Roughnecks (TV series) explained

Genre:Drama
Creator:Kieran Prendiville
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English
Num Series:2
Num Episodes:13
List Episodes:
  1. Episodes
Executive Producer:Michael Wearing
Location:Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Runtime:50 minutes
Company:First Choice Productions
Channel:BBC1

Roughnecks is a British television drama series, created and principally written by former Tomorrow's World presenter Kieran Prendiville, that first broadcast on BBC1 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 "The Osprey Explorer" in the North Sea. Offshore filming was undertaken on the oil rig Dan Countess, which was not in use at the time.[1]

The series boasted a high calibre cast, including the likes of Liam Cunningham, Teresa Banham, James Cosmo, Bruce Jones, Clive Russell, Ricky Tomlinson, Paul Copley and Ashley Jensen. Notably for a British television series, the main theme was written and composed by renowned American television composer Mike Post.[2] 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.[3] Neither series has been made available on DVD.

Cast

Cast listed as per order of credits in the opening title sequence

Episodes

Series 1 (1994)

EpisodeTitleWritten byDirected byOriginal airdate

Series 2 (1995)

EpisodeTitleWritten byDirected byOriginal airdate

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Roughnecks – Aberdeen City and Shire. Aberdeen City and Shire. 12 January 2019.
  2. Web site: Roughnecks – Title Sequence (BBC, 1994). https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/9XJy73vLJSc . 2021-12-13 . live. YouTube. 21 August 2008. 12 January 2019.
  3. Book: Roughnecks by Tom McGregor (Hardcover, 29 Sep 1995). .