Our Friends In The North: The Thatcher Years

LIVE THEATRE, EASTLAKE PRODUCTIONS and NEWCASTLE THEATRE ROYAL Present

Our Friends In The North: The Thatcher Years

Adapted by original writer PETER FLANNERY
Directed by JACK MCNAMARA
Performed by SAMANTHA NEALE, RYAN NOLAN, JACK ROBERTSON, SCOTT TURNBULL & MEENA AL-NAWRASY, CHRIS CONNEL, JANE HOLMAN, LEO JAMES, COOPER McDONOUGH, JUDE NELSON, ROBERT PUNCHARD and TREVOR FOX

BAFTA award-winning BBC drama and cultural phenomenon, Our Friends in the North returns to the city where it began in a highly-anticipated new stage adaptation by original writer Peter Flannery with award-winning director Jack McNamara (Live Theatre).

Creatively conceived by Live Theatre, this production will take place at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Thu 15 - Sat 24 Oct 2026.

Celebrating 30 years since Our Friends in the North became one of the defining British television dramas of its era. With a timeline spanning three decades, the series followed four friends from Newcastle as they navigated their lives against the backdrop of post-war Britain and the rise of Thatcherism. This powerful new stage adaptation sees Tosker, Geordie, Nicky and Mary come of age in Newcastle during the Thatcher years, a time of seismic political and social change. As the world around them shifts, their friendships, ambitions and relationships are tested.

This bold new production focuses on a defining chapter of the original story. Funny, tender and unflinchingly political, it captures both the intimacy of personal relationships and the sweep of national change.

Our Friends in the North is a proudly local drama in a gripping theatrical form that speaks as urgently now as it did then – exploring what it means to belong, and how the past continues to shape the present.

Whether you're rediscovering this era-defining drama or are meeting these characters for the first time, don’t miss this major new production at Newcastle Theatre Royal for a strictly limited run.

Tickets on sale through Newcastle Theatre Royal.

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Reviews

'Under the direction of Jack McNamara, local acclaimed actors Ryan Nolan, Sam Neale and Jack Robertson bring beloved characters Nicky, Mary and Tosker to life for a modern audience, supported by an impressive cast of homegrown talent.'
WHAT'S ON STAGE

⭐⭐⭐⭐'My heart was bursting with pride to hear so many North East accents and our story being told in such a grand theatre and being part of it genuinely feels like an important moment.'
NORTH EAST FAMILY FUN

⭐⭐⭐⭐'Deft and witty...Where the play excels is its sense of lives set against history, its assertion that when you look behind the headlines that defined an era, what you find is people - and that those people matter.
THE STAGE

'This is a play that feels absolutely at home in Newcastle and the audience reaction is no doubt bolstered by that sense of hometown pride.'
INNEWCASTLE

'There was the uncanny silence of a capacity audience seemingly hanging on every word, catching every nuance of a story that was, in some way or another, about them.'
CULTURED NORTH EAST

'...quality performances keep us riveted throughout the show...I loved the production. If this is what theatre collaborations can do, let's have more of them.
NEWCASTLE CHRONICLE

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Theatre Royal has united with the Live Theatre and Eastlake Productions making for an iconic partnership bringing a deeply touching story alive...I felt completely immersed in the beautifully cinematic scenes....a disturbingly relevant revival.'
A YOUNG(ISH) PERSPECTIVE