Yosser Hughes
Encyclopedia
Yosser Hughes is a fictional character from Alan Bleasdale
's 1982 television series Boys from the Blackstuff
, set in Liverpool
, though ironically the character was played by Manchester
-born actor Bernard Hill
.
Yosser appears as a tall man in his mid thirties who wears predominantly black clothes and a distinctive bushy moustache. He always appears unkempt and unshaven. He has a wife called Maureen, an aggressive, unloving harridan who frequently berates him and had an affair with another man, the likely father of their three children (played in the drama by Alan Bleasdale's children).
The pilot of Blackstuff implies that Hughes worked in the Middle East at some time during the 1970s and later bought a house that was beyond the family's means. In the original pilot episode, he appeared comparatively sane, but displayed macho
insecurities that would make his redundancy especially hard to take. When the boys were swindled out of their savings in Middlesbrough
, Yosser reacted particularly badly, showing the first signs of the nervous breakdown
that would characterise his behaviour in the 1982 series.
The first episode of the series saw Yosser collecting social security
from a Liverpool DHSS and making an unexpected appearance at an illegal building site, organised by a corrupt Irish contractor called Molloy. When Molloy took him to task over a badly-built wall, Hughes headbutted him and kicked down the wall, storming off with his much-loved children in tow.
In what was perhaps the most memorable episode of the series, Bleasdale showed the complete disintegration of Yosser's life as his children were taken into care, he was made homeless and finally tried to commit suicide
in a lake. Constantly trying to run the gauntlet of psychiatrists, social workers and debtors, Yosser made numerous pathetic attempts to re-establish his identity and sense of self-worth, at one point gatecrashing a charity event to meet his apparent lookalike Graeme Souness
.
Bleasdale's use of black humour is also apparent in a scene in which a distraught Yosser and his three children enter a confessional where a priest named Fr Daniel Thomas is listening, and telling him "I'm desperate, Father!" When the priest tries to calm him and sympathetically urges Yosser to call him Dan, Yosser blurts out the words; "I'm desperate, Dan!", a play on the comic character, Desperate Dan
. Bleasdale admitted on 2 September 2011 on Radio 4's programme "Reunion" that he had been saving that joke for years, but it was the perfect joke at the perfect time.
In the final episode, Yosser pays a visit to George Malone, possibly the only person to treat him with any degree of understanding, although George is now too ill to offer anything more than token advice. He has been taken in by his mother and there seems little chance that he will see his children again.
Yosser attends George's funeral and loudly sniggers at the priest's banal eulogy. In the pub afterwards, he raises a cheer when he headbutts a vicious former bouncer into unconsciousness.
In the very final scene, as three of the main characters watch a controlled demolition of a Tate and Lyle factory, Yosser's hopeless refrain of 'Gissa Job' is almost a requiem for the old working-class community that is being destroyed.
Yosser eventually ends up courting arrest by smashing a storefront window, then being arrested for head-butting one of the police officers who arrived on the scene.
The series tackled the subject of unemployment
. Yosser became an icon of Thatcherite Britain
in the 1980s with his catchphrase of "Gizza job" ("give us [me] a job").
Alan Bleasdale
Alan Bleasdale is an English television dramatist, best known for writing several social realist drama serials based on the lives of ordinary people.The Bleasdales live in prescot,liverpool,wales and london.-Early life:Bleasdale is an only child; his father worked in a food factory and his mother...
's 1982 television series Boys from the Blackstuff
Boys from the Blackstuff
Boys from the Blackstuff is a British television drama series of five episodes, originally transmitted from 10 October to 7 November 1982 on BBC2....
, set in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, though ironically the character was played by Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
-born actor Bernard Hill
Bernard Hill
Bernard Hill is a British actor of film, stage and television. In a career spanning thirty years, he is best known for playing Yosser Hughes, the troubled 'hard man' whose life is falling apart in Alan Bleasdale's groundbreaking 1980s TV drama, Boys from the Blackstuff...
.
Yosser appears as a tall man in his mid thirties who wears predominantly black clothes and a distinctive bushy moustache. He always appears unkempt and unshaven. He has a wife called Maureen, an aggressive, unloving harridan who frequently berates him and had an affair with another man, the likely father of their three children (played in the drama by Alan Bleasdale's children).
The pilot of Blackstuff implies that Hughes worked in the Middle East at some time during the 1970s and later bought a house that was beyond the family's means. In the original pilot episode, he appeared comparatively sane, but displayed macho
Macho
Macho typically refers to machismo. Other uses include:*Macho , a short-lived disco group in the late 1970s*Pique macho, Bolivian dish*Macho Man , a 1978 disco song performed by the Village People...
insecurities that would make his redundancy especially hard to take. When the boys were swindled out of their savings in Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
, Yosser reacted particularly badly, showing the first signs of the nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
that would characterise his behaviour in the 1982 series.
The first episode of the series saw Yosser collecting social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
from a Liverpool DHSS and making an unexpected appearance at an illegal building site, organised by a corrupt Irish contractor called Molloy. When Molloy took him to task over a badly-built wall, Hughes headbutted him and kicked down the wall, storming off with his much-loved children in tow.
In what was perhaps the most memorable episode of the series, Bleasdale showed the complete disintegration of Yosser's life as his children were taken into care, he was made homeless and finally tried to commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in a lake. Constantly trying to run the gauntlet of psychiatrists, social workers and debtors, Yosser made numerous pathetic attempts to re-establish his identity and sense of self-worth, at one point gatecrashing a charity event to meet his apparent lookalike Graeme Souness
Graeme Souness
Graeme James Souness is a Scottish former professional football player and manager.Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s and player-manager of Rangers in the late 1980s as well as captain of the Scottish national team. He also played for Tottenham Hotspur,...
.
Bleasdale's use of black humour is also apparent in a scene in which a distraught Yosser and his three children enter a confessional where a priest named Fr Daniel Thomas is listening, and telling him "I'm desperate, Father!" When the priest tries to calm him and sympathetically urges Yosser to call him Dan, Yosser blurts out the words; "I'm desperate, Dan!", a play on the comic character, Desperate Dan
Desperate Dan
Desperate Dan is a wild west character in the British comic The Dandy. He first appeared in its first issue, dated 4 December 1937. He is apparently the world's strongest man, able to lift a cow with one hand. Even his beard is so tough he has to shave with a blowtorch.-History:The strip was...
. Bleasdale admitted on 2 September 2011 on Radio 4's programme "Reunion" that he had been saving that joke for years, but it was the perfect joke at the perfect time.
In the final episode, Yosser pays a visit to George Malone, possibly the only person to treat him with any degree of understanding, although George is now too ill to offer anything more than token advice. He has been taken in by his mother and there seems little chance that he will see his children again.
Yosser attends George's funeral and loudly sniggers at the priest's banal eulogy. In the pub afterwards, he raises a cheer when he headbutts a vicious former bouncer into unconsciousness.
In the very final scene, as three of the main characters watch a controlled demolition of a Tate and Lyle factory, Yosser's hopeless refrain of 'Gissa Job' is almost a requiem for the old working-class community that is being destroyed.
Yosser eventually ends up courting arrest by smashing a storefront window, then being arrested for head-butting one of the police officers who arrived on the scene.
The series tackled the subject of unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
. Yosser became an icon of Thatcherite Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in the 1980s with his catchphrase of "Gizza job" ("give us [me] a job").