A postman retires, steals the mail, and becomes Britain's most unlikely outlaw on a bicycle.
When Dorset postman Clive Peacock is forced into early retirement, the years ahead look bleak. But on his last day in the job, in a moment of unexpected rebellion he makes a decision that will change his life. As he makes his final collection from the postbox in the small seaside town where he lives, he decides to deliver the letters himself, by hand, no matter the destination. Mounting his trusty bicycle, he sets off on what proves to be an odyssey of self-discovery. Pursued by the police and lionised by the media, Clive becomes both a fugitive and a reluctant hero.
Acting
James Bolam's magnificently understated everyman radiance.
Writing
Wry British humor that never punches down at its hero.
Production
Dorset coast looking impossibly picturesque throughout.
Director
Alan Dossor
James Bolam
Clive Peacock
Alison Steadman
Christine Peacock
Jim Carter
DS Lawrence Pitman
Gwyneth Strong
WPC Rachel McMahon
Stephen Moore
Ralph
Barbara Dickson
Linda Taylor
Larry Lamb
Trevor Ramsay
Roger Lloyd Pack
Ken Thompson
Robert Daws
Peter Robson
Nicky Croydon
Jeanie
Dominic Borrelli
Derek
Roy Smiles
Les
Nick Stringer
Farmer Flint
Roger Sloman
Ron Springer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made for BBC One, this epitomizes 1990s British television's obsession with ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances—think 'The Full Monty' but with pensioners and postage.
James Bolam reportedly did most of his own cycling, which at 62 required extensive training; his exhaustion in later scenes is somewhat method acting.
GB
