Customer Reviews

Great northern romp - By: scousebird, 28 May 2008
I bought this a few weeks ago as it was so cheap.
Again,when it was first on the telly [think backin 2000]I never watched it but remember my mum banging on about not missing it.
Anyway,I can honestly say I was hooked from the first episode.
What great acting.
Its 6 ,near hour long ,episodes all about different people that work at a textiles factory.Sounds boring but believe me it's far from that.
Some great facesin this,Christopher Ecclestone,Sarah Lancashire,Lesley Shape & even Maxine Peake from Shameless.
You can do a lot worse than parting with your dosh for this dvd.
I will deffo be buying Series 2

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Top class British drama series - By: L. H. Healy, 23 May 2008
Just rewatched this through on the DVD, & it's brilliant to remember how good it is. I loved it the first time around on tv, love it again now. Fantastic performances, great storylines, brilliant all round. Six episodes on this two disc set. Worth watching for earlier glimpses of John Simm, Jason Merrells, Christopher Ecclestone, the brilliant Lesley Sharp & Philip Glenister. Setin & around the lives & loves of those workingin a textile factoryin Lancashire, with each episode focussing on one or two of the charactersin particular, & the trials & tribulationsin their lives. Really enjoyable, & something a bit different from the standard fare on the tv.

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Gets better and better - By: , 21 Feb 2006
As a not native English speaker I had some trouble understandig the speech at times, because there was no possibility of subtitles & the dialect was quite heavy at times. I could not quite get the track of the first chapter & the second wasn´t that good either but it started getting much better after that.

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The Best of the Beeb - By: sarahsarah, 03 Feb 2005
Judging from the standard fare on our terrestrial TV, it seems to be an extraordinarily difficult task to make a drama series about the lives of ordinary Northern people which doesn't include hard-done by but strong women, hen-pecked blokes down the working mens' club, unemployment, redundancy & general deprivation. I lose count of how many times we have been subjected to repeat viewings of gaggles of cackling women gagging for Barcardi Breezers & male strippers, & "folk" who are as poor as church mice but with hearts of gold. And don't forget the crassness of the Northern nouveau-riche who put red winein the fridge & wear Versace to go down Tescos. And although series such as "Cold Feet" have gone some way towards 'sexing up' the North, you will note that the only characters who make a success of their lives are those who have moved up to the North- the locals usually making up the comedy buffoon element.

However, "Clocking Off", while very definitely setin the North, has managed to overcome these stereotypes fostered by our Southern-biased programmers, & what we have is an excellent series of self-contained dramas featuring some of the most talented & watchable British actors around, including the always-brilliant Christopher Ecclestone, Leslie Sharpe, Ricky Tomlinson (admitedly playing the same character he always does but still effectively)to name but a few, & loads of faces you'll have seen many times on TV but perhaps can't put a name to. And although there are a few nods towards traditional TV Northern culture (perhaps to appease those who live south of Sheffield?) the stories are gripping, touching & brilliantly scripted. I saw it for the first (and only) time several years ago when it was first broadcast & several of the stories stickin my mind even now- realistic situations you could easily find yourself in. The one I particulary remember was with the aforementioned Mr. Tomlinson, when he had to choose whether to stay with his long-time disabled wife & live an utterly miserable but blameless existence or to abandon his wife & make a new life with another woman, complete with unbearable guilt. It was an incredibly poignant & beautifully-acted tale.

If you haven't seen this already (and let's face it, they show it practically on a loop on UK Gold), then it's a must-have.

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I'd forgotten just how good... - By: , 04 Nov 2004
...this was! I used to watch this series on TV years ago & was really pleased when I found out that it was finally being released on DVD. It's a fantastic programme setin a northern textile factory & follows the life stories of the workers & management with very clever storylines & insightful writing. It has a great cast including the lovely Jason Merrills from Cutting It . Go buy it now !