Hard Labour

Mike Leigh’s first television drama is also one of his most autobiographical works, set in the same neighborhood where he grew up in Salford in Northern England. Mrs. Thornley (Liz Smith, in a poignantly understated performance) is a hardworking maid and housewife who is exploited and underappreciated by all around her, including her gruff husband (Clifford Kershaw) and adult daughter (Polly Hemingway). Though she bears her suffering silently, it is in the privacy of the church confessional that Mrs. Thornley reveals her innermost feelings. Look out for an early appearance by Ben Kingsley as a taxi driver.