Boys from the Blackstuff (TV Mini Series) Moonlighter (1982) User Reviews

Please Remind Yourself Of The Context When It Was Made

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 26 December 2014]

Dixie Dean claims unemployment benefit while working on the side as a security guard down Liverpool docks . Finding himself getting bribed to turn a blind eye while a local group of robbers steal from the ships he starts getting menacing phone calls . If none of this is bad enough he finds himself being investigated by benefit fraud officers who have recently been very successful in catching Dixie's erstwhile workmates

This seems to be the forgotten episode of the series and Dixie Dean as played by Tom Georgeson doesn't seem as well remembered as the other characters from the show . This is a pity because despite this episode never being a masterwork of social realist drama it still is a very solid piece of poignant black comedy

Unlike the character of Yosser Hughes the audience are supposed to easily relate to the characters in this show with Dixie this is very easy to do . I can see something of myself in him and I'm sure anyone who has experienced the dole can see the same . It's very easy to become bitter and Dixie is a bitter man at the hand has dealt him but still holds a modicum of self respect and pride . There does seem to be an element of unintentional irony to the narrative . Dixie is stealing from the tax payer but doesn't consider himself a thief until he's forced to take part in the thieving of boots , cigarettes and other merchandise from the docks . I doubt if writer Alan Bleasedale wrote this with any type of irony involved , at least not at the time

And this type of context has changed over the decades . Where as in 1982 the audience would have universally sided with Dixie it probably wouldn't be the case now . Dixie is defrauding the state and watch all the mainstream political parties get involved in a race to the bottom to catch and punish this type of law breaker . Indeed it seems almost laughable in 2014 that one crime that resources are put in to is benefit fraud . The fraud office operation here might seem surreal and heavy handed , resembling a SAS survillence operation in a republican ghetto of West Belfast but in the 1980s the left wing press would sometimes print stories of how far the snoopers would go to uncover benefit fraud so an intricate cover story of " I'm here to sell you some perfume " isn't as far fetched as it sounds . Another difference between then and now is that every single person claiming job seekers allowance is a suspected cheat and the simple mechanics of claiming and qualifying for benefits would make it very difficult to work on the side as seen here

An empathetic view of how systematic negligence troubles a working-class family

[00AA · 9/10 · 4 January 2021]

Really liking Alan Bleasedale's immense empathy on how the characters are written. Great portrait of the duality of guilt and necessity based on a heartless and objetivist system.

Again. I wasn't going to write this as it is kind of pointless, but the only reviews that all these series' episodes have (User Theo Robertson) are ones trying to distort and push right-wing propaganda. At first, I though it wasn't malicious, but now I believe it is. In specific to this episode: To say the character 'Dixie' is benefiting from his situation is completely wrong, the more ridiculous thing is demozing him by saying that he's stealing the tax payer's money. Those reviews read like The Daily Mail's propaganda.

Memorable but not the best one of the series

[colinprunty-1 · 7/10 · 2 November 2022]

The story hear follows the miserable life of Dixie Dean and his wife and teenage family.

This involves his trips to the dole to be interrogated by the arrogant DSS man and his home life involving plenty of shouting and conflicts.

The main story though involves Dixie and his night shift on the docks as a security guard. He inadvertently gets involved with a gang of thieves who threaten him to cooperate and in many respects these are the best scenes of the episode.

The acting of Tom Georgeson is superb though and the scenes of the dark silent docks and the wet windswept streets add so much to this episode.

Worth seeing for the great scene involving a monologue Dixie and one of the robbers that was arguably the most memorable of the whole series.

Moonlighter

[Prismark10 · 9/10 · 29 July 2022]

Dixie Dean brilliantly played by Tom Georgeson always came across as the most bitter of all the builders.

His story makes less sense if you had not watched the one off play, The Blackstuff.

Dixie was the site foreman and the others like Chrissie, Yosser and Logo betrayed him by doing a job on the side. That backfired and Dixie lost his job because he could not control his men.

Moonlighter sees Dixie claiming the dole and getting a new job on the side as a security man at the docks. His wife earns a few quid by delivering leaflets.

Soon Dixie is under pressure. The security job involves turning a blind eye to goods getting pilfered. He has been paid a bung for this as a gang walks in and steals the crates in plain sight.

The benefit fraud squad has also taken an interest in him. A lot of the claimants wives are earning money on the side.

It is another saga of how unemployment blighted communities in the 1980s. Dixie's son has had no job since leaving school. An air of hopelessness pervades.

You can sense how employers take advantage by giving the likes a crummy job for low pay, no training and it is all off the books. Dixie is a patsy and he knows it.

Alan Bleasdale still adds black humour. When Dixie's wife refuses to open the front door as she thinks the fraud squad is after her. Only to spill the beans while the perfume lady is listening in. She was from the fraud squad.

When the program was broadcast, my older brother had left college with some qualifications and was on the dole. My eldest brother had left school in the late 1970s with no qualification and walked into a job. What a difference a couple of years and a change of government had made.