I have just finished watching the Alan Bleasdale epic GBH on DVD. It is one of the best political dramas I have ever seen and is very disturbing, entertaining and darkly funny.

Michael Murray is the newly elected head of the city council who, upon finally achieving power, sets out with the aid of a Militant network to reinforce his position and undermine the Conservative government. However Michael is also a damaged man, damaged by a dark past and by a weak character.

He comes into conflict with Jim Nelson, a school headmaster, who has accidentally defied Murray’s ‘Day of action’, a one-day citywide strike. The seeds of his destruction are sown in the conflict that follows.

Excellent writing brings out the best from Robert Lindsay as Michael Murray and Michael Palin as Jim Nelson and the result is a powerful 10 hours of drama.

If you have never seen it, see it, if you have seen it before, see it again.