Tim Barton

Two down-on-their-luck hourly workers team up to rob a posh London department store on Christmas Eve. Will they steal each other's hearts along the way?

"Village Idiot" is a sharp, heartfelt comedy-drama about a stubborn English grandmother, Barbara, who chains herself to her cottage to resist eviction by High Speed train developers. She then discovers that the company’s liaison sent to remove her is her estranged grandson, Peter. What follows is a clash between generations, class, and values: Barbara’s fierce attachment to home and identity versus Peter’s desperate need to hold onto his corporate job. As their battle becomes public, turning into a small-town spectacle of protest, press, and community chaos, both are forced to confront what “home” really means, and how love, pride, and belonging can both bind and divide a family. Witty, warm, and deeply human, "Village Idiot" captures rural England on the brink of change with equal parts humour and heartbreak.

Revival of the 1970s and 80s series of individual plays, originally shown on the BBC, now freshly-commissioned for Channel 5 and a whole new era of life in Britain.