Looking After Jo Jo

Last updated

Looking After Jo Jo
Looking After Jo Jo.jpg
Genre
Created by Frank Deasy
Directed by John Mackenzie
Starring
Country of origin Scotland
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes4
Production
Production company BBC Scotland
Original release
Network BBC Two

Looking After Jo Jo is a 1998 BBC Scotland television drama starring Robert Carlyle. [1]

Contents

John Joe "Jo Jo" McCann is petty thief turned drug dealer in 1980's Edinburgh, surviving in a bleak housing estate and aspiring to the trappings of a successful criminal. Unfortunately for him, and for most of the other characters in the mini-series, it is a time of heroin addiction and AIDS.

It is filmed and set in and around the North Sighthill housing estate, with several scenes also filmed in Niddrie.

Cast and characters

Episodes

In 1982, Jo Jo McCann always manages to stay one step ahead of the police. Family loyalties are tested to the limit by his determination to set up a crime empire in opposition to his uncle, the local underworld kingpin who has a few ruthless ideas of his own.

The attraction of making big money dealing heroin proves too much for recently acquitted Jo Jo, who jumps on the bandwagon at the first opportunity. But evil undercurrents of violence and addiction soon surface as he becomes consumed by Edinburgh's drug culture, prompting him to think carefully about his future.

It is 1983, Money begins to roll in at long last as Jo Jo's heroin business takes off in earnest. But what he doesn't take into account, is that his dodgy dealings are about to destroy everything he loves.

The walls of Jo Jo's world come tumbling down as he finally uncovers the truth about his father's death. Meanwhile, the community spirit of the estate collapses under the pressure of Sarah's imprisonment, Charlie McCann's murder and a rampant Aids epidemic. Last in series. [6]

Critical reception

The Guardian wrote "Despite a cortege-paced narrative, Looking After Jo Jo has enough wit and moral backbone to take its place alongside other recent gems in Scottish drama." [7]

DVD release

Looking After Jo Jo was released on VHS by the BBC in 1999 after its initial showing on BBC Two in 1998. In 2015, Simply Media released it on DVD. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irvine Welsh</span> Scottish novelist

Irvine Welsh is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel Trainspotting was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short films.

<i>Trainspotting</i> (film) 1996 film by Danny Boyle

Trainspotting is a 1996 British black comedy-drama film directed by Danny Boyle, and starring Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle and Kelly Macdonald in her film debut. Based on the 1993 novel of the same title by Irvine Welsh, the film was released in the United Kingdom on 23 February 1996.

<i>Trainspotting</i> (novel) 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh

Trainspotting is the first novel by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh, first published in 1993. It takes the form of a collection of short stories, written in either Scots, Scottish English or British English, revolving around various residents of Leith, Edinburgh, who either use heroin, are friends of the core group of heroin users, or engage in destructive activities that are effectively addictions. The novel is set in the late 1980s and has been described by The Sunday Times as "the voice of punk, grown up, grown wiser and grown eloquent". The title is an ironic reference to the characters’ frequenting of the disused Leith Central railway station.

<i>More</i> (1969 film) 1969 film by Barbet Schroeder

More is a 1969 English-language romantic drama film written and directed by Barbet Schroeder in his directorial debut. Starring Mimsy Farmer and Klaus Grünberg, the film deals with heroin addiction as drug fascination on the island of Ibiza, Spain. Made in the political fallout of the 1960s counterculture, it features drug use, "free love", and other references to contemporary European youth culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heroin chic</span> Drug-abuse-inspired fashion style

Heroin chic is a style popularized in early-1990s fashion and characterized by pale skin, dark circles underneath the eyes, emaciated features, androgyny and stringy hair—all traits associated with abuse of heroin or other drugs. American supermodel Gia Carangi is remembered for being the originator of the trend. Heroin chic was partly a reaction against the healthy and vibrant look of leading 1980s models such as Cindy Crawford, Elle Macpherson, and Claudia Schiffer. A 1996 article in the Los Angeles Times stated that the fashion industry had "a nihilistic vision of beauty" that was reflective of drug addiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Pace</span> Character from the American mystery fiction television series Lost

Charlie Pace is a fictional character on ABC's Lost, a television series chronicling the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island. Played by Dominic Monaghan, Charlie was a regular character in the first three seasons, and continued to make occasional appearances until the final season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Cotton</span> Fictional character on EastEnders

Nick Cotton is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders played by John Altman on a semi-regular basis from the soap's debut episode on 19 February 1985. Altman has stated that his initial exit was due to producer Julia Smith demanding he was written out after he opposed a decision to make his character gay. After Smith's departure, the character made numerous brief or more protracted stints until his onscreen death in February 2015, which was written to coincide with the 30th anniversary of EastEnders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Gaghan</span> American screenwriter and director (born 1965)

Stephen Gaghan is an American screenwriter and director. He is noted for writing the screenplay for Steven Soderbergh's film Traffic, based on a Channel 4 series, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as Syriana which he wrote and directed. He also wrote and directed the thriller Abandon and the family film Dolittle, and directed the drama Gold.

