John Horsley

Based on the Gothic romance novel by Daphne Du Maurier, Rebecca is a classic tale of love and hate. Maxim De Winter marries a woman half his age only a year after his first wife, the beautiful and accomplished Rebecca, dies. She finds herself in an aristocratic social world her middle class upbringing did not prepare her for, and housekeeper Mrs Danvers despises her for taking her darling Rebecca's place. But these are not the only problems to face...

7.3/10

Freelance journalist David Dunhill stumbles onto the biggest story of his career - but his personal eccentricities seem likely to thwart him.

In 1936, Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry the woman he loved, Wallis Simpson, a twice divorced American. These events caused a scandal around the world and Wallis has since been demonised as the woman who stole the King of England.

6.2/10

You Rang M'Lord? is a British comedy series written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Hi-de-Hi! It was broadcast between 1990 and 1993 on the BBC. The show was a comedy set in the house of an aristocratic family in the 1920s, contrasting the upper-class family and their servants in a house in London, along the same lines as the popular drama Upstairs, Downstairs. The series featured many actors who had also appeared in their earlier series, notably Paul Shane, Jeffrey Holland and Su Pollard, all of whom had previously been in Perry and Croft's holiday camp sitcom, Hi-de-Hi!. Also featured were Donald Hewlett and Michael Knowles from Perry and Croft's It Ain't Half Hot Mum, and Bill Pertwee and occasionally Frank Williams from Dad's Army. The memorable 1920s-style theme tune was sung by Bob Monkhouse.

8.7/10

George and Linda Harper's 17 year marriage has gone stale, but George doesn't seem to be aware of it. When confronted with the problem, he gets a vasectomy, which solves nothing, so he moves out. Linda rearranges her life by enrolling in self improvement courses. Trying for an amicable divorce, they agree to use one lawyer and hire their closest friend. When this backfires, George attempts reconciliation by trying to seduce Linda on their living room couch. George botches the seduction due to the pressure of trying to perform well and due to the unexpected return of their son from a date. But it does result in their realizing they still care about each other...and that marriages need working at, need to be renewed and renegotiated from time to time and that their's is certainly worth a second chance. Based on the hit West End play.

Plan Aurora, led by Kim Philby is a plan that breaches the top-secret Fourth Protocol and turns the fears that shaped it into a living nightmare. A crack Soviet agent, placed under cover in a quiet English country town, begins to assemble a nuclear bomb, whilst MI5 agent John Preston attempts to prevent it's detonation.

6.6/10
7.4%

Hot metal is a London Weekend Television sitcom about the British Newspaper industry broadcast between 1986 and 1988. The daily crucible, the dullest newspaper in Fleet Street, is suddenly taken over by media magnate Terence "Twiggy" Rathbone. Its editor Harry Stringer is 'promoted' to managing editor, and is replaced in his old job by Russell Spam. Spam then takes the paper shooting downmarket and turns the crucible into a sensation seeking scandal rag, very much in the style of the British tabloids of the 1980s. He is helped along by his ace gutter journalist, Greg Kettle, who intimidates his tabloid victims by claiming to be "a representative of Her Majesty's press" and produces stories such as accusing a vicar of being a werewolf. Throughout the first series, a running plot involved cub reporter Bill Tytla gradually uncovering an actual newsworthy story that went to the very heart of government. Written by David Renwick and Andrew Marshall, it is very much a continuation in style from their previous sitcom Whoops Apocalypse!. It was produced by Humphrey Barclay.

8.1/10

A tradition-bound gentlemen's club is thrown into chaos when women are allowed in during "ladies' night." One member resents the intrusion of women so much, he resorts to murder.

Eustace and Dorrie Edgehill have decided to leave Samola, a British protectorate in the Pacific. After the failure of his latest harebrained scheme, no one is likely to give Eustace a job now. Or are they?

7.7/10

The adventure begins when Kay Harker, returning home for the school holidays, meets two clergymen on his train, who subsequently pick his pocket. He then happens to meet an old Punch and Judy man at the station.

8.4/10
10%

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.

6.1/10

"That order to scatter was as good as a death sentence to those merchant ships. And there isn't one officer or rating who doesn't agree with me." A British Allied convoy designated for the Soviet Union comes under attack from German forces during World War II.

Oh Happy Band! is a situation comedy written by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. The series ran for six episodes in 1980 on BBC 1, and featured the last screen appearance of comedian Harry Worth. For musical sequences, the series featured the Aldershot Brass Ensemble. Since broadcast, the series has not been repeated or released on any home consumer media.

