This ambitious and addictive BBC drama, tracing thirty years in the lives of four working class friends from Newcastle starting in 1964, is at least as good as any of the current much lauded series emanating from the US. Mary's mistake, Nicky's idealism, Geordie's escape to London and Tosker's ambition are played out against a backdrop of social change, police corruption and swinging times. find out more...

It's the off-season at the lonely Beauregard Hotel in Bournemoth, and only the long-term tenants are still in residence. Life is stirred up, however, when the beautiful Ann Shankland arrives to see her alcoholic ex-husband, John Malcolm, who is secretly engaged to Pat Cooper, the woman who runs the hotel. Meanwhile, snobbish Mrs Railton-Bell discovers that the kindly if rather doddering Major Pollock, played by David Niven, who won an Oscar for his performance, a retired officer who likes to find out more...