Christopher Eccleston

Leon, a mixed-race boy, and Jake, his white baby brother, are separated after their mother has a breakdown. Leon is determined to find him and gets unexpected support along the way.

Acclaimed auteur Percy Manthey's re-edit and re-colourisation of Tom Lister's 2020 action film The Unethicals.

Rhys Thomas reviews 2019 in his usual inimitable way

Spandau Ballet global superstars Gary and Martin Kemp, their lives, and their careers.

7/10

ENDLESS features the actor Christopher Eccleston in the role of a solitary, unnamed man, dressed in the plainest of plain clothes, encountered in the most basic of architectural environments, an empty building with bare brick walls and bare board floors.

4.4/10
1.4%

An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.

6.1/10
9.1%

Germany, 1944. Leyna, the 15-year old daughter of a white German mother and a black African father, meets Lutz, a compassionate member of the Hitler Youth whose father is a prominent Nazi soldier, and they form an unlikely connection in this quickly changing world.

6.1/10
4.1%

When mother Marie mysteriously leaves the family home, the repercussions are enormous.

6.8/10

William has failed to kill himself so many times that he outsources his suicide to aging assassin Leslie. But with the contract signed and death assured within a week (or his money back), William suddenly discovers reasons to live... However Leslie is under pressure from his boss to make sure the contract is completed.

6.2/10
4.8%

It is 1918 and the end of WWI. Millions have died, and the world is exhausted by war. But soon a new horror is sweeping the world, a terrifying virus that will kill more than fifty million people - the Spanish flu. Using dramatic reconstruction and eyewitness testimony from doctors, soldiers, civilians and politicians, this one-off special brings to life the onslaught of the disease, the horrors of those who lived through it and the efforts of the pioneering scientists desperately looking for the cure. Narrated by Christopher Eccleston, the film also asks whether, a century later, the lessons learnt in 1918 might help us fight a future global flu pandemic.

7/10

Returning home from battle, the victorious Macbeth meets three witches on the heath. Driven by their disturbing prophecies, he sets out on the path to murder. This contemporary production of Shakespeare’s darkest psychological thriller marks both Christopher Eccleston’s RSC debut and the return of Niamh Cusack to the company.

7.3/10

A documentary on the events when a bomb went off at the Ariana Grande concert.

7.3/10

Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety.

6.9/10
6.1%

When 2% of the world's population abruptly disappears without explanation, the world struggles to understand just what they're supposed to do about it. The drama series 'The Leftovers' is the story of the people who didn't make the cut. Based on the bestselling novel by Tom Perrotta, 'The Leftovers' follows Kevin Garvey, a father of two and the chief of police in a small New York suburb, as he tries to maintain some semblance of normalcy when the notion no longer applies.

8.3/10
9.1%

Could King Richard III's spinal deformity have prevented him from leading the charge at the Battle of Bosworth? Modern scoliosis sufferer Dominic Smee and a team of scientists and medieval warfare experts embark on an extraordinary journey to reveal new research that's changing our knowledge of a defamed medieval king.

6.9/10

HBO-created featurette on the origins of the Leftovers television series

Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos… but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.

6.9/10
6.6%

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the National Theatre of Great Britain presents National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage, bringing together the best British actors for a unique evening of unforgettable performances, broadcast live from London to cinemas around the world.

8.8/10

As the Doctor's newest companion, Clara Oswald, steps into the TARDIS, take a look back at previous companions that have won over The Doctor's hearts in Doctor Who: The Companions. Along the way, companions past and present talk about how the show has changed their lives, and how they've never quite managed to leave the TARDIS behind.

8.4/10

In 2013, something terrible is awakening in London's National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor's own dangerous past comes back to haunt him.

9.4/10

EMILY puts two English characters within the framework of a stereotypically French film, deconstructing a common sexual fantasy to explore the moment two strangers meet and attempt to fill their loneliness with each others' need.

