''Roughnecks'' is a British television drama series, created and principally written by former ''

Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First broadcast on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorrow's World' ...

'' presenter

Kieran Prendiville Kieran Prendiville (born 25 December 1947) is an English-Irish television writer, producer, and presenter. Early life Prendiville was born on 25 December 1947 in Rochdale, Lancashire, the son of an Irish father from Killorglin, County Kerry, ...

, that first broadcast on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

on 16 June 1994. Produced by First Choice Productions, ''Roughnecks'' ran for two series, with the final episode broadcasting on 21 December 1995. The series centres on the working and personal lives of the crew of the fictional

oil rig An oil rig is any kind of apparatus constructed for oil drilling. Kinds of oil rig include: * Drilling rig A drilling rig is an integrated system that Drilling, drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construc ...

"The Osprey Explorer" in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. Offshore filming was undertaken on the oil rig ''Dan Countess'', which was not in use at the time. The cast, included Liam Cunningham, Teresa Banham,

James Cosmo James Ronald Gordon Copeland (born 1947), known professionally as James Cosmo, is a Scottish actor. Known for his character work, he has played supporting roles in films such as '' Highlander'' (1986), ''Braveheart'' (1995), '' Trainspotting' ...

, Bruce Jones,

Clive Russell Clive Russell (born 7 December 1945) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline in '' Ripper Street'', Angus O'Connor in ''Happiness'', Lord Lovat in '' Outlander'', and Brynden Tully in the HBO series ...

Ricky Tomlinson Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in the soap opera '' Brookside'' (1982–1988), DCI Charlie Wise in '' Cracker'' (1993–2006) and Jim Royle in '' T ...

Paul Copley Paul Mackriell Copley (born 25 November 1944) is an English actor and voice over artist. From 2011 to 2015 he appeared as Mr. Mason, father of William Mason, in 16 episodes of ''Downton Abbey'', and from 2020 to 2021, he appeared in the ITV s ...

and

Ashley Jensen Ashley Jensen (born 11 August 1969) is a Scottish actress and narrator. She is best known for her roles as Maggie Jacobs in '' Extras'' (2005–2007, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award), Christina McKinney in ''Ugly Betty'' (2006� ...

. The main theme was written and composed by American television composer

Mike Post Mike Post (born Leland Michael Postil; September 29, 1944) is an American composer, best known for his television theme music for various shows, including '' The White Shadow''; ''Law & Order''; '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''; ''The A-Tea ...

. An official guide to the series, written by Tom McGregor and featuring interviews with the cast and crew, was published on 29 September 1995, prior to the broadcast of the second series. Neither series has been made available on DVD.

Cast

Cast listed as per order of credits in the opening title sequence * Liam Cunningham as Chris Brennan *

George Rossi George Rossi (28 September 1961 – 5 January 2022) was a Scottish actor, best known for playing Duncan Lennox in ''The Bill'' from 1998 to 2003. Early life and education Rossi was born in Govan, Glasgow, on 28 September 1961. He was of Itali ...

as Kevin Lamb * Francesca Hunt as Hilary Whiteson * Bruce Jones as Terry Morrell *

John McGlynn John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

as Drew MacAllister *

as Tom Butcher *

as Heather Butcher (née Brennan) *

as Archie McGrandle * Alec Westwood as Davey Rains * Teresa Banham as Tessa Buckingham *

as Douglas "Cinders" Hudson *

as Ian Pollard * Anne Raitt as Izzy Butcher * Colum Convey as Graeme "Ceefax" Revell * Hywel Simons as Wilf "Village" Granelle *

Katy Murphy Katy Murphy (born 8 December 1962) is a British actress and teacher from Glasgow, Scotland, who has appeared in many television programs, most of them for the BBC and ITV. While most associated with television drama, she has worked across a vari ...

as Cath (Series 2) * Martin Wenner as Edvard Bergman (Series 2) * John Kazek as Telegram Sam (Series 1) * Bruce Jamieson as Burgess (series 1)

Episodes

Series 1 (1994)

Series 2 (1995)

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0108910, title=Roughnecks BBC television dramas 1994 British television series debuts 1995 British television series endings 1990s British drama television series British English-language television shows North Sea energy Television shows set in Scotland Works about petroleum