Dick Clement

Omnibus

Omnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast mainly on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The programme was the successor to the long-running arts-based series 'Monitor'. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings. During its 35-year history, the programme won 12 Bafta awards. Among the series' best remembered documentaries are Cracked Actor, a profile of David Bowie, and Rene Magritte, a graduate film by David Wheatley, 'Madonna: Behind the American dream', a film produced by Nadia Hagger, and a profile of the British film director Ridley Scott. For a season in 1982, the series was in a magazine format presented by Barry Norman. The series was replaced by 'Imagine' hosted by Alan Yentob.

Release Date1967-10-13

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Episode Count1

Vote Count8

Wogan

Chat show hosted by Terry Wogan, featuring live studio interviews with famous and notable personalities.

Release Date1982-05-04

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Episode Count1

Vote Count6

Legends

The story of the big names that have shaped the musical genres, plus an occasional stopgap for the new rock 'n' roll - comedy.

Release Date2006-11-17

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Episode Count1

Vote Count1

British Sitcom: 60 Years of Laughing at Ourselves

Documentary celebrating the British sitcom and taking a look at the social and political context from which our favourite sitcoms grew. We enjoy a trip through the comedy archive in the company of the people who made some of the very best British sitcoms. From The Likely Lads to I'm Alan Partridge, we find out the inspiration behind some of the most-loved characters and how they reflect the times they were living in.

Release Date2016-09-12

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Vote Count2

An Accidental Studio

Charts the early years of HandMade Films seen through the eyes of the filmmakers, key personnel, and the man who started it all: former Beatle George Harrison.

Release Date2019-07-12

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Vote Count9

Peter Cook: At a Slight Angle to the Universe

TV documentary tracing the life of the comedian and satirist from his school days, through the Cambridge Footlights, to Beyond the Fringe and his partnership with Dudley Moore. With contributions from Cook's school friends Peter Rabey and Jonathan Harlow; Cook's first wife Wendy Cook; Cambridge University friends Tim Harrold and Roger Law; Adrian Slade (ex-president of Cambridge Footlights); Jonathan Miller; Sir David Frost; Ned Sherrin; John Bassett (creator, Beyond The Fringe); Willie Donaldson (producer, Beyond The Fringe); John Cleese; Eric Idle; Michael Parkinson; Brenda Vaccaro; John Fortune; Nicholas Luard (co-owner with Cook of The Establishment club); actress Gaye Brown; Christopher Booker; Ian Hislop; Victor Lownes and Michael Bawtree (friends of Cook); Joe McGrath; Dick Clement; Mel Smith; Clive Anderson; tv producer and executive Paul Jackson; Harry Enfield, radio presenter Clive Bull, and archival interview footage of both Cook and Dudley Moore.

Release Date2002-01-12

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Marty Feldman: Six Degrees of Separation

A documentary about the legendary and influential comedian, actor and writer, who went out from the BBC to conquer Hollywood, but sadly the system quickly withdrew its support when they couldn't contain his talents. This portrait is spiked with many comments from people who knew Feldman privately or had dealt with him professionally. His early death sadly rendered him all but forgotten by the public. The compilation consists of interviews, some film clips and photos as well as various audio clips from him.

Release Date2008-03-31

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Vote Count5

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore: The Missing Sketches

This documentary showcases a number of new clips which have recently come to light from sketches which were thought to have been lost forever, some not seen for over 50 years, plus rare footage of routines performed in Australia when Cook and Moore made two episodes of their show, Not Only... But Also..., for the country back in 1971. Rob Brydon narrates this very special programme as Pete and Dud fans, friends and colleagues watch these newly discovered clips in the studio for the very first time. The programme includes contributions from Not Only... But Also... producer Dick Clement, Pete and Dud collaborator Barry Humphries, and long-time fans Richard Ayoade, Josie Lawrence, Will Sharpe and Ronnie Wood as they enjoy the sketches and reflect on the career of one of Britain's best-loved comedy partnerships.

Release Date2016-12-31

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The Commitments - Looking Back

Documentary about the 1991 film

Release Date2004-03-16

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Porridge

Porridge is a British situation comedy broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977, running for three series, two Christmas specials and a feature film also titled Porridge. Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it stars Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as two inmates at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland. "Doing porridge" is British slang for serving a prison sentence, porridge once being the traditional breakfast in UK prisons. The series was followed by a 1978 sequel, Going Straight, which established that Fletcher would not be going back to prison again. Porridge was voted number seven in a 2004 BBC poll of the 100 greatest British sitcoms.

