Peter Flannery says Our Friends in the North still speaks to audiences as stage debut nears

Peter Flannery says audiences will still recognise the problems explored in Our Friends in the North when his new stage adaptation opens in Newcastle on 15 October. In an interview published by BBC News on 27 September, the writer said he had once hoped the corruption, inequality and deprivation in the original drama would fade. His comments give the forthcoming production a contemporary argument, although whether audiences share his assessment will only become clear after it opens.

Flannery has adapted two episodes of the nine-part television series for Our Friends in the North: The Thatcher Years. The play follows four friends, Nicky, Mary, Geordie and Tosker, from the election of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister in 1979 to the miners’ strike in 1984. Newcastle Theatre Royal says the production is a world premiere and will run on its Main Stage from 15 to 24 October 2026. Its 15 September update said rehearsals were under way.

Why Flannery returned to the story

Flannery told the BBC that he expected a modern audience to recognise the drama’s concerns. Referring to inequality, corruption, greed and deprivation, he said he would once have predicted improvement over the following 30 years. ‘So the fact it's got worse wasn't me being prescient. I didn't know it was going to get worse, it just has,’ he said. That is Flannery’s assessment of present conditions; the interview did not present comparative data establishing the scale of change.

His September comments follow a separate interview with the Guardian in February, when the stage project was announced. Flannery expressed a similar view about the continuing relevance of the story, but also described reservations about returning to characters he felt he had finished writing. He said Jack McNamara’s proposal to adapt two Thatcher-era episodes helped persuade him. McNamara, who directs the new production, offered a more hopeful reading of the political parallels, saying past periods of uncertainty showed there could be a way through them.

A local cast and a narrower story

The production brings together Live Theatre, Eastlake Productions and Newcastle Theatre Royal. Flannery wrote the adaptation, and Live Theatre artistic director Jack McNamara directs it. The Theatre Royal says the stage version concentrates on 1979 and 1984 instead of attempting to retell the entire television series. It describes a story shaped by friendship, class, community and political change in the North East.

Ryan Nolan plays Nicky, Scott Turnbull plays Geordie, Jack Robertson plays Tosker and Sam Neale plays Mary, according to the Theatre Royal’s rehearsal update. Nolan told the BBC that people had approached him since he was cast, telling him they loved the original series and planned to see the play. He called taking on the role ‘a big responsibility’. Christopher Eccleston played Nicky in the television version, which also featured Daniel Craig, Gina McKee and Mark Strong.

Neale told the BBC that she sees inadequate social housing, mistrust of the police and mass unemployment at the centre of the drama. She said younger audiences unfamiliar with the miners’ strike could still understand limited opportunity or difficulty finding a home. Robertson, who plays Tosker, said the production depicts the loss of community in the 1980s and invites comparison with divisions he sees today. These are the actors’ interpretations of the play’s themes, rather than measures of current social conditions.

From television landmark to theatre premiere

The original series first aired on BBC Two on 26 February 1996, according to the Guardian’s account of the adaptation announcement on its 30th anniversary. That report said Flannery had earlier written Our Friends in the North as a stage play before it became a television drama. The new production therefore returns the work to theatre, but focuses on a short stretch of the characters’ lives rather than the full span covered by the television series.

The Theatre Royal lists a running time of two hours, including an interval. Its event page warns of adult themes, strobes, flashing lights and loud noises. It also lists an audio-described and captioned performance, with a pre-show touch tour, for the 2.30pm matinee on 24 October. Those details establish what the venue has announced for the Newcastle run; they do not indicate how critics or audiences will receive the adaptation.

Flannery told the BBC he looked forward to seeing the work on stage, despite doubts about revisiting it. He said he hoped the play would succeed and tour the country. The Newcastle engagement is confirmed for 15 to 24 October; a wider tour remains his expressed hope, with no further dates announced in the cited production information.