The
lowdown: 'Give us a Break' is a British comedy-drama that was
first broadcast on BBC1 in 1983 and has been
largely forgotten since.
It stars Robert Lindsay as a would-be entrepreneur named Micky Noades,
whose last business
venture in the music trade
was a dismal failure. The series also stars Paul McGann as Maurice ("call
me Mo") Morris,
the younger brother of Micky's
girlfriend Tina, who travels up to London from Liverpool to stay with Tina
and Micky. The
series comprised one
series of seven episodes and a one-off special, and was created by Geoff
McQueen, who went
on to create 'The Bill'.
While it is often seen as the BBC's attempt to make a show in the style
of 'Minder', it is much
darker in tone and has less
of the comedy of 'Minder'.
The
episode: 'Heaven Sent' was the first episode of the series,
and sees Micky meet Mo for the first time. Micky is
reluctant to take the young
but cocky Liverpudlian under his wing, but Mo quickly proves that he may
be an asset to
Micky. One of Micky's deals
has gone wrong, and a local villian named Brindly wants his money back.
Brindly enjoys
playing snooker, and Mo
challenges him to a match. They make a bet that if Mo wins, Brindly will
give Micky an extra
month to pay his debt, but
if Brindly wins, he breaks Micky's legs. Suffice it to say that Mo turns
out to be the better
snooker player, and Micky
gets to walk home without needing crutches. Micky sees the potential that
Mo offers and
becomes his manager.
The
verdict: 'Give us a Break' is an entertaining series that is
rather reminiscent of 'Minder' but has its own style.
Being over 25 years old,
it does look dated now (McGann was in only his second acting role, and
Robert Lindsay too
looks so young). An added
attraction of the first episode is the number of actors who became known
for other roles.
Jeff Stewart (Reg Hollis
in 'The Bill', and known to Doctor Who fans as Dukka in 'Kinda'), plays
a hood who picks a fight
with Mo in a pool hall,
while William Simons from 'Heartbeat' plays one of Brindly's heavies. David
Daker, who plays a
publican, was in several
episodes of Doctor Who (Irongron in 'The Time Warrior' and Captain Rigg
in 'The Nightmare
of Eden'). 'Give us a Break'
was released on video many years ago, but is not yet available on DVD.
If you can find the
series, it is definitely
worth a look.
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