The Main Chance

The Main Chance follows a London solicitor who suddenly finds his life upended when he moves to Leeds to start fresh. Across its ITV run, which stretched from 1969 through 1975 with returns in the early 70s, the show keeps its focus on how a successful professional adapts to a very different urban setting. The move tests his routines and loyalties as he encounters new colleagues, clients, and a different pace of justice in the north. Rather than rely on big plot twists, the drama builds through daily cases, office politics, and personal choices that reveal what kind of person he is under strain. In short, it's a look at career ambition colliding with place and identity.

Produced for ITV by Edmund Ward and John Malcolm, The Main Chance aired from 1969 to 1975. John Stride plays solicitor David Main, with direction by a rotating team rather than a single named director.

Critically, the series is remembered as a solid but restrained example of late 60s and early 70s British drama. Its core themes revolve around professional ethics, authority, and the tension between London prestige and northern identity as Leeds becomes a setting for moral choices.

While The Main Chance may not have left a lasting stamp on pop culture, its focus on a professional navigating a regional shift aligns with a productive era in British TV that emphasized character over spectacle. The show helped map a more Northern feel for legal drama on screen.