Andy Mark Simpson's first feature is heartfelt, but a bit soap-operaish – especially in the sudden blazing rows that spring up. In a Northumbrian village in 1974, a community is torn apart by the miner's strike. Andy Black plays Mark, who infuriates the strikers by doing scab labour to save up for his studies. And Mark has grownup problems that Billy Elliot never had to worry about: he is going out with a girl (Jennifer Bryden) who nobody likes much. It's warmhearted, with evidence that Simpson will have more to offer in his next film.