I suppose my issue with this stems from my own background; having spent my childhood in a small apartment within a 1970s Glasgow tenement where bathing once a week involved water boiled on the gas stove, I find these “northern” (English) stories of hardship and misfortune somewhat overblown. Compared to earlier generations, it seems these people don’t appreciate their circumstances, given they live in housing developments that are better resourced than anything we could have imagined back then. Is this self-inflicted poverty or has it simply crushed any sense of hope they might have had? We get three perspectives to help us figure that out. There's alcoholic “Ray,” his chain-smoking wife “Liz,” and their two sons, “Richard” and “Jason,” who are largely ignored. Now living in a fairly dilapidated council flat, their lives seem to be on autopilot until “Jason” (Joshua Millard-Lloyd) gets an opportunity to spend the night at a friend's house and sees how other families operate without constant drinking. It was really these boys that made this worthwhile for me, as both he and his brother “Richard” (played by Jacob Tuton) offer very different views on their mother’s shocking lack of care – her solution to problems, when they couldn’t be avoided, seemed to be simply erasing them. The story takes place during Margaret Thatcher's time in power, in a region that didn’t embrace her Conservative ideas and included the formidable Betty Boothroyd among its Members of Parliament; so we can expect the narrative from John Billingham isn’t going to support policies considered divisive and self-serving at the time. However, when you look at the characters presented, it's genuinely difficult to feel any empathy or sympathy for them. They don’t seem to care about their own lives, so why should I? On that point, both Smith and Justin Salinger’s younger portrayal of “Ray” are quite effective; they are entirely believable, if not particularly pleasant as they indulge in their gloomy introspection. This does explore a range of social issues, including mental health, and there's humor too – dark and occasionally genuinely funny – which helps to highlight their attitudes toward their addictions and living conditions. I’m afraid I found the whole thing just a bit too focused on feeling sorry for themselves. It’s bleak, but ultimately life is what you make it, and they failed to even take care of basic responsibilities.

Source on TMDB