How much do you
know about the person working next to you? From the outside, life at Mackintosh
Textiles appears to run smoothly, but in a community with so many secrets to
hide, things are far from straightforward.
Following the
enormous success of the first series, Paul Abbott's award-winning drama returns
to the Manchester textile factory to unpick the fabric of the bosses' and
workers' private lives.
Their jobs may be
mundane, but their personal lives are filled with incident. The series is a
patchwork of colourful stories, including a suspected paedophile, problem
stepchildren, child-snatching, a mercenary girlfriend, a hijack, a knifing and
tangled relationships. In each stand-alone episode, one of the characters comes
to the fore while the others fade into the background.
The factory
setting only serves to heighten the characters' dilemmas. They bottle up
difficulties so as not to lose face in front of friends and colleagues, and then
sometimes the pressure gets too great and they explode.
Clocking Off is
by one of Britain's foremost television writers and has a strong ensemble cast,
including Ricky Tomlinson (The Royle Family), Lindsey Coulson (EastEnders),
Philip Glenister (Roger Roger), Lesley Sharp (The Full Monty) and Jason Merrells
(Casualty).
Recorded from
Digital TV, and supplied as a 2 Disc Set, the quality (compared to a retail DVD)
is 9 Audio 9 Video (Excellant!).
DVDs and episode
are as follows;
Clocking
Off - Season Two - Disc One
Kev's Story
Ever wondered
what goes on behind the neighbours' doors? Sometimes its best not to delve into
other people's lives, as Kev Leach finds out. Kev is pretty happy with his life
- steady job, cute hairdresser girlfriend, Babs, own home and nights out with
the boys. Then his work-mate, Brian Pringle, a machine engineer at Mackintosh,
moves in across the road following his divorce. At first, things run smoothly -
the pair share the petrol on the factory run and go for a quick pint after work.
But then Kev gets nosy. Through his video camera, usually reserved for taping
his more intimate moments with Babs, he takes a peek at Brian surfing the net.
What Kev sees, or thinks he sees, is so unexpected, so awful that he can hardly
process the information. Is he living across the road from a paedophile? Well,
he might be, and then again he might not. The problem for Kev is that however
much he thinks he sees, he's never quite sure if his suspicions are justified.
As the weeks go by, Kev watches Brian closely, storing away any evidence that
proves his suspicions. He even starts working in the youth club where Brian
volunteers, just to keep an eye on him. Kev's suspicions lead him down a dark
road to violence, an illicit liaison and to the growing realisation that even if
he can prove that Brian is up to no good, Brian will do anything to stop him
from blowing the whistle. For once, Kev is faced with a situation that not even
his big brother Martin can sort out. And he is finally forced to do something it
seemed he'd never do - start growing up.
Bev's Story
Good-time girl
Bev likes a drink and a laugh, but life hasn't turned out quite as planned.
She's lonely, her only son is nothing but trouble and it seems like the fun
times are gone for ever. When Mal, widower and regular nice guy, turns up to
service a machine at Mackintosh's, Bev suddenly glimpses a possible future and,
from where she sits, it looks just fine. Knowing that Mal has always had a bit
of a thing for her, she flirts and he asks her out. Mal's teenage sons Alex and
Scott (Nicky Evans and Bryan Dick) take an instant dislike to Bev, but Mal is
besotted, feeling alive for the first time since his wife died.When Bev moves
in, bringing her tacky knick-knacks with her, Mal's eldest son is furious. The
situation worsens when Bev tells him that his mother and father's relationship
was not perfect�especially when it came to sex. Even Bev realises that this was
a bad move, but she is a fighter and in pursuit of Mal and everything that comes
with him�nice house, nice life, she is a formidable enemy. And with Mal blind to
all her faults, she can't lose. His son leaves home, and Mal and Bev become
engaged. Shortly after, she announces she is pregnant. When she loses the baby,
it binds Mal to her more tightly. Then one day, during a drunken conversation in
a bar with Julie, Bev reveals that the pregnancy was not all it seemed.
Freda's
Story
After sitting all
week at a sewing machine at Mackintosh, Freda is ready for a girls' night out.
However, she has to tell her friends to go on without her. She has been
babysitting her two small grandchildren and, not for the first time, her
daughter Lindsey never arrives to collect them. Now Freda's life is about to
change - either she looks after the kids or Social Services will. At first, it's
a nightmare. How can she cope with the kids and a full-time job with not enough
money and not enough time? She tracks down their father, Tony (Jonathan Wrather),
who is less interested in his children than in getting back to his game of pool.
Freda doesn't know where to turn. Luckily, a chance meeting with Mack offers her
an opportunity to explain the situation and he gives her the space to sort
herself out. Gradually, Freda stops seeing the children as an imposition in her
life. With extra income from a new venture in curtain-making, part-time hours at
work and friend Julie's open-hearted willingness to chip in, Freda's life has
become complete. When she finds out that Lindsey has left the country and that
her grandchildren are with her long term, it is no longer a problem. However,
looming in the background is Tony. In court for breaking his probation on a
drugs charge, he suddenly sees the kids as a way of avoiding jail. One day he
turns up and just takes them. Freda is heartbroken. All she wants is the
children back.
