Jason Merrells

Clocking Off is a British television drama series which ran on the BBC One network for four series from 2000 to 2003. It was produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company, and created by Paul Abbott.

It was effectively an anthology programme, following the lives of a group of workers at a Manchester textile factory, with each episode focusing on the home life of a different character. Well-known actors who appeared in the series included Christopher Eccleston, Sophie Okonedo, Philip Glenister, John Simm, Lesley Sharp, Emma Cunniffe, Diane Parish, David Morrissey, Ricky Tomlinson, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Jack P. Shepherd, Tina O’Brien, Jason Merrells, Pam Ferris, Wil Johnson, Ashley Jensen, Susan Cookson, Mark Benton, Sarah Lancashire, Crissy Rock, Marshall Lancaster, Marc Warren and Claire Sweeney.

The series was highly acclaimed by the critics, winning the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2001. However, over the course of the following two years Abbott’s work on the series decreased as he moved on to other projects. Nonetheless, every series was nominated for a BAFTA and other writers such as Danny Brocklehurst, John Fay and Jan McVerry wrote successful stand-alone episodes. The programme finally ended, after a series with no Abbott scripts at all, in 2003.