Alan Bennett

Allelujah

When news of the closure of a small hospital's geriatric ward begins to reach the community, the hospital invites a local news crew to document their planning of a concert in honor of the hospital's most celebrated nurse. But there might be something more threatening to the hospital itself, more deadly than the politicians ready to shut down the place at a moment's notice.

Release Date:2023-03-17

Department:Production

Job:Executive Producer

Vote Count:23

National Theatre Live: The Madness of George III

It’s 1786 and King George III is the most powerful man in the world. But his behaviour is becoming increasingly erratic as he succumbs to fits of lunacy. With the King’s mind unravelling at a dramatic pace, ambitious politicians and the scheming Prince of Wales threaten to undermine the power of the Crown, and expose the fine line between a King and a man.

Release Date:2018-11-20

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:9

National Theatre Live: Allelujah!

Filmed live at London’s Bridge Theatre during its limited run. The Beth, an old fashioned cradle-to-grave hospital serving a town in Yorkshire, is threatened with closure as part of an efficiency drive. A documentary crew, eager to capture its fight for survival, follows the daily struggle to find beds on the Dusty Springfield Geriatric Ward, and the triumphs of the old people’s choir.

Release Date:2018-11-01

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

The Lady in the Van

The true story of the relationship between Alan Bennett and the singular Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who ‘temporarily’ parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years.

Release Date:2015-10-30

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Alan Bennett (2014)

Vote Count:751

National Theatre Live: People

People spoil things; there are so many of them and the last thing one wants is them traipsing through one’s house. But with the park a jungle and a bath on the billiard table, what is one to do? Dorothy wonders if an attic sale could be a solution.

Release Date:2013-03-21

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:3

National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art

National Theatre Live’s 2010 broadcast of Alan Bennett’s acclaimed play The Habit of Art, with Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour, returns to cinemas as part of the National Theatre's 50th anniversary celebrations. Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, Death in Venice, seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W H Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for twenty-five years, they are observed and interrupted by, amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station. Alan Bennett’s play is as much about the theatre as it is about poetry or music. It looks at the unsettling desires of two difficult men, and at the ethics of biography. It reflects on growing old, on creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion’s spent: ultimately, on the habit of art.

Release Date:2010-04-22

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:1

The History Boys

The story of an unruly class of bright, funny history students at a Yorkshire grammar school in pursuit of an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge. Bounced between their maverick English master, a young and shrewd teacher hired to up their test scores, a grossly out-numbered history teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt to pass.

Release Date:2006-10-02

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:203

Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball?

The Secret Policeman benefit shows for Amnesty International brought together comedy grand masters - from Python and Beyond the Fringe - and performers then relatively unknown, like Rowan Atkinson. Narrated by Dawn French, the programme includes interviews with many of the comedians and musicians who took part: John Cleese, Stephen Fry, Michael Palin, Sting, Lenny Henry and many more. The shows and their stars had a huge effect on modern British comedy. There are few comics today whose careers have not been heavily influenced by the anarchic and surreal humour of these events.

Release Date:2004-12-09

Character:Self

Vote Count:3

Talking Heads 2

A series of monologues.

Release Date:1998-10-06

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:1

Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet

A monologue, originally shown on the BBC. Miss Fozzard is a lonely, middle-aged department-store clerk in Soft Furnishings whose free time is mostly spent caring for her brother after he suffers a stroke. Her one joy is visiting her chiropodist, but, when he retires, she finds her life consumed with a burgeoning relationship with his replacement, Mr Dunderdale.

Release Date:1998-10-06

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:1

The Willows in Winter

Hailed as the "rightful heir" to "The Wind in the Willows", William Horwood's critically acclaimed sequel comes to magical life in this beautifully animated feature-length classic. Join four of the best-loved characters in children's literature for their heart-warming and hilarious new adventure along the Riverbank, narrated by Academy Award-winner Vanessa Redgrave.

Release Date:1996-12-26

Character:Mole

Vote Count:11

In Love and War

After teenage ambulance driver Ernest Hemingway takes shrapnel in the leg during World War I, he falls in love with Agnes von Kurowsky, a beautiful older nurse at the hospital where he's sent to recover. Their affair slowly blossoms, until Hemingway boldly asks Agnes to be his wife and journey to America with him.