6.5/10

Disillusioned after a long career at Sunshine Desserts, Perrin goes through a mid-life crisis and fakes his own death. Returning in disguise after various attempts at finding a 'new life', he gets his old job back and finds nothing has changed. He is eventually found out, and in the second series has success with a chain of shops selling useless junk. That becomes so successful that he feels he has created a monster and decides to destroy it. In the third and final series he has a dream of forming a commune which his long suffering colleagues help bring to reality. Unfortunately that also fails and he finds himself back in a job not unlike the one he originally had at Sunshine Desserts.

7.8/10
7.5%

A comedy about the law - seen from the inside. All formality and procedure on the surface but not quite so convincing when you see the works.

Glen, a complete stranger, appears at the door of Elizabeth Carter, a middle-aged woman, and claims to be the illegitimate son she gave away at birth.

8.5/10

A junk dealer is caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between a woman, her husband and his mistress when they sell a piece of their furniture.

The Limbo Line tells a story of Cold War double-crossing with British secret agent Manston trying to break up a group of Russian agents who return defectors to Moscow for brainwashing. When a Russian ballerina defects to Germany, Manston goes after the head of The Limbo Line in an effort to stop the group from kidnapping the defectors. Acting against the orders of his boss, Manston is faced with killing the communist leader of the movement in Germany or allowing the dancer to be turned over for interrogation and reprisals for her political beliefs. Matters are further complicated when Manston finds himself falling for the ballerina…

5.8/10

A middle-aged stock actor goes to London to try the big time. After much frustration, he lands a job doing TV commercials, gaining wealth and recognition. He eventually gives it all up to return to stage work and keep his pride.

7/10

An avaricious, ambitious fellow, desiring to hold the reins for a major auto company, must frame someone for murder before he can get what he wants. He chooses a reformed embezzler who works for the company.

4.7/10

A woman is found murdered in a house along the coast from Brighton. Local detectives Fellows and Wilks lead an investigation methodically following up leads and clues mostly in Brighton and Hove but also further afield.

7.2/10

Scotland Yard investigate when a woman, apparently the estranged wife of a London painter, is murdered with a shotgun in rural Surrey at the same time as the artist's striking model with her long black hair disappears.

6.3/10

After falling in love with an American woman, Virginia Killain, who is engaged to another man, British Naval Commander Max Easton, hatches a plan that will get him enough money to support Virginia in the lifestyle she is accustomed to. Easton's plan is to disappear for a time making it seem that he has defected to the Soviets taking important Naval secrets from his job at the Admiralty and to return and sue the newspapers for slander. Not everything goes as planned for Commander Easton.

6.7/10

The story of the breakout of the German battleship Bismarck—accompanied by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen—during the early days of World War II. The Bismarck and her sister ship, Tirpitz, were the most powerful battleships in the European theater of World War II. The British Navy must find and destroy Bismarck before it can escape into the convoy lanes to inflict severe damage on the cargo shipping which was the lifeblood of the British Isles. With eight 15 inch guns, it was capable of destroying every ship in a convoy while remaining beyond the range of all Royal Navy warships.

7.1/10
8.6%

Operation Amsterdam is a 1959 adventure film, directed by Michael McCarthy, and featuring Peter Finch, Eva Bartok, and Tony Britton. It is based on a true story as described in the book Adventure in Diamonds, by David E Walker. The action of the story covers a few days in May 1940 when the Germans invaded Holland.

6.4/10

Judah Ben-Hur, a Palestinian Jew, is battling the Roman empire at the time of Christ. His actions send him and his family into slavery, but an inspirational encounter with Jesus changes everything. He finally meets his rival in a justly famous chariot race and rescues his suffering family.

8.1/10
8.6%

A British Corporal in France finds himself responsible for the lives of his men when their officer is killed. He has to get them back to Britain somehow. Meanwhile, British civilians are being dragged into the war with Operation Dynamo, the scheme to get the French and British forces back from the Dunkirk beaches. Some come forward to help, others were less willing.

7/10

A boy accidentally shoots a friend with a gun he found in the rubble of a destroyed building. The gun turns out to be a clue in a ten-year-old murder case.

6.4/10

An ex-con trying to go clean ends up working for a crooked trucking company swindling money.

7.2/10

An escaped killer hides out by forcing a travelling family to take him with them.

6.1/10

Story of a group of children's successful efforts to bring to book a gang of oil men intent on stealing valuable invention.

