A British Series about the personal and professional lives of a group of oil rig workers on the fictional Osprey Explorer. It ran from 1994-1995.
Provides examples of:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Chris. He milks it.Tessa: "You can't help but fancy him."Hilary: "And it's always the bastards, eh?"
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Village's mum, who shouts to him in Italian across an airport lounge full of roughnecks.
- Ascended Extra:
- Cath, who can be seen in a few scenes at the airport talking to the guys in Series One. She gets a much greater role and Promotion to Opening Titles in Series Two.
- Davey and Kevin were Those Two Guys in Series One, but they get their own storyline in Series Two.
- British Brevity: Ran for two series. Series one had six episodes, and series two had seven episodes.
- The Casanova: Chris.
- Character Development: Village - starts off an idiot (thus the nickname) but he matures during the course of the series.
- Daddy's Girl: Heather.
- Everybody Is Single: With a couple of notable exceptions. This is not actually unrealistic, given that being away for weeks at a time would play merry hell with a relationship.
- Feminine Women Can Cook: Delightfully subverted. When Cinders is sick, Tessa has a go at cooking:Chris (no doubt speaking for everyone): "How can you bugger up frozen peas?!"
- The Gambling Addict: Cinders. It caused his divorce.
- Gentle Giant: Archie. (Clive Russell plays this type frequently.)
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Chris and Ceefax.
- Hufflepuff House: The Osprey has a crew of 80, so there are a lot of people kicking round in the background we know nothing about.
- In-Series Nickname: Ceefax is called Ceefax
because he "knows everything". - Job Title
- Ladykiller in Love: Chris, with Heather.
- Left Hanging: There were a number of interesting plot developments in S02E07, but unfortunately a third series was never made.
- Married to the Job: Quite a lot of the rig crew are essentially this, because their work schedule means relationships are hard to maintain.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: When Ceefax admits to Village that he is going out with Village's sister, Village is initially a bit peturbed. He gets over it, though.
- Nice Guy: Ceefax, Ian and Archie.
- Odd Couple: Ceefax and Chris.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Ceefax and Cinders. Their real names are respectively Graeme and Douglas, but are rarely referred to as such.
- No Woman's Land: The rig. This is, of course, truth in television. And then Hilary and Tessa turn up.
- Photography and Illustration: During an inquiry being held about an accident on the rig, there is a black and white photograph of the real-life rig Piper Alpha, which exploded, killing 167 men. It is an utterly chilling sight when you know what it is.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: Cath, Davey, and Kevin in Series Two.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: Being labelled "NRB" ("Not Required Back") is considered this by the guys on the rig.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Ceefax and Chris.
- Team Mom: Izzy.
- Territorial Smurfette: Thankfully averted - Hilary and Tessa immediately become good friends.
- Those Two Guys: Kevin and Davey in Series One.
- Totally 18: Chris is at pains to point out when he starts going out with Tom's daughter that she is nineteen now. He has a perfectly valid point, but Tom is still...displeased. With his fist.
- Visit by Divorced Dad: Archie visiting his children.
