David Threlfall
An alternative history of the British Isles, told through art. Looking at 1,500 years and eight dramatic turning points, acclaimed artists and thinkers encounter key historic art works from across the UK that have shaped the history of the British Isles and inspired their own work.
Krapp’s Last Tape: James Hayes uses his natural Irish accent to deliver the best known of these works, a meditation on ageing. He plays the eponymous Krapp, a sad, lonely man recollecting emotion in tranquility with the assistance of a reel to reel tape recorder. Now somewhere near 70, he is reminded of the past, as a recording of his 39-year-old self recalls life a dozen years before. As such, we are able to glimpse the hope of relative youth, the acceptance of middle age failure and the resignation of an old man. The Old Tune: It features two old men sitting on a park bench next to a hurdy-gurdy and almost inevitably brings to mind the song from Gigi, “I Remember It Well”. As cars pass, irritating the men who fondly remember the days of horse-drawn carriages, every statement delivered by either Niall Buggy or David Threlfall, playing the grumpy septuagenarians, is instantly contradicted by his fellow, often to great humorous effect.
It's Christmas! Come & celebrate the festive season with Bing... at the Cinema! Meet Nicky... Sula's adorable cousin and open presents with Bing, Flop & all of their friends! Pico's here to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Come and make leaf pictures in the woods with Amma, watch Bing & Sula perform a Puppet Show, and enjoy a grand finale of extra special Christmas stories! So, come on! Let's celebrate together - let's go, go, go, go, goooooo!
The Fantastic Francis Hardy (Michael Sheen) travels the most remote corners of Wales, Scotland and Ireland attempting to heal those who wish to be healed. His wife Grace (Indira Varma) and manager Teddy (David Threlfall) complete this nomadic triptych, each with their own telling of the loss, love and struggle of life on the road with a seemingly predestined Faith Healer.
A rich story of love, intrigue, betrayal and belonging told from the perspective of the Trojan royal family at the heart of the siege of Troy.
Based on the extraordinary true story of Alec Jeffreys' discovery of DNA fingerprinting and its first use by Detective Chief Superintendent David Baker in catching a double murderer.
Country vicar Merrily Watkins just happens to be one of the few women priests working as an exorcist. When a man is found murdered by crucifixion, the police, aware of her knowledge of the paranormal underworld, turn to the Vicar for assistance. Before long Merilly is convinced Satanists are behind the crime and the investigation takes them into a very dark and dangerous world.
Noah, a farmer and family man, is instructed by an angel to build an ark in the middle of a desert in order to save both his family and the faithful from a devastating flood. A seemingly impossible task, especially when his sons refuse to believe him and help, Noah risks ridicule and humiliation from the degenerate townsfolk as well as his loving but exasperated family, in his quest to carry out his God-given task.
A rogue submarine captain pulls together a misfit crew to go after a sunken treasure rumored to be lost in the depths of the Black Sea. As greed and desperation take control on-board their claustrophobic vessel, the increasing uncertainty of the mission causes the men to turn on each other to fight for their own survival.
Unique retelling of the Biblical story of Noah and the Ark. "Noah's Ark" is a timeless tale, a story of family, one man's faith, and his fixation with building an ark that may ultimately save both his family and mankind.
When the decomposed body of Melissa Young is found by a couple in their new flat, Detective Len Harper is determined to discover what happened to her and why nobody noticed she was missing.
A look at the life of John Cooper Clarke. From his rise as a 'punk poet', through his heroin addiction, and finally to his comeback.
The drama tells the story of Lennon's teenage years and the start of his journey to becoming a successful musician. The story also examines the impact on his early life and personality of the two dominant females in his childhood
As a former London constable, Nicholas Angel finds it difficult to adapt to his new assignment in the sleepy British village of Sandford. Not only does he miss the excitement of the big city, but he also has a well-meaning oaf for a partner. However, when a series of grisly accidents rocks Sandford, Angel smells something rotten in the idyllic village.
When Queen Elizabeth's reign is threatened by ruthless familial betrayal and Spain's invading army, she and her shrewd adviser must act to safeguard to the lives of her people.
A forensic psychologist must determine if a minor should be charged with murder.
Downtrodden wife and mother Nella's life takes an unexpected turn for the better after she joins the Women's Voluntary Service office in Barrow-in-Furness during the Second World War. However, her new-found happiness is shattered when her son Cliff leaves to join the troops - provoking a painful confrontation with her husband Will.
Humouristic reconstruction of the 1995 scandal when two British lads were accused of having faked a documentary from the Roswell incident in 1947.
