Patricia Hodge

The Naked Civil Servant

Story of the life of Quentin Crisp, an Englishman who was brave enough to live his life according to his own style even in the hostile days of WW2.

The Falklands Play

The Falklands Play is a dramatic account of the political events leading up to, and including, the 1982 Falklands War. The play was written by Ian Curteis, an experienced writer who had started his television career in drama, but had increasingly come to specialise in dramatic reconstructions of history. It was originally commissioned by the BBC in 1983, for production and broadcast in 1986, but was subsequently shelved by Controller of BBC One Michael Grade due to its alleged pro-Margaret Thatcher stance and jingoistic tone. This prompted a press furore over media bias and censorship.The play was not staged until 2002, when it was broadcast in separate adaptations on BBC Television and Radio.

Edward & Mrs. Simpson

While still the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII meets the married American socialite, Wallis Simpson. Their relationship causes furor in the palace and in parliament, especially when King George V dies, Mrs. Simpson gets divorced, and King Edward announces his intentions to marry her.

The Leading Man

Successful playwright Felix Webb has a new play, 'The Hit Man', in rehearsal. Directed by his old friend Humphrey, it is already being hailed as a masterpiece; but Felix can't enjoy his success. He has fallen passionately in love with Hilary, a beautiful, fiesty young actress, and is preparing to desert his perfect family, his wife Elena and three lively children. His intolerable situation is further complicated when Humphrey casts Hilary as one of the leads in 'The Hit Man'. Enter Robin Grange, a charismatic young Hollywood actor making his London theatre debut. Robin is attractive, charming and dangerous, and soon inveigles his way into everyone's life. He ingratiates himself with the cast and, quickly grasping Felix's dilemma, sets about weaving his web of mischief. He suggests that if he were to seduce Elena, she would be distracted from Felix's affair, regain her self respect, and perhaps even willingly part from the unfaithful husband to whom she clings...

Arthur's Whisky

When Joan’s husband dies, she is shocked to discover he had invented an elixir which makes the drinker look young again. Sharing it with her two friends, the three women paint the town red but soon discover that they are no longer equipped to be young in the modern world.

The Secret Life of Ian Fleming

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.

The Moonstone

Greg Wise (Sense and Sensibility) and Keeley Hawes (Karaoke) star in this sumptuous adaptation of Wilkie Collins' classic mystery, the first detective novel ever written. The Moonstone, a sacred Hindu diamond was stolen from the head of the Moon God, in its shrine by John Herncastle in 1799. The stone is said to be cursed if it is removed from the shrine. In 1848, a man named Franklin Blake announces to Rachel that the Moonstone has been bequeathed to her by Herncastle. Blake gives her the jewel on her birthday and offers to mount the jewel for her, in order that she might wear it. Inevitably, the jewel is found missing the next morning and Rachel believes Blake stole it. Determined to prove his innocence, Blake leaves in order to pursue the real truth behind the theft.

The Shell Seekers

After a mild heart attack at 63, Penelope Keeling is not ready to be an invalid yet...despite her children's attempts to take control of her life. She's given them everything she could over the years, but now they want Penelope to sell her most prized possession. Torn between the selfish demands of her children and her desire to hold onto cherished mementos of the past, Penelope must learn what is really important to her. She returns to the seashore, the only place she was ever truly free, in an unforgettable odyssey that will take her back to her home, her heart and another chance for happiness.

Betrayal

An affair between a literary agent and his best friend's wife, unfolding in reverse-chronological order.

The Cloning of Joanna May

Joanna once was married to Carl May, a very rich and powerful nuclear energy magnate. They love each other, but had to divorce after Joanna was caught on an incidental love affair. Since then Carl has made Joanna's life impossible. 10 years later she's fed up with the situation and decides to visit him, only to find that once he made three copies of her

The Disappearance

The wife of a contract killer disappears. When he is hired by an international organisation to carry out a hit, he suspects they are connected with her disappearance.

Great Big Groovy Horse

Rock musical retelling of the legend of the Trojan Horse.

