Boys from the Blackstuff

The Black Stuff was the original television play directed by Jim Goddard and is the precursor to the 1982 Boys from the Blackstuff series. The main characters Yosser, Loggo, Chrissie, George, Dixie and his son, Kevin, were introduced in it. It follows the group as they set off from Liverpool to undertake a casual tarmac laying job on a new housing development in Middlesbrough. The episode was produced in 1978 but was not broadcast until 1980.

Along the way at a motorway service station, the group encounter a female student (Janine Duvitski) who hitch-hikes a lift to Leeds. Part of the group (particularly Yosser) mocks her, but Yosser's insecurity and unwillingness to be dominated by women is especially manifested after she taunts him when she is dropped off. In Middlesbrough, the group are approached by two Irish gypsies, Brendan and Dominic, who offer them the chance of a side job, claiming that they had been laid off. Although initially uneasy with the idea of working with them, the group (except group leader, Dixie and his son, Kevin), spurred by Yosser's dream of fleecing the gypsies and starting their own tarmac laying business, agree to invest vast amounts of their own savings to undertake the 'foreign' job. The group manager, McKenna, later discovers this and fires them all. However, despite being convinced that they had made the right decision, the group are nonetheless outsmarted by the gypsies who pretend they have been given a cheque (when in fact they had been paid cash) and claiming they would get the cheque cashed at a bank. Chrissie agrees to accompany Brendan in Brendan's van (who later manages to lose Chrissie by tricking him into pushing the van so as to jump-start it after pretending it had broken down), while Yosser decides to hold Dominic hostage until they return. Yosser soon discovers that cash had in fact been handed over, but Dominic manages to escape to Brendan who is waiting for him – Loggo tripping and tumbling over as he gave chase through a farmer's field.

Yosser speeds off in the group's own van and gives chase to Brendan and Dominic, who attempts to puncture Yosser's tyres by smashing empty milk bottles on the road from the back of the van. Yosser swerves and avoids them, but runs out of petrol, shouting and venting his anger by bashing his head on the steering wheel. He finds a can of petrol in the back of the van, partly refuels and sets off in vain to find the pair, before giving up on a roundabout, bringing traffic on it to a halt and breaking down in tears, ignoring the tailback and horns being blown behind him. He returns to the group after stopping by where he had abandoned a number of items from the van, headbutting a man he believes to be an Irish gypsy and kicking his companion to the ground, who protests he is neither a gypsy nor Irish and was "just hitching a lift". Yosser is clearly distressed upon his return to the group and begins to smash the tarmac they had laid with a pickaxe, but is restrained by Loggo and Chrissie before knocking Chrissie to the ground for his optimistic outlook despite what has happened. Yosser launches an emotional monologue about wanting to be rich, noticed and seen, and is clearly close to breaking point, to the extent that Loggo and George continue to restrain him from further attacking Chrissie who is on the floor with a bleeding nose. George reassures Yosser and gently advises him to grow up, but Yosser is unconvinced and kicks the grille of the van. The episode ends with the group, almost penniless, arriving at the Tees Transporter Bridge. A man whom they met earlier when he delivered tarmac to the site is on his way to Shetland to undertake a casual job there, and Loggo promptly chooses to join him. The episode finishes with a long-distance shot of the Tees Transporter Bridge and the opening theme song, sung by the cast, is played over the end credits.

Featuring most of the characters from the initial drama. They take a cash-in-hand job on a building site whilst still claiming unemployment benefit. Typical of the show's humour, it is later revealed that the building being renovated is going to be used by the Department of Employment. They are followed by the authorities and Snowy Malone (Chris Darwin), a plasterer, falls to his death trying to flee during a subsequent raid by the "sniffers" (social security officers working undercover).

Follows Dixie Dean (Tom Georgeson) in his new position as a security guard, where he is strongarmed into accepting bribes for allowing the removal of goods under his charge in a docked ship. Apart from Dixie's son Kevin this episode also features Chrissie, Loggo and George, the other members of the original gang, during a scene prior to Malone's funeral.

Concentrates on Chrissie (Michael Angelis) and the domestic pressure that unemployment and the attentions of the benefit fraud officers place on him and his wife (Julie Walters). It also features his closest friend, Loggo (Alan Igbon), who is least affected by the social climate. At the end of the episode, in an act of desperation, lacking money and food, Chrissie is driven to strangle and shoot his geese in an attempt to provide dinner. He also worries about his children's rabbits.

This is the most widely discussed episode of the series, following Yosser's struggle to avoid losing his children (who are played by Alan Bleasdale's own children) to the authorities as his mental health disintegrates. It is also the only one of the series shot on 16mm film, as opposed to videotape, although the original play was also shot on this format. Footballers Graeme Souness and Sammy Lee, then of Liverpool F.C., make cameo appearances. The episode contains the often repeated scene in which Yosser goes to confession looking for help, and tells the priest he is desperate. The priest, trying to comfort Yosser, tells him "Call me Dan – Dan"; to which Yosser replies "I'm desperate, Dan".

This episode reveals something of George's (Peter Kerrigan) politically active past. His trip (Chrissie wheeling him in his chair through the docks) leads him and them to reminisce about his younger days, the contrast between his recalled hopeful youth with the abandoned industrial infrastructure around him is marked. The death of George causes the main characters to be reunited if, in some cases, only briefly. The episode concludes with a surreal scene at the Green Man pub in Liverpool.