In celebration of 30 years since Brassed Off – produced by Prominent Features – was released, it returns in a new high-definition print with live music from the Grimethorpe Colliery Band.
Film4 backed the film, which mixed brass band music with a story about a pit – ‘Grimley’ – under threat of closure in 1994. The government had already closed numerous sites since the strikes of 1984, pushing 200,000 men out of work and devastating communities.
The film doesn’t shy away from making political points against the Conservatives. It also provides a glimpse into how the mine and its colliery band are crucial to the town and the families within it.
There is humour, too, often at the expense of band conductor Danny (Pete Postlethwaite) or new recruit Gloria (Tara Fitzgerald), whose grandad had been a legendary flugelhorn player. There is a vein of sexism that hasn’t aged well, but Gloria is more than a match for it.
In the pre-film Q&A, we learn that Brassed Off only went into a modest profit last year, that Birmingham Town Hall stood in for the Royal Albert Hall, and that the actors and crew developed real friendships with the villagers in Grimethorpe.
Although Ewan McGregor (Andy) was away filming, we still heard from Jim Carter (Harry), Melanie Hill (Sandra), Stephen Tompkinson (Phil), Tara Fitzgerald, and Philip Jackson (Jim) – plus the writer/director Mark Herman, producer Steve Abbott, and David Arnold, one of the band members seen in the film.
We were encouraged to applaud the live band, conducted by Ben Palmer, as we watched the film. Their accompaniment was superb, timed to match the playing we saw on screen, including tuning up and the moments where instruments failed to behave. Warm applause throughout led to a standing ovation at the film’s close, and a couple of encores were much appreciated.
Brassed Off thrives on its realistic depiction of families, marriages, and friendships. Danny and Phil are father and son. Phil and Sandra have a marriage blighted by debt. Harry and Rita (Lill Roughley) only pass each other at the house as she heads out on the picket line.
Vera (Sue Johnston) and Ida (Mary Healey), wives and gossips, are neighbours and friends; their husbands Jim and Ernie (Peter Martin) a quirky comedic double act. And union men Greasley (Ken Colley) and Chapman (Bernard Wrigley) are no match for oily government shill McKenzie (Stephen Moore).
Brassed Off Live is a chance to celebrate a classic film that still has an impact today, and to see its music – “Concerto de Aranjuez”, “William Tell”, “Danny Boy”, “Death or Glory”, “March of the Cobblers”, “Floral Dance”, and “Land of Hope and Glory” – performed in the Hall with heart and gusto.
Taken together, this was an excellent and remarkable evening. A five-star film that is impeccably acted, especially by the late Pete Postlethwaite, with a brass band showing why they are considered one of the best in the business.
Grimethorpe Colliery may have closed in 1992, but the band plays on. There had been 174 open in 1984, of which 100 had gone by the end of the decade. The remaining 15 pits in the UK closed between 1994 and 2015, when the deepest of them all, Kellingley, finally ceased operations.
Would Brassed Off be financed and made today? Doubtful. But it was 30 years ago, and that is worth celebrating.
Brassed Off Live was at the Royal Albert Hall on 2 Oct. The film is released on Blu-Ray in Nov 2026.
More on Grimethorpe Colliery Band – visit their website (where I sourced the header image).