Release Date:1996-12-18

Character:Porter

Vote Count:143

Some Interesting Facts About Peter Cook

A documentary about the life of British satirist and founder of 'Private Eye' Peter Cook.

Release Date:1995-12-19

Character:Self

The Madness of King George

Aging King George III of England is exhibiting signs of madness, a problem little understood in 1788. As the monarch alternates between bouts of confusion and near-violent outbursts of temper, his hapless doctors attempt the ineffectual cures of the day. Meanwhile, Queen Charlotte and Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger attempt to prevent the king's political enemies, led by the Prince of Wales, from usurping the throne.

Release Date:1994-12-28

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Character:2nd MP

Vote Count:239

Portrait or Bust

Alan Bennett's personal overview of art, filmed in the atmospheric location of a Leeds art gallery.

Release Date:1994-04-04

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Himself

Julie Walters and Friends

Julie Walters stars in new sketches by four accomplished writers who helped make her famous.

Release Date:1991-12-29

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:

A Question of Attribution

Sir Anthony Blunt, who was a Soviet agent for 25 years, is routinely questioned and gives no answers, but is knighted and works as Director of the Courtauld Institute, and presents his interrogator with a puzzle in the shape of a doubtful Titian painting. He also does art restoration work in Buckingham Palace, where he gets into an interesting conversation with HMQ.

Release Date:1991-10-20

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:8

A Life in Death

Dennis is an undertaker, and for him death is a serious business. But for his mother, it's a day out and a chance to dress up and chat. Director Richard Monks was helped with his script by the playwright Alan Bennett.

Release Date:1991-08-28

Department:Writing

Job:Writers' Assistant

102 Boulevard Haussmann

In 1916 author Marcel Proust is leading a reclusive life in Paris. He hires a quartet of musicians and befriends one of them, a wounded serviceman.

Release Date:1990-11-09

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:1

Dinner at Noon

Writer Alan Bennett visits a hotel in the north of England, observes the guests, and reminisces about his experiences of staying in boarding-houses as a child.

Release Date:1988-08-08

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Himself - Presenter

Talking Heads

Six monologues tell the stories of six different repressed souls: a man dominated by his mother, a vicar's wife, an inveterate letter writer, a hopeful actress, a recently widowed woman, and an elderly shut-in.

Release Date:1988-04-19

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:

Vote Count:1

Prick Up Your Ears

When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality and starts to find success with his writing, Halliwell becomes increasingly alienated and jealous, ultimately tapping into a dangerous rage.

Release Date:1987-04-17

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:93

The Insurance Man

Franz, a young man, works in a dye factory in Prague. One day he notices a rash-like eczema, growing on his hands. All attempts to treat it with ointment fail, and the rash gradually spreads over his body. After complaining to the management he is laid off work; his relationship with his fiancee is affected. In an attempt to get compensation from his former employers he looks to insurance firm Assicurazion Generali, where he encounters an enigmatic clerk called Kafka.

Release Date:1986-02-22

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:5

A Private Function

In the summer of 1947, Britain prepares to commemorate the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. To get around food-rationing laws, Dr. Charles Swaby, accountant Henry Allardyce and solicitor Frank Lockwood are fattening a black-market pig for the big day. Egged on by his wife, meek Gilbert Chilvers steals the swine, but the couple must conceal it from inspector Morris Wormold.

Release Date:1984-11-09

Department:Writing

Job:Story

Vote Count:52

An Englishman Abroad

Actress Coral Browne travels to Moscow, and meets a mysterious Englishman. Turns out he's the notorious spy, Guy Burgess. Based on a true story, with Ms. Browne playing herself.

Release Date:1983-11-29

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:8

Say Something Happened

An inexperienced social worker is sent to interview an elderly couple deemed to be “at risk”, but ends up learning just as much about herself.

Release Date:1982-12-17

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Marks

Les is an aimless young man, unemployed and still living with his mother. He decides to give her a present - her name tattooed on his arm…

Release Date:1982-12-10

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

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.

Release Date:1982-12-03

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

A Woman of No Importance.

Award-winning one-woman drama starring Patricia Routledge. What do Miss Schofield and the gang find to talk about at their table in the canteen? Yesterday they were discussing the rash Pauline Lucas's mother keeps getting on her elbows. Miss Schofield puts her social success down to that fact that she doesn't talk about herself, and she laughs of course, she always laughs.

