craig_j_stephen In the 1970s programmes based in Liverpool centred largely around the comedy The Liver Birds. But by the 1980s there was the groundbreaking series about unemployment The Boys from the Blackstuff, One Summer and the semi-social realist Brookside soap opera. Like previous reviewers I too watched this in my teenage years (I was 14 when it aired) and seeing this on DVD reminds me what an excellent series it was, albeit with some flaws. While One Summer doesn't dwell on the social inequalities in Liverpool at the time - under the Conservative government it was hit hard and was the only region to actually have a swing to Labour in a Tory landslide in the election of May that year (1983) - it does touch on working-class deprivation without delving into the complexities of the issue. Billy and Icky are two 15 year-olds about to leave school with no qualifications and little job prospects. Billy's home is a dysfunctional one and he is a petty thief being eyed up by the police. Both are part of a gang that get involved in various scraps, some with knives. The second-in-command of this group is Rabbit, played by Ian Hart (then called Ian Davies) who would become a nemesis for the pair. Leaving Liverpool on train in their school uniforms for north Wales, Billy and Icky become involved in a series of adventures in which they struggle to leave behind their social background and upbringing and attempt to blend in with a rural community. It also shows, somewhat uniquely for the time perhaps, two 15-year-olds doing exactly what boys of that age do, muck about and deal with teen angst. I've just watched all five 50-minute episodes of the series as well as the interviews with lead actors David Morrissey (Billy), Spencer Leigh (Icky) and Hart. Alas, James Hazeldine, who played the slightly hippy Kidder and director Gordon Flemyng had died by the time this section was filmed. Flemyng is described by Morrissey and Leigh as an amiable but tough Glaswegian who got the best out of the cast. It's also revealed, by producer Keith Richardson, that the casting procedure was a lengthy one, going round the area's drama schools and secondary schools. Neither Morrissey nor Leigh had any formal acting experience although Davies/Hart had appeared in Play For Today. It's an excellent exploration of youth but does contrive some unfortunate incidents the duo get involved in, has a grim ending and the romance between Billy and Jo is as lame as any Hollywood blockbuster can get. Those aside, I found this a fantastic series to watch, with the spectacles' rose tints thoroughly faded with age.

stu_humphreys2 I can't begin to describe the effect this series had on me when it first aired in the mid-80's and has continued to have on me since.Having recently purchased on DVD and re-watched a whole wave of thoughts and feelings (old and new) raced through my mind. Many things in this world don't age well but I feel 'One Summer' (With the obvious exception of the 80's clothing) is certainly not one of them. Is just as realistic, funny, sad, touching and ultimately rewarding as I remember it. Only this time watching through the eyes of a 35 year old it seems even more poignant.The Story of Billy and Icky, 2 Liverpool lads from the wrong side of the tracks who escape to Wales one summer, seemed almost embedded into my life over the last twenty or so years. It seemed to be one of those series that the kids who saw it got to grips with very easily and often chatted about at school and yet it seemed to address some very adult and serious subjects possibly for the first time for many of us.Reading the other comments on this site, its interesting to see how much of an impact it had on everyone of a certain era. TV dramas like these come along once in a blue moon and its bizarre how certain things (Jumping off the train when they reach Wales, Icky's plate-skimming antics, or the lads shear horror at being taking to the village country dance) were stuck in my memory. But there were many very touching and genuinely sad moments I had forgotten, like when they fed the mars bar to the baby birds, or when Kidder gave the boys the books he has written for them.Now re-watching this series through the eyes of an adult I can see the various subjects and themes that were important but perhaps I didn't fully understand when I was 11....that now make more sense. For example I simply thought the character of Kidda wanted a life of solitude but in light of the pain he has been through in his past life you can practically see the anguish on his face that he doesn't want the boys to live there when Billy begs him to stay, because he knows the implications it will bring. Or the way Icky hangs on everything Billy says and does, as if he were his guardian angel, we all knew kids a bit like Icky growing up.I had seen David Morrissey (Billy) in a number of things over the years and knew he had gone on to big things in Hollywood etc. but I had often wondered what happened to Spencer Leigh (Icky). It was a real pleasure watching the interview with them both on the special features. I actually found I was smiling to myself when I got to see Icky in the flesh - as he did finally get to grow up.I am sure I am not alone in the tremendous feeling of sadness with what happens to Icky half way through the final episode. That had a profound shock then and still does now.So in a way I felt comforted to see Spencer Leigh well again and laughing with his old pal. This might sound 'soft' as the boys would say but it indicates the lasting effect this series had on my psyche and growing up in general. As one other reviewer on this site comments, they don't often make TV as good as this anymore - and indeed they hardly don't. See it again.

hidden_shallows I've just finished watching this on DVD for the first time since it was aired in 1983, when it had a huge impact on me as a twelve year old growing up in Thatcherite Britain. Certain parts of it I remembered clearly and certain parts I didn't, but I was amazed at how much this TV drama was ingrained on my psyche and yes, it's just as good as I remembered it.It tells the story of the adventures of two Liverpool lads, Billy and Icky, who steal some money and head off to Wales because one of them remembers having had a good time at a camp out there and how they are befriended and helped by a recluse called Kidder. All three of leads have dark pasts and the main theme of the story is how no matter how hard you try and how far you run, you can't escape your past.Excellent performances, haunting and memorable music and a heart-breaking story add up to a truly recommended 250 minutes.

Caitlin This 5 part coming-of-age drama had a profound affect on me as a teenager. It was the first screen appearance of David Morrissey, who has since gone on to a fair level of screen success both in the UK and US. Also appearing as the troubled Icky was the brilliant Spencer Leigh, who unfortunately has not had the same success and appears to have appeared in very little since, and nothing in the last 10 years... I can still hum the haunting harmonica theme by Alan Parker.