Finch also created and wrote A Family at War for Granada.

The series is based on fact, with Sam as a boy growing up in Featherstone.

It was initially set in the coalfields of Yorkshire in the inter-war period but eventually progressed to the modern (then) era.

Local dialect is used, e.g. top-at-knob referring to North Featherstone.

The series was made in a video/film hybrid format, which was common at the time.