Faith (TV 2005)

A gripping story of love, deceit, betrayal and survival set against the backdrop of the Miners' Strike of 1984-85.

Director:

David Thacker

Writer:

William Ivory

Stars:

Christine Tremarco, Jamie Draven, Kelli Hollis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christine Tremarco	...	Michelle Andrews
Jamie Draven	...	Gary Mark Andrews
Kelli Hollis	...	Bev
Maxine Peake	...	Linda
Adrian Bower	...	Paul
Christine Cox	...	Mam
Glynn Courtney	...	Mickey
Clive Russell	...	Gordon
Danny Cunningham	...	Colin
David MacCreedy	...	Charlie
Mark Whiteley	...	Addy
Dimitri Andreas	...	Nico
Charlotte Radcliffe	...	Claire
David Prosho	...	Sgt. Green
Barbara Marten	...	Doreen

Storyline

The story is centered in and around the ficticious mining town of Newby and the experiences of 2 sisters and their husbands during the strike of 1984/85. Michelle is married to Gary and Linda's husband is a local policeman. In the early days of the strike the men's respective jobs have little effect on them personally but following a violent incident in a local chip shop and the mobilization of outside police forces Gary and Paul's relationship becomes strained and the sisters also polarize. As the weeks turn to months and bitterness becomes the norm, things begin to change. While Michelle suddenly finds herself wanting to get more involved in the strike, Gary begins to wonder whether he shares his fellow picketers passion for the strike. Paul becomes more and more voluble in his opposition to the strike and Linda looks around her at the women of her community who have now found a voice and independence; the scene is set for an explosion both political and personal that will change ...

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Plot Keywords:

strike | miner | miners strike | police | policeman | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

BBC [uk]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 February 2005 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Screen Yorkshire, 4Way Pictures, Company Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Employed over 350 local people as extras, taken from the mining communities of Hatfield, Stainforth and Thorne, near Doncaster in South Yorkshire.

User Reviews

A brilliant and moving drama

Faith was an extremely good drama and I was very moved whilst watching it. The concept of using real time interview footage from key players during the miners strike, such as Margaret Thatcher, was inspired as it gave the programme a third dimension. Even though politics was clearly hinted at by the emphatic speeches of certain characters it was so much more than a political drama. It showed the personal battles of all four main characters against a much wider backdrop of emotion that ranged from despair to hope. The tragic ending left me very distressed as the programme allowed you to become very attached to all characters. Having the four different viewpoints gave the story a good balance and there were excellent performances from Maxine Peake and Christine Tremarco as the two sisters. On the whole it was an excellent drama, the only bad thing was that it was a bit biased against the police and perhaps unfair in its portrayal of them at times. I enjoyed watching it very much and it left a deep impression on me.