Holding On is an eight-part British television drama series, created by screenwriter Tony Marchant, that first broadcast on BBC2 on 8 September 1997. The series follows the life of a seemingly unconnected group of people living in London, whose lives are strangely affected by the murder of a young woman in the city. While some of the group are able to take a newfound hope from the remains of the tragic event, others including food critic Gary Rickey (Phil Daniels) simply watch on as despair begins to unravel in the light of the aftermath. Proving popular with both critics and viewers alike, the series won a Royal Television Society award for Best Drama Serial in 1998.[2]
| Holding On | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Tony Marchant |
| Written by | Tony Marchant |
| Directed by | Adrian Shergold |
| Starring | David Morrissey Phil Daniels Lesley Manville Saira Todd Ace Bhatti Ellen Thomas Freddie Annobil-Dodoo Caroline Harker Diane Parish Sandra Voe Rachel Power |
| Composer | Nick Bicat |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Michael Wearing Kevin Loader |
| Producer | David Snodin |
| Cinematography | Peter Middleton |
| Editor | John Stothart |
| Running time | 55 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC2 |
| Release | 2 September – 21 October 1997[1] |
The series boasted a stellar cast, including David Morrissey, Lesley Manville and Ellen Thomas, as well as Ace Bhatti and Diane Parish, who were both relatively unknown at the time of the series' broadcast. The series was billed as Marchant's "first significant project for television",[3] and its main themes as "exploring in complex detail the personal responsibility [of every individual], and how it becomes threatened in a society which has been told by Margaret Thatcher [that] it no longer exists." The series was first released on DVD on 1 August 2005.[4] After many years of being out-of-print, the series was finally re-released by Simply Media on 9 November 2015.[5] Following the DVD release, the series drew comparisons to American drama series The Wire, praising the similarities been the multi-layered complex storylines and character development.[6]
Cast edit
Main cast edit
- David Morrissey as Shaun
- Phil Daniels as Gary Rickey
- Lesley Manville as Hilary
- Saira Todd as Claire
- Freddie Annobil-Dodoo as Marcus
- Sam Kelly as Bernard
- Razaaq Adoti as Chris
- Diane Parish as Janet
- Ellen Thomas as Florrie
- Treva Etienne as Lloyd
- Annette Badland as Brenda
Supporting cast edit
- Ace Bhatti as Zahid
- Caroline Harker as Vicky
- Sandra Voe as Annie
- Rachel Power as Helen
- Emily Hamilton as Tina
- Meera Syal as Zita
- David Calder as Werner
- Frances Shergold as Frances
- Tim Woodward as Ken
- Tilly Vosburgh as Gabby
Episodes edit
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | British air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | Adrian Shergold | Tony Marchant | 2 September 1997 | |
| A bulimic restaurant critic struggles with his job, Marcus sets up Massive FM, and a young woman is murdered in a telephone kiosk. | |||||
| 2 | "Episode 2" | Adrian Shergold | Tony Marchant | 9 September 1997 | |
| The telephone kiosk murder has far-reaching effects on the lives of others, while it seems tax investigator Shaun may have something to hide. Chris cons money out of his mother. | |||||
| 3 | "Episode 3" | Adrian Shergold | Tony Marchant | 16 September 1997 | |
| Taxi driver Bernard cracks under the pressure of witnessing the murder, and kills a passenger himself. | |||||
| 4 | "Episode 4" | Adrian Shergold | Tony Marchant | 23 September 1997 | |
| Claire seeks out the mother of her sister's killer, and Bernard is charged with murder. Marcus and Janet find it difficult to continue with the radio station. | |||||
| 5 | "Episode 5" | Adrian Shergold | Tony Marchant | 30 September 1997 | |
| Marcus and Janet try to pursue their radio activities, Hilary is the subject of a mugging, and Shaun accepts a bribe. | |||||
| 6 | "Episode 6" | Adrian Shergold | Tony Marchant | 7 October 1997 | |
| Disaster at a dinner party threatens Hilary and Lloyd's relationship. After Chris' funeral, Marcus relaunches Massive FM. | |||||
| 7 | "Episode 7" | Adrian Shergold | Tony Marchant | 14 October 1997 | |
| Pregnant Claire takes in an embarrassing flatmate, and Florrie and Janet are outraged by Bernard's seemingly lenient prison sentence. Shaun's life is in tatters, and Hilary makes a decision about her relationship with Lloyd. | |||||
| 8 | "Episode 8" | Adrian Shergold | Tony Marchant | 21 October 1997 | |
| Gary returns to his football reporting roots, Brenda reveals to Claire why she is on the run, and Shaun becomes a victim of the city's random violence. | |||||
References edit
- ^ "Search – BBC Programme Index".
- ^ "OFF THE TELLY: Drama/London Pride". Archived from the original on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 5 March 2007.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Holding On (1997)". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
- ^ "Holding on". UK: Amazon.
- ^ "Holding on". UK: Amazon.
- ^ Holding on Sabotage Times [dead link]
External links edit
- Holding On at BBC Online
- Holding On at IMDb
