smw's - Rented List
-
"Ackley Bridge" returns for a fourth season -xu with more irreverent and emotionally charged stories. Newly appointed headteacher, Martin (Robert James-Collier) grapples with the mounting demands of his job as well as a crumbling marriage, all while trying to keep the head of the Valley Trust, Ken Weaver (George Potts) off his back. Kaneez (Sunetra Sarker) has settled into her role as Head of Student Support, but she's also juggling with the guardianship of her complicated 15-year-old nephew, Tahir (Shobhit Piasa), who arrives from Manchester to stay with the Paracha's (Nazmeen Kauser)'s and joins the classmates of Ackley Bridge College. Plus there could be trouble in paradise - all's been well between her and Rashid (Tony Jayawardena), but can they get through the visit of his difficult mother Zainab (Leena Dhingra) who comes to stay from Lahore? - Director:
- Ethosheia Hylton
- Cast:
- Carla Woodcock, Robyn Cara, Robert James-Collier
- Formats:
-
-
Public schoolmaster Andrew Crocker-Harris (Michael Redgrave) has become a bitter, disillusioned man. Stuck in a loveless marriage with a wife Millie (Jean Kent) who openly cheats on him, the enthusiasm he once showed for his career and his pupils has long since vanished and The Crock' has become a figure of disdain among the students whose life he has made a misery. With ill-health forcing him to resign his long-standing post, a simple act of kindness from one boy has a profound impact on the seemingly heartless master. - Director:
- Anthony Asquith
- Cast:
- Michael Redgrave, Jean Kent, Nigel Patrick
- Formats:
-
-
This gripping psychological drama stars Emily Watson as dedicated forensic psychiatrist, Emma Robertson, who is assigned to work with Connie Mortensen (Denise Gough), a wife and mother accused of a despicable crime. Her assessment of the so-called 'yummy mummy monster's' sanity will determine whether Connie faces life in jail, life in a secure psychiatric hospital, or the chance of rehabilitation and release. Emma hopes that the high-profile case will make her career, but her sessions with Connie quickly become a complex psychological game of cat and mouse with confusing sexual undercurrents. Connie has a searing insight into Emma's insecurities and brutally exploits them. Can Emma see to it that justice is done without destroying herself in the process? - Director:
- Susan Tully
- Cast:
- Emily Watson, Denise Gough, Thalissa Teixeira
- Formats:
-
-
Meis is fifteen, lives in the back of beyond and aspires to a grand and stirring life, dreaming of love and sex with a fantasy figure "Brad". Meis is not the only one dreaming of escape: her whole family seem to be waiting and dreaming of escape to a better life. During one of Meis' forbidden, dangerous nocturnal visits to a half-collapsed bridge, deliverance finally arrives as she witnesses a car crash - and from the wreckage emerges a young man about 19 years old. - Director:
- Tamar van den Dop
- Cast:
- Gaite Jansen, Tamar van den Dop, Bob Schwarze
- Formats:
-
-
Series 8 of BBC One's 'Call the Midwife' continues to explore complex medical and personal stories on the midwifery and district nursing rounds. It is now 1964 and times are changing, from the introduction of the contraceptive pill and the availability of a new cancer-screening programme, to the building of high-rise tower blocks. The nuns and nurses continue to face a variety of challenging issues including cleft palate, sickle cell and illegal abortion. And for one of the team, romance could be on the horizon. - Director:
- Syd Macartney
- Cast:
- Vanessa Redgrave, Miriam Margolyes, Leonie Elliott
- Formats:
-
-
Age of Innocence (1977)Ragtime Summer
Henry Buchanan (David Warner), travels from England to teach in a small Canadian town. His outspoken views on the evil of war causes a ripple in the town, and when it is discovered that he was a conscientious objector in World War I, the citizens of the town are outraged. But it's his friendships with both the enigmatic rich divorcee Mrs. Boswell (Honor Blackman) and Clarissa (Trudy Young), the daughter of the town's most prominent citizen, that will get Henry into the most trouble of all... - Director:
- Alan Bridges
- Cast:
- David Warner, Honor Blackman, Trudy Young
- Formats:
-
-
The year is 1963, and the midwives find themselves tested both personally and professionally as never before. Together, they face challenging issues including leprosy, stroke and Huntingdon's disease, all while fighting their own personal battles. Nurse Crane (Linda Bassett) finds her authority questioned from an unexpected quarter, Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt) is forced to accept her failing faculties, and the much-loved characters are joined by West Indian midwife Lucille Anderson (Leonie Elliott) - a compassionate and clever nurse who brings a fresh burst of energy to life at Nonnatus House. - Director:
- Syd Macartney
- Cast:
- Vanessa Redgrave, Jenny Agutter, Linda Bassett
- Formats:
-
-