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire is a 2006 BBC One docudrama series, with each episode looking at a different key turning point in the history of the Roman Empire.
An in-depth biopic of Princess Margaret from the days following her father's death in 1952 until the 1970s. She was known to be a flamboyant royal but she remained a stickler for protocol. She had many controversial romances and also infamously kissed the daughter of the US ambassador. Also the film gives some focus on what others thought of Margaret, from normal people of the era to a backbench MP opposed to her 1961 wedding. Written by Reece Lloyd
The story of a young group of siblings pretty much abandoned by their parents, surviving by their wits - and humor - on a rough Manchester council estate. Whilst they won't admit it, they need help and find it in Steve, a young middle class lad who falls for Fiona, the oldest sibling, and increasingly finds himself drawn to this unconventional and unique family. Anarchic family life seen through the eyes of an exceptionally bright fifteen year old, who struggles to come of age in the context of his belligerent father, closeted brother, psychotic sister and internet porn star neighbors.
After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship's thoughtful surgeon, his best friend.
Fitness fanatic, Donald Leek, indulges in a monthly Chunky Monkey experience with, someone vaguely resembling movie-songstress, Julie Andrews, who he's expecting at 7:30pm. His obsession with Ms. Andrews (and her posterior) is somewhat disturbing to say the least. Before she arrives however, he has to dispose of the body parts of Mr Azam, manager of his favourite Indian restaurant, who has neglected to send him a Christmas card. He is interrupted by a peculiar assortment of unwelcome visitors, amongst them, Jesus Christ and a one-testicled self-made millionaire. Each one is as unhinged as their host, who retaliates to the intrusion in extreme fashion
The historical recreation of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, in which Nazi and SS leaders gathered in a Berlin suburb to discuss the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question". Lead by SS-General Reinhard Heydrich, this group of high ranking German officials came to the historic and far reaching decision that the Jews of Europe were to be exterminated in what would come to be known as the Holocaust.
Sex, Chips & Rock n' Roll is a six-part television mini-series which was written and created by Debbie Horsfield and directed by John Woods. It was produced by Wall to Wall for BBC One. Originally shown in 1999, it was later adapted into a stage musical which appeared at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre in 2005.
After taking his young son Roddy to a remote Northumberland village, Peter Greenbank meets a violent death, leaving the boy alone with no family to speak of. Roddy is adopted and raised by Kate Makepeace, a good friend of his father’s, and develops a close friendship with Hal and Mary Ellen. But their sibling bond is put to the test as they become adults. The hidden secrets of the past are painfully unearthed as their lives are intertwined by a tragic destiny.
In the Beginning is a 2-part biblical television miniseries directed by Kevin Connor. It stars Martin Landau and Jacqueline Bisset and it premiered on NBC on November 12, 2000.
Mary, Mother of Jesus is a 1999 made-for-television Biblical film that retells the story of Jesus through the eyes of Mary, his mother.
The BBC drama about growing up in the turbulent, tuneful '60s. Manchester, England, 1965. "You'll never meet anybody worth knowing working at the Chip Shop," says Ellie and Arden Brookes' overbearing granny. But that's where the sisters meet The Ice Cubes, a struggling rock trio that opens their eyes to the whole swingin' world beyond staid Manchester. Arden sees lead singer Dallas McCabe as her ticket out. Ellie has more practical plans, but she and Dallas get drawn together by the music and their irresistible attraction to each other. A story of twin sisters who are each other's best friend-and worst enemy.
Men of the World is a BBC sitcom which starred David Threlfall and John Simm.
Television film telling the story of Diana, Princess of Wales, based on the publication of the same name by Andrew Morton.
Margaret (Lena Headey) is a shy, pale, middle-class Englishwoman who is reluctantly engaged to her older, twittish neighbor Syl Monro (David Threlfall). Both bride- and groom-to-be still live with their mothers in the humdrum suburb of Croydon. However Margaret has been acting strangely ever since a vacation in Egypt, where she stayed with her mother's friend Marie-Claire (Catherine Schell). She secretly despises Syl, but does not resist when her mother Monica (Julie Walters), who has repressed the failure of her own matrimony, insists on marriage for the sake of social convention.
When CIA Analyst Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets Jack and his family as revenge.
At the request of his old war time colleague Ailsa Brimley, George Smiley agrees to look into the murder of Stella Rode. Brimley had only just received a letter from her saying she feared for her life at her husband's hand. The husband, Stanley Rode teaches at Carne School, but Smiley is doubtful that he had anything to do with his wife's death. As Smiley investigates, he learns that Stella was a nosy busybody who loved to learn other's little secrets and then gossip about them - or possibly blackmail them. When a student is killed and Smiley unearths a secret, he has the evidence to name the killer.Based on John Le Carré's 1962 thriller (his first) in which George Smiley is brought out of spy retirement to solve a murder in a British public school. The setting is based on Le Carre"s own schooldays in Sherborne and his brief experience teaching at Eton.