6.9/10

Timeshift explores the lost world of coal mining and the extraordinarily rich social and cultural lives of those who worked in what was once Britain's most important industry. It's a story told through a largely forgotten film archive that movingly documents the final years of coal's heyday from the 1940s to the 1980s. One priceless piece of footage features a ballet performance by tutu-wearing colliers. Featuring contributions from those who worked underground, those who lived in the pit villages, those who filmed them at work and at play and those - like Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall - who have been inspired by what made coalfield culture so unique.

Drama about infamous aristocrat Lord Lucan, who mysteriously disappeared in 1974 after being accused of murdering his children's nanny.

6.8/10

Funny, passionate, exciting, and smart: ‘Muse Of Fire’ will change the way you feel about Shakespeare forever. This unique feature documentary follows two actors, Giles Terera and Dan Poole, as they travel the world to find out everything they can about tackling the greatest writer of them all. Together they have directed and produced an inspiring film that aims to demystify and illuminate Shakespeare’s work for everyone: from actors, directors and students of all disciplines, right through to the? man on the street? Denmark with Jude Law, Baz Luhrmann in Hollywood, Prison in Berlin, and on the street with Mark Rylance. Think Shakespeare is boring? Think again!

7.8/10

In the unstable aftermath of a civil war, Creon, the new King of Thebes, asserts his authority by forbidding anyone from honouring the death of the traitor Polyneices. But Antigone, Polyneices' sister, will not obey. When Creon's authority is challenged, a gripping conflict emerges between the power of an individual and the state. Polly Findlay's electric 2012 production brings Sophocles' tragedy into the modern world as a gripping political thriller.

Daniel Demoys has gone from being an idealistic young man with a burning desire to make the world a better place, to a disillusioned and corrupt council official. His alcoholism has driven a wedge between him and his family. When Daniel wakes up after another drunken night, he realizes that he might be responsible for a murder. A dramatic act of redemption buys him public adoration, so much so that he has become a candidate in the race for Mayor, but as his public star rises ever higher and he tries to repair the damage done to his private life, he is painfully aware that it could all come crashing down at any moment.

6.4/10

Timeshift turns back the clock to a time when villains wore silver capes, grannies swooned at the sight of bulky men in latex and the most masculine man in the country was called Shirley. In its heyday, British professional wrestling attracted huge TV audiences and made household names of generations of wrestlers from Mick McManus and Jackie 'Mr TV' Pallo to Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy. With contributions from inside the world of wrestling and surprising fans such as artist Peter Blake, this is an affectionate and lively portrait of a lost era of simpler pleasures, both in and out of the ring.

7.2/10

Arthur is a grumpy pensioner who can't understand why his wife Marion would want to embarrass herself singing silly songs with her unconventional local choir. But choir director Elizabeth sees something special in the reluctant Arthur and refuses to give up on him. As she coaxes him out of his shell, Arthur realizes that it is never too late to change.

7/10
6.5%

A murder is investigated by both sides of the line, cops and criminals, using opposing methods. But the real line is the morality within each person and how far they will go before they cross it.

8.1/10
5.7%

Family adventure based on Mary Norton's classic children's books about a race of tiny people who live under the floorboards, resourcefully surviving by borrowing bits and pieces from the large residents who dwell above. After being discovered by 'human beans', borrower Arrietty and her parents are forced to leave their home while attempting to evade the clutches of obsessive scientist Professor Mildeye.

6.3/10

A profile of John Lennon in the late 1960s as the Beatles are set to fall apart.

6/10

Accused is a British television anthology series created by Jimmy McGovern. The drama series first aired on 15 November 2010 on BBC One and has run for two series. Each episode follows a different character as they await their verdict in court, and tells the story behind how they find themselves accused. The series has featured actors and actresses such as Christopher Eccleston, Benjamin Smith, Juliet Stevenson, Andy Serkis, Marc Warren, Naomie Harris, Sean Bean and Anne-Marie Duff as the accused in each episode. The series follows previous drama series by McGovern, including anthology series The Street and Moving On. After the cancellation of The Street in 2009 by Granada Television, McGovern formed RSJ Films to produce independent drama programmes and consequently devised the Accused anthology series. Accused is written by McGovern, Danny Brocklehurst and Alice Nutter and is filmed in Manchester. In 2011 it won an International Emmy for best drama series.

