Jimmy McGovern's emotionally powerful hit drama, The Street, continues to attract Britain's finest film, television and stage talent as well as introduce newcomers in its third series set in one residents road in Manchester. Series three was originally broadcast on BBC1 between July and August 2009 and consists of another six episodes...

Episode one focuses on the landlord of The Greyhound pub, Paddy Gargan (played by Bob Hoskins). Having previously barred a young lad after he was caught smoking in the toilets, Paddy is forced to bar the son of a local gangster when he too is caught smoking in the toilets. The gangster, Thomas Miller (Liam Cunningham), is furious and tries to change Paddy's mind. When a quick talk doesn't do the trick Thomas starts to threaten Paddy. The episode looks at one man's principles, as Paddy refuses to back down whatever the cost.

Episode two follows single mother Dee Purnell (Anna Friel) who is finding it hard to pay the bills and provide for her young boys. Her youngest son is being bullied at his school, which is why Dee moved into the street - as it's in the catchment area of a better school. However her cost of living has risen so much so that she works in a local DIY store during the week, while travelling to Bolton to work as a prostitute at the weekends. When her boiler needs mending she meets and starts to fall for her plumber. But juggling her jobs and trying to get a new relationship off the ground is not going to be easy.

In episode three, TA soldier Private Nick Calshaw (Jonas Armstrong) is badly injured in a terrorist attack while serving in Afghanistan. He comes back home to his family in the street, but doesn't want to talk about the incident. He is facially disfigured and slowly, thanks to a secret he is carrying, he slowly starts to turn into a monster. Can he be saved from himself before it is too late?

Episode four follows Kieran Corrigan (Joseph Mawle) who isn't a very tolerant man. He has had his fill of foreign workers flooding the UK job market - foreigners whom he blames for everything that's bad about the country he lives in. He is also the head chef in a local restaurant, and is the only white face in the kitchen. One night, while out drinking in his local, he overhears a Polish worker at the bar. Immediately Kieran rips into the man about his race and how they're bleeding the UK dry. On his way home from the pub he walks past a house which is on fire - with a young Polish girl trapped in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Frozen with fear, Kieran watches as his friend breaks into the house and rescues the girl, asking Kieran to take the credit as he is worried that his act of bravery may affect his entitlement to sick benefit. Becoming an overnight hero, Kieran starts to date the girl's Polish mother. But he knows that the affair can't last forever - as once the girl regains consciousness she is sure to point out that Kieran was not her rescuer.

In episode five, Shay Ryan (Stephen Graham) attends an AA group and unburdens himself about the time he became an alcoholic. It all leads back to the day that armed gunmen burst into the betting shop where he was manager. As he slowly starts to become more dependant on alcohol an old girlfriend turns up to tell him he has a teenage son he never knew he had.

Episode six focuses on the McEvoy household. Margie McEvoy has moved into her father's house to help him after he's had a stroke. Her husband Eddie (Timothy Spall) a taxi driver who is currently banned from driving, now works on the radio at the taxi company. When new girl Sandra takes a shine to him, Eddie is a little too naive to realise that she's fallen for him. And when she finally makes her move, will Eddie be able to turn her down - especially when she's told him that she keeps been turned down by men because she's overweight and, in her eyes, unattractive.

While I enjoyed these episodes, I started to see a bit of a predictable pattern to the stories. There where ups and downs, but by the conclusion everything had worked out for the best. However, just as I was starting to get a little sick of this predictability, one of the episodes took a very different approach and threw me off balance.

The scripts are tight and the acting is also well above average, which is most likely down to the fact that the series employs some of the UK's best actors.

There are no extras, but to be honest the quality of the episodes are more than enough. In addition, the ridiculously low retail price (£16) makes this an essential purchase.

8

Darren Rea