This is the hard and shocking story of life in a British borstal for young offenders. Luckily the regime has changed since this TV film was made. The brutal regime made no attempt to reform or improve the inmates and actively encouraged a power struggle between the 'tough' new inmate and the 'old hands'. Banned by the BBC for 14 years, this original television version of 'Scum' was finally aired in July 1991. Meanwhile, the director and writer had re-made the film [see Scum (1979)] for theatrical release after it was originally banned for TV broadcast.
An expatriate British publisher unexpectedly finds himself working for British intelligence to investigate people in Russia.
After a sheltered upbringing in St. Helena, Norah arrives in England and goes to live in London, taken under the wing of her Uncle and his business associate Andy. She works for the latter and falls in love with him, but he refuses to reciprocate her feelings. When she starts receiving a series of obscene phone calls and letters at home and work, she is determined to identify the caller, and strongly suspects Andy
Nightingales is a British situation comedy set around the antics of three security guards working the night shift. It was written by Paul Makin and produced by Alomo Productions for Channel 4 in 1990.
A pair of children befriend an eccentric old man, who lives isolated on the far shore of their island home. But it turns out that the old man knows a terrible secret about the island and the whales who sometimes come. Meanwhile WWI is making life hard in the village.
David Threlfall stars as Tom Rowse, a retired British secret service agent turned thriller novelist who is brought back into the world of espionage for one last job. The mission - foiling a Libyan plot to supply the IRA with a massive shipment of high-tech weapons in order to wreak revenge upon the UK for their support and co-operation with the US during the 1986 bombing of Libya and the attempted assassination of Colonel Gaddafi .
A biographical portrayal of Simon Wiesenthal, famous Nazi Hunter. From his imprisonment in a Nazi Concentration Camp, the film follows his liberation and his rise to become one of the leading Nazi hunters in the world, bringing such criminals to justice as Adolf Eichmann and Klaus Barbee. (Written by Anthony Hughes)
This British series, based on books by John Mortimer, follows the rise of Leslie Titmuss from humble beginnings in the 1950s to Tory cabinet minister in the 1980s. The rise of the slippery Titmuss is contrasted with the more modest progress of his neighbours, the intellectual Simcoxes and the aristocratic Fanners. Made by Eustom Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television for the ITV Network.
A middle-aged man is feeling the strain of looking after his elderly grandfather, who is demanding and needs a lot of medical treatment. Then a neighbour suggests a painless way to be rid of him - This black comedy is set in the future, where euthanasia is lawful and increasingly common but it should still, ideally, be voluntary.
British comedy satirising Stalin's inner circle as an absolute monarchs court. In the face of rampant abuse of power and poisonous distrust some still manage to keep faith with the Bolshevist creed until the very end. In front of the firing squad a stalwart bolshevist of the first hour exclaims: "Even in the best democracy errors are being made!"
The saga of Manchester lad Joe Henshaw, a story that takes in family life, the trials and tribulations of the Labour movement and World War Two
Writer and Director Mike Leigh discusses the techniques used to create his plays.
Young Nicholas Nickleby sets out to make his fortune in order to prevent his mother and sister from depending upon his uncle, Ralph Nicklby. But he finds his first job as master at a Yorkshire school to be cruel, and runs away with one of the students. Meanwhile, Kate is subjected to the unwanted attentions of Sir Mulberry Hawk, aided by her uncle. Nicholas and his new friend, Smike, begin their adventures and eventually set out to rescue Kate, with the usual Dickensian twists, turns and asides.
An RAF ground crew, having committed an offence, is punished to guard all night an who an East Anglian airfield in the depths of winter. Gaining frostbite as a result, he's sent to recuperate in the nearby cottage hospital which is used for aircrew who have mentally cracked under the strain of bombing Berlin.
Trevor is an extremely shy undertaker's assistant. He always tags along with his good friend Ronnie, when he goes to the pub with his girlfriend Sandra. Sandra introduces Trevor to her more forward friend Linda. Linda has a difficult time getting Trevor to go out with her, but she finally gets him to go to a disco; he won't dance, so Linda dances with Ronnie.
A group of six friends, who have known each other since childhood, find their friendship tested when one of their number is found dead, leading to the question - were they murdered or did they commit suicide?
