"London's Burning" (1988) TV series 1988-2002

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Directors:

Les Blair
Steve Finn

Writers:

Mike Bailey (writer)
Clive Dawson (writer)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | unknown

Release Date:

20 February 1988 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Place Name In Title | City Name In Title | Firefighting

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Glen Murphy

...

George Green / ... (171 episodes, 1988-2002)

Runtime:

50 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Filming Locations:

Dockhead Fire Station, Wolseley Street, Bermondsey, London, England, UK

Company:

London Weekend Television (LWT)

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Big Brother's Most Outrageous Moments (2005) (TV)

One Of The All Time Greats

As it says in the title, London's Burning was one of the greatest drama's to appear on British television. It's mixture of gritty realism and humour made it one of the staples of ITV and was compulsive Sunday night viewing. Action packed story lines and superb acting ensured, in it's heyday, that viewing ratings were in excess of 18-19 million each episode. There were some bad points about the show, namely characters being alive and well at the end of a series, and in the next one not being there at all with no mention of them or explanation to where they went. E:g Carole Webb (Zoé Heyes), Rob Sharpe (Connor Lee). This was reinforced in 1998 when the show had it's first revamp with new opening titles and theme tune. Oh and Jim Alexander joined as well :P (!) Story lines changed and the programme was more focused on the personal lives of the characters (Chris Hammond's gambling debts, Jack's divorce and mental breakdown) Added to that in 2001 Richard Walsh (Sicknote) who was the only original character from the movie/pilot episode was killed off and that left Glen Murphy (George Green) as the only original character from the 1988 series when it first started. 2002 was the final straw as story lines were more sexual and unbelievable (A satellite was going to fall from Outer Space and crush London (!) (!) ) London's Burning was promptly axed and lets be honest, it was ITV/LWT that killed it off with it's new direction. But the show still deserves a 10/10 for the enjoyment and legacy it left behind. Oh and Jim Alexander was in the show as well...... Oh yeah I already mentioned that!! :P