''Scully'' is a British television drama with some comedy elements set in Liverpool, England, that originated from a BBC ''

Play For Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'' episode "Scully's New Year's Eve" (3 January 1978). Originally broadcast on Channel Four in 1984, the single series was spread over six half-hour episodes plus a one-hour final episode. It was written by

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Alan Bleasdale Alan George Bleasdale (born 23 March 1946) is an English screenwriter, best known for social realist drama serials based on the lives of ordinary people. A former teacher, he has written for radio, stage and screen, and has also written novels. ...

. The drama is notable for featuring many of the Liverpool football club first-team squad of that era. The estate parts were filmed in Longsight, Manchester, on the 'Anson Road' Estate. Also some scenes were filmed in Wythenshawe m22 Manchester. Scully's house is situated on Bluebell Lane in Huyton, Knowsley, Several parts were also filmed on roads off Princess Drive, Dovecot. The school building featured is the 'Central High School for Boys' (demolished) on Pink Bank Lane, which is off Kirkmanshulme Lane in the Belle Vue/Gorton area of Manchester. The extras used in the school/classroom scenes were pupils of the school. Francis Scully (played by Andrew Schofield) is a teenage boy who has his heart set on gaining a trial match for Liverpool to hopefully fulfil his ambition of playing for the club. Francis, in everyday situations during his waking hours, occasionally "sees" famous Liverpool players such as

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...

when they are not really there. These dream-like sequences recur throughout the episodes. The main plotline concerns the efforts of Scully's school teachers to persuade Scully to appear in the school pantomime which they attempt by promising him a trial with his beloved Liverpool if he will cooperate. When Scully and his friends are not in school making trouble for the teachers and the school caretaker, they are seen roaming the local streets upsetting the neighbours and getting into trouble with the police. Scully sometimes has visions of the school caretaker appearing as a vampire due to the caretaker's nickname being

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. These frequent waking dream sequences give the show a somewhat surreal atmosphere. English musician and songwriter

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

played Scully's brother. Costello also wrote and performed the show's theme song "Turning The Town Red". The complete series was released on DVD in 2006 as a two-disc set from Network DVD.

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* {{Alan Bleasdale Television shows set in Liverpool 1984 British television series debuts 1984 British television series endings 1980s British drama television series Channel 4 television dramas 1980s British television miniseries Television series by ITV Studios Television shows produced by Granada Television English-language television shows Television shows shot in Liverpool