The Lakes + Dockers + Hearts And Minds

These are all drama's with a Jimmy McGovern connection. In addition to writing, or partially writing, all of these he is credited, or partially credited, with Cracker, The Street, Moving On, Accused and worked on the early episodes of Brookside.

The Lakes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lakes_%28TV_series%29

Dockers: Dockers is a landmark one-off drama suspended somewhere between Ken Loach and Alan Bleasdale's Boys from the Blackstuff. A striking Channel Four production Dockers dramatises the infamous struggle that developed when five Merseyside dockworkers were fired for refusing to work overtime with no pay, and gained the support of co-workers who wouldn't cross their picket line. As a result, those who stood in solidarity with the original five were sacked as well--500 in total--leading to a two-year stand-off. Co-written by award-winning screenwriters Jimmy McGovern (Cracker) and Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting), the two-year ordeal is brought home with startling reality, not least because of the contribution of the real-life Liverpool dockers who helped develop the script in extensive writing workshops, lending the film an authenticity it might have otherwise lacked. While the narrative hangs around the moving central story of one family in which both father and son are caught up in the strike, dramatic conflicts develop on multiple levels: between father and son; between the families of the sacked workers (this is particularly well realised as one long-time friend, played by The Royle Family's Ricky Tomlinson, turns scab); and between the workers and the union that betrays them. Ken Stott and Crissy Rock (Ladybird, Ladybird) are outstanding as the central working-class couple, old before their time at 47, and if nothing else, the film reveals one further reason why Liverpool loved Robbie Fowler quite so ferociously: during post-goal celebrations, Fowler lifts his jersey to reveal a T-shirt emblazoned with a message of support for the wronged dockers, ensuring national attention for the action at a time when all hope seemed lost. --Tricia Tuttle

Hearts And Minds: Made in between series two and three of "Cracker as he slowly handed over the reins to Paul Abbott, McGovern crafted a semi-autobiagraphical four part drama for Christopher Eccleston (so memorable as the ill-fated DCI Bilborough in "Cracker"). Concerning Eccleston's ex-shop steward turned novice teacher Drew MacKenzie's first year at an inner city Liverpool comprehensive, McGovern's drama is gritty, caustic, sharp and moving. The hallmarks of McGovern's writing are all there: sharp dialogue, naturalistic acting, bristling social conscience and the ability to turn narrative on its head with dramatic plot twists. While perhaps not in the same league as his work on the awesome "Cracker", "Hearts and Minds" is top notch drama from one of modern British television's foremost dramatists. Taken as a body of work, "Cracker", "Hearts and Minds", "Go Now", "Hillsborough", "The Lakes", "Dockers", "Sunday", "Gunpowder, Treason and PLot" and now "The Street" show that for true mastery of the TV drama, few can beat McGovern. The cast is uniformly excellent, with Eccleston's bustling, energetic performance as Drew the highlight, but credit for David Harewood's Trevor, providing the weary conterpoint to Drew's idealism. Mike Leigh alumni Peter Wight is also excellent in the first episode.