Sam Complete Series One   Starring: Kevin Moreton, Barbara Ewing, Ray Smith, John Prince and Frank Mills Acorn Media UK RRP: £29.99 AV9957 Certificate: PG Available 01 March 2010

In the 1930’s young Sam is growing up amongst the privations of a Yorkshire mining town. When his mother leaves his father, Sam’s world changes forever when his mother moves them both back to Skellerton, the town of her birth, to live with her parents...

Sam (1973) was a period drama written by John Finch and directed by Colin Cant, Les Chatfield and Bill Podmore which uses Sam’s story to examine a working class way of life that is now almost extinct. The series originally ran for three series and series one is collected together in this six disc DVD box set, consisting of all thirteen episodes.

Many of the initial episodes - A Way of Life, Poor Law, Leaving Home and For Ever and Ever and Ever and Ever - deal with Sam and his mother trying to adjust to their new circumstances. Moving in with relatives, getting an idea of what life is like in a pit town and Sam’s inevitable run in at school which makes him run away.

With the setting in place the story shifts to that of his mother’s new relationship - A Day to Remember, The Cost of Living, Out of the Blue - which mostly consists of disapproval from the local women, especially when the new couple set up home.

With the two main themes firmly embedded the final third of the show deal with other issues such as trouble down the pit in United We Stand, Birth and Death in the Beginning of Winter and Where the Heart is, until Sam is sent off to boarding school, only to return home and finally join his grandfather in the pit.

Serial dramas of this type used to appear quite often in the seventies, often dealing with the day to day lives of working class families (When the Boat Comes in, Family at War), these are sadly on longer made in an era which considers the melodrama of the soap opera as a worthy successor.

Overall the show was well acted with, what appears to be, a convincing portrayal of family life in the twenties.

Given the age of the show the 4:3 picture is soft with occasional print damage. The set does come with a number of text based extras, including, press quotes, a biography for John Finch, production notes, cast filmographies and a picture gallery.

Overall, a fine example of the genre.

7

Charles Packer