johns-list's - Rented
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As popular as it was controversial, Johnny Speight's classic sitcom satirised the less acceptable aspects of entrenched working-class culture and the generation gap, creating a sea change in television comedy that influenced just about every sitcom that followed. As relevant today as when first transmitted, Speight's liberal attitude to comedy shone a light on some of the more unsavoury aspects of our national character to great effect. As Speight himself said: "I didn't create Alf Garnett - I just grassed on him". Starring Warren Mitchell as highly opinionated, true-blue bigot Alf Garnett, 'Till Death Us Do Part' sees him mouthing off on race, immigration, party politics and any other issues that take his fancy. His rantings meet fierce opposition in the form of his left-wing, Liverpudlian layabout son-in-law Mike, while liberal daughter Rita despairs, and long-suffering wife Else occasionally wields a sharp put-down of her own. Though all colour episodes exist, many early black and white episodes were wiped decades ago. The recent recovery of the episode 'Intolerance', however, alongside off-air audio recordings made on original transmission allow us to present a complete run of all seven series. - Director:
- Dennis Main-Wilson
- Cast:
- Warren Mitchell, Anthony Booth, Una Stubbs
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Following on from the highly acclaimed Tales of the City, revisit the laughter, tears, and nail-biting suspense of Armistead Maupin's beloved bestseller in 1970s San Francisco with More Tales of the City. In this series, Mona Ramsey finds herself on a cross-country trip to investigate the secrets of her past. Michael 'Mouse' Tolliver and Mary Ann Singleton go on a cruise and meet lovers old and new. Back in San Francisco, Brian Hawkins becomes involved with a mysterious woman he spots from his window, and DeDe Halcyon Day becomes acquainted with a new friend who helps her discover her true inner feelings. - Director:
- Pierre Gang
- Cast:
- Olympia Dukakis, Laura Linney, Colin Ferguson
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In a unique experiment historian Ruth Goodman, Professor of Pharmacy Nick Barber and PhD student Tom Quick open the doors to an authentic Victorian Pharmacy. They recreate the birth and evolution of a high street institution we take for granted, but which was once a novel idea. They source ingredients, mix potions and dispense cures. But in an age when skin creams contained arsenic and cold medicines were based on opium, the team need to be highly selective. An age of social change is revealed. The Victorians brought healthcare within the reach of ordinary people for the very first time, and heralded a consumer revolution that reached far beyond medicine to create the model for the modern high street chemist as we know it today. - Director:
- Pete Cooksley
- Cast:
- Nick Barber, Stephen Noonan, Ruth Goodman
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"Armchair Theatre" was ITV's flagship drama anthology series. Initially screened between 1956 and 1973 it was hugely popular, with viewing figures occasionally reaching twenty million, and became a byword for quality in televised drama. Pioneering, immensely influential and sometimes challenging in its content, the series consistently drew upon a wide range of talent. 'Armchair Theatre' became a showcase for the post-war generation of British writers who sought to place sensitive social topics - in particular the British class system - under the microscope. Throughout, the series featured a number of powerful, awardwinning plays, and its lasting influence was a testament to producer Sydney Newman's passionate belief in television's potential to bring high-quality drama to the viewing public. For the first time, this collection brings together eight plays, broadcast between 1970 and 1973. Featuring scripts by Colin Welland (his BAFTA-winning Say Goodnight to Your Grandma), Ian Kennedy-Martin, Fay Weldon, Roy Clarke and Brendan Behan's brother Dominic, the plays feature key performances from accomplished television actors including Tom Bell, Billie Whitelaw, Richard Beckinsale, Peter Barkworth, Rita Tushingham and Beryl Reid. - Director:
- Jim Goddard
- Cast:
- Susan Jameson, Colin Welland, Madge Ryan
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Armchair Theatre Archive: Vol.2 (1967)Worm in the Bud (1959) / Invasion (1963) / The Chocolate Tree (1963) / What's Wrong With Humpty Dumpty? (1967)
Pioneering, immensely influential and often challenging, 'Armchair Theatre' was ITV's flagship drama anthology series. Bringing high-quality drama to the viewing public, the series easily demonstrated the network's potential to rival the BBC's drama output, with diverse and powerful plays showcasing some of Britain's most gifted writers. This release comprises four plays featuring performances by some of the era's most celebrated and accomplished actors - including Barry Foster, Joseph Tomelty, Patrick Wymark, Athene Seyler, Clive Morton, Zena Walker, Earl Cameron, Donald Houston, Katharine Blake and Lynn Redgrave.
