''1990'' is a British then-futuristic political drama

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

series produced by the BBC and shown in 1977 and 1978.

Summary

The series is set in a

dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

n future in which Britain is under the grip of the Home Office's Public Control Department (PCD), a tyrannically

oppressive Oppression is malicious or unjust treatment or exercise of power, often under the guise of governmental authority or cultural opprobrium. Oppression may be overt or covert, depending on how it is practiced. Oppression refers to discrimination wh ...

bureaucracy riding roughshod over the population's

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties ma ...

. Dubbed "''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and fina ...

'' plus six" by its creator,

Wilfred Greatorex Wilfred Glyn Greatorex (27 May 1921 – 14 October 2002) was an English television and film writer, script editor and producer. He was creator of such series as '' Secret Army'', ''1990'', ''Plane Makers'' and its sequel ''The Power Game'', '' ...

, ''1990'' stars

Edward Woodward Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he began his career on stage. Throughout his career, he appeared in productions ...

as journalist Jim Kyle, Robert Lang as the powerful PCD Controller Herbert Skardon,

Barbara Kellerman Barbara Rose Kellerman (originally spelt Kellermann; born 30 December 1949) is an English actress, known for her film and television roles. She trained at Rose Bruford College. Kellerman was born in Manchester, Lancashire. Her Jewish fath ...

as PCD Deputy Controller Delly Lomas,

John Savident John Savident (born 21 January 1938) is a retired British actor, known for his numerous television roles, including his portrayal of Fred Elliott in the soap opera '' Coronation Street'' from 1994-2006. He is also known for his performance as ...

Yvonne Mitchell Yvonne Mitchell (born Yvonne Frances Joseph; 7 July 1915 – 24 March 1979) was an English actress and author. After beginning her acting career in theatre, Mitchell progressed to films in the late 1940s. Her roles include Julia in the 1954 BBC ...

(in her last role),

Lisa Harrow Lisa Harrow (born 25 August 1943) is a New Zealand RADA-trained actress, noted for her roles in British theatre, films and television. She is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Nancy Astor in the British BBC television drama, '' Nancy Ast ...

, Tony Doyle,

Michael Napier Brown Michael Patrick Napier-Brown (17 March 1937 – 18 August 2016) was a British actor, theatre director, and playwright who was the chief executive and artistic director of the Royal Theatre in Northampton for over 20 years. Early years Born in ...

, and

Clive Swift Clive Walter Swift (9 February 1936 – 1 February 2019) was an English actor and songwriter. A classically trained actor, his stage work included performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but he was best known to television viewers for h ...

. Two series, of eight episodes each, were produced and broadcast on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

in 1977 and 1978. The series was never repeated but was released on DVD in 2017. Two novelisations based on the scripts were released in paperback by the publisher Sphere; ''Wilfred Greatorex's 1990'', and ''Wilfred Greatorex's 1990 Book Two''. Jim Kyle (

) is a journalist on the last independent newspaper, called ''The Star'', who turns renegade and fights the PCD covertly. The officials of the PCD – headed by Controller Herbert Skardon ( Robert Lang) – in turn, try to find proof of Kyle's subversive activities. Skardon's two Deputy Controllers are Delly Lomas (

), who has an ambiguous personal relationship with Kyle, and Henry Tasker (

Clifton Jones Clifton Jones (born 26 July 1937, St. Andrew, Jamaica) is a Jamaican actor known for his roles in British television. Career He played the role of Jo's boyfriend in the original Theatre Workshop production of Shelagh Delaney's ''A Taste of Ho ...

); however, in the second series, these two Deputies were replaced by Lynn Blake (

), a former love interest of Kyle's. (In the novelisation of episodes from Series Two, the explanation given for the replacement of Delly Lomas was that she had been "relegated to obscurity in the Dundee Branch of the PCD"; no explanation is given for Henry Tasker's departure.) Kyle was aided and abetted by Import/Export Agent Dave Brett ( Tony Doyle) and provided from time to time with Top Secret government information by the mysterious "Faceless" (

Paul Hardwick Paul Hardwick (15 November 1918 in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire – 22 October 1983, London) was an English actor. Career Theatre *''The Wars of the Roses'' (1965) – Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county ...

