One Summer
A five part television series produced by Yorkshire Television, One Summer was filmed in 1981 and broadcast on Channel 4 in 1983. The series was repeated on ITV in 1985. Initially entitled Ten Thousand Miles and intended to be a six part series, One Summer was produced by Keith Richardson and directed by Gordon Fleming.
Cast
Billy Rizley – David Morrissey
Icky Higson – Spencer Leigh
Rabbit – Ian Hart
Kidder – James Hazeldine
Jackson – Con O’Neil
Jo – Jane West
Maureen Rizley – Gil Brailey
Mrs. Rizley – Sheila Fay
The series came about when Yorkshire TV asked Willy Russell if he would like to write a follow-up to his play Daughters of Albion, Russell instead put forward the idea of One Summer. Set during Thatcher's Britain, One Summer tells the story of two teenage boys from Liverpool Billy and Icky who escape from the poverty and violence of their environment to try and find happiness in rural Wales.
David Morrissey, Spencer Leigh and Ian Hart all made their screen debut in the series.
“I trained at the Everyman Youth Theatre and we had access to professionals like Jim Broadbent, Pete Postlethwaite, Anton Lesser — I could go up to them and ask, what’s it like being an actor? And none of them told me to get lost. A rumour went around that Yorkshire TV were casting One Summer and with the arrogance of youth, I read for the part of Icky, and Paul McGann read for Billy. But he said, ‘I’m too old for this part, it should be you.’ I’ve always been eternally grateful for that”.
David Morrissey Radio Times
“When One Summer came out, I remember I'd just be walking down the street and especially in Liverpool people would just come up to you all the time and tell you how good it was and how much it meant to them, which was a really nice rewarding thing. Or you'd go to places and someone would want to buy you a drink. It was a great thing, I'm really proud of that show, I just think it was a really good show".
“If you've got something that's well written - I'm not saying that it's not difficult to make a mess of things, but if you've got something that's well written it makes a big difference - a big difference for everybody. I think the show had a lot of pathos - especially Icky's character. And I think that's the genius of the writing”.
Spencer Leigh
Due to conflicting opinions relating to the production and filming, Willy Russell removed his name from the series credits, which were eventually broadcast as ‘‘by the author of Educating Rita’.
However, despite the controversy that surrounded the series, One Summer gained a cult following and had a huge impact on a generation of teenagers.
Artists such as Liam and Noel Gallagher, Richard Ashcroft and Rhys Ifans all reference the series as having an impact on them growing up. In 2020 Network released the remastered HD Blu-Ray DVD of the series.