Release Date:1982-11-19

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Our Winnie

Winnie is a mentally handicapped woman who lives with her elderly mother (Cora) and aunt (Ida). They visit the cemetery where Winnie’s father is buried. Also in the cemetery are two art students, one of whom (Liz) asks if she can take a photograph of the three women. She takes it while they are not prepared, making them look ridiculous (Cora is putting her make-up on, Winnie is staring at the camera with her mouth open). Cora is angry, and Liz takes another of them properly posed. But she enters the first photograph for a competition, where it wins a prize

Release Date:1982-11-12

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Intensive Care

When Denis Midgley's father is rushed to hospital, Midgley drops everything to be by his side. They've never really got on, so Midgley wants to be sure he's there if his father ever regains consciousness. As he hates his job as a schoolteacher, and his home-life with his wife, her senile mother and their insolent teenage son, he has no qualms about lingering around the hospital. But as days turn into weeks, his father obstinately refuses to 'slip away', and Denis' motivation for staying by his father's bedside has more and more to do with Valery, a young nurse.

Release Date:1982-11-09

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Denis Midgley

The Secret Policeman's Other Ball

Following the success of the 1979 show and the financial benefits accruing to Amnesty from the spin-off movie, TV special and record albums – Cleese, Lewis and Walker planned the next show to be a more spectacular event. Cleese focused on broadening the comedic talent to be presented at the show. In addition to the Amnesty show stalwarts drawn from the Oxbridge/Monty Python/Beyond The Fringe orbit, he invited newcomers such as Rowan Atkinson’s colleagues from the BBC TV show Not the Nine O'Clock News including Pamela Stephenson and Griff Rhys Jones; comedian Victoria Wood and regional comic Jasper Carrott. Lewis secured a return appearance by Billy Connolly and a debut appearance by "alternative" comedian Alexei Sayle who Lewis had recently discovered and was managing. Building on the success of Pete Townshend's 1979 appearance Lewis recruited other rock musicians to perform at the 1981 show including Sting, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Donovan and Bob Geldof.

Release Date:1982-03-01

Character:Self - Various Roles

Vote Count:4

All Day on the Sands

Mr and Mrs Cooper are staying at a boarding-house in the seaside resort of Morecambe with their small children, Colin and Jennifer. Mr Cooper has just been made redundant, but the family are trying to keep this a secret from the other guests. Also staying at the hotel are Keith and Jo, a young couple on their honeymoon, and an older couple, Mr and Mrs Thornton. Waking early one morning, Colin amuses himself by dangling one of his sister's sandals out of the window on a piece of string. The sandal accidentally lands on a flat roof just outside the window of the honeymooning couple, and his father's now straitened financial circumstances mean Colin has to get it back, by fair means or foul.

Release Date:1979-02-24

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

One Fine Day

Alan Bennett's play about the mid-life crisis of an estate agent.

Release Date:1979-02-17

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:1

Afternoon Off

Lee, a Chinese man, works as a waiter in a hotel in England, despite speaking very little English. Told that a girl called Iris might be interested in him, on his afternoon off work he buys a box of chocolates and sets off to find her.

Release Date:1979-02-03

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Mr Petty

The Old Crowd

George and Betty, a middle-class English couple, have just moved into a big Edwardian house in London and are throwing a party to celebrate. Unfortunately, after ten days none of their furniture has arrived, having been sent to Carlisle by mistake, three of the four toilets don't work and cracks are starting to appear in the ceiling. However, nothing can dent their determination to have a good time.

Release Date:1979-01-27

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:8

Doris and Doreen

A series of pink forms has Doris and Doreen fearing for their cushy jobs.

Release Date:1978-12-16

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf

A repressed night-school teacher, secretly homosexual, struggles to cope with his demanding, eccentric mother.

Release Date:1978-12-02

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Narrator (voice)

A Visit from Miss Prothero

Arthur Dodsworth has recently retired. He lives alone except for his budgie and memories of his late wife Winnie. One afternoon his nap is interrupted by the doorbell; his former secretary, Peggy Prothero, has come to visit. A brash, charmless woman who seems to take no pleasure in anything but putting people down, Miss Prothero wants to fill her old boss in on all the changes that have taken place at work since he left. Dodsworth isn't very curious, and as the visit wears on it puts a little strain on his politeness and patience. Miss Prothero doesn't enjoy it much either, but lingers on as there's a bombshell she wants to drop. The docketing system Dodsworth introduced thirty years earlier, which revolutionised the firm, has been scrapped by her adored new boss Mr Skinner. The crowning achievement of Dodsworth's career has just become obsolete, and she wants to tell him all about it.

