Ageing footie thug and Cockney cabbie Ray (Paul Freeman), a widower with grasping kids, meets refined retired teacher Jim (Alun Armstrong) and strikes up an unusual friendship which forces him to reassess his priorities, his feelings and his prejudices.
The BBC drama took what is still a thorny subject and treated it with class and sensitivity, helped enormously by the playing of Armstrong in particular.
As Ray's kids, Jason Flemyng and Tamsin Outhwaite have little to do but do it well. As the terminally-ill friend and fellow ex-thug Billy, Karl Johnson is also very good.
A well-written, well-directed piece of drama which only lets itself down by the enforced contrast between the backgrounds of the two lead characters, and with the (almost) cop-out ending.
I'd love to see this one again!