Bloody Kids
| Bloody Kids | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Stephen Poliakoff | 
| Directed by | Stephen Frears | 
| Starring | Derrick O'Connor | 
| Music by | George Fenton | 
| Country of origin | United Kingdom | 
| Original language | English | 
| Production | |
| Producer | Barry Hanson | 
| Running time | 91 minutes | 
| Original release | |
| Release | 1979 | 
Bloody Kids is a British television film written by Stephen Poliakoff and directed by Stephen Frears, made by Black Lion Films for ATV, and first shown on ITV on 22 March 1980.
Cast
- Derrick O'Connor as Detective Ritchie (Richard Beckinsale originally cast before his sudden death)
 - Gary Holton as Ken
 - Richard Thomas as Leo Turner
 - Peter Clark as Mike Simmonds
 - Gwyneth Strong as Jan, Ken's Girlfriend
 - Caroline Embling as Susan, Leo's Sister
 - Jack Douglas as Senior Police Officer
 - Billy Colvill as Williams
 - P.H. Moriarty as Police 1
 - Richard Hope as Police 2
 - Niall Padden as Police 3
 - John Mulcahy as Police 4
 - Terry Paris as Police 5
 - Neil Cunningham as School Master 1
 - George Costigan as School Master 2
 - Stewart Harwood as School's Security Guard
 - Tammy Jacobs as School 1
 - Daniel Peacock as School 2
 - Paul Mari as School 3
 - Mel Smith as Disco Doorman
 - C.P. Lee as Club Manager
 - Jimmy Hibbert as Disco 3
 - Kim Taylforth as Disco 4
 - Nula Conwell as Ken's Gang 1
 - Madeline Church as Ken's Gang 2
 - Peter Wilson as Ken's Gang 3
 - Gary Olsen as Ken's Gang 4 (as Gary Olson)
 - Jesse Birdsall as Ken's Gang 5
 - Roger Lloyd-Pack as Hospital Doctor
 - Brenda Fricker as Nurse
 - June Watson as Nurse
 - Colin Campbell as Conductor
 - Julian Hough as Reporter
 - Geraldine James as Ritchie's Wife
 - Pauline Walker - posh bird and dancing extra
 
Filming locations
Filmed in south east Essex, with locations in Southend-on-Sea,[1] Westcliff, Leigh-on-Sea and Canvey Island, the opening five minutes are of the bridge down to Leigh-on-Sea's cockle sheds, with a lorry hanging over.
Furtherwick Park School Canvey Island,[2] was used for the school scenes, and Southend United's ground, Roots Hall, was used for the stabbing scenes.[3]
Disco scenes in Southend are notable for an early television appearance of Mel Smith playing the bouncer. Victoria Circus, Southend seafront and hospital are all used as locations, culminating in a climactic scene outside the Casino, Canvey Island, on a London double decker bus.
References
- ^ "Southend Timeline 1979". Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
 - ^ " TV detectives come to Canvey - Evening Echo p. 18 September 2014". Retrieved 17 March 2019.
 - ^ "Canvey set drama features host of screen starts before they were famous - Evening echo p.16 October 2015". Retrieved 18 March 2019.
 
External links
- Bloody Kids at IMDb
 - Bloody Kids at the BFI's Screenonline