thetokenbrit As a child in early 1990's Britain, London's Burning was a staple of Sunday night TV. I have just been re-watching the show on DVD and it's still as relevant today as it was 20 years ago when the show was at it's peak.I highly recommend this show to Firefighting/Fire Brigade enthusiasts around the world as it showed Blue Watch of Blackwall Fire Station dealing with work and personal triumphs and tragedies. The realism of the show was what made it so successful with a big budget being spent on the spectacular, well crafted and well produced "Shouts" that Blue Watch were called to (A "Shout" is a Brigade term for an Emergency call) in the days before Computer Generated Imagery which the later seasons of LB had to suffer from as the budget was cut.Here's to the crew of Blackwall!

screenman I moved to the capital the year this series began, so it had a particular resonance for me. I'd also had some experience in the fire-fighting game so I was particularly interested to see how well it fared.The first few episodes were quite decent with a good mix of mostly likable characters. The technical researchers also appeared to have done their homework.But the trouble is; with all dramas that run for long enough; they just turn into soap-operas, with personal issues gradually eclipsing the raison d'etre. In the end, it doesn't matter what the characters do for a living. Firemen, coppers, soldiers, teachers; we seem to finish-up worrying about marital issues, debts, drink problems, etc. They're good for - say - a 10 or 20-week run and then that's it. Fires become just fires. Now, what's up with yer missus? This series seemed to outlive the fire engines themselves. And it sure as hell outlived my interest. For the first 10 programmes I'd have given 8 or 9 stars, but by the time it was finally extinguished I couldn't give a damn.

Sometimes1986 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

M@rko77 I like the series very much.. Especially the great actors and the great stunts, of course! Here in Finland we follow the series 96-97 season (after Bayleaf´s leaving and Hallam´s death)