Made in England

When his wife admits to having fantasies about another man, Dr Bill Harford becomes obsessively jealous and finds himself on a psychosexual odyssey through an erotic underworld in Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut (1999) . Kubrick cast married couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and recreated New York City on a Pinewood studios backlot in the longest shoot in film history. Eyes Wide Shu...

After the Oscar success of A Room With A View, Merchant-Ivory followed up with another E.M. Forster adaptation, Maurice (1987) . Maurice Hall (James Wilby) comes to terms with his sexuality in repressed Edwardian England, embarking on affairs with the aristocratic Clive Durham (Hugh Grant making his feature debut) and working class gamekeeper Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves). Directed and co-written b...

Ricky Tomlinson plays the first football manager from the lower leagues to get the England job in Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001).  Lapsed football journalist Hugo Greenhalgh joins to discuss the film.  Host: Jack McInroy   Guest: Hugo Greenhalgh   Theme music: Harlow Family Group  Films featured on upcoming episodes of Made in England: https://letterboxd.com/saintjac...

After the radio and television success of Hancock’s Half Hour, Tony Hancock made his big screen debut with The Rebel (1961) , playing a bored office clerk who trades the City of London for the Paris art scene. Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, directed by Robert Day.  Director Michael Cumming (Brass Eye, Toast of London) joins to discuss the film. Michael will be on tour with his film,...

John Boorman’s Excalibur (1981) is an epic retelling of the King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table myth with plenty of sex, violence and sumptuous visuals.  Filmmaking duo David and Nathan Zellner, whose movies include Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014) and Sasquatch Sunet (2024), join to discuss the film.  Bonus chat with the Zellner brothers about directing Showtime’s The Curse...

What if you woke up one day and nobody in the world could remember the Beatles except you? That is the premise of Yesterday (2019) , the film that united two of British cinema’s biggest names, director Danny Boyle’s and screenwriter Richard Curtis. With the Fab Four’s entire songbook at his disposal, can struggling singer-songwriter Jack Malick finally make it big?  Stephen Graham , musicolog...

The Elephant Man (1980) tells the story of John Merrick (John Hurt), a severely deformed man in Victorian-era London, saved from a freak show and brought into the care of Dr Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins) at the London Hospital. The film was nominated for eight Oscars. Directed by David Lynch following his debut film Eraserhead, The Elephant Man is sometimes seen as an outlier in his career, b...

Vivian Stanshall returned Rawlinson End, his influential comedy opus, throughout his career, first recording it as a BBC radio series in 1975, then as a record in 1978. The 1980 film adaptation, Sir Henry at Rawlinson End , stars Trevor Howard as the titular Sir Henry, an eccentric custodian of a crumbling British country estate who is trying to exorcise the trouserless ghost of his brother. ...

Cinema was born at the end of the nineteenth century and the early period saw great technical and artistic leaps. Georges Méliès, the Lumiere brothers and Thomas Edison are well known, but there are also a number of English pioneers were equally important. We discuss the works and technical innovations of the likes of R.W. Paul, G.A. Smith and Cecil Hepworth.  Novelist and film historian Chri...

Lindsay Anderson made his TV debut in 1979 with The Old Crowd, an Alan Bennett-scripted satire about an upper-middle class dinner party where cracks are appearing in the walls of George and Betty’s upper-middle class home, and in society at large.  Alex Cox, writer-director of Repo Man and Sid & Nancy, and original Moviedrome presenter, joins Jack McInroy to discuss the film.  Alex i...

A British pilot falls in love with an American radio operator in the moments before his plane crashlands, and his survival causes turmoil in the heavenly realm. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s World War II fantasy-romance A Matter of Life and Death (1946) is one of the most beloved British films ever made, ranking 78th in Sight & Sound magazine’s poll of the greatest films ever made.&n...

Up the Junction, Nell Dunn’s 1963 short story collection about contemporary life in working class Battersea has been adapted twice, first by Ken Loach for the BBC’s Wednesday Play, broadcast in 1965, then as a big screen romantic drama for Paramount Pictures in 1968. While both films retain much of Dunn’s dialogue and the harrowing social issues she highlighted, the story and aesthetics between th...

After the cult success of The Football Factory, writer-director Nick Love and star Danny Dyer reunited for The Business (2005) , a crime thriller about cockney gangsters living in Spain’s Costa del Sol. Beloved by lads’ mags, the film is as much a time capsule of the mid-00s UK as it of 1980s, when it's set.  Jack McInroy is joined by novelist Nicolás Obregón to discuss the film.  Host:...

It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) is a rare example of a British noir film and a pioneering social drama where working class people take centre stage. Googie Withers plays Rose Sandigate, a frustrated housewife whose world is turned upside down when her former lover escapes from prison and seeks her help. Writer and journalist Darren Richman joins host Jack McInroy to discuss the film.  Host:...

Burning an Illusion (1981) , written and directed byMenelik Shabazz,is a landmark of UK cinema, often billed as the first British film to give a central voice to a black woman. The film follows 22-year-old Pat as she navigates relationship struggles, societal pressures and systemic racism. 30 years later, Steve McQueen’s film Lovers Rock would draw from a similar milieu.  Film curator Tega Ok...

The Guns of Navarone (1961) is a World War II adventure film that was a hit with audiences and Oscar voters alike. Gregory Peck heads a ragtag group of commandos, including David Niven, Anthony Quinn and Stanley Baker, on a mission to destroy Nazi guns on an island in the Aegean Sea.  Jack McInroy is joined by illustrator and comics writer Owen Pomery to discuss the film. Owen’s latest book,...

Dead Man’s Shoes (2004) is Shane Meadows’ and Paddy Considine’s back-to-basics revenge thriller about a soldier who heads back to his home town in the Derbyshire countryside to deal with the bullies who mistreated his brother. As the film celebrates its 20th anniversary, Jack McInroy is joined by arts journalist Paul Wilson to discuss the film.  Host: Jack McInroy Guest: Paul Wilson  The...

Two Way Stretch (1960) is not an Ealing comedy, but its sharp script, big laughs and magnetic Peter Sellers performance make it worthy of being ranked alongside the best of them. Jack McInroy is joined by comedian and podcaster Nathaniel Metcalfe to discuss the film.  Host: Jack McInroy Guest: Nathaniel Metcalfe Theme music: Harlow Family Group  Films featured on upcoming episodes of Mad...

All of Us Strangers (2023) is written and directed by Andrew Haigh (Weekend, 45 Years) and stars Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell and Claire Foy.  Jack McInroy is joined by John Grindrod , author of Iconicon , Outskirts and Concretopia , to discuss the film.  Host: Jack McInroy Guest: John Grindrod Theme music: Harlow Family Group  Films featured on upcoming episodes of Made in...

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