Editing Press Gang (section)

==Storyline==
{{main|List of Press Gang episodes}}
{{:List of Press Gang episodes}}
Famous journalist Matt Kerr arrives from [[Fleet Street]] to edit the local newspaper. He sets up a junior version of the paper, ''The Junior Gazette'', to be produced by pupils from the local [[comprehensive school]] before and after school hours.<ref name="newtons1">{{cite web|first=Matthew|last=Newton|title=Press Gang: Series One|work=Newton's Laws of TV|url=http://www.mjnewton.demon.co.uk/tv/pgang1.htm|access-date=19 December 2006|archive-date=18 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218130459/http://www.mjnewton.demon.co.uk/tv/pgang1.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Some of the team are "star pupils", but others have reputations for delinquency. One such pupil, Spike Thomson, is forced to work on the paper rather than be expelled from school. He is immediately attracted to editor Lynda Day, but they bicker, throwing one-liners at each other. Their relationship develops and they have an on-off relationship.<ref name="newtons2">{{cite web |first=Matthew |last=Newton |title=Press Gang: Series Two |work=Newton's Laws of TV |url=http://www.mjnewton.demon.co.uk/tv/pgang2.htm |access-date=19 December 2006}}</ref> They regularly discuss their feelings, especially in the concluding episodes of each series. In the final episode of the third series, "Holding On", Spike unwittingly expresses his strong feelings to Lynda while being taped.<ref name="holdingon">{{cite episode |title=Holding On |series=Press Gang |credits=wr. Steven Moffat, dir. Bob Spiers |network=ITV |airdate=11 June 1991 |series-no=3 |number=6}}</ref> Jealous of his American girlfriend, Zoe, Lynda puts the cassette on Zoe's [[personal stereo]], ruining their relationship. The on-screen chemistry between the two leads was reflected off-screen as they became an item for several years.<ref name="Moffcomm">Steven Moffat & Julia Sawalha, ''Press Gang: Series 2'' DVD [[audio commentary]]</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Jon |last=Wise |title=Booze, drugs and women frenzy left me broke and homeless. Now I'm living it up at the Hotel Babylon|work=The People |url=http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_headline=booze--drugs-and-women-frenzy-left-me-broke-and-homeless--now-i-m-living-it-up-at-the-hotel-babylon--&method=full&objectid=18639024&siteid=93463-name_page.html |date=18 February 2007 |access-date=21 February 2007}}</ref>

{{Listen
 |filename     = Press Gang - dialogue between Lynda and Spike.ogg
 |title        = "Page One"
 |description  = Lynda and Spike's first meeting. This clip demonstrates the exchange of the one-liners, Spike's accent and the animosity between the two characters.
}}
Although the Lynda and Spike story arc runs throughout the series, most episodes feature self-contained stories and sub-plots. Amongst lighter stories, such as one about Colin accidentally attending a funeral dressed as a pink rabbit, the show tackled many serious issues. Jeff Evans, writing in the ''Guinness Television Encyclopedia'', writes that the series adopts a "far more adult approach" than "previous efforts in the same vein" such as ''[[A Bunch of Fives]].'' Some critics also compared it with ''[[Hill Street Blues]]'', ''[[Lou Grant (TV series)|Lou Grant]]'' "and other thoughtful US dramas, thanks to its realism and its level-headed treatment of touchy subjects."<ref name="evans">{{harvnb|Evans|1995|p=423}}</ref>

