Francesca Annis
The end of an era as the studios where ITV filmed its many shows for 45 years closes its doors for the last time.
London, England, April 2015. Brian Reader, a retired thief, gathers an unlikely gang of burglars to perpetrate the biggest and boldest heist in British history. The thieves assault the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company and escape with millions in goods and money. But soon the cracks between the gang members begin to appear when they discuss how to share the loot.
A new documentary on the Criterion Collection edition of Roman Polanski's 1971 adaptation of Macbeth featuring interviews with the director, producer Andrew Braunsberg, assistant executive producer Victor Lownes, and actors Francesca Annis and Martin Shaw.
The story of a group of inspirational women in a rural Cheshire community with the shadow of World War II casting a dark cloud over their lives. As the conflict takes hold and separates the women from their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers, the characters find themselves under increasing and extraordinary pressures in a rapidly fragmenting world. By banding together as the Great Paxford Women’s Institute, they help maintain the nation’s fabric in its darkest hour, and discover inner resources that will change their lives forever.
Drama inspired by the true story of classical pianist Joyce Hatto. Victoria Wood's new strange-but-true drama about musical deception and enduring love
A film that’s been admired, hated and puzzled-over in fairly equal amounts, writer/director David Lynch’s ambitious 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel gets an extensive fanediting treatment in Dune The Alternative Edition Redux. This is the third and final cut of an edit first released in 2008 and again in 2009 by faneditor spicediver. As previously, it draws on the heavily cut Theatrical Version, the controversial Extended “TV” Version and a selection of Deleted Scenes and soundtrack cues.
The Little House is a drama series based on the novel by Philippa Gregory. The drama follows the story of Ruth, who is married to career minded Patrick and is pushed towards the limits of her own sanity when she becomes entangled in the lives of her wealthy but interfering in-laws Elizabeth and Frederick. After falling unexpectedly pregnant, Ruth finds herself swept along on a tide of apparently well-intentioned family gestures which leave the previously independent school teacher detached from her former city life and living in ‘the little house’ at the end of her in-laws’ driveway.
Shifty, a young crack cocaine dealer in London, sees his life quickly spiral out of control when his best friend returns home. Stalked by a customer desperate to score at all costs, and with his family about to turn their back on him for good, Shifty must out-run and out-smart a rival drug dealer, intent on setting him up for a big fall.
Hotshot gambler Jake Green (Jason Statham) is long on bravado and seriously short of common sense. Rarely is he allowed in any casino because he's a bona fide winner and, in fact, has taken so much money over the years that he's the sole client of his accountant elder brother, Billy. Invited to a private game, Jake is in fear of losing his life.
The story of John Wilmot, a.k.a. the Earl of Rochester, a 17th century poet who famously drank and debauched his way to an early grave, only to earn posthumous critical acclaim for his life's work.
No one knows for sure what transpired when German physicist Werner Heisenberg met with his Jewish Danish counterpart, Niels Bohr, in Copenhagen -- the event became the stuff of modern scientific mythology. Director Howard Davies puts his spin on the momentous meeting that occurred one night in September 1941, during which the longtime friends entered into a dangerous discussion about physics and politics.
Deceit is a 2000 British two-part mystery television serial categorized as both a drama and a thriller. The film is based on a novel of the same name by Clare Francis. Stuart Orme served as director and Nicolas Brown served as producer. It was remade as an American television movie with the same title in 2004.
Mean, gritty, dirty and low and that's just the Policeman Gary Keltie (Ken Stott) out for retribution for the horrendous crimes against the helpless people of Edinburgh during the nineteen seventies, by notorious, torturous, and killer, debt collector Nickie Dryden (Billy Connolly).
Forty-five-year-old Adrian has been living with his mother Lucy and running their Wiltshire dairy farm all his adult life. When Lucy unexpectedly dies of a heart attack, a rogue's gallery of family members show up at the farm to argue over the execution of Ruth's will. The one object that everyone seems to want, and several people try to steal, is Ruth's valuable Modigliani painting. In the midst of all this confusion over Ruth's death, a mysterious visitor named Ilaria inserts herself onto the scene and has a surprising effect on those gathered.
Wives and Daughters is a 1999 four part BBC serial adapted from the novel Wives and Daughters: An Everyday Story by Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell. It focuses on Molly Gibson (Justine Waddell), the daughter of the town doctor, and the changes that occur in her life after her widowed father chooses to remarry. The union brings into her once-quiet life an ever-proper stepmother (Francesca Annis) and flirtatious stepsister, Cynthia (Keeley Hawes), while a friendship with the local squire brings about an unexpected romance.
