Episode 10: 2022

Peter Flannery once famously said of his television series: "… it's just a posh soap opera - but it's a posh soap opera with something to say."

This series adapted for radio ends with a new, episode by writer Adam Usden, bringing the story closer to the present day. He has picked up several characters from 26 years ago - Roy Cox (Tosker’s grandson) and Christopher Collins (tearaway Sean Collins’ dad) and placed them in the same city, where they deal with new and not-so-new challenges. These include housing conditions, young people’s engagement with politics and father/son relationships.

Adam Usden says, “The original show was defiantly, wonderfully unsentimental. One of the things I loved was that even when people failed in the immediate moment, very often we saw how flashes of kindness, warmth and moral courage redeem them in surprising ways, sometimes decades later, even if the people never realised the impact their actions had on others. Legacy hangs over everything and setting a story 26 years after the show ended gives me a real chance to explore that.”

It’s 2021, Roy’s business is taking a hit, Amy is juggling nursing shifts and childcare and the cladded high-rise flat they love is a fire-risk. And it all started so well…

Dedicated to the memory of Warren Usden.

Cast
Amy: Bryony Corrigan
Roy: David Leon
Kira: Lucy Aiston
Wazza: Noah Walton
Christopher: Tom Goodman-Hill
Mike: Tom Machell

Writer: Adam Usden
Studio Engineer: Paul Clark
Sound Design: Steve Brooke
Trainee Production Co-ordinator: Emma O'Mahoney
Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Jeremy Mortimer

A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4