''Clocking Off'' is a

British television Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transm ...

drama series which was broadcast on

BBC One 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 channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

for four series from 2000 to 2003. It was produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company, and created by Paul Abbott. It was effectively an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

programme, following the lives of a group of workers at a

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

textile factory, with each episode focusing on the home life of a different character. Well-known actors and actresses who appeared in the series included

Christopher Eccleston Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor whose work has encompassed Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse films, television dramas, Shakespearean stage performances and science fiction, most notably the Ninth Doctor, ni ...

, Sophie Okonedo,

Philip Glenister Philip Haywood Glenister (born 10 February 1963) is an English actor. He is known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in the BBC series ''Life on Mars'' (2006–2007) and its sequel '' Ashes to Ashes'' (2008–2010). He also played DCI William Bell ...

John Simm John Ronald Simm (born 10 July 1970) is an English actor, director, and musician. He is best known for playing Sam Tyler in ''Life on Mars'', the Master in ''Doctor Who,'' and DS Roy Grace in ''Grace.'' His other television credits include '' ...

, Lesley Sharp,

Siobhan Finneran Siobhan Margaret Finneran (born 27 April 1966) is an English actress. She made her screen debut in the independant film '' Rita, Sue and Bob Too'' (1986) and subsequently worked consistently in television drama including roles in ''Coronation St ...

, Emma Cunniffe,

Diane Parish Diane Carol Richards (born 6 November 1969), known professionally as Diane Parish, is an English actress, who has been portraying the character Denise Fox on the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' since 2006. A graduate of the Royal Academy of D ...

David Morrissey David Mark Joseph Morrissey (born 21 June 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. He had numerous small roles in films and television series throughout the 1990s before achieving wider recognition for playing Gordon Brown in '' The Deal'' (2003 ...

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 ...

, Julian Rhind-Tutt, William Ash,

Ben Crompton Benjamin Lorton Crompton (born 1974) is an English actor and stand-up comedian, has appeared on the BBC sketch show '' Man Stroke Woman'' and as Colin in the BBC Three sitcom '' Ideal'' from 2005 to 2011). Crompton portrayed Eddison Tollett on ...

Jack Deam Jack Deam (born Ian Deam; 29 June 1972) is an English actor. He used his grandfather's name for his stage name. His most notable performances have been as Marty Fisher in Channel 4 dramedy '' Shameless'', DC Ken Blackstone in the ITV crime ...

, Jack P. Shepherd, Tina O'Brien,

Jason Merrells Jason Scott Merrells is an English actor, known for his roles in ''Casualty'', '' Queer as Folk'', ''Cutting It'', '' Waterloo Road'' and ''Emmerdale''. Early life and education Merrells was born in Epping, Essex. His brother Simon Merrells ...

Pam Ferris Pamela Ferris (born 11 May 1948) is a British actress. She has starred in numerous British television series, including Connie (TV series), ''Connie'' (1985), ''The Darling Buds of May (TV series), The Darling Buds of May'' (1991–1993), ''W ...

, Wil Johnson,

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� ...

, Susan Cookson,

Mark Benton Mark Benton (born 16 November 1965) is an English actor and television presenter known for his roles as Eddie in '' Early Doors'', Howard in '' Northern Lights'', Martin Pond in '' Barbara'' and the eponymous Frank Hathaway in '' Shakespeare & H ...

, Lindsey Coulson,

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 ...

Sarah Lancashire Sarah-Jane Abigail Lancashire (born 10 October 1964) is an English actress. Known for her work in television and theatre, she has received numerous accolades over a career spanning four decades, including three British Academy Television Award ...

, Crissy Rock,

Marshall Lancaster Marshall Lancaster (born 5 October 1974) is an English former actor. He has appeared in television dramas including ''Coronation Street'', ''Holby City'', ''The Lakes (TV series), The Lakes'' and ''Family Affairs''. He is best known for playing ...

, Marc Warren,

Claire Sweeney Claire Jane Sweeney (born 17 April 1971) is an English actress, singer, and television personality. Known for her portrayal of Lindsey Corkhill on Channel 4's '' Brookside'' (1991–2003), she also played Roxie Hart in ''Chicago'' ( West End, ...

and

Maxine Peake Maxine Peake (born 14 July 1974) is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her roles as Twinkle in ''Dinnerladies (TV series), dinnerladies'', a sitcom on BBC One (1998–2000), as List of Shameless (British TV series) characters#Vero ...

. The series was highly acclaimed by the critics, winning the

British Academy Television Award The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards, are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1 ...

for Best Drama Series in 2001. However, over the course of the following two years Abbott's work on the series decreased as he moved on to other projects. Nonetheless, every series was nominated for a BAFTA and other writers including

Danny Brocklehurst Danny Brocklehurst (born June 1971) is an English screenwriter, playwright, and former journalist. He has won both BAFTA and Royal Television Society writing awards. He was featured in the writers' section of ''Broadcast'' magazine's Hot 100 in ...

, John Fay and Jan McVerry wrote successful stand-alone episodes. The programme finally ended, after a series with no Abbott scripts at all, in 2003. The BBC said the programme was axed following declining ratings, but creator Abbott said the programme's demise was down to "a lack of writers able to come up with stories good enough to carry the stand alone episodes." Twenty-seven episodes were produced across the four series, and in 2004 the first series was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

. In 2015, the first series was released on DVD in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and was made available for purchase via the BBC Store.

Cast

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (2000)

Series 2 (2001)

Series 3 (2002)

Series 4 (2003)

References

External links

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''Clocking Off''
at

bbc.co.uk BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

''Clocking Off''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

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How We Made Clocking Off
at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' {{BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Series 1998–2009 2000 British television series debuts 2003 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series BBC television dramas British English-language television shows Television shows set in Manchester Television shows shot in Manchester Television series by Red Production Company