Clocking Off

Effectively an anthology programme that followed the lives of a group of workers at a Manchester textile factory, with each episode focusing on the private life of a different character. Well-known actors and actresses who appeared in the series included Christopher Eccleston, Sophie Okonedo, Philip Glenister, John Simm, Lesley Sharp, Siobhan Finneran, Emma Cunniffe, Diane Parish, David Morrissey, Ricky Tomlinson, Julian Rhind-Tutt, William Ash, Ben Crompton, Jack Deam, Jack P. Shepherd, Tina O'Brien, Jason Merrells, Pam Ferris, Wil Johnson, Ashley Jensen, Susan Cookson, Mark Benton, Lindsey Coulson, Paul Copley, Sarah Lancashire, Crissy Rock, Marshall Lancaster, Marc Warren, Claire Sweeney and Maxine Peake.

The series received high acclaim, winning the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2001. However, over the following two years, Abbott's involvement decreased as he pursued other projects. Nonetheless, every series was nominated for a BAFTA and other writers including Danny Brocklehurst, John Fay and Jan McVerry wrote successful standalone episodes. The programme finally ended, after a series with no Abbott scripts at all, in 2003. The BBC said the programme was axed following declining ratings, but Abbott said the programme's demise was down to "a lack of writers able to come up with stories good enough to carry the stand alone episodes."

Twenty-seven episodes were produced across four series, and, in 2004, the first series was released on DVD. In 2015, the first series was released on DVD in Australia and was made available for purchase via the BBC Store.