Roger Sloman
An epic portrayal of the events surrounding the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre, where a peaceful pro-democracy rally at St Peter’s Field in Manchester turned into one of the bloodiest and most notorious episodes in British history. The massacre saw British government forces charge into a crowd of over 60,000 that had gathered to demand political reforms and protest against rising levels of poverty.
Tony Warner is the toast of the West End. Jim, his understudy, eventually assumes centre stage. But at a price...
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
In London, during October 1993, England is playing Holland in the preliminaries of the World Cup. The Bosnian War is at its height, and refugees from the ex-Yugoslavia are arriving. Football rivals, and political adversaries from the Balkans all precipitate conflict and amusing situations. Meanwhile, the lives of four English families are affected in different ways by encounter with the refugees.
Indiana Jones, now a captain in the French army, is assigned to escort two Austrian princes to meet with Emperor Karl I and convince him to broker a peace deal with France and Britain at the expense of Austria's alliance with Germany. Two months later, at the French Embassy in Petrograd, Indy must decide between his loyalty to his friends and his work in French Intelligence when he is pressed to discover details of a possible bolshevik revolution in Russia which would cripple the French war effort.
A troubled detective befriends a single woman and her daughter with the intention of using them as bait for a serial killer.
Dr. Dempsey is an American scientist who has become a skeptic. He isn't enthusiastic to be sent by his employer to Scotland to (dis)prove the existence of the Loch Ness monster. He finds the locals stubborn, 'primitive' and all but hospitable, not in the least because the Nessie legend is the only tourist attraction. He still gets romantically attracted by his independent inn-keeper Laura, and both her kid and his local assistant end up making him face a small family of Nessie-dinosaurs, but is this to be made public?
We'll Think of Something is a British sitcom that aired on ITV in 1986. Starring Sam Kelly, it was written by Geoff Rowley, who had also written episodes of Birds of a Feather and Goodnight Sweetheart. It was made by Thames Television and was directed by John Howard Davies.
Sweet Hilda Capper spends her birthday fending off the well-meaning intrusions of family and friends.
The film introduces Edison Carter, a television reporter trying to expose corruption and greed. In the movie, reporter Carter discovers that his employer, Network 23, has created a new form of subliminal advertising (termed "blip-verts") that can be fatal to certain viewers.
Up the Elephant and Round the Castle was an ITV sitcom which aired from 1983 to 1985, starring comedian Jim Davidson, who played the role of Jim London. The show spawned a sequel, Home James, which was also made by Thames Television. Home James ran from 1987 to 1990. "Up the Elephant and Round the Castle" also gave early exposure to Anita Dobson. The show was made for the ITV network by Thames Television.
A week in the life of Redditch investigative reporter Kevin Turvey. As you would expect, not a lot happens!
Every man needs just one night out, off the leash. Willie's attempt to prove himself provides a painfully funny and painfully sad comment on the battle of the sexes.
Writer and Director Mike Leigh discusses the techniques used to create his plays.
From its video game-inspired opening titles to its pervasive electronic music track, Bird of Prey went to great lengths to demonstrate its credentials as 'a thriller for the electronic age'. These elements, together with a clever and complex plot that combines a breathless fascination with the still-young field of computing with pan-European fraud, international terrorism, rogue intelligence operatives and organised crime, link it firmly to the early 1980s, expressing that era's growing anxieties about the burgeoning 'Eurocracy'.
A vampire attacks a horror author on the street and then invites him to a nearby club as a gesture of gratitude, which turns out to be a meeting place for assorted creatures of the night. The vampire then regales him with three stories, each interspersed with musical performances at the club.
A Kick Up the Eighties was a 1981-1984 BBC Scotland sketch show starring Robbie Coltrane, Tracey Ullman, Richard Stilgoe, Miriam Margolyes, Rik Mayall, Ron Bain and Roger Sloman. The Series was created by Colin Gilbert, who went on to create Naked Video. The show was notable for introducing the Rik Mayall character Kevin Turvey.
Following the banning and burning of his novel, "The Rainbow," D.H. Lawrence and his wife, Frieda, move to the United States, and then to Mexico. When Lawrence contracts tuberculosis, they return to England for a short time, then to Italy, where Lawrence writes "Lady Chatterley's Lover."
An account of the revolutionary years of the legendary American journalist John Reed (1887-1920), who shared his adventurous professional life with his radical commitment to the socialist revolution in Russia, his dream of spreading its principles among the members of the American working class, and his troubled romantic relationship with the writer Louise Bryant (1885-1936).
Set against the backdrop of Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, the play depicts a single mother's struggles as welfare cuts affect the poor and disabled. The derogatory term 'spongers' is used by British tabloid press to describe people who are dependent on welfare support, however the play presents the case of a family who really need the help of welfare support. The title sequence shows the title of the play, 'The Spongers', superimposed over a picture of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, denoting them as 'the real spongers' as Royal finances are paid by British taxpayers.
Pennies From Heaven is a 1978 BBC television drama serial written by Dennis Potter. The title is taken from a song of the same name written by Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston. It was one of several Potter serials to mix the reality of the drama with a dark fantasy content, and the earliest of his works where the characters burst into miming to popular 1930s songs.
Danton 's Death is arguably the most dramatic and penetrating study of revolution ever written. Georg Biichner concentrates on that moment in 1794 when the Reign of Terror, already well established, spills over into a total blood-bath. The play, adapted by director Alan Clarke and Stuart Griffiths, both highly imaginative and closely documentary, shows how the great hero of the early phase of the Revolution, Danton, sickened by the excesses of the guillotine, which he helped to create, wants to call a halt. But Robespierre and Saint-Just, the leaders of the extremists, with a ferocious puritanical zeal, spur on ' the wild horses of the Revolution.'