Release Date1974-09-05

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count18

Vote Count52

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is a British sitcom which was broadcast between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974 on BBC1. It was the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit The Likely Lads. It was created and written, as was its predecessor, by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. There were 26 television episodes over two series; and a subsequent 45-minute Christmas special was aired on 24 December 1974. The cast were reunited in 1975 for a BBC radio adaptation of series 1, transmitted on Radio 4 from July to October that year. In 1976, a feature film spin-off was made. Around the time of its release, however, Rodney Bewes and James Bolam fell out over a misunderstanding involving the press and have not spoken since. This long-suspected situation was finally confirmed by Bewes while promoting his autobiography in 2005. Unlike Bewes, Bolam is consistently reluctant to talk about the show, and has vetoed any attempt to revive his character.

Release Date1973-01-09

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count26

Vote Count20

Flushed Away

London high-society mouse, Roddy is flushed down the toilet by Sid, a common sewer rat. Hang on for a madcap adventure deep in the sewer bowels of Ratropolis, where Roddy meets the resourceful Rita, the rodent-hating Toad and his faithful thugs, Spike and Whitey.

Release Date2006-10-22

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count3925

The Bank Job

Terry is a small-time car dealer trying to leave his shady past behind and start a family. Martine is a beautiful model from Terry's old neighbourhood who knows that Terry is no angel. When Martine proposes a foolproof plan to rob a bank, Terry recognises the danger but realises this may be the opportunity of a lifetime.

Release Date2008-02-28

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count2434

Lovejoy

The adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East Anglia. Within the trade, he has a reputation as a “divvie”, a person with an almost supernatural powers for recognising exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antique from clever fakes or forgeries.

Release Date1986-01-10

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count5

Vote Count50

Tracey Takes On...

Tracey Takes On... is a sketch comedy series starring actress Tracey Ullman. The show ran for four seasons on HBO and was commissioned after the success of the comedy special Tracey Ullman Takes on New York (1993). Each episode focuses on a specific subject which Ullman and her cast of characters take on through a series of sketches and monologues.

Release Date1996-01-24

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count50

Vote Count4

Comedy Playhouse

Comedy Playhouse is a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 120 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served? and Last of the Summer Wine, which is the world's longest running sitcom, having run from January 1973 to August 2010.

Release Date1961-12-15

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count1

Vote Count2

Spies of Warsaw

A military attaché at the French embassy is drawn into a world of abduction, betrayal and intrigue in the diplomatic salons and back alleys of Warsaw. A classic tale of spying, intrigue, and romance, based on the novels of Alan Furst and adapted by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.

Release Date2013-01-09

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count1

Vote Count39

Archangel

Fluke Kelso, a dissipated, middle-aged former Oxford historian, who is in Moscow to attend a conference on the newly opened Soviet archives, receives in his hotel a very unexpected visitor.

Release Date2005-03-19

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count3

Vote Count60

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

Seven British construction workers escape Britain's ever growing dole queues and travel to Germany to work on a site in Dusseldorf. We follow their trials and tribulations of working away from home and away from the women they left behind.

Release Date1983-11-11

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count6

Vote Count36

Goal!

Like millions of kids around the world, Santiago harbors the dream of being a professional footballer... However, living in the Barrios section of Los Angeles, he thinks it is only that—a dream. Until one day an extraordinary turn of events has him trying out for Premiership club Newcastle United.

Release Date2005-09-29

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count1151

The Likely Lads

Terry Collier and Bob Ferris are good friends. Terry was working class and secure in his life, whereas Bob was more aspirational, determined to work his way to a better place. Both viewed the others' worldview with disdain, but they were united by events, generally revolving around the pursuit of women. Although 20 total episodes were filmed, only 10 are currently known to survive. There is one missing from the first season, three from the second, and six from the final run.

Release Date1964-12-16

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Episode Count20

Vote Count12

Across the Universe

When young dockworker Jude leaves Liverpool to find his estranged father in the United States, he is swept up by the waves of change that are re-shaping the nation. Jude falls in love with Lucy, who joins the growing anti-war movement. As the body count in Vietnam rises, political tensions at home spiral out of control and the star-crossed lovers find themselves in a psychedelic world gone mad.

Release Date2007-09-14

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count1371

On the Rocks

A minimum-security prison is the setting for gallows humor by wisecracking inmates.

Release Date1975-09-11

DepartmentCreator

JobCreator

Vote Count1

The Rotters' Club

Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais' adaptation of Jonathon Coe's novel follow a group of Birmingham teenagers, and their families, through the 1970s.

Release Date2005-01-26

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count3

The Commitments

Jimmy Rabbitte, just a thick-ya out of school, gets a brilliant idea: to put a soul band together in Barrytown, his slum home in north Dublin. First he needs musicians and singers: things slowly start to click when he finds three fine-voiced females virtually in his back yard, a lead singer (Deco) at a wedding, and, responding to his ad, an aging trumpet player, Joey "The Lips" Fagan.