Featured Plays:
- Worm in the Bud (1959)
- The Invasion (1963)
- The Chocolate Tree (1963)
- What's Wrong With Humpty Dumpty? (1967)- Director:
- Charles Jarrott
- Cast:
- Katharine Blake, John Clark, Donald Houston
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Five distinct stories formatted by Jimmy Mcgovern about people making life-changing decisions.
- Director:
- Gary Williams
- Cast:
- Emma Lowndes, Lauren Leak-Smith, Dominic Senior
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In the free-wheeling San Francisco of the 1970s, fresh-faced Midwesterner Mary Ann Singleton arrives for a visit and, on the spur of the moment, decides to stay. When she moves into the funky apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane, she realises how far from home she really is. Based on Armistead Maupin's groundbreaking novel Tales of the City features an eclectic cast of characters in search of love across the whole spectrum of sexual experience and evokes a unique time and place where drugs, sex, and intrigue abound. Behind the Scenes: Tales of the City tales of the City Production Notes - Director:
- Alastair Reid
- Cast:
- Olympia Dukakis, Donald Moffat, Chloe Webb
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Martin Clunes returns as the bored sales executive Reggie Perrin, an average man finding it increasingly difficult to put up with the monotony of life. Out of the ashes of his breakdown, Reggie Perrin creeps back from the brink with a new zest for his once monotonous life. The once-frustrated commuter and disposable razor sales executive has come up with an alternative plan - one where he can bail out of his misery-inducing career and finally live for the moment. Then, in a moment of red mist, his wife Nicola (Fay Ripley) loses her teaching job and Reggie's laid-back new lifestyle of oil painting, pointless therapy and baking is under threat. Reggie is sucked back into the world of men's personal grooming, but this time he's armed with the freedom to do as he wishes... - Director:
- Dominic Brigstocke
- Cast:
- Martin Clunes, Fay Ripley, Neil Stuke
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Nanking Massacre (2007)Nanking
"Nanking Massacre" tells the story of the rape of Nanking, one of the most tragic events in history. In 1937, the invading Japanese army murdered over 200,000 and raped tens of thousands of Chinese. In the midst of the horror, a small group of Western expatriates banded together to save 250,000 - an act of extraordinary heroism. Bringing an event little-known outside of Asia to a global audience, "Nanking Massacre" shows the tremendous impact individuals can make on the course of history. It is a gripping account of light in the darkest of times. - Director:
- Bill Guttentag
- Cast:
- Hugo Armstrong, Rosalind Chao, Stephen Dorff
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A modern-day take on the classic 1970s comedy The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, this contemporary sitcom shows the 21st Century to be just as frustrating, ludicrous and tedious for Reggie Perrin, a sales executive teetering hilariously and precariously on the edge of sanity. Reggie's realisation that he has worked at male-grooming firm, Groomtech, for 10 years leaves him feeling increasingly frustrated and alienated. His teacher wife Nicola (Fay Ripley) is too busy for him and the daily commute and sheer tedium of his nine-to-five existence soon takes its toll. Reggie starts to lose himself in increasingly vivid and surreal flights of fancy. Before long, Reggie begins to unravel and say what he really thinks to his wife, his boss, his fellow commuters... and, most dangerously of all, to his new colleague, the beautiful Jasmine Strauss. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Martin Clunes, Fay Ripley, Neil Stuke
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Q.: Vol.2 (1980)Q.: Vol 2: Series 4-5 (Q8 and Q9)
