Underplayed Gems

Strumpet City (1980)

Strumpet City poster
Directed by
Tony Barry
Genre
historical fiction
Country
Ireland
Length
1 season, 7 episodes
Rating
7.0 of 10 from 3 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

The miniseries is about workers and the poor in early 20th century Dublin. It follows a labor strike and the people involved including union leaders, priests, and families struggling to survive.

grittyhistoricalslow-burnbleakearnestintimatesombersocially-conscious

What happens

Strumpet City was a 1980 television miniseries produced by Irish broadcaster RTÉ, based on James Plunkett's 1969 novel Strumpet City. A seminal radio play, then stage play (the Risen People) became the basis of the novel which became the series. It was RTÉ's most ambitious and expensive production to date. The script was written by Hugh Leonard, and Peter O'Toole played James Larkin, the union leader. The cast also included Cyril Cusack as the alcoholic priest, Father Giffley, Donal McCann as the Larkin supporter, Mulhall, David Kelly as the destitute "Rashers" Tierney and Bryan Murray as Fitz, the young unemployed worker who ends up in the trenches. Frank Grimes won a Jacob's Award for his portrayal of the young Catholic curate, Father O'Connor. Peter Ustinov made a cameo appearance in the first episode as Edward VII. First shown in Ireland in 1980, the series was exported to the United Kingdom, where it was shown on ITV. In 2004, a digitised and remastered version was released on DVD by Acorn Media UK. The series was streamed on RTE Player to celebrate 60 Years of Television Christmas 2021. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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