TV review

Programmes about the Miners' Strike are as plentiful as jungle bugs down Jordan's cleavage at the moment.

Given a direct choice - as happened last night - I anticipate that the glamour girl and her encounters with creepy crawlies (better known as Peter Andre and Johnny Rotten) will have enticed more viewers than the second recollection of the long, violent industrial dispute 20 years ago.

The BBC2 documentary, showing days after Channel 4's two-hour programme on the same subject, couldn't help but cover the same areas.

Some interviewees, such as the then-Labour leader Neil Kinnock, appeared in both. The two had footage of the strike in common too.

But The Miners' Strike offered the increasingly bitter dispute, that ran through 1984 into 1985, from the perspective of five Yorkshire miners from the Hatfield Main pit. It did much to pinpoint the effects of the strike on the community as miners were pitted against police, politicians and even fellow pitmen.

What this account of "the year of living dangerously" reminded us was that the full force of the truncheon-wielding, horse-charging police was brought to bear on the striking miners - often with awful repercussions.

There were terrifying stories of people, including women and children, being charged by riot police on foot and horse. The use of horses for offensive instead of defensive purposes against pickets marked a change in tone for the dispute.

These "confrontations with Plod" weren't one-sided. The miners and the flying pickets weren't always peaceful. In one shocking incident, a taxi driver taking a strike-breaker to work was killed when a lump of concrete was dropped on his vehicle from a bridge.

But Mrs Thatcher's use of police from all over the country to reinforce her policies did smack of an Orwellian police state. Those too young to remember would have been shocked to see scenes you only expect to witness in other, supposedly less civilised societies.

For their part, police officers said they "did what they were trained to do". This appeared to be to use extreme violence against pickets, peaceful or not.

They called it "reasonable force", but one striker recalled: "As it went on, the strike became a different beast and it got more monstrous."

The dispute brought out the worst in everyone. One miner's wife said she'd never hated before. "During 1984, we were taught how to hate," she said.

One strike-breaker told of buying a shotgun to defend himself after being threatened by his striking colleagues. Miners who broke the strike were classed as outsiders in the community. They were spat at and called names in the street, and had their property threatened. Today, they're still outcasts.

The documentary offered little in the way of laughter. Only the policeman who spent his pay for strike duties to buy a top-of-the-range microwave and christened it Arthur, after NUM leader Scargill, raised a smile.

Grease, Empire Theatre, Sunderland

GREASE makes a triumphant return to the Empire Theatre with a new cast and more pulling power than ever.

The cheering began the moment the house lights went down, and there was plenty to cheer about. Julian Reeve's six-piece orchestra generated an unbelievable depth of sound, getting the show off to a resounding start. Then Danny and Sandy appeared on stage and we all held our breath. They looked good, but could they really sing? No need to worry. Both were excellent, with strong singing voices and enough acting ability to get the audience on their side from the off.

Ben Richards as Danny is definitely heart-throb material, especially when he delivers the soulful song 'Sandy' while stranded at the drive-in. Suzanne Carley's Sandy is all sweetness and light which is just as it should be, and she certainly looks the part with her blonde hair and angelic smile. Hard to believe this is Suzanne's first professional stage engagement, though - she's a very confident performer.

The audience was so enthusiastic that I couldn't hear the cast substitutions but I hope that I give credit where it's due: Richard Hardwick as Roger and Graham Tudor as Doody really captured the sound of the Fifties, as did Karen Holmes as Jan. Mary Doherty pulled off the difficult task of making Rizzo sassy and sarky, while reeling in our sympathy in the poignant 'There Are Worse Things I Could Do'.

Grease was recently voted the nation's favourite musical, and this young cast did it full justice. It was joyous, sad, funny - and we sang all the way home.

Sue Heath

l Runs until Saturday. Box Office 0191-5142517