Barry Humphries: The Last Laugh

Intimate, upbeat and honest look back at the life and work of Barry Humphries - the legendary comic trailblazer behind Dame Edna Everage and other characters - with incredible tributes from friends.

Vilde, the Wild One

In a rural western town in 1890 a woman has a mute old daughter after relations with her step father, which in his need of money, wants to sell them off to a rich skin tradesman. While resisting this, the woman turns lame.

Litvinenko: The Mayfair Poisoning

A documentary surrounding the investigation into Litvinenko’s murder and the undeniable radiation health emergency. Who were the people behind the scenes who dealt with a deadly radioactive poisoning on British soil?

Riding High

A bored motorcycle messenger Dave Munday begins training for a major stunt riding competition, where he'll attempt a death-defying jump known as the Devil's Leap.

The Elephant Man

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London.

Prague Duet

Dr. Lauren is staying in Prague for a conference and falls in love with Czech writer Jiri Kolmar.

Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse

Young Rosie Dixon starts her nurse training at St Adelaide's Hospital, but the student doctors and randy male patients just can't keep their hands off her.

Jilting Joe

Joe and Olivia are childhood sweethearts, about to embark on their wedding day. But, the so-called happiest day of their lives is over faster than they anticipated. Olivia doesn't quite make it up the aisle, and Joe is left jilted at the altar. A decade later, Olivia and Joe are walking up the aisle again, but this time it's as bridesmaid and best man. They haven't seen each other since and they have changed. Olivia wears pleated skirts and designs multi-storey carparks; Joe is older, wiser, sexier and married to a Spanish model, Mariana. But all is not as it seems. Will first love get a second chance?

Sunset

Tom Mix and Wyatt Earp team up to solve a murder at the Academy Awards in 1929 Hollywood.

Before You Go

The funny, heart-warming and moving new film, from director Lewis Gilbert. When Violet Heaney's three daughters return home for her funeral, each sister finds her own way of coping with her loss. For Teresa, the eldest, it's herbal tea, obsessive cleaning and hectoring her long-suffering husband, Frank. Catherine, the youngest, resorts to retail therapy, industrial quantities of marijuana and manic phone calls to her elusive boyfriend in Barcelona. Middle daughter Mary seeks consolation in professional detachment and the arms of her lover, Mike. Like Mary, Mike's a doctor. Unlike Mary, he's married... The sisters soon discover that their early memories have grown fuzzy over time and the past becomes fuzzier still as they attempt to cope with their mother's parting.

Maxwell

Basil Brookes joins "Captain Bob" - press mogul Robert Maxwell - as financial director and witnesses Maxwell's financial shenanigans as he contests status with fellow mogul Rupert Murdoch and descends into marital and monetary chaos.

Just Ask for Diamond

Thirteen-year-old Nick and his slightly dense older brother Herbert run the Diamond Private Detective Agency above Camden Town Tube Station in north-central London. When a master criminal called The Falcon dies, they come into possession of his box of chocolate Maltesers, which contains the secret key to a fabulous cache of diamonds. Can they unravel the mystery and avoid the clutches of seedy lowlifes Brenda Von Falkenberg, Gott and Himmell, The Fat Man and the dogmatic Chief Inspector Snape, all of whom want to find the swag first.

Hotel du Lac

Romantic novelist Edith Hope so horrifies her friends that they banish her to the solitude of a Swiss hotel. She decides to work out her exile by observing her fellow guests.

Surviving Christmas with the Relatives

Two sisters come together to spend Christmas with their families in their recently deceased parents’ falling down country house, with hilariously chaotic consequences, as ancient sibling rivalries flare up again to sabotage the hoped for season of good will.

Hay Fever

Set in a British country house in the 1920s, Hay Fever follows the outlandish bevaiour of the Bliss family when they each invite a guest to spend the weekend. Best described as a cross between high farce and a comedy of manners, Hay Fever is one of Coward's most popular plays.

