Reel Britannia

Taking the City to the Cleaners For our next outing on the Reel Britannia podcast, we are grabbing our mops and buckets for a wonderfully inventive slice of 1963 British comedy, Ladies Who Do.   Directed by C.M. Pennington-Richards and penned by the writing duo of Michael Pertwee and John Bignall, the film follows a formidable crew of London charwomen—led by the irrepressible Mrs. Rubin (Miriam Ka...

Jogging On with the Ultimate Angry Young Man For episode 205 of the Reel Britannia podcast, we're lacing up our running shoes and taking a rather defiant jog into the heart of the British New Wave with Tony Richardson's 1962 classic, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.   Adapted by Alan Sillitoe from his own celebrated short story, the film introduces us to Colin Smith, played with smoulde...

All at Sea with a Slightly Different Crew For episode 204 of the Reel Britannia podcast, we are taking to the high seas and hoisting the mainsail for the 1964 nautical romp, Carry On Jack.   The story follows the earnest but hopelessly inept Albert Poop-Decker (the brilliant Bernard Cribbins), who takes a commission as a midshipman on the frigate Venus. Naturally, things go pear-shaped before he e...

A Licence to Confuse and a Swinging Sixties Spectacle For episode 203 of the Reel Britannia podcast, we are tumbling down a deeply psychedelic cinematic rabbit hole with the delightfully baffling 1967 spoof, Casino Royale.   The premise, should you choose to try and follow it, sees the original, legendary Sir James Bond (David Niven) coaxed out of a genteel retirement to take down the nefarious sy...

Digging Up Trouble Behind Enemy Lines For episode 202 of the Reel Britannia podcast, we're trading our civvies for khaki and marching straight into the chaotic world of a genuine British comedy icon. This time around, the team is discussing the 1958 Norman Wisdom classic, The Square Peg.   Directed by John Paddy Carstairs and written by Jack Davies, the film follows the hapless road mender Norman...

Dublin soul, magnificent music and enough creative differences to sink a small record label. This episode was recorded a couple of weeks ago, before the terribly sad news of Glen Hansard's death earlier this week. We remember him with great affection as Outspan Foster, one of the unforgettable faces and voices at the heart of The Commitments. Dublin has the music. Jimmy Rabbitte has the ambition....

Fletch Gets Out. Getting Back In Is the Tricky Bit. For its landmark 200th episode, Reel Britannia is heading behind bars for Porridge – The Movie, the 1979 big-screen outing for one of Britain's best-loved television comedies. Ronnie Barker returns as the wily Norman Stanley Fletcher, still doing his best to serve his sentence with the minimum possible effort. Alongside him is Richard Beckinsale...

When the crooks and the coppers join forces, London's criminal underworld is in very confused hands. For Episode 199, Reel Britannia slips into the sharply dressed, cheerfully crooked world of The Wrong Arm of the Law, a 1963 British crime comedy in which the nation's criminals discover that even dishonesty was better organised in the old days. Peter Sellers stars as Pearly Gates, a suave London g...

Hammer opens the door to a nightmare where every shadow has a secret. For the latest episode of Reel Britannia, we step into the chilly corridors and troubled dreams of Nightmare, Hammer's 1964 psychological thriller from director Freddie Francis and writer Jimmy Sangster. This is Hammer without the fangs, capes, castles, or buckets of Kensington Gore. Instead, it gives us something colder and mor...

Episode 197 - The Tall Guy (1989) "What in the name of Judas Iscariot's bumboy is going on?"  Dexter King (Jeff Goldblum) is an awkward American actor stranded in London, suffering from severe hay fever and a chronic case of career stagnation. His day job consists of being repeatedly humiliated on stage as the hapless straight man to Ron Anderson (Rowan Atkinson), a spectacularly arrogant and inse...

Episode 196 - School For Scoundrels (1960) "Hard cheese old boy!" School for Scoundrels is one of those wonderfully sharp British comedies that takes something faintly ridiculous and plays it with a completely straight face, which of course makes it even funnier. Released in 1960, it follows Henry Palfrey, a polite, mild-mannered man who seems to be permanently stuck on the losing side of life. He...

Episode 195 - Home At Seven (1952) He came home on time... a day too late. Home at Seven is a neatly unsettling British mystery that begins with one of the simplest ideas imaginable and turns it into something deeply unnerving. David Preston, a mild-mannered bank clerk, arrives home after work expecting an ordinary evening with his wife. Instead, he is met with shock, confusion and growing alarm,...

