Maureen Lipman

The Pianist

The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

National Lampoon's European Vacation

The Griswolds win a vacation to Europe on a game show, and so pack their bags for the continent. They do their best to catch the flavor of Europe, but they just don't know how to be be good tourists. Besides, they have trouble taking holidays in countries where they CAN speak the language.

Battle of Britain

In 1940, the Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle against the might of the Luftwaffe for control of the skies over Britain, thus preventing an attempted Nazi invasion.

The Evacuees

The experiences of two young Jewish boys evacuated from Manchester to Blackpool during the Blitz.

Shift Work

It's Julie's last night as a mini-cab driver and it's a night full of adventures she'll never forget.

Caught in the Act

A corrupt parish council embezzle EU money to pay for their decadent lifestyles instead of funding the cultural development of their town. They soon find themselves having to perform the unimaginable task of producing one of the great Shakespearean plays for the most important festival in the EU cultural calendar.

The King's Beard

A king whose beard is long and beloved. An aspiring barber looking for acknowledgement. A kingdom unaware of the dark secret behind their ruler's lush beard.

The Agent

It's all in a day's work for high-flying literary agent Alexander; manuscripts to read, deals to be done, celebrity clients to be taken out to lunch, but first there is an author to deal with whose latest book the agent thinks is, frankly, not up to scratch. However he hadn't counted on the author's resourcefulness.

The Pianist

The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

National Lampoon's European Vacation

The Griswolds win a vacation to Europe on a game show, and so pack their bags for the continent. They do their best to catch the flavor of Europe, but they just don't know how to be be good tourists. Besides, they have trouble taking holidays in countries where they CAN speak the language.

Battle of Britain

In 1940, the Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle against the might of the Luftwaffe for control of the skies over Britain, thus preventing an attempted Nazi invasion.

The Evacuees

The experiences of two young Jewish boys evacuated from Manchester to Blackpool during the Blitz.

Shift Work

It's Julie's last night as a mini-cab driver and it's a night full of adventures she'll never forget.

Caught in the Act

A corrupt parish council embezzle EU money to pay for their decadent lifestyles instead of funding the cultural development of their town. They soon find themselves having to perform the unimaginable task of producing one of the great Shakespearean plays for the most important festival in the EU cultural calendar.

The King's Beard

A king whose beard is long and beloved. An aspiring barber looking for acknowledgement. A kingdom unaware of the dark secret behind their ruler's lush beard.

The Agent

It's all in a day's work for high-flying literary agent Alexander; manuscripts to read, deals to be done, celebrity clients to be taken out to lunch, but first there is an author to deal with whose latest book the agent thinks is, frankly, not up to scratch. However he hadn't counted on the author's resourcefulness.

P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang

Summer, 1948. 14-year-old Alan has just three wishes: that there will be lasting peace, that England will win the Ashes, and that he will finally kiss classmate Ann. So when he's cast opposite her in a play that requires a kiss and England seem to be doing well in cricket, life couldn't be better.

Stories of Lost Souls

Seven (or six - depending on the version) short stories of conquest, desperation and the will to overcome.

Educating Rita

Rita, a witty 26-year-old hairdresser, wants to 'discover' herself, so she joins the Open University where she meets the disillusioned professor of literature, Dr. Frank Bryant. His marriage has failed, his new girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whisky. What Frank needs is a challenge... and along comes Rita.

Carry On Columbus

Christopher Columbus believes he can find an alternative route to the far East and persuades the King and Queen of Spain to finance his expedition...

Oklahoma!

A dark-themed and redesigned West End production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's seminal Broadway musical tells the story of farm girl Laurey and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud.