Release Date:1978-01-11

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

A Little Outing

Mam likes to make the weekly visit to Grandad into a proper little outing.

Release Date:1977-10-20

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Pleasure at Her Majesty's

The first of the Amnesty International comedy benefit galas. The title is a play on the phrase at Her Majesty's pleasure (the show was performed at Her Majesty's Theatre, London). This show came to be considered part of the Secret Policeman's Ball series of shows that it inspired, although it pre-dated the first show in the series by three years. The event was organized by a team of three: Monty Python member John Cleese, Amnesty's Assistant Director Peter Luff and Transatlantic Records executive Martin Lewis. It featured the cream of Britain's comedic talent of the era, setting a precedent that would inspire many subsequent Amnesty galas...

Release Date:1976-12-29

Character:Self

Vote Count:2

Sunset Across the Bay

A married couple, after a life time of work and bringing up a family, retire and awaken to the fast changing world around them, the habitual nature of their relationship, and what they have left.

Release Date:1975-02-20

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:1

A Day Out

Alan Bennett's debut play for television follows the members of a Halifax cycling club, on an outing from Halifax to the ruins of Fountains Abbey. Set in the summer of 1911 and projects an idyllic vision of Edwardian England .

Release Date:1972-12-24

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:5

Beyond the Fringe

A TV version of the stage show originally performed at the Edinburgh Fringe (August 1960) and in London (Fortune Theatre, May 1961) and Broadway (October 1962).

Release Date:1964-12-12

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Various Characters

Vote Count:3

The Choral

Set in Ramsden, Yorkshire in 1916, the plot centers on the chorus master and most of the men of the ambitious local Choral Society, who have volunteered for the front. Under the direction of the demanding, driven Dr. Guthrie, the Choral recruits a crop of teenage boys and girls. Together they discover the joys of singing and the urgency of desire as the new boys come to terms with their imminent conscription into the army.

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Alan Bennett: 90 Years On

In May 2024, Alan Bennett turned 90. This film celebrates the life and long career of one of Britain's best-loved playwrights. Part frank reflection on the ageing process, part remembrance of the joys of youth, Alan is aided by the films he has written and the documentaries he has presented in his quest to understand the person he has become.

Release Date:2024-12-13

Stewart Lee: Tornado

The Bafta-winning Stewart Lee performs his latest touring show, focusing on a bizarrely erroneous description of his work on Netflix and a mind-boggling review from Alan Bennett.

Release Date:2022-09-29

Character:Self

Vote Count:9

Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War

One of Britain’s greatest landscape artists, Eric Ravilious, is killed in a plane crash while on commission as Official War Artist in Iceland in 1942. His life is as compelling and enigmatic as his art, set against the dramatic wartime locations that inspire him. This film brings to life this unique and still grossly undervalued British artist caught in the crossfire of war 80 years ago, whose legacy largely sank without trace, until now…

Release Date:2022-07-01

Alan Bennett's Talking Heads

Widely celebrated as Alan Bennett's masterpieces, his multi-award-winning Talking Heads return to BBC One. Filmed during lockdown under social distancing guidelines, a new generation of Britain's finest actors star in 10 of Bennett's classic scripts, alongside two brand new Talking Heads penned by the acclaimed writer last year.

Release Date:2020-06-23

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Episode Count:12

Vote Count:7

Stop All the Clocks: W.H. Auden in an Age of Anxiety

Thirty years after his BBC film The Auden Landscape, director Adam Low returns to the poet and his work. Following surges of popularity - from featuring in Four Weddings And A Funeral to being the poet New Yorkers turned to after 9/11 - Low reveals how Auden’s poetry helps us to better understand the 21st century and the tumultuous political climate in which we now live.

Release Date:2017-09-30

Character:Himself

Alan Bennett's Diaries

Documentary about British author and actor Alan Bennett. Recorded over the course of a year, the film features a number of intimate encounters with Bennett, including a trip to New York to receive an award from the city's public library, a national radio appearance and a visit to his local community-run library in Primrose Hill, London. Reflecting on key periods of his life as well as providing observations on current events.

