Our Friends in the North play still relevant - Peter Flannery

The writer of acclaimed 1990s BBC TV drama Our Friends in the North has said a new stage version will resonate with modern audiences, even if he had once thought its themes would become irrelevant.

Peter Flannery, who was born and raised in Jarrow, said he had hoped the corruption and poverty the original show explored in the North East would fade away.

But in an interview ahead of a new stage adaptation in Newcastle, he said he was expecting the 21st Century audience to recognise the same problems today.

"If you asked me 30 years ago, would things be as bad as they are now, I'd probably have said no. I'd have said things are sure to get better and we would do something about inequality, corruption, greed, deprivation in pockets of the UK."

"So the fact it's got worse wasn't me being prescient. I didn't know it was going to get worse, it just has."

Flannery has adapted two episodes from the original nine-part series into a play that will open at Newcastle's Theatre Royal on 15 October.

It covers the years between Margaret Thatcher becoming prime minister in 1979 and the miners' strike of 1984, showing the impact of events on "friends" Nicky, Mary, Geordie and Tosker – and the North East.

Flannery added: "I wish, in my political heart, it was all now irrelevant. But with my vanity and my desire to be listened to as a writer, I do feel validated."

But he said as well as exploring problems the drama offered hope.

"Through the characters, it shows the enduring nature of love and friendship, and that, even though all this stuff is going on, people survive."

The TV series launched the careers of the four main actors, Daniel Craig, Christopher Eccleston, Gina McKee and Mark Strong.

And the new stage play also features a cast that is hoping it will have an impact on their futures as well as the audience.

Ryan Nolan, 30, from Newcastle, was born in the week the TV series first aired. He is Nicky Hutchinson, the role originally played by Christopher Eccleston.

He said: "I've worked as an actor for 10 years, but I've never had more people want to talk to me since being cast. Saying they're coming to see it, saying they love the original, saying they can't wait to see what I do with it.

But Scott Turnbull, 45, from Stockton, who plays Geordie, is not expecting his career to follow the path of original cast member Daniel Craig, who ended up as a buff James Bond, emerging from the sea when he debuted in the role in Casino Royale.

"What I would say is don't expect me to enter Act Two in a pair of Speedos looking absolutely ripped. I think the bird on the James Bond ticket might have already flown!"

The cast agree that the drama will appeal to both fans of the original and audiences encountering it for the first time.

Sam Neale, 41, from Newcastle, who plays Mary said: "At the centre of it you've got inadequate social housing, mistrust of the police and mass unemployment.

"All issues we are still dealing with. If younger audiences are coming in and have no point of reference to the miners' strike, they will relate to and understand a lack of opportunity or the difficulty getting a house."

And Jack Robertson, from Whitley Bay, who plays Tosker said it will also give younger audiences an insight into how the region was impacted by the 1980s.

"A lot of what we are doing is showing the loss of community back in those days. Even if you knew jobs were under threat, there was still this sense of people knowing each other and that family feel.

"That's such a highlight of the show and by virtue of comparison, it shows how divided we are now."

Flannery is not taking part in rehearsals but is looking forward to seeing it on stage, though he did have doubts about returning to Our Friends in the North.

"When I see it I think I'll have moments of elation and moments of thinking why did you do this Peter, why didn't you just stop?

"But actually I think it will be a success. And I hope it will tour the country next."

Our Friends in the North – The Thatcher Years runs at Newcastle's Theatre Royal between 15 and 24 October.

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'Our Friends in the North changed my life'