Pete Postlethwaite

Like The Full Monty, this is a story of northern folk facing industrial ruin. But where Monty is feelgood, Brassed Off is bitterly angry, sweetened with laughter. The pits are on the verge of closure and a community is fragmenting in painful detail, while Pete Postlethwaite's Grimley Colliery Band band plays on. Ewan McGregor and Tara FitzGerald add romance as childhood sweethearts, and Stephen Tompkinson is excellent as Postlethwaite's son.

Rated or Dated: Brassed Off

It's 20 years since the release of Mark Herman's tale of the Grimley Colliery band. Karen Campbell wonders if it's more relevant than ever.

Combining two slightly recherché national interests, this drama tells the story of a Yorkshire brass band against the backdrop of Michael Heseltine's destruction of the mining industry. Pete Postlethwaite is conductor Danny, and Ewan McGregor and Tara Fitzgerald play hopeless lovers. Funny, thoughtful and the right side of mawkish.

This stirring drama tells the story of a Yorkshire brass band against the backdrop of the destruction of the mining industry. The late Pete Postlethwaite is conductor Danny, and Ewan McGregor and Tara Fitzgerald play hopeless lovers. Funny, thoughtful and the right side of mawkish.

Video - Pete Postlethwaite: Brassed Off

Saying goodbye to one of our overlooked national treasures is not the best way to start the year but let's remember him in one of his greatest performances as band conductor Danny in the brilliant and no less undervalued classic British movie, Brassed Off.