Boys From The Blackstuff was one of the most important television events of the 1980’s. I was a young child in 1982 when it was first shown, but I can still remember people saying ‘I can do that, gizza job’, in the inimitable style of the most famous character, Yosser Hughes. Now all the power, brutality and humour of the original Alan Bleasdale script has been transformed into a piece of theatre by James Graham that has you crying in despair one minute, and laughing out loud the next. I saw it at The Rep, Birmingham, last night and can testify it is a masterpiece.   Chrissie, Loggo, George, Dixie…

JB Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a classic of 20th Century literature. A morality tale which shows that we are all, somehow linked, and that our actions follow actions and can have grave consequences somewhere down the line, it was first written in 1945 and has retained importance ever since, appearing most year’s in the GCSE English syllabus. (including in 2025). Acclaimed director Stephen Daldry has taken the play, and has invigorated it, with the visual aid of designer Ian McNeil and his incredible set. Their production, for the National Theatre, opened at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre last night, and is astonishing in its anger and savagery, and retains every…

I spent the evening listening to the thoughts of Her Majesty the Queen and the Right Honorable Mrs Margaret Thatcher at the Wolves Grand and I am pkeased to say it was a right royal triumph! Handbagged by Moira Buffini is a trip through the 1980’s, through the social and cultural history of the decade, as seen through the weekly meetings of The Queen and her Prime Minister, along with a host of supporting characters. It is often funny, sometimes surprisingly musical, and very thought provoking. It is, in a word, superb. When Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 election, she became the first female MP of The Queen’s reign. It…