Colin Welland

The story of the British betting scandal of 1964, uncovered by journalist Mike Gabbatt which saw a number of British professional footballers were jailed and banned from football for life for conspiring to fix the results of matches. Prominent among those jailed and banned were the Sheffield Wednesday F.C. stars Peter Swan, Tony Kay and David Layne.

7.3/10

The children of Ballydowse and Carrickdowse engage in battles where they cut of the buttons, shoe-laces and underwear of their captured opponents. This is to get the boys in trouble with their parents. They go to battle in mass groups of dozens, throwing stones and cutting off their opponents buttons etc. And sometimes they go to battle completely naked and exposed. In one such scene about 30 boys return from a battle to celebrate victory at a barn-house only to find some girls waiting for them and they get very embarrassed at losing their privacy

7.5/10

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.

The Secret Life of Ian Fleming follows the exciting life of a dashing young Ian Fleming, the mastermind behind the highly successful James Bond books and movies.

6.2/10

Linda's out on her hen night, her fiance is out on his stag night. Linda is having major doubts about getting married, when both groups arrive at a club, to find the band fronted by her ex-boyfriend—and the love of her life—Peter. Linda has to decide: Does she stay and settle down, like her friends want her to, or does she chuck it all in and run away with Peter?

7/10

During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.

7/10
8.1%

Decades after the end of World War II, escaped war criminal Klaus Barbie is brought to justice.

A middle-aged steelworker is content with his job and his family, but feels that something is missing in his life. On his 50th birthday, he stops in at a local bar for a drink to celebrate. He finds himself attracted to the young, very sexy barmaid--and, to his surprise, he finds that she is also very attracted to him.

6.5/10
8.3%

In the class-obsessed and religiously divided UK of the early 1920s, two determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell, a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God's glory and refuses to train or compete on the Sabbath. Harold Abrahams overcomes anti-Semitism and class bias, but neglects his beloved sweetheart in his single-minded quest.

7.2/10
8.2%

Incendiary 1981 Play for Today, written by Jim Allen and directed by Roland Joffé that tells the story of a group of housing estate residents who attempt to organise against persistent rent rises.

During WWII, the United States set up army bases in Great Britain as part of the war effort. Against their proper sensibilities, many of the Brits don't much like the brash Yanks, especially when it comes to the G.I.s making advances on the lonely British girls. One relationship that develops is between married John, an Army Captain, and the aristocratic Helen, whose naval husband is away at war. Helen loves her husband, but Helen and John are looking for some comfort during the difficult times.

6.4/10
5.7%

Television play concerning a group of seven-year-olds playing in the Forest of Dean one summer afternoon in 1943. It ends abruptly when the character Donald is burned to death as a result of the other children's actions. Perhaps the most striking feature of the play is that, although the characters are children, they are played by adult actors.

7.9/10

Colin Welland presents this confined spaces training video from the Health and Safety Executive, detailing the hazards of entering any confined space without the neccessary awareness, training & equipment.

5/10
3%

Based on the TV series the film follows DI Regan and DS Carter as they became embroiled in a deadly political scandal. One of the leading members of the government, Charles Baker (Ian Bannen) is about to secure a huge deal with OPEC stabilising the world oil market and boosting Britain's position within it. Baker is the rising star of government, regarded a future prime minister, who is closely controlled by his urbane, manipulative American press secretary Elliot McQueen (Barry Foster). When Regan investigates the mysterious death of a prostitute as a favour to one of his informants, he becomes aware that Baker and McQueen might be involved. A spate of killings follow - which sees Regan take on both the criminals and the hierarchy of the Metropolitan Police and British security services.

6.9/10

When his father becomes a bomb victim, Jimmy leaves Belfast for his uncle’s farm in remote west Ireland. But even here there are links to the past.

8/10

A 'machinegunner' (West Country slang for a debt-collector), turns amateur sleuth but finds himself in hot water with local criminals.

7.3/10

Anand, his pretty cousin and their sick uncle are stranded in Amsterdam where they receive an offer to take them to England.

The true story of a strike in 1970 by female textile-factory workers in Leeds who wanted to be paid the same as their male colleagues, but whose efforts were undermined by the trade union that they belonged to.

8.6/10

A father leaves his grown-up family to move in with his lover in the south, alienating himself from his four children.

7.6/10

Rivalry at a local Gilbert and Sullivan Society over who will play Jack Point in the Silver Jubilee production. Rowland Matthews has always been the main star, but he is getting on, and the young Clive Bates is a strong rival.

18-year-old friends Todd and Towzer set off by motorbike to spend a Bank Holiday weekend in Scarborough. Their long hair, cut-off denim jackets, medals, badges and swastikas lead to hostility from everyone they meet, including the police

Ruthless East End gangster Vic Dakin has plans for an ambitious raid on the wages van of a plastic factory. This is a departure from Dakin's usual modus operandi, and the job is further complicated by his having to work with fellow gangster Frank Fletcher's firm. As Dakin plots, Wolfe wheels and deals and MP Draycott gets caught in a web of his own iniquity.

6.6/10
6.4%

David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate, and two of the locals rape Amy. This sexual assault awakes a shockingly violent side of David.

7.5/10
8.3%

A lonely young man longing to be accepted lies his way into a local church. The priest and his congregation soon begin to unravel his tales as his actions become versatile.

7.1/10

Colin Welland's play about a wife, her mother, her mother in law and conflict.

6.7/10

Compelling drama from screenwriter Colin Welland set in a city comprehensive school of low expectations and ambitions. Pupil Latimer does not conform to the macho culture and is labeled a homosexual, leading to bullying by both the pupils and some of the teachers.

A young, English working-class boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet falcon.

7.9/10
10%

Z-Cars or Z Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.

6.9/10

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968. The Canadian-born producer Sydney Newman was in charge of Armchair Theatre between September 1958 and December 1962 during what is generally considered to have been its best era and produced 152 episodes.

8.1/10

Colin Welland presents this 1979 UK public information film about the hazards of nighttime driving.

4/10