‘I wish I was our Sammy’
Blood Brothers by Willy Russell
Teaching notes
The following notes offer some suggestions for how students might respond to the
questions on the student sheets. NB page references are taken from the Bloomsbury
(1995) edition of the text.
Task one
I wish I was our Sammy,
Our Sammy’s nearly ten.
He’s got two worms and a catapult
An’ he’s built a underground den.
But I’m not allowed to go in there,
I have to stay near the gate,
‘Cos me Mam says I’m only seven,
But I’m not, I’m nearly eight!
I sometimes hate our Sammy,
He robbed me toy car y’ know,
Now the wheels are missin’ an’ the top’s broke off,
An’ the bleedin’ thing won’t go.
An’ he said when he took it, it was just like that,
But it wasn’t, it was dead straight.
But y’ can’t say nott’n when they think y’ seven,
An’ y’ not, y’ nearly eight.
I wish I was our Sammy,
Y’ wanna see him spit,
Straight in y’ eye from twenty yards
An’ every time a hit.
He’s allowed to play with matches,
And he goes to bed dead late,
And I have to go at seven,
Even though I’m nearly eight.
Y’ know our Sammy,
He draws nudey women,
Without arms, or legs, or even heads
In the baths, when he goes swimmin’.
But I’m not allowed to go to the baths,
Me Mam says I have to wait,
‘Cos I might get drowned, ‘cos I’m only seven,
But I’m not, I’m nearly eight.
Y’ know our Sammy,
Y’ know what he sometimes does?
He wees straight through the letter box
Of the house next door to us.
I tried to do it one night,
But I had to stand on a crate,
‘Cos I couldn’t reach the letter box,
but I will by the time I’m eight.
© www.teachit.co.uk 2015 23517 Page 1 of 5
‘I wish I was our Sammy’
Blood Brothers by Willy Russell
Task two
What Sammy does Mickey’s reaction
Mickey is very upset:
p.32 - encourages the gang of kids to
laugh at Mickey. LINDA: I hate them!
LINDA notices MICKEY quietly crying.
(p.33)
p.33 - steals from Linda’s house.
LINDA (undaunted, approaching Sammy):
I’ll tell my mother why all her ciggies
always disappear when you’re in our
house … An’ the half crowns.
pp.49-50 – on the bus Mickey is concerned:
When the conductor refuses to give him a MICKEY: (worried): Sammy…
child’s fare he produces a knife.
Mickey tries to fix the situation:
“He didn’t mean it, Mister. Don’t be soft.
He, he was jokin’. Sammy tell him, tell
him you’re really sixteen. I’ll lend you the
rest of the fare…”
Mickey tries to calm him down:
“Sammy, Sammy put that away … it’s still
not too late. (To the CONDUCTOR.) Is it
Mister?”
pp.72-74 - the robbery. With a baby on the way and no job, Mickey
feels he has no choice.
Sammy plans the robbery. He doesn’t
intend to use the gun but ends up shooting Being caught and convicted for the crime is
someone. He emotionally blackmails the beginning of Mickey’s depression.
Mickey: MRS JOHNSTONE: The jury found him guilty
SAMMY: … What have y’ got? Nothin’ like Sent him down for seven years, …
me Mam.
It seems like jail’s sent him off the rails, …
His mind’s gone dancing
Can’t stop dancing
© www.teachit.co.uk 2015 23517 Page 2 of 5
‘I wish I was our Sammy’
Blood Brothers by Willy Russell
Task three
When does Mickey stop wanting to be like Sammy? Why?
By the time the gang are getting closer to being teenagers, the gap between Mickey and
Sammy has widened and Sammy sees Mickey as a little kid. Sammy humiliates Mickey in
front of the gang and this pushes the divide further.
As they grow up what are the major differences between Mickey and Sammy?
The choices Sammy makes are quite deliberate. He chooses to try to take things from
other people; he weighs up the risks and decides it’s worth taking. Mickey seems to try
to protect Sammy or fix situations he has created. With the robbery he feels that he has
no choice but to help his brother. Consider the question of a tight knit family and
misplaced family loyalty.
How do you think class affects their decisions? Do you feel any sympathy for the
wrong choices Mickey and Sammy make?
Ultimately having nothing and having no prospect or chance of changing that drives the
characters to make some bad choices.
© www.teachit.co.uk 2015 23517 Page 3 of 5
‘I wish I was our Sammy’
Blood Brothers by Willy Russell
Task one
Highlight all the things that Sammy owns that Mickey is jealous of in one colour, and
all the things that Sammy has done that Mickey respects in another colour.
I wish I was our Sammy,
Our Sammy’s nearly ten.
He’s got two worms and a catapult
An’ he’s built a underground den.
But I’m not allowed to go in there,
I have to stay near the gate,
‘Cos me Mam says I’m only seven,
But I’m not, I’m nearly eight!
I sometimes hate our Sammy,
He robbed me toy car y’ know,
Now the wheels are missin’ an’ the top’s broke off,
An’ the bleedin’ thing won’t go.
An’ he said when he took it, it was just like that,
But it wasn’t, it was dead straight.
But y’ can’t say nott’n when they think y’ seven,
An’ y’ not, y’ nearly eight.
I wish I was our Sammy,
Y’ wanna see him spit,
Straight in y’ eye from twenty yards
An’ every time a hit.
He’s allowed to play with matches,
And he goes to bed dead late,
And I have to go at seven,
Even though I’m nearly eight.
Y’ know our Sammy,
He draws nudey women,
Without arms, or legs, or even heads
In the baths, when he goes swimmin’.
But I’m not allowed to go to the baths,
Me Mam says I have to wait,
‘Cos I might get drowned, ‘cos I’m only seven,
But I’m not, I’m nearly eight.
Y’ know our Sammy,
Y’ know what he sometimes does?
He wees straight through the letter box
Of the house next door to us.
I tried to do it one night,
But I had to stand on a crate,
‘Cos I couldn’t reach the letter box,
but I will by the time I’m eight.
© www.teachit.co.uk 2015 23517 Page 4 of 5
‘I wish I was our Sammy’
Blood Brothers by Willy Russell
Task two
Make a table as shown below, and list some of the other significant things Sammy
does in the play and where relevant, how Mickey reacts to them.
You might like to look at pages 32, 33, 49-50 and 72-74 to start with.
What Sammy does Mickey’s reaction
Task three
1. When does Mickey stop wanting to be
like Sammy? Why?
2. As they grow up what are the major
differences between Mickey and
Sammy?
3. How do you think class affects their
decisions?
4. Do you feel any sympathy for the wrong
choices Mickey and Sammy make?
© www.teachit.co.uk 2015 23517 Page 5 of 5
