As a child in early 1990's Britain, London's Burning was a staple of Sunday night TV. I have just been re-watching the show on DVD and it's still as relevant today as it was 20 years ago when the show was at it's peak.I highly recommend this show to Firefighting/Fire Brigade enthusiasts around the world as it showed Blue Watch of Blackwall Fire Station dealing with work and personal triumphs and tragedies. The realism of the show was what made it so successful with a big budget being spent on the spectacular, well crafted and well produced "Shouts" that Blue Watch were called to (A "Shout" is a Brigade term for an Emergency call) in the days before Computer Generated Imagery which the later seasons of LB had to suffer from as the budget was cut.Here's to the crew of Blackwall!

I watched LB from the movie to almost the bitter end and if you'd asked me six months ago I would have been hugely complimentary.However time plays tricks with the memory, and I've recently had the chance to view the early episodes again.I was shocked at how empty and limp the stories were, though punctuated by increasingly spectacular yet predictable 'shouts' with associated danger, drama and of course death. Death was a major player in LB, and 'Blue Watch' would surely have been renamed 'Death Watch' and would have come to national media attention due to their high attrition rate.Some of the drama between 'shouts' is incredibly wet, and usually punctuated by sax background music. The stereotyped characters that I had enjoyed any years ago only annoy now, and Josie's lines when she returned to the show during the big 'shout' made a roomful of viewers laugh with embarrassment.Best remembered and not re-watched - you may spoil your memories.

It took fifteen years for "London's Burning" to be shown in France, but it was worth-waiting. Though it may seem a little outdated in comparison with its more cinematic American equivalent "Third Watch", it still is a very good show with its own strong virtues. No excessive pyrotechnics, no frenetic rhythm, but solid plotlines and convincing, realistic characters. Actors have a great part in success of this series, with a special mention to the excellent Richard "Sicknote" Walsh. A must-see for viewers enjoying stories about heroes that happen to be also human beings.

After 9/11, the producers thought they could cash in on the hero status of firemen. They junked the episodes already made and remade the 2002 series - and it was rubbish! They alienated the existing fan base and failed to attrach new fans, so that it plumetted in the ratings. Yet another example of a long-running favourite being destroyed by producers who "updated" a successful favourite. ITV has done this so often, you wonder why they don't learn!