The Lakes (TV series)

The Lakes is a British television drama series, created and principally written by Jimmy McGovern, first broadcast on BBC1 on 14 September 1997. Mainly filmed in and around Patterdale and The Ullswater Hotel, Glenridding, the series stars John Simm as Danny Kavanagh, a hotel porter, compulsive gambler, and philanderer who escapes from the dole queues in Liverpool to live in the Lake District. After he meets and marries local girl Emma Quinlan (Emma Cunniffe), they move back to Liverpool. However Danny's gambling habit results in Emma moving back to the Lakes. Months later Danny also returns, takes up a job looking after a rowing boat concession and starts to patch up his relationship with Emma.

Two series were broadcast. The first, of four episodes including a feature-length pilot, aired during September and October 1997. A second series extended to ten episodes, broadcast from January to March 1999. McGovern described the series as "partially autobiographical", having also been a gambling addict and having met his wife, Eileen, while working at a hotel in Cumbria. McGovern's involvement in the second series was heavily reduced, with a number of co-writers contributing, including Joe Ainsworth, William Gaminara and Julie Rutterford. The series was critically acclaimed when first broadcast, although it caused controversy owing to the hard-hitting portrayal of an immoral British sub-culture and scenes of sex and violence. The series was considered a springboard for many members of the cast, including Kaye Wragg, James Thornton, Kevin Doyle and Elizabeth Berrington.