00:00The writer of Our Friends in the North says its themes still remain relevant today as a new stage adaptation
00:07comes to Newcastle.
00:08Peter Flannery, who grew up in Jarrow, says he once hoped problems including inequality, corruption and deprivation would become less
00:16significant.
00:17He's now adapted two episodes of the original television drama for a play covering the period from Margaret Thatcher becoming
00:25Prime Minister in 1979 to The Miner Strike in 1984.
00:31The production follows Friends, Nicky, Mary, Geordie and Tosca and explores the impact of events on the North East.
00:38Flannery says the story also offers hope through enduring friendship and survival.
