LIVE THEATRE, NEWCASTLE THEATRE ROYAL and EASTLAKE PRODUCTIONS Present
Our Friends In The North 1979 - 1984
Written by PETER FLANNERY & JACK MCNAMARA
Directed by JACK MCNAMARA
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 go on general sale at 10am on Wed 4 Mar 2026 through Newcastle Theatre Royal.
