I saw Didn't You Kill My Brother when it was originally transmitted in 1988, and being a big Comic Strip Presents fan I found it underwhelming. Watching it again almost 30 years years later I found it much more enjoyable. Maybe the first time around I wasn't mature enough and didn't care enough to understand the nuances of the story.
The story is quite straightforward. Alexei Sayle plays twin brothers, East End gangsters modeled on The Kray Twins. When one of the twins (Carl) is sent down for 30 years he impresses the parole board after studying and achieving an insane amount of A-levels and degrees and becoming a model prisoner. His ambitious Parole Officer (a hilarious Pauline Melville) moves him into her home with dreams of appearing on chat shows and reaping the rewards for rehabilitating Carl. Meanwhile Carl's gangster twin Sterling has a lucrative business selling stolen bicycles, which the local kids acquire for him. Carl steers the kids away from crime and they help him start a business building bicycles instead. Sterling isn't pleased and a showdown ensues.
The underlying theme is Capitalism verses Socialism, and the Thatcher Governments' destruction of industry in the United Kingdom. It's not entirely successful but certainly has its moments, with the magnificent Beryl Reid playing Carl and Sterling's psychopathic Mum a highlight. It also has a couple of musical numbers which are handled well, and has aged better than some other episodes. It also has a fleeting appearance by a very young Eddie Marsan, which was cool.
The story is quite straightforward. Alexei Sayle plays twin brothers, East End gangsters modeled on The Kray Twins. When one of the twins (Carl) is sent down for 30 years he impresses the parole board after studying and achieving an insane amount of A-levels and degrees and becoming a model prisoner. His ambitious Parole Officer (a hilarious Pauline Melville) moves him into her home with dreams of appearing on chat shows and reaping the rewards for rehabilitating Carl. Meanwhile Carl's gangster twin Sterling has a lucrative business selling stolen bicycles, which the local kids acquire for him. Carl steers the kids away from crime and they help him start a business building bicycles instead. Sterling isn't pleased and a showdown ensues.
The underlying theme is Capitalism verses Socialism, and the Thatcher Governments' destruction of industry in the United Kingdom. It's not entirely successful but certainly has its moments, with the magnificent Beryl Reid playing Carl and Sterling's psychopathic Mum a highlight. It also has a couple of musical numbers which are handled well, and has aged better than some other episodes. It also has a fleeting appearance by a very young Eddie Marsan, which was cool.
