It Couldn’t Happen Here
August 29, 2010 8:16 PM   Subscribe

GBH was a seven-part British television drama written by Alan Bleasdale [previously1] [previously2] shown in the summer of 1991 on Channel 4. The protagonists were Michael Murray (played by Robert Lindsay), the Militant Labour leader of a city council in the North of England and Jim Nelson (played by Michael Palin), the headmaster of a school for disturbed children. The series was controversial partly because Murray appeared to be based on Derek Hatton, former Deputy Leader of Liverpool City Council – in an interview in the G.B.H. DVD Bleasdale recounts an accidental meeting with Hatton before the series, who indicates that he has caught wind of Bleasdale’s intentions but does not mind as long as the actor playing him is “handsome”.

Sez Wikipedia: GBH is set in the early 1990s, towards the end of the Thatcher years, when numerous attempts were made by local left-wing councils to get more autonomy (not least in Bleasdale’s home city of Liverpool, see municipal socialism). The plot is the attempt by UK government secret services to discredit and bring down Murray’s leadership. Ideologically this involves a left-wing theorist, Mervyn, who is manipulated by MI5 agent Lou. Meanwhile, another MI5 agent Peter has recruited a gang of thugs, posing as left-wing activists (and later policemen) as agents provocateurs. Each episode reveals more about the convoluted nature of the plot to discredit Murray.

It seems as though all of the original episodes have been uploaded to YouTube. Here are links to the first episode:

GBH Episode One part one
GBH Episode One part two
GBH Episode One part three
GBH Episode One part four
GBH Episode One part five
GBH Episode One part six
GBH Episode One part seven
GBH Episode One part eight
GBH Episode One part nine
GBH Episode One part ten

posted by KokuRyu (18 comments total) 27 users marked this as a favorite

outstanding political satire.