), who is a top-level government official tapped into the PCD. The whole government machine is headed by Home Secretary Dan Mellor (

), replaced in office in Series Two (supposedly through Kyle's efforts) by Kate Smith (

Background

Exposition in this series was mainly performed by facts occasionally dropped into dialogue requiring the viewer to piece together the basic scenario. This state of affairs was precipitated by an irrecoverable national

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

cy in 1981, triggering martial law followed by a general election in which only 20% of the electorate voted. The economy (and imports) drastically contracted forcing stringent rationing of housing, goods and services. These are distributed according to a person's LifeScore as determined (and constantly reviewed) by the PCD on behalf of the union-dominated socialist government. As a consequence, the higher-status individuals appear to be civil servants and union leaders. An exception to this are import/export agents, who appear to be immune to state control due to their importance to the remnants of the economy. The

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

has been abolished and turned into an exclusive dining club. State ownership of businesses appears to be close to 100% and prohibition of wealth and income appears to be very high. The reigning monarch is male due to the unfortunate death of the previous monarch (

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

) but his identity is never made clear. The currency is the Anglodollar (which replaced the

pound sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and ...

in 1982 due to hyperinflation) which appears to have little value overseas due to the international boycott of British exports. The armed forces have been run down to the extent that they are little more than an internal security force. This is made clear in one episode where the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

is depicted as consisting of little more than a handful of

Harrier jump jet The Harrier, informally referred to as the Harrier jump jet, is a family of jet-powered attack aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations (V/STOL). Named after a bird of prey, it was originally developed by British ma ...

s and a few dozen counter-insurgency helicopters. Despite this

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

has been re-introduced (via the Youth Behaviour Control Act 1984 which enforces conscription). The Genetic Crimes Act 1985 makes sexual offences punishable by execution. It is said that in 1986 two army generals and a retired air chief marshal attempted a coup against the government, but it failed. Although running the bureaucratic dictatorship, the state appears to shy away from explicit political violence, preferring to set up psychiatric pseudo-hospitals called "Adult Rehabilitation Centres" which employ electro-convulsive treatments to 'cure' dissidents. Ordinary criminals found guilty of traditional and new economic and social crimes are prevented from clogging up the prison system by having short sentences during which they are force-fed "misery pills" (via the Oral Swallowing Induction Device), which induce severe depression and agony during their incarceration. Despite this, fatalities and injuries do occur due to the PCD's lack of democratic accountability but these are misreported or ignored by the state-controlled press and television or are suppressed by the print unions on the last independent newspaper in the UK. The state can also declare a person to be a "non-citizen" which denies them any entitlement whatsoever to consumer goods, accommodation or food. (This often happens to sex offenders, even ones who have served their sentence and been released.) Labour is controlled by a mandatory closed shop in every workplace. For at least part of the series, the country is on a three-day working week, presumably to conserve energy or to promote full employment through

job sharing Job sharing or work sharing is an employment arrangement where two people, or sometimes more, are retained on a part-time or reduced-time basis to perform a job normally fulfilled by one person working full-time. This leads to a net reduction in p ...

. Taking a second job ("moonlighting") is illegal, as is "parasitism", defined as claiming state benefits while fit for work. Ombudsman's Courts which are fixed in favour of the state are the key part of the legal system. Emigration is a key problem with a steady " brain drain" countered by PCD Emigration officers who try to watch every port and airfield. Despite this, professional and skilled labour is fast disappearing from the country in a similar manner to

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

before the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the gover ...

Episodes

Series 1 (1977)

Series 2 (1978)

DVD release

Simply Media released ''1990'' on DVD in the UK during 2017.

External links

TV Episode Guide and history
* *{{IMDb title, id=0075469, title=1990 BBC television dramas British science fiction television shows 1977 British television series debuts 1978 British television series endings 1970s British drama television series Dystopian television series English-language television shows 1970s British science fiction television series Television series set in 1990 Television series set in the future