When are they doing an American version? - Our Friends in the North (1999) Discussion

[–] narrativethinker 17 years ago

NO! Why? That just wouldn't be 'Our Friends in the North'! This is a spectacular drama about a British city that, like so many others, has changed so much over the last 40 years. The people and the politics were amazing. Read about Newcastle, it's an interesting place. There's a book by B Campbell called Goliath with a chapter about the Meadowell riots and I found that the two accounts were eerily similar. My parent saw the towerblocks where Mary and Toska lived built and I've seen them demolished. It's fiction but it's historical too. THESE THINGS HAPPEN EVERYWHERE!

I'm sure there are numerous American drama series focusing on various areas and various eras of US history.

I feel very passionately that this show should not be remade! If you liked the set up, why not research and write a screenplay about your own area. You never know, could be your destiny!

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[–] DC1977 17 years ago

God, I hope they never do an American version of this!!!

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[–] BristleKRS 17 years ago

Funny you should mention 'Goliath' in relation to OFITN, I was flicking through that book today for the first time in ages after watching the whole series yesterday, looking over the ramraiding and TWOCing stuff.

An excellent read, and an excellent series.

Oh, and I agree - OFITN addresses some universal themes, but it is the specific context, its time and its place, which makes OFITN such a wonderfully evocative and passionately provocative drama. Attempting to transplant the story elsewhere would surely be self-defeating.

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[–] skaro_uk 17 years ago

GOD NO NO NO NO NO

So apart from that Jackie, how was Dallas?

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[–] Mercader79 16 years ago

Although I'd dispute that Americans necessarily "more interesting than us", I'd actually love to see a US version. It could touch on Vietnam, Watergate, the Reagan/yuppy era etc.
I think you would have to change the name and alter it fairly dramatically though. It would probably work better if there wasn't too strong a link to the UK version as loads of it wouldn't work.

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[–] DBloodnok 16 years ago

I think a US version would be an excellent idea - think of the great pieces of political and social history we'd see (as noted by chrishallam). I don't see why the hostility to such ideas, I find other countries' history just as interesting as my own; I'd also like to see an Australian version.

"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."

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[–] malcolm-smith 15 years ago

I'd love to see a Welsh version.

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[–] Squeeth2 12 years ago

You could substitute the Bonus Army....

Marlon, Claudia and Dimby the cats 1989-2005, 2007 and 2010.

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[–] malcolm-smith 12 years ago

Great post, Thank you.

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[–] TwittingOnTrender 12 years ago

I think it was a wind-up, Ford. If this was "remade" it would be a totally different entity. London is relatively close the the North East so there's a real English parochial feel to OFITN. The Sixties corruption scandal in the Metropolitan Police was a peculiarly English, a peculiarly LONDON thing even. I imagine they could do a sort of Serpico angle on the NYPD or a Rodney King thing with the LAPD, but it wouldn't be the same, it'd be too...big. A few humble coppers getting their palms greased so that some gangsters could sell their dirty mags...no, I can't see it travelling well.

No Guru, No Method, No Teacher.

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[–] rebkad 10 years ago

If anyone wanted to do an American version, they would need to focus on the big issues for American working class people, and not just try and replicate the story in America. The big issue in Britain and America during this period was inequality, i.e class issues and organized corruption, but they would of course play out differently in a different area. I think race and civil rights would be a bigger deal - it is just touched on in OFITN - as would Vietnam, increasing prosperity etc.

OFITN was essentially a set-up to explain the massive damage things like the Thatcher era and Miners Strike had on normal people, especially the corruption of institutions such as the police force, by also explaining the corruption that had gone on before it as rich developers tried to get their mitts on post-war rebuild money by replacing slums with slums. Decency is slowly eroded with the social safeguards of these institutions.

I think it is quite similar to something like The Wire, actually, in its ability to stay in one geographical area, and relatively true to the corruption and problems of one provincial city. I think by this point the BBC, which was starting to lose its political bottle to broadcast relevant dramas, accepted it because it put all the corruption in the past. Recent enquiries have shown otherwise, of course.

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