Paul Abbott’s acclaimed series set in a Manchester textile factory is back. Well, one of the previous series is. CBS Drama (Freeview channel 74; Virgin Media 198; Freesat 138 and Sky 149) is set to rebroadcast the series for the first time since it aired back in the early 2000s. Four series were made of Clocking Off, however, due to music disputes the second, third and fourth series have never seen the light of day in DVD form. Abbot’s classic series centered on Mackintosh Textiles owned by James “Mack” Mackintosh (played by Philip Glenister). Each episode in the anthology series focused on a different person within the factory and their interconnected lives. Well-known actors who appeared in the series included Christopher Eccleston, Sophie Okonedo, John Simm, Lesley Sharp, Siobhan Finneran, Emma Cunniffe, Diane Parish, David Morrissey, Ricky Tomlinson, Julian Rhind-Tutt, William Ash, Ben Crompton, Jack Deam, 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. CBS is currently re running the first series, with the second to follow starting on the 9th of September from 9:00pm.
The Consulting Detective 
Clocking Off has been airing repeatedly on a loop over the past year on CBS Drama. It shows every series, takes a break for a few weeks, then you usually find it back on again.
Good grief, really?! I’d never seen it on there and had presumed that it was a new feature. I asked someone at CBS about it and they said it was new; I presume they must have meant new to the Freeview platform (as it only launched on there a few months back). Thank you for the comment though.
Strange comment from CBS Drama, but I think you’re right – if the channel’s new to Freeview, maybe it’s the first time it’s been shown there.
Perhaps it’s the first time it’s being shown this season too for all providers… It has been a couple of months since I last saw it on CBS Drama.
It is probably also due to it not being very well known that it was still regularly airing anywhere in the UK. A couple of TV relegated friends of mine said they had no idea it was being re run. Ah well, thank you for the correction none the less.
Good northern drama at its best. Looking forward to watching it again.