7.7/10

When Johnny Matlock whisks away a cold war secret from under the noses of Berlin's top secret agents, his every move is followed when he returns to England. His girlfriend Paula is kidnapped but her handbag is discovered at the scene of the crime by the aristocratic private eye, Duke Martin (Tom Conway). Inside it he discovers the secret formula that the agents are searching for and tracks down her sister Paula (Honor Blackman). As Johnny grows frantic for the safe return of his girlfriend, Duke Martin plays a deadly game of double bluff with the enemy agents.

5.6/10

In World War II, the greatest threat to the British navy is the German battleship Tirpitz. While anchored in a Norwegian fjord, it is impossible to attack by conventional means, so a plan is hatched for a special commando unit to attack it, using midget submarines to plant underwater explosives.

6.6/10

A murderer hopes to escape his death sentence by identifying the leaders of a spy ring.

5.9/10

A man and a woman are poisoned. The woman dies, but the man survives. The finger of blame begins to point at the man. A policeman and a newspaper journalist pursue the truth.

6/10

An American realtor living in England is dissatisfied with what he believes to be his humdrum life. One weekend while his wife is out of town, he gives a ride to a woman he sees stranded on the road. One thing leads to another, and he soon finds himself enmeshed in a plot involving a diamond robbery, gangsters and murder.

6/10

Works of art are disappearing, stolen by a master thief, a master of disguise. Father Brown has two goals: to catch the thief and to save his soul.

6.8/10

A chance photograph may reveal a murderer's identity - and someone's after the photographer!

5.4/10

Kenyon is a narcotics agent who, with the aid of a titled bird-watcher attempts to trap a brother and sister drug smuggling team.

6.5/10

Flirtatious mermaid Miranda swaps places with a schoolteacher who has gone on holiday. All is well until she falls in love with a human.

6.3/10

A US intelligence officer, stationed in Germany, is caught in a political dilemma when the Russians kidnap a young Army private, the son of prominent American businessman. In exchange for the soldier's return, the Russians attempt to barter a trade for an elderly German couple who they want for treason.

6.5/10
8.3%

When heavy fog prevents any flights from leaving London Airport, a group of passengers are put on a bus driven by Percy Lamb (Frankie Howerd in his first starring role) to drive to another airport. The fog is that heavy Percy doesn't know where he is going or that he is carrying stolen gold bullion that the robbers and police are relentlessly pursuing.

6.3/10

Two brothers work in their invalid father's repair garage. Johnny is the quiet, reliable one while Ted is younger and wilder. The brothers feud over Lucky, a beautiful band singer. Then their life is complicated: first by a police search for the unknown killer of a man in a dance hall fight, and then by a bookie pressuring Ted to pay his gambling debts.

6/10

A British girl (Glynis Johns) disappears for three days after a frank talk with the wife (Gene Tierney) of a Latin teacher (Leo Genn) she loves.

6.4/10

A jeweller is killed in a gang robbery leaving the daughter as the only witness. When the police can't build a case against him she decides to go undercover to infiltrate the home of the killer's brother. Slowly she is drawn into the world of the rival gangs.

6/10

A British naval officer has a brief affair with a woman in England and never knows that she bears him a son. 20 years later the boy is on a ship under his command when he is tracking a German Raider. When the boy is captured after his ship is sunk, he finds a way to slow the German's progress while a lethal hunt for him goes on.

6.9/10

When a saboteur places an explosive device on a train full of sea mines, the authorities call for bomb expert Peter Lyncort to diffuse the situation, unaware that he has explosive problems of his own.

6.1/10

Escapee switches identities but finds the new one quite a handful.

6.7/10

Kicked out of Oxford, a junk dealer's son (Dermot Walsh) joins a gang of thieves fenced by his father (Charles Victor).

6.2/10

An ex-GI wakes up with blood on his clothes in a strange hotel room. He can't remember the night before but he later finds out that a man he got into a fight with earlier in the night was murdered.

5.9/10

Encore is a 1951 anthology film composed of adaptations of three short stories by W. Somerset Maugham: "The Ant and the Grasshopper", directed by Pat Jackson and adapted by T. E. B. Clarke; "Winter Cruise", helmed by Anthony Pelissier, screenplay by Arthur Macrae; "Gigolo and Gigolette", directed by Harold French, written by Eric Ambler. It is the last film in a Maugham trilogy, preceded by Quartet and Trio.

6.8/10

The former wife of a criminal moves to a coastal town and takes over the running of a bar known as The Quiet Woman. She becomes outraged when she discovers the previous owner had allowed local smugglers to use it as a base. She soon has become romantically involved with one of the smugglers, which causes enormous problems when a customs officer turns up, followed closely by her former husband.

5.9/10

A US newsman and a British entomologist spy on germ-warfare research in a mythical country.

5.9/10