Magic Moments

Just Another Secret

An American intelligence agent uncovers a plot to assassinate Soviet Premier Gorbachev just at the time when glasnost is coming into place.

Captain James Cook

Based on Captain James Cook's three voyages. It was on his first voyage, in 1770 (while in the South Pacific region to observe the transit of Venus), that Captain Cook discovered the east coast of Australia. He later recommended Australia as a future British colony. The series was financed by $5 million from Revcom France, $2.25 million from the ABC and the rest from 10BA tax money.

Pie in the Sky

Pie in the Sky is a British offbeat police comedy drama programme starring Richard Griffiths and Maggie Steed, created by Andrew Payne and first broadcast in five series on BBC1 between 13 March 1994 and 17 August 1997 as well as being syndicated on other channels in other countries, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The series departs slightly from other police dramas in that the protagonist, Henry Crabbe, while still being an on-duty policeman, is also the head chef of the title restaurant set in the fictional town of Middleton and county of Westershire.

Act of Betrayal

An IRA informer and his family are given new identities and new lives in Australia but the IRA are still determined to track them down.

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror

An exploration of the cinematic history of the folk horror, from its beginnings in the UK in the late sixties; through its proliferation on British television in the seventies and its many manifestations, culturally specific, in other countries; to its resurgence in the last decade.

A Ghost Story for Christmas

A strand of annual British short television adaptations of classic ghost stories, referencing the oral tradition of telling supernatural tales at Christmas. First broadcast on BBC One from 1971 to 1978, and revived in 2005 on BBC Four.

Flambards

In early 20th-century England, young orphan Christina Parsons is sent to live with her Uncle Russell, who owns the country estate of Flambards, and has two sons. Mark, the elder, is a wastrel, a roue and, like his father, loves to hunt. The younger, William, lives to fly aeroplanes. Christina finds herself struggling with the ideas of classism as she falls in love with country life, the hunt, and one of her cousins. But after an impulsive marriage, when her husband is called away by the First World War, Christina must keep Flambards afloat by herself.

Minder

Roguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley.

Casting the Runes

The producer of an investigative television programme which is critical of an occultist finds out that he has a curse put on her.

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.

Get Lost!

Get Lost! is a 1981 British television drama serial produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV. Written by Alan Plater, the plot concerns the disappearance of the husband of Leeds schoolteacher Judy Threadgold. Investigating the disappearance, with the aid of her colleague, woodwork teacher Neville Keaton, Judy learns of a secret organisation that helps disaffected people leave their unhappy lives behind.

The Locksmith

When his estranged wife is brutally attacked by a burglar, a law-abiding locksmith unconvinced that the junkie charged for the crime is the real attacker starts his own investigation.

The Signalman

A traveller comes across a signalman stationed by the exit of a railway tunnel in a deep cutting. The traveller becomes familiar with the signalman, and finds that he is troubled by an apparition which appears by the tunnel.

A Warning to the Curious

Paxton, an amateur archeologist, travels to the town of Seaburgh and inadvertently stumbles across one of the lost crowns of Anglia, which, according to legend, protect the county from invasion. On digging the crown up, Paxton is stalked by its supernatural guardian.

Harry's Game

British undercover agent Harry Brown is sent to Northern Ireland to infiltrate the IRA to find (and terminate) the assassin of a British Cabinet Minister. Harry is alone, the army hasn't been told he is being put in place, his wife is fed up with him and his job, and his sole new friend, an Irish woman who falls for him, will be consumed by his relentless search for the assassin.

The Treasure of Abbot Thomas

The Reverend Justin Somerton, a scholar of medieval history, and his protégé Lord Peter Dattering are visiting an abbey library. While studying a stained glass window, they uncover clues leading to a treasure hidden by a disgraced abbot.