Episode 194 - Go To Blazes (1962) "So many firms nowadays prefer conflagration to liquidation." If you are looking for a cracking way to spend eighty minutes, Go to Blazes is a proper hidden gem of British cinema. It has that pitch-perfect 1962 atmosphere—stylish, colourful, and just a touch rebellious. The plot is an absolute hoot: three ambitious but slightly dim-witted crooks decide the ultimat...

Taste Of Fear / Scream Of Fear (1961) "You say my mind is affecting my legs. You're wrong. It's my legs that are affecting my mind." Taste of Fear, released in 1961 and also known in some territories as Scream of Fear, is one of those wonderfully chilly British thrillers that shows just how much tension can be created without a drop of gore. Directed by Seth Holt for Hammer Films, it stands slight...

Episode 192 - To Sir WIth Love (1967) "If you must play these filthy games, do them in your homes, and not in my classroom!" Set against the vibrant, swinging backdrop of 1960s London, To Sir, With Love is a timeless feel-good classic that radiates warmth and optimism. The film stars the legendary Sidney Poitier as Mark Thackeray, an unemployed engineer who takes a temporary teaching position at a...

Episode 191 - The L Shaped Room (1962) "You've had eight over the eight, you lovely bit of crumpet, you!" Directed by Bryan Forbes and based on the novel by Lynne Reid Banks, The L-Shaped Room is a quintessential example of British "kitchen sink" realism. The film tells the poignant story of Jane Fosset (played by Leslie Caron in a BAFTA-winning performance), a young French woman who arrives in Lo...

Episode 190 - Carry On Cabby (1963) "I wonder if I've got the right soap? I can't remember if it was green for oily skin or oily for green skin." "Carry On Cabby" is widely celebrated as one of the most heartwarming and narrative-driven treasures in the famous franchise. Stepping away from the purely episodic sketches of its predecessors, this 1963 classic delivers a genuinely sweet romantic comed...

Episode 189 - You Only Live Twice (1967) "I must say, you have a lot of energy for a dead man, Mister Bond." Get ready for the ultimate 1960s spy spectacle! You Only Live Twice (1967) isn't just a movie; it is a massive, colourful adventure that takes Sean Connery's James Bond to the vibrant landscapes of Japan for one of his most ambitious missions ever. From the opening moments, the film radiate...

Episode 188 - Just My Luck (1957) "Choose Your Entertainment With "WISDOM"!!" Just My Luck (1957) is a sparkling slice of postwar British comedy that captures both the optimism and the charm of its era. Starring the ever-appealing Norman Wisdom as Norman Hackett, a humble jeweller's apprentice with big dreams, the film follows his hapless but heartfelt attempts to turn his fortunes around. Norman,...

Episode 187 - Hammer Britannia 022 - The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb (1964) "He's living in the past! This is 1900, you have to think modern." Dust off your fez and grab your torch! If you're in the mood for a splendidly spooky adventure that oozes 1960s charm, look no further than Hammer's 1964 classic, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb. This film is a pure, unadulterated slice of gothic fun, a wonderf...

Episode 186 - Campbell's Kingdom (1957) "Rugged Wildcatters...Fighting The Treacherous Might Of The Canadian Rockies" Grab your parka and get ready for a trip to the Canadian Rockies, because 1957's Campbell's Kingdom is a gloriously old-school adventure that absolutely bursts with high-stakes drama and breathtaking scenery. If you're in the mood for a classic "ripping yarn," this is the film for...

Episode 185 - Miranda (1948) "You've hated me ever since I set tail in this house." In the canon of post-war British comedy, there are grand spectacles and quiet character studies. And then, every so often, there's a film so completely, cheerfully absurd that it defies category. Miranda (1948) is one such treasure, a fantasy-comedy that is as polished and witty as it is delightfully naughty. It's...

Episode 184- In The Name Of The Father (1993) "You got 15 years of blood and sweat and pain from my client - whose only crime was that he was bloody well Irish. And he was foolish, and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time!" Based on the powerful true story of the Guildford Four, In the Name of the Father (1993) is a gripping legal and personal drama chronicling a devastating miscarriage of...

Episode 183 - Boiling Point (2021) "I do not get paid enough to deal with this shit." The 2021 British film "Boiling Point" offers a raw and immersive look into the high-pressure environment of a professional kitchen, captured in a single, continuous take. Directed by Philip Barantini, who co-wrote the screenplay with James Cummings, the film is a technical marvel that amplifies the relentless str...

Episode 182 - All Night Long (1962) "Me? Oh, I belong to that new minority group: white American jazz musicians. They're going to hold a mass meeting in a phone booth." Get ready to step into the coolest party of 1962. Basil Dearden's All Night Long is a cinematic powder keg, a film that brilliantly transplants Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Othello into the vibrant, smoke-filled world of the Londo...