Release Date:2016-11-16

Character:Himself

Vote Count:1

The Native Hue of Resolution

A documentary celebrating 20 years of the work of Kaleidoscope, an organisation devoted to the preservation of archive television.

Release Date:2013-12-21

Mouse and Mole at Christmas Time

Animation telling of the adventures of Mouse, Mole, Rat and Owl. Before giving a Twelfth Night party, Mouse makes a snowmole for Mole. In a dream, Snowmole takes him to a land where his every wish is granted. But dreams can become nightmares and wishes can sometimes backfire!

Release Date:2013-12-16

Character:Mole (voice)

Vote Count:4

National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the National Theatre of Great Britain presents National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage, bringing together the best British actors for a unique evening of unforgettable performances, broadcast live from London to cinemas around the world.

Release Date:2013-11-02

Character:Hector

Vote Count:3

My Friend Sam: Living for the Moment

Sam was born with an extremely rare genetic disorder called Familial Dysautonomia. When born, he had 50 per cent chance of making it to his fifth birthday. Now, at the age of 39 we follow this exceptional person as he pursues his joint goals of getting his acting career back on track and finding love.

Release Date:2012-01-16

Books: The Last Chapter?

Will the rise of electronic books mark the final chapter in the love story between traditional books and their readers? Alan Yentob discusses the subject with a host of writers.

Release Date:2011-12-13

Character:Self

Being Alan Bennett

Documentary providing a rare glimpse into the life of Alan Bennett, one of the UK's best-loved writers, with interviews, archive footage and new work.

Release Date:2009-12-05

Character:Himself

The Young Visiters

The Young Visiters, written in twelve days by nine-year-old Daisy Ashford in 1890, is a surreal blend of naiveté, precocious perception and inadvertent social satire.

Release Date:2003-12-26

Character:Narrator (voice)

Vote Count:6

Meg and Mog

British children's series about a well-meaning witch, her anarchist cat, an owl and a bit of magic. Together, these odd characters create a colorful and eventful world - spiced with mystery.

Release Date:2003-10-27

Character:Owl

Episode Count:52

Vote Count:1

The Importance of Being Morrissey

Featuring interviews by famous fans and followers, this rare documentary encapsulates the essence of the controversial, enigmatic, and deliciously melancholic bard.

Release Date:2003-06-08

Character:Self

Vote Count:5

Telling Tales

Alan Bennett re-lives his upbringing in Leeds in a series of talks, both amusing and touching.

Release Date:2000-11-04

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Episode Count:10

Family Guy

Sick, twisted, politically incorrect and Freakin' Sweet animated series featuring the adventures of the dysfunctional Griffin family. Bumbling Peter and long-suffering Lois have three kids. Stewie (a brilliant but sadistic baby bent on killing his mother and taking over the world), Meg (the oldest, and is the most unpopular girl in town) and Chris (the middle kid, he's not very bright but has a passion for movies). The final member of the family is Brian - a talking dog and much more than a pet, he keeps Stewie in check whilst sipping Martinis and sorting through his own life issues.

Release Date:1999-01-31

Character:Alan Bennett (voice)

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:4479

Did I Say Hairdressing? I Meant Astrophysics

This animated clip comments on different educational opportunities for boys and girls, and points out the positive impact of making all opportunities available to both sexes.

Release Date:1998-01-01

Character:(voice)

A Dance to the Music of Time

A Dance to the Music of Time is a four-part adaptation of Anthony Powell's 12-volume novel sequence that aired on Channel 4 in 1997. The series is a sharp, comic portrait of upper-class and bohemian England, spanning almost a century, from the early 1920s to modern times.

Release Date:1997-10-09

Character:Sillery

Episode Count:4

Vote Count:3

The Abbey with Alan Bennett

In this captivating and insightful documentary, Alan Bennett takes on the role of a guide to Westminster Abbey. He unveils a side of history that is lesser-known yet intriguing, and is granted entry into the unseen corners and secret chambers that remain hidden from the eyes of tourists.

Release Date:1995-12-25

Character:Self

Episode Count:3

The Wind in the Willows

Kenneth Grahame's literary classic about an enchanting world along the Riverbank has delighted readers for nearly a century. Now, this enduring beloved tale comes to life in this beautifully animated feature film from the producers of "The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends" and "The Snowman".