8/10

Karen is resigned to a life of suburban ennui, the dreams of her youth a distant memory. On an autumn afternoon as she struggles to get her baby to sleep she is disturbed by a door-to-door Salesman. Desperate for adult companionship she engages with the enigmatic Salesman. He claims that he can sell her something that will radically change her life; he offers Karen, an opportunity to fulfill her long forgotten dreams and ambitions.

8.1/10

From the Egyptian desert to deep below the polar ice caps, the elite G.I. JOE team uses the latest in next-generation spy and military equipment to fight the corrupt arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious Cobra organization to prevent them from plunging the world into chaos.

5.8/10
3.4%

The Fuse was a British game show, broadcast on ITV. It was hosted by Austin Healey.

A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.

5.8/10
2%

One year after Hurricane Katrina, troubles arise for a surgeon who, despite remarrying his ex-wife and starting his life anew, becomes reacquainted with an former girlfriend.

6/10

A boy's life is turned upside down when he learns that he is the last of a group of immortal warriors who have dedicated their lives to fighting the forces of the dark.

4.8/10
1.4%

A review of the most memorable Muppet moments to commemorate Kermit the Frog's 50th anniversary.

9.3/10

Albert Einstein's greatest contributions to humanity....

7.8/10

Charles Dickens and the Doctor team up as corpses stalk the streets of Victorian Cardiff.

The Doctor is shattered and Earth is in danger as he and Rose discover the Time Lords' deadliest enemy beneath Utah.

Following on directly from the end of "The Parting of the Ways", Rose struggles to understand that the newly regenerated Tenth Doctor is the same man she knew before.

7.8/10

Rose is taken home, but a spaceship crashes in the Thames and London is closed off... Enter the Slitheen!

Rose Tyler meets a mysterious stranger called the Doctor, and realises Earth is in danger.

The Doctor takes Rose on her first voyage through time: to the year five billion, when the Sun is about to expand and swallow the Earth. She is cautious and soon starts to question her reasons for joining The Doctor. But amongst the powerful alien races gathering to watch on Platform One, a murderer is at work. Who is controlling the mysterious and deadly metal spiders?

Doctor Who : Rose ( Season 1 | Episode 1 )

7.5/10

The Importance of Being Morrissey is the most revealing and quotable documentary made on Steven Patrick Morrissey. In it, he compares meat eating to child abuse; attacks the Royal Family and Tony Blair; responds to the accusations of racism, and we hear about his depression. There’s also some great concert footage and a mixed selection of celebrity fans who explain their fervor for the Mozz.

7.9/10

The Second Coming is a two-part British television drama first screened on ITV in the United Kingdom in February 2003. It concerns the realisation of Steve Baxter that he is in fact the Son of God, and has just a few days to find the human race's Third Testament and thus avert the Apocalypse. It was written by Russell T Davies, and produced by the independent Red Production Company. The programme was originally commissioned as four one-hour episodes by Channel 4 in 1999; however, when new executives took over running the drama department at that channel, they decided not to pursue the project. Davies and Red's founder Nicola Shindler took the project to the BBC, who quickly turned it down; it found a home on ITV, a channel that had gained a reputation for producing mainstream, unchallenging, "middle-of-the-road" drama in recent years. Screened over two successive evenings in prime time on Sunday and Monday, 9–10 February 2003, The Second Coming gained viewing figures of over six million. Davies, who is an atheist, has said his intention was to provoke debate and get people thinking about religion.

7.6/10

In Northern Norway during the 1860s, a little girl named Dina accidentally causes her mother's death. Overcome with grief, her father refuses to raise her, leaving her in the care of the household servants. Dina grows up wild and unmanageable, with her only friend being the stable boy, Tomas. She summons her mother's ghost and develops a strange fascination with death as well as a passion for living.