Run For Your Wife

John Smith has been happily involved in a bigamous marriage for five years. He lives with Stephanie in Finsbury and Michelle in Stockwell. Fortunately, for John, he's a taxi driver which involves varying shift work! Simple? Well, when John unwittingly becomes a have-a-go hero and the Finsbury and Stockwell police forces discover something suspicious in their paperwork, John's happy bubble is about to be burst. The action of the movie takes place during the next hectic 24 hours as John, with the assistance of his gullible neighbor Gary, rush between North and South London attempting to thwart the police and prevent the two loving wives coming face to face!

The Discovery of Heaven

Disappointed with humanity, God wants to revoke his contract with humanity and wants to take back the stone tablets containing the ten commandments. To this end an angel is sent out to affect the personal lives of three humans so an appropriate child may be conceived.

Winter Solstice

When Elfrida Philips abandons London for a country village, she settles in quickly. She is very poor, but has a tiny cottage, her four-legged friend Horace, and friendships of good neighbors. Tragedy upsets her newfound tranquillity, and she takes refuge in a rambling house with a new gentleman friend in Corrydale. But the group proves to be greater than the sum of its ill-fitting parts, and as the solstice passes, and as Christmas approaches, the healing power of love, begins to work its magic. (Filmed at Dunrobin Castle, Golspie, Sutherland)

Captain Jack

Rebellious and irreverent, Captain Jack is a man on a mission. Come hell or high water, he's determined to follow in the footsteps of Whitby's unsung hero, Captain Scoresby, who set sail from the town bound for the Arctic in the 18th Century. Assembling a crew of oddballs and misfits, the cantankerous captain weighs anchor and voyages into the unknown. His ship has been certified unseaworthy, and he's pursued by the Royal Navy, NATO and journalists, but nothing is going to stop Captain Jack fulfilling his wildest dream.

Cold Enough for Snow

Doting parents must adjust to life without their children as their offspring leave for college and form relationships.

Solomon & Gaenor

A young Jew in 1911 Wales tries to make his living by selling fabrics door to door, but to do so he must hide his nationality. On one of his sales he meets and falls in love with a demure young woman with a strong-willed father and a Jew-hating brother. The two fall in love and she becomes pregnant, but only then does she learn of his ethnic background. When anti-Jewish riots break out, the two are forced to flee and become separated.

Lighthouse Hill

After his best friend dies, Charlie hits the road and stumbles into Lighthouse Hill, a village where residents seem to know a lot more about him than they should.

Water

The British governor of a tiny island nation in the Caribbean Commonwealth finds his idyllic existence thrown into chaos when an American drilling company finds a huge source of natural mineral water there.

Rogue Male

In 1939, Sir Robert Thorndyke takes aim at Adolf Hitler with a high powered rifle, but the shot misses its mark. Captured and tortured by the Gestapo and left for dead, Sir Robert makes his way back to England where he discovers the Gestapo has followed him. Knowing that his government would turn him over to German authorities, Sir Robert goes underground in his battle with his pursuers.

Rolling Home

Mr Wyman is an elderly man whose increasingly unreliable memory has landed him in a geriatric ward. Here he is visited by his daughters Val and Molly, and Molly's husband Harold, and looked after by the ward's two male nurses, Vic and Donald, who are in competition for a promotion. Donald needs the money as he and his girlfriend are trying to buy a house but are having difficulty arranging a mortgage. From the window at which he sits, Mr Wyman can see a wall. He repeatedly pesters Donald with questions about what is on the other side. Donald constructs a fantasy of the future he dreams of with his girlfriend: a house and garden inhabited by a married couple.

Gumshoe

A would be private eye gets mixed up in a smuggling case.

Midsomer Murders

The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.

Doctor Who

The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.

Coronation Street

The residents of Coronation Street are ordinary, working-class people, and the show follows them through regular social and family interactions at home, in the workplace, and in their local pub, the Rovers Return Inn. Britain's longest-running soap.

Casualty

Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.

Father Brown

Father Brown is based on G. K. Chesterton's detective stories about a Catholic priest who doubles as an amateur detective in order to try and solve mysteries.

