one poor soul - Geordie - has the kind of life that would send most of us to tears, played beautifully by Daniel Craig in the role he was really made for. Geordie is the epitome of 'floating down the stream', and literally goes from unemployed Newcastle escapee to Soho Porn King's number 2. His portrayal of the character is absolutely superb, with real attention paid to the nuances one would expect to see in life without noticing. In fact all the cast play beautifully, the main four being Christopher Eccleston, Gina McKee, Daniel Craig and Mark Strong supported by the acting superiority from the likes of Peter Vaughan, Alun Armstrong, Malcolm McDowell, Donald Sumpter and many others besides. The one thing that really struck me was in the final episode. There is a momentary glance between all four of the characters when after all the years and all the problems and all the arguments, they've all ended up exactly where they started, it's just 21 years later. It made me realise (bearing in mind I was only 19 when I first saw it), why people say 'I don't feel as old as I am', and why I now don't feel any older than I did fifteen years ago. It can't be quantified, you'll just have to watch it to understand. I don't know of any other drama/film/series that could convey so much sense of focus and proportion and really show life for what it is (and what it was in the 70's and 80's), but if there's something out there that does, I'd love to see it. Just sit down quietly with this drama, listen to every word, watch every scene and concentrate on the social commentary. I swear if this doesn't communicate, you can't be a human.

When I first saw this a decade ago I was amazed by the excellent performances by the main stars (Gina McKee, Daniel Craig, Mark Strong and the one of the finest actors around today Christopher Eccleston) I knew a bit about the background of Britain and the North East between the 60s and the 90s but was amazed by how realistic it really was. The credit for this amazing production must go to writer Peter Flannery. The story lines which were more personal to me where the ones based on the Thatcher years as this is when I grow up with the miners strikes. It also one of the greatest endings with the use of Oasis' "Don't Look Back In Anger" which was also number 1 when "Our Friends In the North" was shown

Looking at all the reviews here claiming this as the greatest British TV drama ever and looking at all the awards it won and rave reviews it got, I'm just left asking if there's another show out there called our Friends in the North, because the one I finally finished slogging through on video is a template for every bad I-wanna-be-Ken-Loach cliché out there. I can't vouch for the London scenes, which look as unbelievable as any of the amateur-hour post-Lock Stock gangster movies we slept through over the past few years, but the Newcastle scenes play like a bad joke - the Beeb drama department's version of the 'Thick Scousers' characters that Harry Enfield used to do in his TV show. Every possible cliché is ladled on with a trowel and with heavy handed dialogue that sounds like someone reading from a manifesto or a history book. The performances are also either incredibly self-important - Eccleston in the first of his humourless pompous leftwing stereotypes and McKee so smug you want someone to thump her stand out especially - or so over the top it's not even funny (yes, Malcolm McDowell, I do mean you).Sure there are a few big themes, but they're swamped by the trite writing, dodgy performance (and bad old-age makeup) and blah direction. Forget all the raves. This is just an unconvincing, overlong timewaster, one of the great so whats? of British television.