How accurate is Bleasdale’s portrayal of family life in the 1980’s in ‘Boys from the Blackstuff’?

... Jenny Corcoran 10a How accurate is Bleasdale's portrayal of family life in the 1980's in 'Boys from the Blackstuff'? It is the 1980s. Britain's working class are suffering due to high unemployment and a bleak and depressing world recession. The mood of the general public, especially the unemployed, is one of despair and resignation, coupled with the fact that the government do not understand their hopeless predicament. Then, amongst the riots and protests breaking out all over the country, a new and extremely relevant drama is aired on the BBC. 'Boys from the Blackstuff' by Alan Bleasdale, a series depicting the effects unemployment has on family life, is immediately popular, among audiences and critics alike. This is mainly because of its startling similarities to Britain at the time, enabling the general public to relate to the scripts in one way or another. The Anglican Bishop of Liverpool (the setting of 'Boys from

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