Barbara (Margaret Lockwood) after stealing her best friend's fiance and marrying him, becomes bored with her life in a country mansion and takes to highway robbery as a thrilling way to put some excitement into her life. One night she meets the dashing Captain Jackson (James Mason), a fellow highwayman, and the two embark on a passionate and nocturnal affair. Barbara's unusual habit of sleeping all day does not go unnoticed, and when she is recognised as a robber; she turns to murder to keep her secret. - Director:
- Leslie Arliss
- Cast:
- Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, Patricia Roc
- Formats:
-
-
It is now 1962, and the Nonnatus House team are as committed to caring for the people of Poplar as ever. However, the social revolution in the outside world is mirrored by change and challenge much closer to home. As they strive to help mothers and families cope with the demands of childbearing, disability, disease and social prejudice, our beloved medics must make choices - and fight battles - of their own. Series six will see them laugh together, cry together, and pull together, supporting each other as never before. - Director:
- Syd Macartney
- Cast:
- Vanessa Redgrave, Alice Brown, Laura Main
- Formats:
-
-
Director Ridley Scott, who created two of Hollywood's most stylish adventure thrillers, Alien and Blade Runner, hits the mark again in Black Rain. Academy Award winner Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia play New York cops whose job to escort a vicious assassin back to his native Japan leads the two Americans into Osaka's exotic underworld and right into the middle of a raging, brutal 'Yakuza' gangland battle. - Director:
- Ridley Scott
- Cast:
- Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, Ken Takakura
- Formats:
-
-
Crossfire (2012)Freelancers
When fresh faced NYPD police recruit Jonas (Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson) is taken under grizzled Police veteran Sarcone's (Robert DeNiro) wing, he is dragged into a dangerous world of drugs, violence and corruption. Quickly losing control and with the bloodshed intensifying, he is offered a way out, but at a price... Will he risk everything for the truth or get caught in the crossfire? - Director:
- Jessy Terrero
- Cast:
- 50 Cent, Robert De Niro, Forest Whitaker
- Formats:
-
-
The hugely successful series starring Jenny Agutter, Pam Ferris, Helen George and Linda Bassett returns with more touching and compelling stories from the nurses and nuns of Nonnatus House. In this series Sister Monica Joan goes missing at Christmas time leaving the nuns and nurses distraught. Trixie, having battled through her issues with alcohol, finds a new purpose in her keep fit classes. And could friendship blossom into something more for vicar Tom Hereward and Barbara? Meanwhile, a string of babies born with severe and devastating deformities, casts a dark shadow over the entire team at Nonnatus House as they struggle to understand why. - Director:
- Juliet May
- Cast:
- Vanessa Redgrave, Jack Ashton, Judy Parfitt
- Formats:
-
-
Hummingbird (2013)Redemption
Jason Statham gives the performance of his career as Joey, an ex-Special Forces officer who comes home from the Afghan war a shattered man. Broke, homeless, lost in a haze of drugs and booze, he attempts to piece his life back together with the help of Sister Cristina, a nun helping the poor. But when he is employed as a collector for a local mob boss, Joey learns the identity of a friend's murderer and, bent on revenge, finds himself sinking deeper into a dark world of violence... - Director:
- Steven Knight
- Cast:
- Jason Statham, Agata Buzek, Vicky McClure
- Formats:
-
-
Mary Justin is secure in her rather placid marriage to Howard. But when she meets her old lover, Steven Stratton, she starts to fall in love again. Torn between real love and security. Mary remains with her husband, who is willing to forgive her affair on the understanding that she and Steven never meet again. Nine years later, Mary accidentally meets Steven and her life lakes a dramatic turn. - Director:
- David Lean
- Cast:
- Ann Todd, Claude Rains, Trevor Howard
- Formats:
-
-
David Rintoul returns as Doctor John Finlay in this second series of the medical drama set in the fictional town of Tannochbrae in the forties. Doctor Finlay is continuing to grapple with a heavy workload and the final difficulties of post- war life. His problems are not helped by the semi-retirement of his former partner Doctor Cameron and his strained relationship with Doctor Neil who is beginning to have second thoughts about his future in the Arden House practice. Meanwhile, Janet is also concerned about the future state of the practice as she prepares for her wedding to Angus Livingstone. Filmed entirely on location and based on the characters created by Scots author AJ Cronin, ITV 1'st production of Doctor Finlay updates the popular series of the 1960s - Doctor Finlay's Casebook - brilliantly evoking life in postwar rural Scotland while capturing the fascinating world of country medicine. - Director:
- Patrick Lau
- Cast:
- David Rintoul, Annette Crosbie, Ian Bannen
- Formats:
-