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PRESTON FRONT Written by Tim Firth Series 1 Directed by Brian Farnham Produced by Chris Griffin Executive Producers Barry Hanson and Chris Parr Series 2 & 3 Directed by Chris Bernard and Rick Stroud Produced by Bernard Krichefski Executive Producer Julian Murphy   Best Comedy Drama, Comedy awards RTS Award for Best Series Best Series Award at the San Francisco Television Festival Nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Series   Writer's Guild of Great Britain Best Original Drama Series Award RTS Midlands Best Drama Series Nominated for British Comedy Awards   Starring: Series 1 Colin Buchanan, Paul Haigh, Stephen Tompkinson, David MacCreedy, Lucy Akhurst, Adrian Hood, Kate Gartside, Kieran Flynn, Tony Marshall, Caroline Catz, Sam Graham, Mark Fletcher, Darren Brown, Susan Wooldridge, Holiday Grainger Series 2 Colin Buchanan, Paul Haigh, Caroline Catz, Lucy Akhurst, Alistair McGowan, Adrian Hood, Kate Gartside, Tony Marshall, David MacCreedy, Susan Wooldridge, Holly Grainger, Kieran Flynn, Sam Graham, Ozzie Yue, Nicky Henson Series 3 Colin Buchanan, Paul Haigh, Corolyn Pickles, Oliver Cotton, Alistair McGowan, Caroline Catz, Kate Gartside, Tony Marshall, Adrian Hood, David MacCreedy, Angela Lonsdale, Keiran Flynn, Holly Grainger   THE STORY Many years ago ................. in the Lancashire town of Roker Bridge .............. two boys called Hodge and Eric began a lifelong friendship. Right from the first year infants - when Hodge threw Eric's Thunderbird Two into the nettles and then got seriously stung trying to get it back - thes good-looking lad and his loser of a mate have pulled each other through life's ups and downs. Sixteen years later, with Eric unemployed and Hodge selling grass seed and decoy ducks in a garden centre, Eric talked Hodge into joining the Territorial Army. Thus the odd couple discovered a whole new set of mates - Spock, the specky history teacher who used to dodge rugby at school and avoid the showers; Lloydy the man-mountain with the unhappy knack of messing up just about everything; Ally, the soliciter's wife desperately searching for her real self; Dawn, the gorgeous college student who hates students and Diesel, the human dynamo with big ambitions.   some of ... THE CAST Lloydy & Spock (above), Mel & Hodge (below), Hodge & Kirsty camping out and (right) Jeanetta, Hodges former lover with her new man, with Kirsty and Hodge.   TIM - taken from a BBC Press Release "I live in a town like Roker Bridge and I'm surrounded by people just like the characters in Preston Front." "My old history teacher was in the Territorial Army, but so were some fantastic looking girls. I just thought it was a great way to put these people together. The teacher became Spock and the girls became Dawn and Ally." As one of a dwindling breed of writers who are responsible for writing a whole series alone, Tim is very protective of his creations: "There are elements of me in all the characters. I always hoped I was like Hodge (the handsome one played by Colin Buchanan), but if I'm honest I have to admit I'm more like Spock, the pendantic teacher or Eric the loveable loser." "I've written every episode of all three series - thta's 19 episodes in total. It would have been much easier to have a team of writers, bit I feel that you lose the original flavour of the writing. The down-side is that it takes along time - I was asked to do a third series two years ago, but I've been so busy I haven't been able to do it until now." And producer Bernard Krichefski is full of praise for Tim's talent: "Much television drama today is written to a formula dictated by script exedutives, producers and even network controllers. It's not difficult to spot the exceptions. Lloydy and Spock, Hodge, eric and Dawn and the rest of the Roker Bridge crowd could not have been dreampt up by a team of executives sitting in an office." "They were conceived and nurtured in the vivid imagination of Tim Firth. Presto Front is the product of a single brilliant, creative writing talent. I can only pray that they'll always be a bit of room in the schedules for such originality."   Trivia Series 3 featured guest appearances by the page3 model, Samantha Fox and racing driver Stirling Moss as themselves   More... ALL QUIET ON THE PRESTON FRONT - All Three Series are now available on DVD     TIMFIRTH.COM is pleased to announce that all three series of the award winning ALL QUIET ON THE PRESTON FRONT will be released on DVD this coming year. Series 1, series 2 and series 3 are available for purchase now.     Preston Front was one of my favourite TV programmes ever. Please, please can we have it available on DVD?! Joan Sharman   I would love All Quiet on the Preston Front to be released on DVD. It would make my partners year!!!! Penny Collinson   Just wanted to add my say to a release or re-run of Preston Front this was one of the best tv series of the 90s I know a lot of people who would love to see this wonderful comedy drama again and it is criminal that there has been no DVD box set considering some of the dross that does get released! Scott Emery   I was lucky enough to tape all 3 series when they were broadcast, still wonderful....after all these years. come on do the decent thing and release them....see what class writing does to a tv series. Pete Webster   If All Quiet On The Preston Front cannot be released on DVD yet (Why I don't understand!), then why can it not be repeated on television, so that we could at least record it for ourselves?! Janice Williams   Please, please please could we have All Quite on the Preston Front, Preston Front II and III on dvd/video?? I loved watching them first time around and after searching EVERYWHERE, I cannot seem to obtain any of them on dvd or video! I for one would very much appreciate them being available to buy. Thanks. Julie King   Please can you arrange to have Preston Front released on DVD? I loved that program and I would love to see it again, it was so funny. Kath Slaughter   Really need Preston Front on DVD, Video just so I can explain to my husband, who has never heard of it, just how fantastic it was. Also would love to revisit my longstanding love for the series. Anyone with influence please help. Many thanks. Krista Felek "Preston Front" just HAS to be given a general release on DVD for the countless fans like myself who loved every minute of the three brilliant series'. When you see some of the dross released on DVD its hard to understand how one of THE best dramas on TV in the past 20-odd years can be ignored by the often namechecked "Powers That Be" - but they've done it nevertheless ! Why was it so good ? I think Lloydy put it best ......... "Makes Me Laugh !" Keep trying guys - we'll get there one day. No Name   Another request for Preston Front on DVD. I was a huge fan of it at the time, and when we see people like Colin Buchanan or Caroline Catz I always go misty eyed for the days of Hodge, Eric, Dawn and the others. My missus never saw it when it was shown, and it would be great for her to see it, and I to be able reminisce about this great series. Keep lobbying. We'll get there in the end! Natham Spong Absolutely desperate to get Preston front on video (not quite modern enough in our house for DVD yet!) - please somebody drop a hint to the powers that be! Have a few of the last series from when they were on way back in '97, and they always make me giggle! Can't they at least repeat them on terrestrial TV?! Sara R   I desperately need Preston Front on DVD for a very much needed nostalgia boost, so please, some pressure needed on "those in charge". Toni Savage