The Moth (<i>Lost</i>) 7th episode of the 1st season of Lost

"The Moth" is the seventh episode of the first season of Lost. The episode was directed by Jack Bender and written by Jennifer Johnson and Paul Dini. It first aired on November 3, 2004, on ABC. The character of Charlie Pace is featured in the episode's flashbacks.

Charlie Creed-Miles is an English actor. He is notable for his film roles which include Let Him Have It (1991), London Kills Me (1991), Loved Up (1995), The Fifth Element (1997), Nil By Mouth (1997), Essex Boys (2000), King Arthur (2004), Harry Brown (2009), Wild Bill (2011), 100 Streets (2016), and Romans in 2017.

Bubbles (<i>The Wire</i>) Fictional character from The Wire

Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Andre Royo. Bubbles is a recovering heroin addict. His real name is not revealed until a fourth-season episode when he is called "Mr. Cousins" and in the fifth-season premiere when he is called "Reginald". Bubbles has a son named KeyShawn, who lives with his mother. He is nicknamed "Bubbles" because when he is in a heroin-induced stupor, he tends to make bubbles with his spit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Benson</span> Fictional character from Hollyoaks

Lucy Benson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kerrie Taylor. Taylor appeared from the first episode on 23 October 1995. Taylor later quit the role with the character leaving in January 2000 when she went travelling. The character's storylines included a heroin addiction. The character has been described as a "good daughter" type who changed becoming a "hopeless addict".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Renton</span> Fictional character

Mark Renton is a fictional character who appears as the protagonist in the novels Trainspotting (1993) and Porno (2002) written by Irvine Welsh. He also appears in the 1996 film adaptation of Trainspotting and its sequel T2 Trainspotting (2017), in both of which he is portrayed by Ewan McGregor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainie Cross</span> Fictional character from EastEnders

Rainie Highway is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, played by Tanya Franks. Introduced as the drug-addicted sister of Tanya Branning, Franks has had three separate guest stints in 2007, 2008 and 2010 and between 12 April and 8 December 2011. Rainie returned on 16 June 2014, when she was revealed as Ian Beale's mystery phone contact, having been with Ian on Good Friday, the night of Lucy Beale's murder but departed again not long after. In January 2015, it was confirmed that Rainie would return for the conclusion of the "Who Killed Lucy Beale?" storyline. Rainie made another guest appearance on 19 January 2018 and returned full-time to the show on 24 April 2018, now married to her former brother-in-law, Max Branning. In June 2022, it was announced that Franks had left the show, with Rainie's final episode airing on 29 June 2022. She reappeared for a brief stint on 23 until 25 August 2022 to coincide with the departure of her husband Stuart Highway.

<i>Brass Eye</i> British TV series

Brass Eye is a British satirical television series parodying current affairs news programming. A series of six episodes aired on Channel 4 in 1997, and a further episode in 2001. The series was created and presented by Chris Morris, written by Morris, David Quantick, Peter Baynham, Jane Bussmann, Arthur Mathews, Graham Linehan and Charlie Brooker and directed by Michael Cumming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin McKidd</span> Scottish actor

Kevin McKidd is a Scottish actor and television director. Before playing the role of Dr. Owen Hunt in Grey's Anatomy, for which he is widely known, McKidd appeared as Tommy Mackenzie in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting (1996).

Laurence Kinlan is an Irish actor in films, television series and on theatre stage. He is best known for playing the role of Elmo in RTÉ's crime drama Love/Hate.

"Exile" is the thirty-second episode of the twenty-ninth series of the British medical drama Casualty. It was written by Kelly Jones, directed by Steve Hughes, and produced by Jonathan Phillips. "Exile" first aired on 16 May 2015 on BBC One in the United Kingdom. The plot sees Charlie Fairhead and Connie Beauchamp travel to Bucharest to help Charlie's son Louis, who has become a heroin addict and is planning on selling his kidney to pay his debts.

Lenny Blue is a British television crime drama series first broadcast on ITV between 1 October 2000 and 2 July 2002, under the title of Tough Love. Two series were broadcast, each starring Ray Winstone as protagonist DC Lenny Milton, an officer tasked by the IPCC to go undercover to investigate claims of corruption against his boss, Mike Love. The series also follows his dogged pursuit of drug dealer Barry Hindes. The first series was released on VHS only on 1 July 2002, having never been released on DVD. The second series was released on DVD on 15 October 2008.

The Sydney gangland wars were a series of murders and killings of several known criminal figures and their associates that took place in Sydney, Australia, during the 1980s. A vast majority of the murders were seen as retributive killings, attempts to control Sydney's drug trade, and expansion of criminal territory. A significant number of the murders that took place during the Sydney gangland war went unsolved, mainly due to corrupt police and their association with members of the Sydney Underworld.

References

  1. "BBC - Looking After Jo Jo". BBC.
  2. "Steal the Herd (1998)". BFI. Archived from the original on 30 December 2018.
  3. "Working Week (1998)". BFI. Archived from the original on 30 December 2018.
  4. "Sink the Belgrano (1998)". BFI. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018.
  5. "When Love Goes Wrong (1998)". BFI. Archived from the original on 30 December 2018.
  6. "Broadcast - BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  7. Guardian Staff (8 January 1998). "Leave me alone". the Guardian.
  8. "Looking After JoJo". Simply Media. 25 July 2018.