Amber Styles

The Gambling Man

The Gambling Man is a three-part British television drama based on Catherine Cookson's 1975 novel of the same name. Produced by Tyne Tees Television for ITV, the serial stars Robson Green, Stephanie Putson, Ian Cullen, and David Nellist. Dissatisfied with his life, Tyneside rent collector Rory Connor decides to use his talents as a card player to improve his situation. He's soon able to purchase a boatyard and marry his childhood sweetheart Janie Waggett, but his success is built on a tangle of lies and deceit. Never one to shy away from high stakes, Rory is in the game of his life when he's asked to make the ultimate sacrifice for his brother.

The Scar

Jenny

Like many women active during the miners' strike, May Murton (Charlie Hardwick) has been left to clean up the mess. The closure of the pit, a failed marriage and the community’s disintegration have shattered both her personal and political beliefs. Her teenage children (Darren Bell and Katja Roberts) are out of control. Her estranged husband (Brian Hogg) has taken up residence in the allotments. At a dance, the night before the Durham Miners’ Gala, May meets Roy Cotton (Bill Speed) the recently arrived manager of an open cast mine.

T. Dan Smith: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Utopia

Cleaner

An experimental mix of thriller and documentary exploring the scandal centred on the one-time Newcastle Council Leader, aka The Mouth of the Tyne, who was sentenced to six years imprisonment in 1974 for corruption. A dynamic and visionary politician, Smith collaborated closely as Amber unpicked the story of a leftwing group of ex-war resisters who took control of the city council in 1960, the socialist and civic ambitions and the betrayals; the claims of MI5 involvement, of ministerial cover-ups and the unseen role of the Privy Council. With Smith appearing as himself and filmmakers Murray Martin and Steve Trafford as two journalists, the film interrogates the interviews and archive footage, weaving them together with a fictional scandal unfolding on the streets around them…

Eden Valley

Woman in Underpass

Set in the harness racing fraternity, this feature drama explores the conflict between urban and rural values and the relationship between an estranged father and son.

Seacoal

Betty

Betty and her daughter Corinna are introduced to the harsh seacoaling way of life by Ray, an ex-seacoaler returning from a job with ICI. His offer of a caravan on a cliff top and promises of the Klondyke that awaits them at least seem preferable to the violent marriage she has left behind. The film sets Betty's struggle for survival against the wider struggles of the seacoaling community, surviving on the fringes of capitalism. Despite the exploitation by a local entrepreneur, run-ins with dole snoops and School Board men and the ever encroaching regulations of a hostile council, their lives retain a kind of anarchic romance, which is reflected in the film's lyrical style.

In Fading Light

Betty

A feature drama set in the declining fishing industry in North Shields, the film centres on the upheaval caused in a traditional fishing community by the unexpected arrival of a young woman.

Wallpaper Warrior

Jessie Horner

A dramatization of incidents involving Eddie Horner, a factory worker active in union politics radicalized to murder.