This gritty musical about the coal industry in northeast England is regularly staged by all kinds of theatre companies, from professional to school to amateur. The play, adapted from stories by Sid Chaplin, and with the songs of Alex Glasgow, is frequently revived. It has been described as a hymn of unqualified praise to the miners who created a revolutionary weapon without having a revolutionary intent. Alan Plater has written numerous radio, television, theatre, and film scripts, as well as fiction.