Talking Heads 2
A series of monologues.
Alan Bennett
Tristram Powell
Stuart Burge
Gavin Millar
Udayan Prasad
Patrick Garland
Also Directed by Tristram Powell
Interview with Italian film director Federico Fellini.
Francis Ashby, a senior Oxford don on holiday alone in the Alps, meets holidaying American Caroline and her companion Elinor, the blossoming Irish-American girl she adopted many years before. Ashby finds he enjoys their company, particularly that of Elinor, and both the women are drawn to him. Back at Oxford he is nevertheless taken aback when they arrive unannounced. Women are not allowed in the College grounds, let alone the rooms. Indeed any liaison, however innocent, is frowned on by the upstanding Fellows.
The McAuleys are local celebrities and Eileen Hughes, a young shop assistant, is flattered to be taken under their wing. Then she accepts their invitation to join them for a week's holiday in London ...
A drama of intrigue and betrayal in Stalin's Russia. Stepan grows up in an orphanage, learning to love Stalin as 'a father to all children'. He retains disturbing memories of the disappearance of his real father and, when a strange message is delivered to him, he's determined to find out the truth.
Nathan Zuckerman, a budding 23 year old writer infatuated with the Great Books, discovers the contradictory claims of literature and experience while an overnight guest in the secluded New England farmhouse of his idol, E. I. Lonoff. Also staying is Amy Bellette, a young woman with a vague past.
Based on the novel by Agatha Christie In this TV movie, a classic mystery is updated and relocated to a glamorous world of London socialites and secret agents, introducing two unique and compelling investigators and taking us through to the highest corridors of power.
An adaptation of the novel by Kingsley Amis about a group of university friends reunited in retirement. Alun Weaver has found success as a celebrated London-based writer. After returning home to Wales with his alluring wife Rhiannon he reunites with old friends who chose to remain in the valleys. Long dormant romance are rekindled and rivalries resurrected in this turbulent story of ageing, friendship, lust, nostalgia and nationalism.
Interview with director Louis Malle conducted by Wallace Shawn, produced for the BBC-TV program "Arena".
An elderly woman learns that she is dying of cancer. She and her husband leave their small farm on the Isle of Skye to visit their children to inform them of the news. During the journey, the couple rediscover their love for each other.
Also Directed by Stuart Burge
David and Joan's life has been one continuous party, but their marriage is loveless. Suddenly a young girl appears in their world and announces that she's in love with David and wants to change his life for ever. Adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play.
An epic drama of the 16th Century Catholic monk Martin Luther who started the Reformation.
These dueling one-act comedies highlight the work of playwright John Mortimer. In "The Dock Brief," an ill-prepared attorney is put to the test when his client confesses to killing his wife. In "What Shall We Tell Caroline?" a father with good intentions tries to protect his wife and daughter from the bad things in life.
The original play by Christopher Hampton, was adapted into this made-for-TV movie and it offers witty dialogue in the midst of remarkable conflict among its privileged characters.
George, a black South African, finds it hard to settle down in London after his experiences in South Africa.
A wily publisher of arts magazines tries to cope with ever-growing financial problems - and also his formidable German mother.
Adaptation from the play by Oscar Wilde.
Adaptation of Chekhov's play from the Chichester Festival.
The 1965 version of the Shakespeare play.
When a law-abiding demolition expert is duped by a gang of criminals into helping them he is caught and jailed. When he is released he goes straight and then notices a leading citizen in his town is cheating his neighbours.
Also Directed by Gavin Millar
A story of high emotion, tragedy and romance set against the dramatic landscape of Northumberland in the 1830's.
A look at the classic "Cinderella" story from the perspective of one of her 'ugly' stepsisters
"All I said was the gramophone's too loud." Tony and Zoe Lyle 's silly row starts like any other, but Tony finds that Zoe means it this time. She's walking out and he's got a week to save a marriage that he hasn't looked at in 18 years, and with it all the trappings of a good life in Maida Vale.