Release Date:1995-12-24

Character:Mole

Vote Count:31

Julie Walters and Friends

Julie Walters and Friends was a one-off comedy sketch show showcasing the talents of actress Julie Walters. Sketches were written by Walters' frequent collaborators, including Victoria Wood, Alan Bennett, Willy Russell and Alan Bleasdale. Walters portrayed new characters alongside roles she had previously been known for, including a monologue in which she appeared as Mrs Murray, her character from G.B.H, written by Bleasdale. The show was nominated for the Best Light Entertainment award at the 1992 BAFTAs.

Release Date:1991-12-29

Department:Creator

Job:Creator

Character:

Episode Count:[ 1 ]

Ashenden

Four-part drama about a writer recruited into espionage work by British intelligence during the First World War. Based on the writings of Somerset Maugham

Release Date:1991-11-17

Character:Grantly Caypor

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:1

Selling Hitler

In 1981, Gerd Heidemann, a war correspondent and reporter with the German magazine Stern, makes what he believes is the literary and historical scoop of the century: the personal diaries of Adolf Hitler. Over the next two years, Heidemann and the senior management figures at Stern secretly pay 10 million German marks to a mysterious 'Dr Fischer' for the sixty volumes of 'Hitler's diaries'. However, to the dismay of all, it is discovered after the publication of first extract that the diaries are crude forgeries, faked by Stuttgart criminal Konrad Kujau.

Release Date:1991-06-11

Character:Hugh Trevor-Roper

Vote Count:2

Selling Hitler

Based on the book by Robert Harris, this is a comic-dramatisation of the true story of the one of the most famous forgery cases in the world, the infamous 'Hitler Diaries' of the early 1980s. Jonathan Pryce stars as the German journalist Gerd Heidemann who convinces himself that he has discovered a set of secret diaries written by the leader of the Third Reich and tries to convince the world, making a fortune for himself in the process.

Release Date:1991-06-11

Character:Hugh Trevor-Roper

Episode Count:5

Vote Count:1

Building Sights

Personal reflections on the best of 20th Century architecture.

Release Date:1988-11-01

Character:Self - Presenter

Episode Count:1

Talking Heads

A series of dramatic monologues written for BBC television by the acclaimed British playwright Alan Bennett.

Release Date:1988-04-19

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Graham Whittaker

Episode Count:12

Vote Count:6

Little Dorrit

A drama based on the novel by Charles Dickens which tells the story of Arthur Clennam who is thrown into a debtor's prison. There he meets a young seamstress whose father has been imprisoned for twenty-five years. A film originally released in two parts.

Release Date:1987-12-11

Character:The Bishop

Vote Count:11

Fortunes of War

Fortunes of War is a 1987 BBC television adaptation of Olivia Manning's cycle of novels Fortunes of War. It stars Kenneth Branagh as Guy Pringle, lecturer in English Literature in Bucharest during the early part of the Second World War, and Emma Thompson as his wife Harriet. Other cast members included Ronald Pickup, Robert Stephens, Alan Bennett, Philip Madoc and Rupert Graves. The series stays relatively faithful to the original novels, with no notable departures from their plot.

Release Date:1987-10-11

Character:Lord Pinkrose

Episode Count:7

Vote Count:11

Man and Music

Alan Bennett documentary series covering music.

Release Date:1986-01-26

Department:Crew

Job:Presenter

Episode Count:4

Dreamchild

Eighty-year-old Alice Hargreaves is about to visit Columbia University to attend a reception in honor of author Lewis Carroll. As a child, Alice had a close friendship with the writer, and their relationship was the creative catalyst for Carroll's most beloved work. However, as Alice reflects on her experiences with the author, she realizes the complexity of their bond has had lasting, deeply felt ramifications.

Release Date:1985-10-04

Character:Mock Turtle (voice)

Vote Count:32

The Glass Box

Shelly Rohde meets various celebrities to ask them which personal treasures they would seal away in a glass box for future generations. Guests include Hughie Green, Edward Heath and Victoria Wood.

Release Date:1985-04-09

Character:Self (archival footage)

Episode Count:1

Screen Two

Series of single made-for-television dramas.

