Rock & Chips (2010)

UK

Television Film

Director: Dewi Humphreys

Writer: John Sullivan

Cinematographer: John Sorapure

Cast: Nicholas Lyndhurst, Kellie Bright, Phil Daniels, Shaun Dingwall, James Buckley, Stephen Lloyd, Lewis Osborne, Ashley Gerlach, Lee Long, Jonathan Readwin, Paul Putner, Emma Cooke, Robert Daws, Roger Griffiths, Jodie Mooney, Katie Griffiths

Rock & Chips (2010)

John Sullivan’s gently humorous, surprisingly touching, and reassuringly familiar prequel to his long running sitcom Only Fools and Horses presents – with a wonderful performance from Bright and a gorgeous soundtrack – a bitter-sweet portrait of the Trotter clan in early ‘60s Peckham, concentrating on Joan Trotter’s illicit but beautiful and all too fleeting romance with Fredrick ‘Freddie the Frog’ Robdal.

Five Gold Rings (2010)

With his schooldays behind him, Del, imported American records and fake diamond rings in hand, sets out on a life of dodgy-dealing and bird-pulling, whilst his beloved mother, Joan, as put-upon as ever, struggles to resist the advances of a recently bailed Freddie the Frog, in this entertaining though less affecting second outing for Sullivan’s ‘60s-set Only Fools and Horses prequel. Iain.Stott

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Riot at the Rite (2005)

Recommended

UK

Television Film

Director: Andy Wilson

Writer: Kevin Elyot

Cinematographer: Sue Gibson

Cast: Adam Garcia, Alex Jennings, Aidan McArdle, Rachael Stirling, Emma Pierson, Griff Rhys Jones, Jonathan Aris, Richard Hope

This sumptuous, compelling, and lovingly made BBC film depicts the build-up to and preparation for the notorious first performance of the Stravinsky-Nijinsky-Roerich ballet, The Rite of Spring, a radically brilliant work, which had its Parisian audience booing, hissing, and on the verge of rioting. Iain.Stott

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Micro Men (2009)

Cautiously Recommended

UK

Television Film

Director: Saul Metzstein

Writer: Tony Saint

Cinematographer: Hubert Taczanowski

Composer: Ilan Eshkeri

Cast: Alexander Armstrong, Martin Freeman, Edward Baker-Duly, Sam Phillips, Stefan Butler, Colin Michael Carmichael

Micro Men is an oft funny, vaguely tongue-in-cheek though perhaps slightly patronising portrait of the friendship-turned-rivalry between home computer pioneers Clive Sinclair and Chris Curry, depicting the meteoric rise and sad fall of their respective companies, Sinclair and Acorn. Iain.Stott

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The Fattest Man in Britain (2009)

Recommended

UK

Television Film

Director: David Blair

Writers: Caroline Aherne, Jeff Pope

Cinematographer: David Odd

Composer: Damon Gough

Cast: Timothy Spall, Aisling Loftus, Bobby Ball, Frances Barber

Georgie Godwin, marketed as Britain’s fattest man by his agent (a foul-mouthedly brilliant Bobby Ball), spends his days watching Jeremy Kyle and chomping down Viennetta, happily eating his way towards an early grave, contented by the thought of bringing momentary happiness to Japanese tourists, that is until he makes a rather unlikely friendship with a pregnant teenager, in this trouser-soilingly funny and surprisingly tender comedy-drama. Iain.Stott

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The Baby's Room (2006)

Recommended

Spain

Television Film

Original Title: La habitación del niño

Director: Álex de la Iglesia

Writers: Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Álex de la Iglesia

Cinematographer: José Luis Moreno

Composer: Roque Baños

Cast: Javier Gutiérrez, Leonor Watling, Sancho Gracia, María Asquerino, Antonio Dechent

A young couple with a seven-month-old son move into the house of their dreams – a grand, old fixer-upper – but their perfect life is soon put under pressure when the father begins to see ghostly figures on the baby monitor, leading to some rather obsessive behaviour, in de la Iglesia’s decidedly creepy, thoroughly unpredictable, and surprisingly perceptive little ghost story. Iain.Stott

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Margot (2009)

Recommended

UK

Television Film

Series Title: Women We Loved (2009)

