Blood on the Dole 29 years old

Alan Bleasdale's touching yet frank drama for Channel 4 about the struggles of a group of young adults leaving school in a deprived area of Liverpool. Starring Stephen Walters, Suzanne Maddock and Amanda Mealing. Based on the acclaimed play by Jim Morris, voted Most Promising Playwright by the Financial Times and Morning Star in 1981. Blood on the Dole shows the lives of four teenagers, two boys and two girls, struggling to cope after being thrust into the real world for the first time after leaving school. Living in deprived Merseyside, the four youths' bright-eyed optimism for their futures and new-found freedom is soon crushed by the realities of unemployment, poverty, and the brutal reality of living and trying to find work in a city in decline. They all soon find themselves in the hopeless situation of facing complete dependence on state handouts, "the dole". The four teenagers instead find themselves turning to each other to find the strength to survive.

Credits

Blood on the Dole Cast

Name Character
Stephen Walters as Joey Jackson
Andrew Schofield He was 36, now 65 years old as Post Office Supervisor
Noreen Kershaw She was 44, now 73 years old as Aunty Vera
Jake Abraham He was 27, now 57 years old as Paul Price
Kevin Knapman as Dealer
Dicken Ashworth He was 48, now 77 years old as Cockler
Ray Gravell He was 43, 56 years old when he died as Anton
Dorien Thomas as Emrys

Blood on the Dole Crew

Name Department
Alan Bleasdale as Producer. He was 48 (now 78) years old Production
Blood on the Dole poster
Blood on the Dole (29 years)

  • Release day: Tuesday, October 18, 1994
  • Runtime: 90 minutes