One year on in their lives, Owen and Anna plan to marry. But Anna's ex-husband may have an other idea. He schemes to rip the couple apart. Can Anna and Owen survive this emotional trauma to become man and wife?
A young member of a choir becomes friends with a ghost in a school of English cathedral.
When demanding actress Leila is found drowned there are numerous suspects but the main suspect is her husband Ted. Adapted from the novel by Mary Higgins Clark.
Black comedy set in Soho, London, right after WW2. Half of the fun is seeing a slew of very familiar faces kick up their heels as gay men, lesbians, party-girls, drunks, and drag queens.
The tale centers on an eccentric bag lady who rescues the stray cats of Venice and puts them on a boat to set sail for the new world. It has not been re-released for the home video market. This lack of availability, which has been described as making it "more rare than the dinosaur" has made it a sought-after item in some circles.
Biography of the life of Aristotle Onassis, a Greek who rose to become one of the world's most wealthiest men, detailing his rise to power and unhappy marriages.
Extended Edition of the film. In the distant future, the known universe is ruled by Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV. The most important substance in the empire is the drug known as melange or "the spice". It has many special properties, such as extending life and expanding consciousness. The most profitable and important of its properties is its ability to assist the Spacing Guild with Fold space, which allows safe, instantaneous interstellar travel.
I'll Take Manhattan is a 1987 American television miniseries, adapted from Judith Krantz's novel of the same name. Screened by CBS, it tells the story of the wealthy Amberville family, who run their own publishing company in New York. After Zachary Amberville, the patriarch of the family, dies, the company is taken over by his unscrupulous brother Cutter. Zachary's children, especially his energetic and intelligent daughter Maxi, begin a battle to regain control of the father's company. I'll Take Manhattan was the highest-rated miniseries of the 1986–87 US television season with a 22.9/35 rating/share.
During a long summer, the tranquility of a couple and their three children resting in a country house is altered with the arrival of the children's uncle, a character who exerts a curious influence on the boys and a morbid and strange attraction the wife. Twelve years after 'Los viajes escolares' (1973), his first commercial feature film, the Madrid director Jaime Chávarri returns to the same estate in the province of Segovia to shoot a new family story, about his own plot and script. Like its predecessor, 'The Golden River' contains a strong autobiographical charge and is full of personal resonances. But this new history of family ties is narrated from a perspective in which adultery manifests itself openly. Endowed with a slow narrative rhythm, the film presents an international cast headed by Ángela Molina, Bruno Ganz, Francesca Annis and Stefan Gubser. The film also has the presence of a very young Juan Diego Botto, in one of his first appearances on the big screen.
Two friends from Miami are in the French Riviera enjoying life by scamming money off of rich women. One day, they read about a young woman set to inherit $50 million from her father. At first, Tricky has Christopher Tracy talked into romancing her for her money, but in getting to know her, Christopher falls in love with her. This love comes between the brothers, and Tricky tells about the plan.
Follow the adventures and exploits of the Beresfords, who have recently taken over the running of a detective agency based in London.
After a chance meeting and an indiscreet conversation, childhood friends Tommy Beresford and Tuppence Cowley become involved in a convoluted intrigue led by a mysterious man known simply as Mr. Brown.
A biographical film about Victor Herman, based on the memoir of the same name.
This intriguing story is set in the 1930s at a country house, where two amateur sleuths, Bobby Jones and Lady Frankie Derwent, try to unravel the mystery behind a tale of murder, suspense and false identities. And the only clues the two have to go on are the puzzling last words of a dying man. Featuring characters created by Agatha Christie, Why Didn't They Ask Evans is a classic crime thriller sure to please murder-mystery fans.
The Royal Shakespeare Company act (and sing and dance!) Shakespeare's play about two sets of identical twins, separated at birth and brought together by circumstance.
Kate works in the nuclear industry. She is concerned about the way things are being run. So she smuggles out some Plutonium to prove how easy it is. She tries to pass it on to protest groups, but nobody is interested as they have their own agendas.