6.6/10

A man who was adopted at birth traces his real parents, and discovers that they have severe learning disabilities and do not know he exists.

7.3/10

Twenty-eight days after a killer virus was accidentally unleashed from a British research facility, a small group of London survivors are caught in a desperate struggle to protect themselves from the infected. Carried by animals and humans, the virus turns those it infects into homicidal maniacs -- and it's absolutely impossible to contain.

7.6/10
8.6%

A film adaptation of the 1606 satirical tragedy by Thomas Middleton, relocated to a post-apocalyptic Liverpool. Christopher Eccleston plays the revenge-obsessed Vindice, who has sworn to kill the evil Duke (Derek Jacobi) who murdered his one true love.

6.5/10
6%

Sunday tells the story of an infamous day in Derry, North of Ireland and how the events of that day were subsequently covered up by the British Government of the time. On Sunday 30th January 1972 a peaceful civil rights march against internment (imprisonment without trial), organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) ended with 13 marchers shot dead and 15 wounded. It became known throughout the world as Bloody Sunday. Told primarily from the perspective of the Derry community, juxtaposed with the British Army/state's preparations and reaction to the day, Sunday communicates the forensic and emotional truth of what happened

6.7/10

A look at the personal life of the Arsenal and England player

In 1976, Tony Wilson sets up Factory Records and brings Manchester's music to the world.

7.3/10
8.6%

It's April 1974 and Manchester United are facing the prospect of relegation. Anthony never misses a match and it's the crucial last match of the season. Anthony's wife, Jenny, is pregnant but the baby is not due for another couple of weeks. At least, that's what they think.

7.5/10

Grace is a religious woman who lives in an old house kept dark because her two children, Anne and Nicholas, have a rare sensitivity to light. When the family begins to suspect the house is haunted, Grace fights to protect her children at any cost in the face of strange events and disturbing visions.

7.6/10
8.3%

Strayman, a spontaneous poet, is landlord to a pack of stray dogs. Unable to resist another of life's strays, he hooks up with Strumpet, a shy, homeless girl with an extraordinary gift for music. After Strayman's neighbour overhears them singing, the three set off for London - Strayman's dogs in tow - in search of fame, fortune, and Top Of The Pops.

6.6/10

After learning that her sister, Faith (Cameron Diaz), has committed suicide in Portugal, Phoebe (Jordana Brewster), an 18-year-old hippie, decides to uproot from her San Francisco home to travel to Europe. Phoebe hopes to discover and experience the life that led to her sister's death by retracing her footsteps, which eventually leads to Wolf (Christopher Eccleston) -- Faith's boyfriend. However, as Phoebe's journey continues, a series of visions of Faith pushes her mind to the brink.

5.6/10
2.1%

With freshly rechristened characters and brand-new dialogue, this British TV production of Othello is a "rethinking" of Shakespeare's play, albeit still retaining the original's power and potency. The story is set in the London of the near future, a crime-ridden metropolis virtually torn apart by racial hostilities. By order of the Prime Minister, black police officer John Othello (Eamonn Walker) is promoted to Commissioner, a post dearly coveted by Othello's friend, mentor and fellow officer Ben Jago (Christopher Eccleston). Seething with jealousy, Jago contrives to discredit Othello in the eyes of the public, and to destroy John's interracial marriage to the lily-white Dessie (Keeley Hawes). Among those used as unwitting dupes to gain Jago's ends are Othello's trusted lieutenant, Michael Cass (Richard Coyle), scrupulously honest police constable Alan Roderick (Del Synnott), and Jago's own wife, Lulu (Rachael Stirling).

7.4/10

How much do you know about the person working next to you? From the outside, life at Mackintosh Textiles appears to run smoothly, but in a community with so many secrets to hide, things are far from straightforward. In six powerful, self-contained dramas, everyday life is fractured by tumultuous marriages, snatched passions, disappearing husbands and gang harassment.