BAFTA-winning director Ray Butt (Only Fools and Horses) takes the helm for the final two series of Spike Milligan's anarchic sketch show, recorded in front of - and occasionally featuring - a wide-eyed studio audience. Q's 8 and 9 were made in quick succession in 1979 and 1980 after the BBC initially delayed re-commissioning the series until the 'Monty Python' team departed TV-land. This was despite the impact the original Q5 of 1969 had on the world of alternative comedy. At a time when Kenny Everett and 'Not the Nine O'Clock News' were further testing the limits of TV comedy, the former Goon leads a cast of co-performers including John Bluthal, Bob Todd, Julia Breck, Alan Clare and a self-parodying David Lodge in yet more surreal, outrageous and determinedly under-prepared sketches. Running gags and familiar tropes prevail, with Adolf Hitler, Arab sheiks, idiot Boy Scouts and the Royal Family subject to scattergun ridicule, while musical interludes from Spike, pianist Ed Welch and occasional guest singers age the shows a little more harshly than the main man s virulently anti-PC humour. - Director:
- Ray Butt
- Cast:
- Spike Milligan, Tony Gubba, John Bluthal
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Follow the trials and tribulations of one of TV comedy's greatest creations in this complete collection of all three series. All the episodes, over 10 hours of classic comedy. From his days at Sunshine Desserts with boss C.J. through the rise and fall of his Grot empire where everything sold was guaranteed completely useless, to the creation of a commune that saw him reunited with all his old workmates. - Director:
- John Howard-Davies
- Cast:
- Leonard Rossiter, Pauline Yates, Geoffrey Palmer
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Set against the stunning backdrop of the Canadian Rockies in the idyllic but troubled town of Little Big Bear, 'Tin Star' unleashes a cinematic, sometimes blackly comic, thrill ride of a story. At the heart of the show is a virtuoso performance from Tim Roth, who plays Jim Worth - an expat British police chief who has come to Canada to start a new life. However, his much-longed-for peace and tranquillity is shattered when a family member is brutally murdered in a horrifying act of seemingly random violence. This one moment unleashes the demon of his dark alcoholic past as Worth embarks on a path of bloody vengeance, setting in motion a lethal chain of events with devastating consequences for those caught up in the wreckage of his former life. - Director:
- Rowan Joffe
- Cast:
- Tim Roth, Genevieve O'Reilly, Christina Hendricks
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Q.: Vol.1 (1978)Q.: Vol.1: Series 1-3 (Q5, Q6, Q7)
Relive the early days of Spike Milligan's madcap comedy series. Get set for a hilarious stop-motion standing still race, meet Jehovah's burglars, converse with the Queen's chicken, engage with highly dubious, diplomatically immune Arab sheiks, and take the disaster holiday of a lifetime with Bermuda Triangle Tours. Rarely seen surviving episodes of the 1969 series Q5 feature seasoned satirists John Wells and Richard Ingrams, Fanny Carby as the prototype sexy foil, and the guest voice of Harry Secombe trapped inside an elephant. As the show resumes in 1975 and 1978 with Q6 and Q7, Spike and John Bluthal are joined by Peter Jones, Bob Todd, Chris Langham, John 'it's the little things that count' Rappaport and a busty and barely clad Julia Breck. Bawdiness and borderline bad taste prevail, mixed in with musical numbers by Ed Welch, Alan Clare, Spike himself and other star performers. Gloriously frivolous and edgy gags and sketches from an undisputed comedy genius and his faithful cohorts. - Director:
- Ray Butt
- Cast:
- Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan, John Bluthal
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Based on a true story, Michael Landon stars as foreign journalist John Everingham who returns to war-ravaged Laos to rescue the woman he loves. Convicted of spying due to a confession given under torture and expelled from the country, Everingham plots with his friend Derek McBracken (Edward Woodward) to free his love, the beautiful Keo (Moira Chen). The only undetectable way back into Laos is the daring and dangerous route of swimming the Mekong River and avoiding the communist guard patrols both on land and water. Capture means certain death but he is willing to risk everything to rescue his one true love. - Director:
- Hall Bartlett
- Cast:
- Michael Landon, Laura Gemser, Jürgen Prochnow
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