''Oil Strike North'' is a BBC television drama series produced in 1975. The series was created and produced by

Gerard Glaister John Leslie Glaister DFC (21 December 1915 – 5 February 2005), known as Gerard or Gerrard Glaister, was a British television producer and director best known for his work with the BBC. Amongst his most notable successes as a producer were '' ...

and dealt with life on Nelson One, a

North Sea oil North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Se ...

rig owned by the fictional company Triumph Oil. Eschewing the corporate power struggles of '' Mogul / The Troubleshooters'' and concentrating on more personal storylines, ''Oil Strike North'' was essentially a character study of how

workers The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...

faced life on the rig and the impact it had on the lives of their families and loved ones. ''Oil Strike North'' lasted for one series of thirteen episodes. Gerard Glaister later moved on to produce the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

resistance drama '' Secret Army'', the air freight series ''

Buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 168 ...

'' and then onto the boating soap serial '' Howards' Way''. Two of the leading actors in ''Oil Strike North'', Nigel Davenport and Glyn Owen, also later appeared in ''Howards' Way''. The scenario was later revived by the BBC for the mid-1990s drama '' Roughnecks''.

Cast

Nigel Davenport Arthur Nigel Davenport (23 May 1928 – 25 October 2013) was an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Birkenhead in the Academy Award-winning films '' A Man for All Seasons'' and '' Chariots of F ...

- Jim Fraser * Glyn Owen - Jack Mullery * Barbara Shelley - Elaine Smythe * Angela Douglas - Julie Ward *

Michael Witney Michael Witney (born Whitney Michael Armstrong; November 21, 1931 – November 30, 1983) was an American film and television actor. Career In 1963–64, Witney's first screen-acting role was a recurring part as the first wagon master, Buck Cou ...

- Frank Ward * Calum Mill - Angus Gallacher * Angela Cheyne - Shona Campbell * Andrew Robertson - Donald Cameron * Richard Hurndall - Charles Wayman * Sean Caffrey - Evans * Maurice Roëves - McGraw

Episodes

*"Deadline" *"Quiet Day" *"Storm Clouds" *"First Lion" *"The Decision" *"The Floating Bomb" *"It Depends Where You Stand" *"Shore Leave" *"Workhorse" *"Time of Hazard" *"Headhunters" *"The Fatal Hours (part 1)" *"The Fatal Hours (part 2)"

References

External links

* BBC television dramas 1975 British television series debuts 1975 British television series endings 1970s British drama television series English-language television shows Television series by 20th Century Fox Television {{BBC-tv-prog-stub