The Rise and Fall of a Professional Beauty. It was the affair that shook Victorian society to its core. He was the Prince of Wales, the future monarch; she was a professional beauty, who became a royal bedmate. Follow the fascinating life of the Dean of Jersey's daughter from her modest childhood to her emergence as one of the most celebrated beauties of her time. Lillie's liaison with the heir to the throne marked only the beginning of a remarkable, scandalous and daring series of adventures in open defiance of accepted morality imposed by Victorian and Edwardian society.
Francesca Annis and Tom Conti star in this acclaimed UK miniseries adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's classic tale of one woman's attempts to mold her own unfulfilling life in the shape of her favorite romantic novels.
While investigating a murder case, a detective stumbles upon a rare-stamp swindle involving the victim's twin sister.
A 1971 documentary by Frank Simon featuring rare footage of the film’s cast and crew at work.
A middle-aged truck driver travelling through the desert with his good-for-nothing nephew and a pretty nun, gets stuck and are forced to wait to be rescued.
Scotland, 11th century. Driven by the twisted prophecy of three witches and the ruthless ambition of his wife, warlord Macbeth, bold and brave, but also weak and hesitant, betrays his good king and his brothers in arms and sinks into the bloody mud of a path with no return, sown with crime and suspicion.
A young woman's highly ordered and structured life is turned upside-down when she meets a handsome stranger at a party. Friendship soon develops into romance and for the first time in her life she is truly happy. This happiness is short lived, however, as little by little she discovers her partner has been lying to her about his past. It is soon revealed that he and his friends have been planning to rob the auction house that she works for and they require her inside knowledge in order to pull off the crime.
Low-budget film illustrates the various factors which have lead a man to hijack a plane to Cuba.
A young woman is unable to decide between a boxer and folk singer, and ends up losing both.
When Sally moves to London to pursue a modelling career, she moves in with Angela and Dee and discovers the world of the carefree bachelor girl in Swinging London. Over one weekend - filled with parties, blossoming friendships, and romantic encounters with Keith and Nikko (Klaus Kinski) - the vivacious girls learn about life's pleasures and pains.
While widowed Porter Ricks is away at school learning to be a park ranger, his teen-aged son, Sandy, under adult supervision from a neighbor, remains at the family home in the Florida Keys with his pet dolphin, Flipper. While Po (as Porter is called by most) is away, Sandy learns that the family home, built on state land, is being torn down to make way for a highway. In turn, Sandy would be sent to live with relatives, while Flipper would be sent to the seaquarium permanently. Not wanting to be separated from Flipper, Sandy, using his skiff, runs away with Flipper. A distraught Po returns home to look for his son. Meanwhile, the Hopewell family from Britain are vacationing in the area. Their sailboat is hijacked by three escaped convicts, who take the father, Halsey, hostage, and set the three Hopewell women - mother Julia, and teen-aged daughters Gwen and Penny - adrift, they who eventually land on the island where Sandy is hiding... Written by Huggo
Having pulled off the smallest ever train robbery, Little Walter and his crew decide to get out of London. The six of them set up business in a disused monastery off the Cornish coast, despite the fact that none of them really qualifies as a monk - least of all Walter's moll Bikini. Bit by bit, the quiet way of life starts becoming a habit.
Five seamen and a passenger are intent on making the most of the 14 hours they will spend in London.
Murder unfolds around a young girl who sleepwalks and talks while she does so.
A murderer is brought to court and only Miss Marple is unconvinced of his innocence. Once again she begins her own investigation.
Joe Beckett, seasoned citizen of the bedsitter belt, aged about 22, is the renegade son of modest, respectable parents and, to use his own description, 'an emotional leper'. He decides that he needs a violent shock to shake him back into life, and as a result accepts a commission to carry out the murder of a total stranger for a man he meets in a coffee bar...
Author-explorer Reggie Blake takes an unorthodox approach to his craft, apparently finding inspiration in the adventures suggested by his agent Charles Lunton; it matters little that most of his experiences are wildly embellished or even entirely fictitious...
The premise involves a young couple, David and Catherine Robinson (Leslie Phillips and a young Geraldine McEwan), who have to turn their large country house into a money-making proposition. Their solution is to invite the kids of the rich and famous to spend a summer enjoying all the loving care and attention they miss at home. After the youngsters arrive, David quickly realizes what the offensive little punks need is some real discipline, and so the summer begins.
The Cat Gang is a group of precocious British kids. They have a habit of hanging around a grown-up customs official who wishes that they'd beat it. But the Gang comes in handy when a smuggling gang arrives on the scene.