Release Date:1985-01-06

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Episode Count:32

Vote Count:5

The Merry Wives of Windsor

When Sir John Falstaff decides that he wants to have a little fun he writes two letters to a pair of Window wives: Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. When they put their heads together and compare missives, they plan a practical joke or two to teach the knight a lesson. But Mistress Ford's husband is a very jealous man and is pumping Falstaff for information of the affair. Meanwhile the Pages' daughter Anne is beseiged by suitors.

Release Date:1982-12-28

Character:Justice Shallow

Vote Count:2

Objects of Affection

A series of plays written by Alan Bennett.

Release Date:1982-11-12

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Episode Count:6

Vote Count:1

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.

Release Date:1978-12-03

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:5

Long Shot

Against the backdrop of the 1977 Edinburgh Film Festival, two low-budget filmmakers attempt to talk up some finance as they hunt for cash, cast and ‘name director’ Sam Fuller to shoot their Aberdeen-set oil-boom adventure ‘Gulf and Western’. Along the way, they encounter a plethora of filmmaking luminaries including Wim Wenders, Stephen Frears, John Boorman, Bill Forsyth and Alan Bennett.

Release Date:1978-11-17

Character:Neville's Doctor

The South Bank Show

The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show that was produced by ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new series began on Sky Arts from 27 May 2012. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience.

Release Date:1978-01-14

Character:Self

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:7

The Secret Policeman's Ball

A series of benefit shows staged initially in the United Kingdom to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International. The shows started in 1976 featuring popular British comedians but later included leading musicians and actors. The Secret Policeman's Ball shows are credited by many prominent entertainers with having galvanised them to become involved with Amnesty and other social and political causes in succeeding years.

Release Date:1976-04-01

Character:Self

Episode Count:15

Vote Count:1

Play for Today

Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.

Release Date:1970-10-15

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Denis Midgley

Episode Count:2

Vote Count:8

Every Home Should Have One

Teddy works for a large advertising company. Given the seemingly impossible task of selling frozen porridge, he decides to produce commercials that make the product seem sexy. This leads him to confrontation with the "Keep Television Clean" movement, of which his wife is a senior member.

Release Date:1970-03-05

Character:Defence Solicitor

Vote Count:17

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland (1966) is a BBC television play based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. It was directed by Jonathan Miller, then most widely known for his appearance in the long-running satirical revue Beyond the Fringe.

Release Date:1966-12-28

Character:Mouse

Vote Count:26

On the Margin

On the Margin was a British satirical comedy sketch show written and performed by Alan Bennett and a regular cast including John Sergeant, Virginia Stride, Madge Hindle and Yvonne Gilan. Guest performers included John Fortune and Jonathan Miller. The show also featured songs and poems by John Betjeman and Philip Larkin. Each episode featured a mixture of sketches, some prophesying his later television dramas such as the quasi-soap, Streets Ahead, Life and Times in NW1, and more unexpectedly, serious poetry and music slots incorporating readings by Michael Hordern and Prunella Scales with archive footage of music-hall stars. This personalised nostalgic element distinguished On the Margin from other contemporary sketch shows, with Bennett's satirical swipes at Britain, integrated with his genuine love of its cultural heritage. It was directed by Sydney Lotterby, produced by Patrick Garland and was broadcast between 9 November and 14 December 1966 on BBC 2. It was repeated twice in 1967, but the tapes were wiped in the 1970s so the main surviving evidence of the series are the scripts. However, a compilation CD of audio extracts was released in 2009.

Release Date:1966-11-09

Episode Count:6

The Drinking Party

An interpretation of Plato's Symposium as a picnic organised by a University don for his students. Each guest is asked to explain the nature of love before the Don, through a series of questions, reaches a unifying conclusion.

Release Date:1965-11-14

Character:Eryximachus

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning during 1951 and continuing into 2013. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been shown in color, although color television video productions were extremely rare in 1954. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, though the program began with live telecasts of dramas and then changed to videotaped productions before finally changing to filmed ones. The series has received eighty Emmy Awards, twenty-four Christopher Awards, eleven Peabody Awards, nine Golden Globes, and four Humanitas Prizes. Once a common practice in American television, it is the last remaining television program such that the title includes the name of the sponsor. Unlike other long-running TV series still on the air, it differs in that it broadcasts only occasionally and not on a weekly broadcast programming schedule.

Release Date:1951-12-24

Character:Osric

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:6