Release Date1991-08-14

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count565

Laat maar zitten

Release Date1988-10-09

DepartmentCreator

JobCreator

Vice Versa

A mysterious oriental skull transforms a father into his son, and vice versa.

Release Date1988-02-25

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count198

Still Crazy

In the 1970s, Strange Fruit were it. They lived the rock lifestyle to the max, groupies, drugs, internal tension and an ex front man dead from an overdose. Even their demise was glamorous; when lightning struck the stage during an outdoor festival. Twenty years on, these former rock gods they have now sunk deep into obscurity when the idea of a reunion tour is lodged in the head of Tony, former keyboard player of the Fruits. Tony sets out to find his former bandmates with the help of former manager Karen to see if they can recapture the magic and give themselves a second chance.

Release Date1998-10-30

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Vote Count112

The Likely Lads

With the destruction of their previous neighbourhood has inevitably come the destruction of the lads’ favoured watering hole The Fat Ox. Again, it’s Bob rather than Terry who is visibly distressed by this. Upset and much the worse for free alcohol, Bob then storms into the library to seek sympathy from Thelma - who is, predictably, unimpressed. So when Thelma finds out that Terry has been getting semi-serious with glamorous Finnish shop assistant Chris, she takes it upon herself to try and pair them off for good via planning first a dinner party and then that mainstay of 70s comedy, a camping expedition. Of course, things don’t go quite according to plan and before you can say ‘I can see the way this is going’ we are set up for japes, larks and embarrassing incidents aplenty, which culminate in the lads getting rather fed up with their partners’ attempts to inflict the rugged outdoor lifestyle upon them and trying to hitch up and drive off with the girls still asleep in the caravan.

Release Date1976-02-01

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Vote Count17

Going Straight

Going Straight is a BBC sitcom which was a direct spin-off from Porridge, starring Ronnie Barker as Norman Stanley Fletcher, newly released from the fictional Slade Prison where the earlier series had been set. It sees Fletcher trying to become an honest member of society, having vowed to stay away from crime on his release. The title refers to his attempt, 'straight' being a slang term meaning being honest, in contrast to 'bent', i.e., dishonest. Also re-appearing was Richard Beckinsale as Lennie Godber, who was Fletcher's naïve young cellmate and was now in a relationship with his daughter Ingrid. Her brother Raymond was played by a teenage Nicholas Lyndhurst. Only one series, of six episodes, was made in 1978. It attracted an audience of over 15 million viewers and won a BAFTA award in March 1979, but hopes of a further series had already been dashed by Beckinsale's premature death earlier in the same month.

Release Date1978-02-24

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count6

Vote Count14

Killing Bono

The true story of Neil and Ivan McCormick, two Irish brothers who attempt to become rock stars but can only look on as their high school friends U2 become the biggest band in the world.

Release Date2011-04-01

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count106

Villain

In 1970s London, Scotland Yard orchestrates the downfall of mob boss Vic Dakin after he crosses the line by blackmailing Members of Parliament.

Release Date1971-05-26

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count41

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.

Release Date1985-01-11

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count32

My Generation

The vivid and inspiring story of British film icon Michael Caine's personal journey through 1960s swinging London.

Release Date2017-10-08

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count56

Freddie and Max

Maxine Chandler (Anne Bancroft) is a fading Hollywood star who is living in a suite at the Savoy Hotel while she's working in London. She employs a young cockney woman, Freddie Latham (Charlotte Coleman) as her personal assistant. Freddie is an outspoken woman who doesn't hesitate to let Max know about her obvious shortcomings. Max's agent, Malcolm Parkes (Richard Pearson) often echoes Freddie's opinions, though usually much more quietly.

Release Date1990-11-12

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count6

Vote Count1

Hannibal Brooks

A POW in World War II is put to work in a Munich zoo, looking after an Asian elephant. The zoo is bombed by the Americans and the director of the zoo decides it is not safe for his Asian elephant Lucy to remain there. So he sends Brooks to safety with Lucy. They escape and go on the run in order to get to Switzerland.

Release Date1969-01-18

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count37

Honest

In 1960s London, sisters Gerry, Mandy and Jo don male disguises and rob jewelry stores. Gerry also takes a job at a hip magazine in order to scope out a potential target. Sparks fly, however, between Gerry and American journalist Daniel Wheaton, and their budding romance threatens to expose the sisters' latest operation.

Release Date2000-05-26

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Vote Count3

Porridge

Times are hard for habitual guest of Her Majesty Norman Stanley Fletcher. The new prison officer, Beale, makes MacKay look soft and what's more, an escape plan is hatching from the cell of prison godfather Grouty and Fletcher wants no part of it.