The Heat of the Day

In World War II England, a woman is approached by a man claiming to work as an intelligence agent who has found out her lover is a spy. He promises to not arrest him if she'll have a relationship with him.

Miranda: My Such Fun Celebration

Miranda Hart and the cast of her sitcom come together to celebrate the show's tenth anniversary with a music-filled, star-studded spectacular from the London Palladium.

The Laureate

Set against the glamorous backdrop of Britain's roaring '20s, The Laureate tells the story of young British War Poet Robert Graves, who is married with four children when he meets and becomes romantically involved with Laura Riding, a writer from America. Defying the conventions of polite society, Riding moves in with Graves and his wife living as a menage a tois. Then with the arrival of strappingly handsome Irish poet Geoffrey Phibbs, the arrangement becomes a menage a quatre. But soon tensions and rivalries become so fraught that Graves is a suspect for attempted murder.

Charlotte

In 1939, Charlotte Salomon leaves Berlin to seek refuge at her grandparents' villa in the south of France. A little later, war breaks out, and Charlotte must, besides forgetting all she left behind, deal with her grandmother's depression, and her mother's suicide. To fight despair, Charlotte starts to paint, producing over one thousand images. "Is my life real, or is it theater?" This is the title she gives her body of work, which highlights her former life in Berlin. She finds herself though her art, but in 1943 is deported to Germany and Auschwitz.

Thieves in the Night

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night." Experiences in a kibbutz, it sets up a stage in describing the historical roots of the conflict between Arabs and Jewish settlers in the British ruled Palestine.

The Death of the Heart

A young orphan girl, Portia, goes to live with her well-to-do aunt and uncle. As she is groomed to become a lady, she is confused by the young man who seems to be courting her. Surrounded by pretentious people who have no clue how to deal with teenagers, she soon loses her naïveté and thinks of running away.

The One and Only Phyllis Dixey

Aspiring dancer Phyllis Dixey makes her name as a stripper.

Miranda Hart’s Maracattack

Comedienne Miranda Hart presents this unconventional workout regime that aims to blend fun and fitness. The emphasis is on fun throughout and the workouts are performed to some cheesy pop classics.

Pippin: 50th Anniversary Concert

A mysterious troupe led by the Leading Player performs a parable about a young prince, Pippin, who's in search of the secret to true happiness and fulfillment - his own "corner of the sky." With music by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Roger O. Hirson, this classic musical is brought to life in a spectacular staged concert at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

Rumpole's Return

A bored Rumpole, living in Florida retirement, uses an inquiry from Phyllida as a pretext to re-establish himself back in chambers.

An Audience With Victoria Wood

British comedy legend Victoria Wood entertains a star-studded audience including Julie Walters, Judi Dench and Dawn French in this 1988 special. Watch her crack jokes, play the piano and answer light-hearted questions.

The Big Night In

Comic Relief and Children in Need join forces to deliver a very special night of television, hosted by Lenny Henry and Matt Baker.

Emmerdale: 50 Unforgettable Years

Celebrating 50 years of Emmerdale, telling the story of how a sleepy daytime afternoon series about rural folk became the award-winning, ratings-busting, peak-time drama that it is today. With a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes secrets and anecdotes, the cast remembers key moments from the last five decades.

Miranda - The perfect Christmas

It's Christmas and Miranda, for once, would like a relaxing and fun time without her parents. After Penny's Best Christmas Jumper Party on the 23rd of December (it's even more humiliating than it sounds) Miranda and Stevie try to spend Christmas at the shop with Gary, Clive and Tilly. What could possibly go wrong? Well, after the online present shopping doesn't arrive, the infuriating encounter at the post office (is there anything more annoying than a 'we tried to deliver but you were out' card?), a run-in with some carol singers and a couple of arguments with friends, maybe Christmas would be better with her family.

Miranda - It was panning

Penny is threatening to cancel Miranda's Christmas if she does not sort her life out. Amongst other things, she forces her daughter on a detox. Stevie has a new executive job and Miranda tries to follow her into an office job, but it all proves too much. Meanwhile, are Gary and Miranda able to just be friends?