London's Burning (1986 TV Movie) User Reviews

Fire watch

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 6 December 2014]

Londons Burning started out as a one off film written by Jack Rosenthal. After the success of this television film, it returned as a drama series.

Jack Rosenthal mentioned that the film was inspired by the Broadwater Farm riots in London in 1985 when the rioters turned on the fire fighters.

The other thing to note was that the film was from a perspective of a female fire fighter, Josie Ingham who joins Blue Watch at the Blackwall fire station. At that time a female fire fighter was novel and there was plenty of mileage in having a sole female in the team fighting to be accepted and respected.

The film was certainly a black comedy-drama. Just look at the scene when Josie's husband knocks on the house and tells the lady who opens the door that he is here for the orgy. The next scene we have ladies introducing their names but it turns out that its a regular meeting place of the wives of the fire crew, he being the husband of the latest member. This was typical of the quirky humour Rosenthal was known for in his work.

However the film climaxes with a riot which leads to disastrous consequences for one of the crew.

The film had a lot of tomfoolery with the fire crew and Josie's desire to be accepted by them, it was earthy as ITV at the time had big success with Auf Wiedersehen Pet as well as Minder and had a monopoly with these rough comedy-dramas. Its no wonder that London's Burning became a long running series but this film deserves attention to be appraised on its own as the oeuvre of Jack Rosenthal.

A fantastic film - The original that spurned the Popular ITV Drama

[ajlewisdipponsmill · 20 April 2005]

Londons Burning the Movie! If you were a fan of London's Burning in its hey day, before it got over dramatised and silly, (thanks to ITV demanding that all ITV dramas get more gritty and feature more stunts in a bid to attract more viewers) then Londons Burning the Movie is will be a real treat.

Featuring many of the now familiar Londons Burning cast which reads like a who's who of famous British television actors the film is hard hitting compulsive viewing from the very start.

Jack Rosenthal (who sadly passed away this year) knew exactly how to write hard hitting , on the edge of your seat, dramas with just the right amount of comedy to keep things ticking along nicely.

Designed to be a one off -made for TV - movie, the film was that popular it spurned the popular ITV drama of the same name, which ran for many years before being axed in 2002.

The plot is based around the life and times of Blue Watch, Blackwall Fire Station East London.

Firstly there is Jose - London's first female firefighter,(remember the film was made back in the early eighties)how will the lads cope with a woman on their patch? Then there is the fantastic array of incidents and emergencies to respond to and of course the hilarious practical jokes and general tom foolery firefighters are famous for - adding some great comedy moments.

The screenplay is truly brilliant,and the observation of the characters portrayed is very accurate indeed.

The cast really get across the message that despite the practical jokes, the teasing , and general tomfoolery a fire crew is not just a group of "laddish" testosterone fuelled males, but a committed group of people who would do anything for their colleagues, they are a team who are more like a close knit family, the fire service family, a family which relies on each other to keep safe in the most dangerous situations.

The film climaxes with a thrilling on the edge of your seat scene that jeopardises the crew... I won't spoil it - all Ill say is watch it - the plot line is simply electric - a great story interwoven with many sub plots to keep things in top gear all the way through.

Compulsive viewing - fantastic film which was ahead of its time when released back in the early eighties as it was the first ever dramatisation portraying a British Fire Crew.