Scoop is a 1987 TV film directed by Gavin Millar, adapted by William Boyd from the 1938 satirical novel Scoop by Evelyn Waugh. It was produced by Sue Birtwistle with executive producers Nick Elliott and Patrick Garland. Original music was made by Stanley Myers. The story is about a reporter sent to Ishmaelia (a fictional African state) by accident.
An enjoyable story of a 13-year-old girl, Louise, who lives alone with her widowed mother. Louise is sent off to a boarding school, but not before she discovers some secret documents kept hidden by her father. A curious look reveals that her father was a member of the secret order of Freemasons. When she finally gets to school, she tries to explain to her friends what the Freemasons are. Later, Louise's mother discovers a box of condoms in her daughter's room and wrongly presumes that the girl is sexually active.
When Denis Midgley's father is rushed to hospital, Midgley drops everything to be by his side. They've never really got on, so Midgley wants to be sure he's there if his father ever regains consciousness. As he hates his job as a schoolteacher, and his home-life with his wife, her senile mother and their insolent teenage son, he has no qualms about lingering around the hospital. But as days turn into weeks, his father obstinately refuses to 'slip away', and Denis' motivation for staying by his father's bedside has more and more to do with Valery, a young nurse.
Based on the play by actor/playwright Harvey Fierstein, this drama is about a man (played by Fierstein) whose companion dies of AIDS. He then confronts his lover's ex-wife (Stockard Channing) and the two end up building a friendship while coping with the emotional aftermath of the death.
Julie Walters stars as a single mother seemingly haunted by a sinister telephone system that seems to have become an evil intelligence in its own right.
1949 the early years of the Cold War. Albert Schweitzer has become one of the most admired men in the world. The "jungle doctor" Albert Schweitzer tells the story of a philosopher and physician who promoted peace during the Cold War, built a hospital in what is now Gabon and proved stronger than the CIA.
Local journalist, Cameron Colley writes articles that are idealistic, from the viewpoint of the underdog. A twisted serial killer seems to have some motives. His brutal murders are also committed on behalf of the underdog. The stories begin to merge and Cameron find himself inextricably and inextricably implicated by the brutal killer. The arms dealer that Cameron plans to expose is found literally 'disarmed' before he can put pen to paper. The brewery chief, loathed by Cameron, who sold up at the expense of his workers, finds himself permanently unemployable. The police are convened of Cameron's guilt and so are half his friends and colleagues. Cameron is forced to employ all his investigative skills to find the real killer and his motive.
Also Directed by Udayan Prasad
Silent Witness is a British crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes.
Freelance journalist David Dunhill stumbles onto the biggest story of his career - but his personal eccentricities seem likely to thwart him.
Sicilian-born Maddalena has moved to a Devonshire village in England to escape volatile sexual tempers. She marries, but the lust she inspires in the villagers makes them drop dead.
Also Directed by Patrick Garland
A Room of One's Own is based on two lectures which Virginia Woolf gave at Cambridge University in 1928 to the women students there. It is performed here by the British actress Eileen Atkins.
Jonathan Miller visits the Regent's Park Zoo and gives his personal opinions on the animals and their enclosures.
Based upon Paul Gallico's delicate novel, Patrick Garland's Golden Globe winning The Snow Goose is a stark and hauntingly beautiful drama set amongst the striking scenery of the Essex salt marshes during the early years of WWII. A bearded Richard Harris leads the modest cast with his sensitive portrayal of tormented soul Philip Rhayader, a lonely misshapen man shunned by society but with a great love of life; Harris isnt overly bitter of his treatment and expresses his compassion through his paintings and love of the waterfowl that surround him. Harris is ably supported by the waiflike Jenny Agutter as Frith, who radiates the requisite amount of youthful innocence and naivety, and won a best supporting actress Emmy Award for her performance.