Release Date1979-08-12

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count37

The Prisoner of Zenda

Anthony Hope's classic tale gets a decidedly 'un-classic' treatment at the hands of Peter Sellers. Following the story somewhat, friends of the new King Rudolph of Ruritania fear for his life, and switch him with a look-a-like London cabby. Throw in two(!) lovely blondes, treachery, and a battle for life and honour, and enjoy life at its zaniest.

Release Date1979-08-17

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count35

Sunset Limousine

Alan O'Black is a comic who wants to hit it big. But his endless attempts at stardom have worn down his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Julie. Thinking she'll give him another chance if he gets a real job, Alan gets a gig as a limo driver, which promptly lands him in a slew of trouble when he meets and gets involved in the hijinks of a crooked entrepreneur, Bradley Coleman.

Release Date1983-10-12

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Vote Count7

Astronauts

Astronauts was a British sitcom that aired on ITV in 1981. It was written by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, two of The Goodies. Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who wrote Porridge, were script editors. It was made for the ITV network by ATV, which became Central midway through the production run.

Release Date1981-10-26

DepartmentWriting

JobScript Editor

Episode Count13

Vote Count2

Thick As Thieves

British ITV sitcom starring John Thaw and Bob Hoskins as two friends in a love triangle.

Release Date1974-06-01

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count8

Vote Count3

Bullshot

The dashing Captain Hugh "Bullshot" Crummond - WWI ace fighter pilot, Olympic athlete, racing driver, part-time sleuth and all round spiffing chap - must save the world from the dastardly Count Otto van Bruno, his wartime adversary. And, of course, win the heart of a jolly nice young lady.

Release Date1983-10-27

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count13

Anyone for Denis?

Anyone for Denis? is a British video-taped television version of the stage play of the same name broadcast by the ITV network on 28 December 1982. The original play, first performed at the Whitehall Theatre in 1981, was written by satirist John Wells. It is based on Private Eye's 'Dear Bill' letters, purportedly written by Denis Thatcher, the husband of Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister at the time. Set in Chequers, the play parodies the couple's relationship. The title is a punning reference to the more familiar question "Anyone for tennis?" The television production, for Thames Television was directed by Dick Clement and stars John Wells, Angela Thorne, John Cater and Nicky Henson.

Release Date1982-12-28

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count1

Otley

A petty crook finds himself mistaken for a murderer and a secret agent.

Release Date1969-03-11

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count21

A Severed Head

Antonia Lynch-Gibbon, wife of upper-crust wine dealer Martin, falls in love with her husband's best friend, noted psychiatrist Palmer Anderson. While both Palmer and Antonia would like to remain in Martin's life, he has some secrets of his own — namely, a mistress called Georgie, whom his womanizing brother also desires. All the while, Palmer's sister Honor seems to know everyone's business.

Release Date1971-01-21

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count10

The Jokers

Brothers Michael and David Tremayne decide to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London, not for criminal purposes, but to make themselves famous.

Release Date1967-05-15

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count17

Catch Me a Spy

While on vacation, a woman's husband is taken by the Russian government. After one attempt fails, she begins looking for a suitable spy to capture and trade in exchange for her husband, but she develops an attraction to the one she thinks is a good candidate.

Release Date1971-09-06

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count15

Porridge: No Way Out

Fletcher discovers that his fellow inmates are planning to escape.

Release Date1975-12-24

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

The Rooster

Sergeant Gidi Tsur (Topol) serves in the reserve in the Suez Canal. He goes on vacation and is supposed to meet with his wife to get divorced in the Rabbinate. Meanwhile, he spends his time in the company of other women.

Release Date1971-03-01

DepartmentCrew

JobScript

Vote Count1

The Best of Ronnie Barker

Sketches and clips from his greatest television comedy performances

Release Date2005-01-01

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count1

To Russia... with Elton

Footage of a concert given in Moscow, Russia, by rock singer Elton John.

Release Date1979-01-01

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count5

Anyone for Denis

Anyone for Denis? is a British video-taped television version of the stage play of the same name broadcast by the ITV network on 28 December 1982. The original play, first performed at the Whitehall Theatre in 1981, was written by satirist John Wells.

Release Date1982-12-28

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Porridge: The Desperate Hours

Fletcher and Godber are in trouble for brewing liquor in the lead-up to Christmas, but are caught up in a hostage situation in the Governor's office.

Release Date1976-12-24

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Drama Connections

Drama Connections is a BBC One documentary series which looks at the stories behind the production of some of Britain's most popular drama television programmes, showing how they tie in with the production of other drama shows. The shows feature interviews with some of the cast and crew of the subject programme, as well as classic footage from the series. The series is a spin-off from Comedy Connections, which began two years earlier and used the same format to look at the history of popular television comedies, and was followed by Movie Connections in 2007.

Release Date2005-09-06

Episode Count1