"Steel River Blues" (2004) TV series

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Creators:

Jonathan Critchley
Patrick Harbinson

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

1 September 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Exploring the lives and working challenges of Blue Watch, a team of fire fighters working in the heart of Middlesbrough, northeast England.

Cast

Stuart Graham	...	Bill McGlinchy (7 episodes, 2004)
Daniel Ainsleigh	...	Jeremy Lloyd (7 episodes, 2004)
Satnam Bhogal	...	Sunil Gupta (7 episodes, 2004)
John Bowler	...	Mick Hammond (7 episodes, 2004)
Mark Cameron	...	Roger Hibbot (7 episodes, 2004)
Daniel Casey	...	Tony Barnes (7 episodes, 2004)
Charles Dale	...	George Barnes (7 episodes, 2004)
Steve Hillman	...	Alan Priestley (7 episodes, 2004)
Nitin Kundra	...	Asif Hussain (7 episodes, 2004)
Michael Nardone	...	Dave Tanner (7 episodes, 2004)
Daniel Ryan	...	Andy Coulson (7 episodes, 2004)
Kelly Wenham	...	Julie Priestley (7 episodes, 2004)
Clare Buckfield	...	Katy Bell (7 episodes, 2004)
Joanne Farrell	...	Nicky Higgins (7 episodes, 2004)
Vicky Hawkins	...	Sandra Harris (7 episodes, 2004)
Malcolm Scates	...	Sgt. Moss (3 episodes, 2004)

Runtime:

UK:60 min (including commercials) (6 episodes) | UK:90 min (including commercials) (pilot episode)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Bramley Fire Station, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK

Company:

Yorkshire Television (YTV)

Trivia:

During pre-production, the series went through a number of title changes before the eventual title was decided on. These included "Blue Heat", "Kill the Heat" and "Fire Fight".

Soundtrack:

The Scientist

At last

Well, after a few years of waiting, finally another fire brigade drama on British television. And this one's set in the north, which makes a change from the usual London-centered action these days. Steel River Blues delivers everything one could expect from a modern UK drama: comedy, action, suspense, more action, and northern accents aplenty. It's nice to see ITV providing some quality material for a change; it would have been no surprise if they'd stuck cameras in a real fire station and marketed it as "Reality Drama".

The basic premise of the show is the same as any other Fire Service program: Dudes in fire station sit around until the bell goes off, then hop into their big red engines and charge off accompanied by appropriate music and sirens. To make it interesting, however, the above-mentioned dudes lead amusing discussions throughout, and it's basically just very well balanced.

If you're hungering after some firefighting action and Fireman Sam isn't fulfilling your needs, this show fills the gap nicely.