7.5/10

Upon learning that he has to come out of retirement to steal 50 cars in one night to save his brother Kip's life, former car thief Randall "Memphis" Raines enlists help from a few "boost happy" pals to accomplish a seemingly impossible feat. From countless car chases to relentless cops, the high-octane excitement builds as Randall swerves around more than a few roadblocks to keep Kip alive.

6.5/10
2.5%

A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.

6.8/10
7.4%

The compelling tale of how a group of sacked dockers got together with scriptwriter Jimmy McGovern and novelist Irvine Welsh to turn their unique story into a film. In September 1995, five men were sacked for walking off the job when their overtime agreement was ditched. Dockers: Writing The Wrongs tells how the dockers spent a year producing the script based on their own experiences of the dramatic two and a half year dispute.

A woman, plastered in blood, is arrested by a grave, and a tale of loss, lust and jealousy slowly unfolds.

6.3/10

Rosie and Vincent know each other for ten years, and are married for five. She doesn't like her job, he isn't too pleased working with her dad. They're trying to have a baby. One morning Benoit, a Frenchman and former pen pal of Rosie, whom she never met, comes to visit. Did Rosie love him? Does she love him now?

6.1/10

The story of the ascension to the throne and the early reign of Queen Elizabeth the First, the endless attempts by her council to marry her off, the Catholic hatred of her and her romance with Lord Robert Dudley.

7.4/10
8.2%

About a young woman who is married to a devout Jew and the problems that trouble their marriage because of the woman wanting something more out of her life.

6.5/10
5.7%

Examines the politics and change across Britain from the Sixties to the Nineties seen through the varying fortunes of four friends.

8.7/10

In late 19th-century England, Jude aspires to be an academic, but is hobbled by his blue-collar background. Instead, he works as a stonemason and is trapped in an unloving marriage to a farmer's daughter named Arabella. But when his wife leaves him, Jude sees an opportunity to improve himself. He moves to the city and begins an affair with his married cousin, Sue, courting tragedy every step of the way.

6.9/10
8.1%

Drama based on the real life events of April 1989, when ninety-six Liverpool supporters were crushed to death during an F.A. Cup Semi-Final match against Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough Stadium. This movie follows three Liverpudlian families before the match, during the tragedy and at the ensuing court battles which tried to decide who was to blame and what went wrong.

8/10

A young teacher begins work at a tough Liverpool comprehensive, where he has to deal with racism, homophobia and his students' poor backgrounds.

8.3/10

Three friends discover their new flatmate dead but loaded with cash.

7.3/10
6.9%

Enter the medieval world of Christine Carpenter, a visionary girl who is to become an Anchoress (walled-in recluse) so that she can "live in the Virgin's house forever." Based on actual letters that were written about such an Anchoress in 1325, the film follows Christine as she awakens to her own sensuality and explores her own female, earth-based spirituality

6.4/10

The wise-cracking Fitz is a brilliant but flawed criminal psychologist with a remarkable insight into the criminal mind.

8.4/10

Three-part drama about a wife coming to terms with the death of her pilot husband in a flying accident.

Fantasy drama Rachel's Dream was set sometime in the future when the world is besieged by technology, young Rachel discovers that through a large bank of video screens in her sister's apartment, her wishes can come true when she brings to life the image on an anti-pollution poster. This new friend helps her to make up her mind about her own future.

6.3/10

In a nightmare city inhabited only by criminals and police... a mystic detective finds a tool to catch a villainous outlaw. Death and the Compass is British director Alex Cox's second Mexican feature. Based on the short story Death and the Compass by Jorge Luis Borges, the film is in English, and stars Peter Boyle as Erik Lönnrot.

6/10
1.7%

An adaptation of the play by Arnold Wesker.

In 1950s England, slow-witted Derek Bentley falls in with a group of petty criminals led by Chris Craig, a teenager with a fondness for American gangster films. Chris and Derek's friendship leads to their involvement in the true case which would forever shake England's belief in capital punishment.

7.2/10
8.4%