The first series approached [[solvent abuse]] in "How To Make A Killing", and the [[NSPCC]] assisted in the production of the "[[Something Terrible]]" episodes about [[child abuse]].<ref>{{cite episode |title=Something Terrible: Part 2 |series=Press Gang |credits=wr. Steven Moffat, dir. Bob Spiers |network=ITV |airdate=8 March 1990 |series-no=2 |number=8}}</ref> The team were held hostage by a gun enthusiast in series three's "The Last Word",<ref name="lw">{{cite episode |title=The Last Word |series=Press Gang |credits=wr. Steven Moffat, dir. Lorne Magory |network=ITV |airdate=28 March 1990 |series-no=3 |number=4}}</ref> while the final episode approaches [[drug abuse]].<ref name="tac">{{cite episode |title=There Are Crocodiles |series=Press Gang |credits=wr. Steven Moffat, dir. Bob Spiers |network=ITV |airdate=22 February 1993 |series-no=5 |number=6}}</ref><ref name="newtons5">{{cite web |first=Matthew |last=Newton |title=Press Gang: Series Five |work=Newton's Laws of TV |url=http://www.mjnewton.demon.co.uk/tv/pgang5.htm |access-date=20 December 2006 |archive-date=6 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070706174709/http://www.mjnewton.demon.co.uk/tv/pgang5.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The issue-led episodes served to develop the main characters, so that "Something Terrible" is more "about Colin's redemption [from selfish capitalist], rather than Cindy's abuse."<ref name="moffint"/>

According to the [[British Film Institute]], "''Press Gang'' managed to be perhaps the funniest children's series ever made and at the same time the most painfully raw and emotionally honest. The tone could change effortlessly and sensitively from farce to tragedy in the space of an episode."<ref name="screenonline">{{cite web |first=Alistair |last=McGown |title=Press Gang (1989–93) |work=BFI Screenonline |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/571944/index.html |access-date=21 December 2006}}</ref> Although the series is sometimes referred to as a comedy, Moffat insists that it is a drama with jokes in it. The writer recalls "a long running argument with Geoff Hogg (film editor on ''Press Gang'') about whether ''Press Gang'' was comedy. He insisted that it was and I said it wasn't – it was just funny."<ref>{{cite web |title="POSITIVE COMEDY" Graham Kibble-White talks to Steven Moffat |url=http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/interviews/stevenmoffat.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701053349/http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/interviews/stevenmoffat.htm |archive-date=1 July 2007 |work=Off the Telly |date=March 2001 |access-date=11 May 2007}}</ref> Some innuendo leads Moffat to claim that it "had the dirtiest jokes in history; we got away with tons of stuff ... We nearly got away with a joke about [[anal sex]], but they spotted it at the last minute."<ref name="herring"/> In one episode Lynda says she's going to "butter him up", and, when asked (while on a date in a hotel's restaurant) if he was staying at the hotel, Colin replies "I shouldn't think so: it's only the first date."<ref name="chance">{{cite episode |title=Chance Is a Fine Thing |series=Press Gang |credits=wr. Steven Moffat |network=ITV |airdate=21 March 1991 |series-no=3 |number=3}}</ref>

Jeff Evans also comments that the series was filmed cinematically, dabbling in "dream sequences, flashbacks, fantasies and, on one occasion, a ''[[Moonlighting (TV series)|Moonlighting]]''-esque parody of the film ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]''."<ref name="evans"/><ref name="daydreams">{{cite episode |title=Day Dreams |series=Press Gang |credits=wr. Steven Moffat, dir. Bob Spiers |network=ITV |airdate=11 February 1992 |series-no=4 |number=6}}</ref> The show had a strong awareness of continuity, with some stories, incidents and minor characters referred to throughout the series. Actors who played short-term characters in the first two series were invited back to reprise their roles in future episodes. David Jefford (Alex Crockett) was resurrected from 1989's "Monday – Tuesday" to appear in the final episode "There Are Crocodiles",<ref name="tac"/> while the same actress (Aisling Flitton) who played a wrong number in "Love and the Junior Gazette"<ref name="love"/> was invited to reprise her character for the third series episode "Chance is a Fine Thing."<ref name="chance"/> "Attention to detail" such as this is, according to [[Paul Cornell]], "one of the numerous ways that the series respects the intelligence of its viewers."<ref>{{harvnb|Cornell|1993|p=217}}</ref>

After the team leaves school, the paper gains financial independence and runs commercially. Assistant editor Kenny leaves at the end of series three to be replaced by Julie, who was the head of the graphics team in series one.