Skins

Irreverent comedy drama which follows the messy lives, loves, delirious highs and inevitable lows of a group of raucous teenage friends in Bristol.

Have I Got News for You

Hilarious, totally-irreverent, near-slanderous political quiz show, based mainly on news stories from the last week or so, that leaves no party, personality or action unscathed in pursuit of laughs.

Crown Court

Crown Court is an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984.

Loose Women

A panel of four women discuss topical issues, ranging from daily politics and current affairs to celebrity gossip.

Would I Lie to You?

A comedic panel show featuring team captains Lee Mack and David Mitchell plus two guests per side, hosted by Rob Brydon (formerly Angus Deayton). Each person must reveal embarrassing facts and outrageous lies during a series of different rounds including "Home Truths", "This Is My..." and "Quickfire Lies". It is up to the opposing team to tell tall tales from fantastic facts.

Parkinson

Michael Parkinson returns for a second run of his iconic talk show.

ITV Saturday Night Theatre

Anthology series of dramatic works.

The Sweeney

Jack Regan, an unethical officer of the Flying Squad, uses unorthodox methods to pursue criminals with the help of his partner, George Carter.

ITV Playhouse

ITV Playhouse is a British comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a format that would inspire Dramarama. Actors appearing in the series included Leslie Anderson, Gwen Nelson, Ricky Alleyne, Pat Heywood, Michael Elphick, Ian Hendry, Edward Woodward, Margaret Lockwood, Jessie Matthews and Lloyd Peters.

Jonathan Creek

Working from his home in a converted windmill, Jonathan Creek is a magician with a natural ability for solving puzzles. He soon puts this ability to the use of solving impossible crimes and mysterious murders.

Have I Got a Bit More News for You

Based on the week’s news and fronted by guest hosts, this extended version of the satirical news quiz features more of the stuff that wouldn't fit into the regular programme.

An Audience with...

An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.

Room 101

Fast-moving game show meets talk show, which sees Frank Skinner refereeing three celebrities each week as they compete to banish their top peeve or worst nightmare to the depths of Room 101.

Doctor Who Confidential

Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode was broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly television episode on BBC One. The running time of the first two series was 30 minutes, being extended to 45 minutes in the third. BBC Three also broadcast a cut-down edition of the programme, lasting 15 minutes, shown after the repeats on Sundays and Fridays and after the weekday evening repeats of earlier seasons.

Celebrity Gogglebox

A rolling cast of famous faces, some of Britain's best loved personalities, turn their hand to being the country's most opinionated viewers, sharing their opinions on what they have been watching during the week.

Thriller

Thriller is a British television series, originally broadcast in the UK from 1973 to 1976. It is an anthology series: each episode has a self-contained story and its own cast. As the title suggests, each story is a thriller of some variety, from tales of the supernatural to down-to-earth whodunits.

ScreenPlay

Screenplay was a drama anthology television series, broadcast on BBC between 1986 and 1993. Numerous episodes were produced including one named "Boswell and Johnson's Tour of the Western Islands" starring Robbie Coltrane as English writer Samuel Johnson who in the autumn of 1773, visits the Hebrides off the north-west coast of Scotland. That episode was directed by John Byrne and co-starred John Sessions and Celia Imrie.

The BBC Television Shakespeare

The BBC Television Shakespeare is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and produced by BBC Television. It was transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to 27 April 1985 and spanned seven series. Development of the series began in 1975 when Messina saw that Glamis Castle would make a perfect location for an adaptation of Shakespeare's play As You Like It. On returning to London, he envisioned an entire series devoted exclusively to the dramatic works of Shakespeare. After encountering numerous problems trying to produce the series, Messina eventually pitched the idea to the BBC’s departmental heads and the series was greenlighted. The series as a whole received generally negative reviews from critics.

Remembers…

What are the secrets of our favourite TV shows? Famous names from both sides of the camera reflect on making some of the most popular and influential programs of all time.