A working-class family in London's East End is struggling to stay afloat during the recession under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's premiership. Only the mother Mavis is working; father Frank and the couple's two sons Colin, a timid, chronically shy individual and Mark, an outspoken, headstrong young man, are on the dole. This situation is contrasted by the presence of Mavis's sister Barbara, and her husband John, whose financial and social loftiness appears to be a comfortable facade over the unspoken soreness of a lackluster marriage.

• DirectorMike Leigh
• Release16 October 1983
• Genre
  Drama / Comedy
• Duration1h 47m
• Budget?
• Revenue?
• Rate
  

  6.641
  103 reviews
• Productions

  Central Productions, Mostpoint, Channel 4 Television