Director: Otto Bathurst

Writers: Amanda Coe, Meredith Daneman

Cinematographer: Florian Hoffmeister

Cast: Anne-Marie Duff, Michiel Huisman, Con O'Neill, Derek Jacobi, Lindsay Duncan, Penelope Wilton

Filmed as part of the BBC’s Women We Loved season, this visually arresting, deftly acted portrait of the famed ballerina, Margot Fonteyn – depicting her failing relationship with her wannabe revolutionary husband Tito Arias and her brief, passionate affair with Rudi Nureyev, who was half her age – proves to be a thoroughly entertaining work, and perhaps the most interesting of the trio of BBC4 films. Iain.Stott

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Gracie! (2009)

Recommended

UK

Television Film

Series Title: Women We Loved (2009)

Director: Brian Percival

Writer: Nick Vivian

Cinematographer: David Katznelson

Composer: Rob Lane

Cast: Jane Horrocks, Tom Hollander, David Dawson, Ellie Haddington

Filmed as part of the BBC’s Women We Loved season, featuring a trio of excellent performances from Horrocks, Hollander, and Dawson, this excellent television film – which would have been better titled Gracie and Monty; gently portraying the oft troubled marriage and courtship of singing superstar Gracie Fields and Italian film-maker Monty Banks – proves to be a thoroughly entertaining, quietly eye-opening, and really rather moving work. Iain.Stott

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Enid (2009)

Recommended

UK

Television Film

Series Title: Women We Loved (2009)

Director: James Hawes

Writer: Lindsay Shapero

Cinematographer: Matt Gray

Composer: Nicholas Hooper

Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Matthew Macfadyen, Denis Lawson, Claire Rushbrook, Joseph Millson, Ramona Marquez, Sinead Michael

Filmed as part of the BBC’s Women We Loved season, featuring an excellent performance from Helena Bonham Carter as the famed and prolific children’s author Enid Blyton, this lovingly crafted television film proves to be a thoroughly compelling and insightful work, as it paints a credible and painfully human portrait of a woman who was a wonderful artist but a terrible wife, mother, daughter, and sister. Iain.Stott

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My House in Umbria (2003)

Not Recommended

UK/Italy

Television Film

Director: Richard Loncraine

Writers: Hugh Whitemore, William Trevor

Cinematographer: Marco Pontecorvo

Composer: Claudio Capponi

Cast: Maggie Smith, Ronnie Barker, Chris Cooper, Benno Fürmann, Giancarlo Giannini, Timothy Spall, Libero De Rienzo, Emmy Clarke

Although some of the performances (not to mention the plot) are less than convincing, and visually, despite its locale, it is often a tad bland, this tale of unlikely friendships formed under tragic circumstances – in which the survivors of a terrorist attack take comfort in each others’ company at an idyllic country retreat – just about manages to hold the attention throughout. Iain.Stott

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A Foreign Field (1993)

Recommended

UK

Television Film

Series Title: Screen One (1989-1994)

Director: Charles Sturridge

Writer: Roy Clarke

Cinematographer: Richard Greatrex

Composer: Geoffrey Burgon

Cast: Alec Guinness, Leo McKern, Edward Herrmann, John Randolph, Geraldine Chaplin, Lauren Bacall, Jeanne Moreau

A number of Brits and Americans travel to Normandy in order to pay their respects to family, friends, and colleagues who lost their lives there during The Second World War, as well as, perhaps, to look up an old girlfriend or two, in this gently humorous and tremendously moving gem, featuring a cast of greats, who all give excellent performances, with McKern's being the pick of the bunch. Iain.Stott

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Blade on the Feather (1980)

Recommended

UK

Television Film

Director: Richard Loncraine

Writer: Dennis Potter

Cinematographer: Peter Hannan

Cast: Donald Pleasence, Tom Conti, Denholm Elliott, Kika Markham, Phoebe Nicholls

An aristocratic family are enjoying an idyllic summer’s day in their palatial grounds – the father is sitting quietly, reading and dozing fitfully; the trophy wife and comely daughter playing a leisurely game of tennis; the knowing butler attending to their needs – when an unexpected and unwanted guest arrives, forcing his way into the their evening plans, bringing up questions of history, class, and politics, in this beautifully drawn, expertly acted, and deliciously surprising television play. Iain.Stott

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