Clocking
Off - Season Two - Disc Two
Barry's
Story
Life has not been
good to Barry Jackson. His wife ran off with his previous boss, leaving him to
bring up two young daughters in his mother's house while he works nights as a
security guard at Mackintosh. But though he's a loser, he is not bitter. Then
one day, he wins £20,000 on the football pools. To Barry, this is a fortune. It
could change his life - not that he has a love life or even a social life. So
when he meets Trudy's sister, Janice, he is smitten. But Janice is everything
Barry is not - worldly, cynical, mercenary - and she has her eyes elsewhere, on
Mack. Since her husband ran off with all her money and left her reduced to
selling flowers at a roadside stall, love takes second place in her thoughts to
cash. Mack has cash, but isn't interested. When Trudy suggests a date with
Barry, Janice dismisses the idea out of hand. Not only is he Trudy's 'cast off'
but he is also only a security guard, hardly in a position to support her in the
style to which she was accustomed. The news of Barry's windfall, however,
changes her mind. One date leads to several. Barry is in love and even Janice
finds herself falling, because he is a good man and as an added bonus, a
fantastic lover. She meets his kids and his Mum and everything looks rosy for
them both, until Janice discovers that Barry's win wasn't as much as she
thought.
Ronnie's
Story
For over 20
years, Mackintosh truck driver Ronnie Anderson has cared lovingly and devotedly
for his wife Jess (Kate Fitzgerald), a wheelchair-bound victim of multiple
sclerosis. What no one knows is that Ronnie now wants out, out of caring for
Jess, out of his life. He feels he has given enough and it is time to start
again. Ronnie is in love with Jess' home-help Trish and she loves him back.
Everything changes one day when Ronnie's truck is hijacked. He is beaten, dumped
in a car boot and the truck's contents are stolen. Rumours fly around the
factory after Ronnie is questioned by the police, who believe that the hijack
was an inside job. He proclaims his innocence but, like many things in his life,
it is a lie. It was Ronnie who tipped off the robbers and the violence was just
to make it look good. For the couple are hoping that the robbery will give them
enough to provide for Jess and for them to be together. They get a scare when
one of the hijackers is caught, but he keeps quiet, they get their cut and
everything seems to be going according to plan - until Ronnie's son, Nick, sees
them together and realises the truth.
The Lads
After a night on
the town, Ade, Barney, Kev and Nick are waiting in the taxi queue when some
drunks start a fight, during which someone is knifed. At the sound of sirens,
they run. The next morning, the stabbing is all over the news: the victim is in
a critical condition. For the Mackintosh lads, the big question is who used the
blade? Accusations fly, although no one suspects Ade because he didn't want to
get involved in the first place and he is as dangerous as a cuddly toy. Then
Barney phones the hospital to find out how the injured man is, the police trace
the call and he is arrested. The knife has also been found. One of the injured
men's sidekicks is brought to the factory to identify Barney's accomplices. Kev
has had enough and willingly walks into the trap. Nick wants to do the same, but
Ade tries to stop him. He was the one with the knife. Ade hides while Nick and
Kev are arrested. Both deny knowing the fourth man. Whatever they think of Ade,
they will not grass. A witness confirms that the boys only fought in self
defence and, as none of their fingerprints match those on the knife, they are
released. But there is unfinished business with Ade. Over the course of a very
long night, the four lads learn something fundamental about themselves, their
friendship and also about the awful destructiveness of fear.
Trudy, Mack
and Martin's Story
Martin and Trudy
are together and very happy. Martin's relationship with Mack, however, is not so
good. Mack is jealous that Trudy, who was always devoted to him, has settled for
Martin and, as transport manager, Martin gets the blame when the insurance
company refuse to renew the policy on the Mackintosh trucks. Trudy, however,
suggests that she and Martin take over running the haulage as an independent
company. Things go well, they get married, and Trudy cuts the final cord with
Mack after he pushes her too far, leaving him with the realisation that he needs
her a lot more than she needs him. Then Martin's sister-in-law Sue (Alison
Swann) turns up, eight months pregnant and with her husband, Martin's wayward
brother Stuart, in jail with no hope of release. Martin had a relationship with
Sue before Trudy and it's not long before Trudy realises that the baby is not
Stuart's but Martin's. Sue swears she will never tell Martin but Trudy knows
this is a secret she cannot live with. She sends Martin round to see Sue and
then waits for him with his bags packed. Martin has always looked after
everyone, taken care of everything. He will leave her now to look after Sue and
the baby, won't he? But this is one decision Martin is determined to make for
himself, and for once in his life he knows precisely what he wants.
