71%User score 71 percent
Political Animals
2012 · Drama
User Score
17 votes
GBH was a seven-part British television drama written by Alan Bleasdale shown in the summer of 1991 on Channel 4. The protagonists were Michael Murray, the Militant tendency-supporting Labour leader of a city council in the North of England and Jim Nelson, 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". In normal parlance, the initials "GBH" refer to the criminal charge of grievous bodily harm - however, the actual intent of the letters is that it is supposed to stand for Great British Holiday.
Recommendations based on this series
Michael Palin
Jim Nelson
CinemaSerf
April 16, 2025
This is a terrific piece of political drama from Channel 4 and Alan Bleasdale that shines a light on a myriad of topics whilst set amidst the polarisation of Mrs. Thatcher’s 1980s Britain. Despite her fairly comprehensive election win in 1983, most of the urban population remained unconvinced by her policies and it’s in one such city that the fictional character of “Michael Murray” (Robert Lindsay) rules the roost. H…
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