THE final piece of the Royal Court creative jigsaw is well and truly in place thanks to sheer Scouse perseverance.

Executive producer Kevin Fearon has been adamant about his aims - the most passionate being ... 'Giz a chance to put on a stage version of the Iconic TV series Boys from the Blackstuff.'

Original writer Alan Bleasdale turned down the request year after year because he felt it was 'best left in the past.'

But thanks to an inspired artistic collaboration with award-winning playwright and screenwriter James Graham and Stockroom Productions, Boys from the Blackstuff is triumphantly back with stunning theatricality directed by Kate Wasserberg.

For the Royal Court Liverpool it's a dream come true - classic mainstream theatre is here to stay.

It's happened before with other dramas, but this production is a turning point.

The venue is called the peoples' theatre which offers laugh-out-loud comedies, new writing, box office hits and unbeatable box office-busting pantos.

The meals you can order also make it a great theatrical experience, too. They know their audience.

Boys from the Blackstuff is the icing on the cake.

It is a two-and-a-half-hour, multi-layered drama on a cracking dock yard set with atmospheric projections and perfectly-pitched music.

It is a gritty story that has humanity, humour and history. It also has a huge heart.

The ten-strong strong cast clearly relishes the chance to become part of a brilliant - yes, brilliant - timely revival.

The magic of the 1982 TV classic series lay in the fact we had not seen anything like it before.

As a TV writer at the time I watched filming including Bernard Hill as Yosser (pronounced Yozzer). A tour de force I knew then it was timeless.

It is timeless all over again.

Sadly its themes are as relevant today - 40 years on we now have food banks, zero-hour contracts, and a cost-of-living crisis.

The characters remain local heroes.

George Malone (Andrew Schofield) is the moral compass surveying the wreckage around him; Chrissie (Nathan McMullen) is struggling to cope with his own decision-making between friendship and mote hardship and there's Yosser - a man like a volcano waiting to erupt yet hanging on by his bloody nails to the cliff edge of dignity.

The trademark Bleasdale humour is here with some 'greatest clips' from the original - masterful black comedy amid the collapse of the big society.

There is the famous comic-book-inspired confessional scene and the interaction with the surreal Shake Hands in The Green Man pub.

Barry Sloane is outstanding as single dad Yosser. A beautifully choreographed slow-motion scene actually brought tears to my eyes.

I was not alone.

Kevin Fearon says 'annoying great writers can pay off.'

Take a bow Royal Court for presenting a story that needs to be heard in 2023 just as it shook the nation in 1982.

This is a tale of two cities - it just happens to be Liverpool.

Verdict: Five Stars. Gold stuff!

it is on until October 28.

Tickets from 0151 709 4321