THIS stunning production returns as powerful, punchy and poignant as it was on its last critically-acclaimed sell-out run.

Unflinching and undiluted - Boys from the blackstuff is a timeless piece of stage drama that is a shining example of how live theatre has something to say while being entertaining, funny and tear-inducing.

James Graham - writing closely with Alan Bleasdale - has finely-tuned his passionate adaptation.

It's very much a 'play for today' . . . all over again.

Alan's characters are alive and angry - just as they were back in 1982 when the Liverpool writer gave the nation a wake-up call with his mould-breaking BBC2 tv series.

Sadly, the themes of this social commentary masterpiece are still very much around us.

In fact the Government is ready to review the whole benefit credit system.

Can I recommend they send a working party of MPs to see this production and soak in the very real impact of cuts and hardships on certain individuals and families.

Has anything really changed in 42 years? When, as a TV editor, I interviewed the original TV cast on location I never thought that - four decades on - I would be revisiting Alan's classic in this timely re-boot.

The wide-ranging people featured in this drama are well-rounded - in many cases clever composites of the workers Alan had come across while working as a security guard on the docks where there was a never-ending morale-draining, cash-in-hand culture.

Chrissie, Loggo, George, Dixie and Yozzer are all cut adrift. We see upfront the personal suffering of people we can all relate to.

That's the key to Bleasdale's work - we care about the people he cares about.

In all my years reviewing at the Liverpool's Royal Court I believe this is the best work they have ever done and that is quite a compliment when you realise the range of productions that have been consistently playing to sell out audiences.

'Home-grown talent' takes on a whole new inspirational meaning at the Court.

There are some cast changes in this current run with newcomer Jamie Peacock making a fine debut as an investigator and Phillip Whitchurch (a past Everyman stalwart) taking over from Andrew Schofield in the role of Scouse sage-like docker George.

Phillip adds considerable depth to this likeable creation who recalls the good days when the Port of Liverpool faced the right way for shipping.

Barry Sloane as Yozzer Hughes (I'm giving him two Zs) also gives 100 per cent and (if possible) more.

Dressed in black, he stares and confronts; cajoles and intimidates as a loose cannon.

He is a doting dad, dreadful bricklayer and a deluded optimist but Barry ensures we never lose sight of the real rage inside the person pleading to be given a chance in life.

One moment looking like a silent screen Chaplinesque figure, the next a bloodied, silent screaming lion.

Barry has taken the interpretation by the great Bernard Hill even further.

One beautifully choreographed scene with the police brought me to tears at the first premiere.

I didn't think it could happen again . . . but it did and people around me also sobbed.

It is an astonishing portrayal of a man at the end of his tether Barry should be nominated when any theatre awards are dished out.

Boys from the Blackstuff is outstanding from Kate Wasserberg's faultless direction to the slick design and atmospheric music. The use of back-projection is extremely effective and chilling, too.

Storytelling doesn't get much better thanks to top-notch performances from the whole cast.

After Liverpool it moves to the National Theatre and the West End and that says it all.

I truly hope it returns home to the Royal Court in the future so more people can see it.

VERDICT: Five stars. Unforgettable.

The production is on at The Royal Court in Liverpool until May 11