R. Neville, a brash young draftsman, is hired to make a dozen landscape illustrations at the estate of Mr Herbert and his wife Virginia. Aside from monetary compensation, the arrangement includes a sexual liaison offered to Neville by Virginia while her estranged husband is away. But when the murdered body of Mr Herbert is discovered at the estate, mysterious clues found in Neville's drawings point to the identity of the killer.
Set up by their boss to be knocked off following a final heist, soon-to-retire crooks Brian Hope and Charlie McManus get wind of their impending demise and run off with the spoils of their crime. Fleeing their boss, the drug dealers they robbed, the police, and Brian's angry girlfriend, the duo take refuge in a training convent for nuns. In disguise, they convince Sister Superior that they're nuns, a charade they're forced to maintain as their enemies arrive.
After the alleged suicide of her priest brother, Grace travels to the remote Scottish convent where he fell to his death. Distrusting the Church's account, she uncovers murder, sacrilege and a disturbing truth about herself.
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Tsar Nicholas II, the inept last monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is overthrown and exiled to Siberia with his family.
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 irreverent comedy is set in motion when Leon Geller, a sensitive Jewish boy from London, accidentally learns that his is the product of artificial insemination.
A couple uses extremely black comedy to survive taking care of a daughter who is nearly completely brain dead. They take turns doing the daughter's voice and stare into the eyes of death and emotional trauma with a humour that hides their pain.
A ballet dancer struggles with his homosexuality and the increasing allure of a young ballerina who seeks to draw him away from his domineering lover.
The evil brother of Richard the Lionheart is holding the king for ransom, and only Robin Hood and his band of merry men can save him...for a small fee, of course.
Three short plays celebrating people with disabilities.
Adaptation of Shakespeare's play.
A British agent's son is kidnapped and held for a ransom of diamonds. The agent finds out that he can't even count on the people he thought were on his side to help him, so he decides to track down the kidnappers himself.
The life, background, motivation and struggles of Florence Nightingale.
A 1965 BBC adaptation of William Shakespeare's first historical tetralogy (1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI and Richard III), which deals with the conflict between the House of Lancaster and the House of York over the throne of England, a conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. It was based on the 1963 theatre adaptation by John Barton, and directed by Peter Hall for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The Thane of Cawdor plots to become King of Scotland.
In 1918, a young, disillusioned Adolf Hitler strikes up a friendship with a Jewish art dealer while weighing a life of passion for art vs. talent at politics
In 1914, a cruise ship sets sail from Naples to spread the ashes of beloved opera singer Edmea Tetua near Erimo, the isle of her birth. During the voyage, the eclectic array of passengers discovers a group of Serbian refugees aboard the vessel. Peace and camaraderie abound until the ship is descended upon by an Austrian flagship. The Serbians are forced to board it, but naturally they resist, igniting a skirmish that ends in destruction.
Four monologues by playwright Peter Barnes celebrating the bicentennial of the French Revolution.
An abbess, visionary, naturalist, playwright and composer, Hildegard of Bingen (played by Patricia Routledge) was a remarkable woman of the Middle Ages, her legacy comprising some of the most radiant accounts of religious experience ever.
Adaptation of the play by Henrik Ibsen.
The life and work of Tove Jansson, mainly known for creating the Moomins but also a writer and painter.
When Israeli officials learn that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann may be living in Argentina, they send a team of secret agents to apprehend him.
For the first time, the true story of the mastermind behind World War II's Great Escape is told by his niece, Lindy Wilson. Squadron Leader Roger Bushell was a young London barrister, an auxiliary pilot and a champion skier when he was shot down and captured early in the war. He escaped three times and, in spite of the Gestapo's threat to shoot him if he ever escaped again, Bushell accepted the role of 'Big X' on his return to the top-security PoW camp, Stalag Luft 111. After 18 months of preparation, one of the greatest escapes of the war took place. Their aim to distract the enemy succeeded, as it was estimated that five million Germans were deployed to recapture the 76 escapees. However, Hitler's rage was uncontainable and he personally ordered a terrible reckoning. (Storyville)
In a small Russian town at the turn of the century, three sisters (Olga, Irina, and Masha) and their brother Andrei live but dream daily of their return to their former home in Moscow, where life is charming and stimulating meaningful. But for now they exist in a malaise of dissatisfaction. Soldiers from the local military post provide them some companionship and society, but nothing can suffice to replace Moscow in their hopes. Andrei marries a provincial girl, Natasha, and begins to settle into a life of much less meaning than he had hoped. Natasha begins to run the family her way. Masha, though married, yearns for the sophisticated life and begins a dalliance with Vershinin, an army officer with a sick and suicidal wife. Even Irina, the freshest, most optimistic of the sisters, begins to waver in her dreams until, finally, tragedy strikes.
Director Tony Palmer tells the incredible life story of Athol Fugard, the prolific playwright, novelist, and director who exposed the horrors of South Africa's apartheid system for the entire world to see. Interviews with Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Yvonne Bryceland and others help to illuminate Fugard's remarkable legacy.
A luxury liner carries Jewish refugees from Hitler's Germany in a desperate fight for survival.
Major film and television stars re-enact famous scenes from the plays of William Shakespeare .
Three miners take a boat trip to Stratford-on-Avon.
1992 BBC adaptation of the Joseph Conrad novel of 1907 concerning the mostly inactive spy Alfred Verloc, who is ordered by his superior Mr Vladimir to carry out a terrorist act. Verloc reluctantly plans the operation, seeking help from The Professor. Verloc is also an informant for the police and the Assistant Commissioner and Chief Inspector Heat add additional pressure on Verloc and his attempts to carry out his plan. Verloc’s subsequent actions gravely affect his wife who is devoted to her mentally unbalanced brother Stevie.
Occurring from the mid-1970s to 1981, the Ripper committed 13 murders. Viewed as ritualistic in nature, they were done with extreme brutality as he mocked the police during their desperate hunt for him. The victims were primiarly prostitutes or poor girls, with a few working girls tossed in. Generally he would hit a victim on the head with a hammer, sexually assault the lady, mutilate her, and then redress/re-arrangement the clothing and cover the corpse with her own coat.