Alison Steadman

As a collection of history's worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them.

Follow Robbie Williams' journey from childhood, to being the youngest member of chart-topping boyband Take That, through to his unparalleled achievements as a record-breaking solo artist – all the while confronting the challenges that stratospheric fame and success can bring.

An account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences with his band of misfits.

A mad scientist ignores each of his creations when he shifts his attention to the next monster. His first creation, Stitch Head, searching for purpose, takes it upon himself to look after all the other monsters.

After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense, a successful black optometrist, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to Cynthia, a working class white woman.

A cinema remake of the classic sitcom Dad's Army (1968). The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon deal with a visiting female journalist and a German spy as World War II draws to its conclusion.

Just north of London live Wendy, Andy, and their twenty-something twins, Natalie and Nicola. Wendy clerks in a shop, Andy is a cook who forever puts off home remodeling projects, Natalie is a plumber and Nicola is jobless. This film is about how they interact and play out family, conflict and love.

It’s five years since Nessa declared her love for Smithy – and a lot has happened since. Journey to Barry and Billericay to catch up with the gang for the very last time.

For nearly a decade, Gilbert and Sullivan’s collaborations have delighted the English people. But in 1884, as a London heat wave cuts into the theater trade, their latest work, "Princess Ida", receives lukewarm press. In an effort to reconcile their creative differences and drawing inspiration from Japanese culture, they went on to create the hit opera "The Mikado", one of the duo's greatest successes.

Orphaned by smallpox, young Lancashire country lady Fanny Hill cheerfully accepts her friend Esther Davies's offer to join the London 'working girls' with Mrs. Brown, a madam who recruits her as charmingly fresh enough to wait, in-living, on gentlemen.

The turbulent personal and professional life of actor Peter Sellers (1925-1980), from his beginnings as a comic performer on BBC Radio to his huge success as one of the greatest film comedians of all time; an obsessive artist so dedicated to his work that neglected his loved ones and sacrificed part of his own personality to convincingly create that of his many memorable characters.

Short immortalising Barry Cryer's 10 favourite jokes.

A mockumentary that follows three couples as they battle it out to win the coveted title of 'Most Original Wedding of the Year'.

When a corrupt American businessman tries to strong arm his way into businesses in Newcastle, England, he is thwarted by a club attendant and his waitress girlfriend.

Wondering what has happened to herself, now feeling stagnant and in a rut, Shirley Valentine finds herself regularly talking to the wall while preparing her husband's chips and egg. When her best friend wins a trip-for-two to Greece Shirley begins to see the world, and herself, in a different light.

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.

As Nessa and the Wests head to Essex to spend Christmas with the Shipmans, Gavin and Stacey have a startling announcement to make.

Amy is home for the holidays, and Rachel is determined to engineer a classic Jessop family Christmas

Rachel's ambitious plans to hold a New Year party like those of old - together with Paul's determination to finally please his family after years of unimpressive fireworks displays - get corrupted; on Robin's suggestion, the family AirBNBs their own home in order to fund a New Year's Eve getaway to somewhere startlingly alike in suburban quality, with Paul's persistent boil necessitating the prerequisite of a sauna to quell it for good - which renders itself available in an unconventional method. Sue finds herself new friends in a slimmers' club whose activities seem directly antithetical to the group's aims, while Sam discovers the complexity of relationships after a mix-up results in an offensive gift to his new girlfriend.

Roald & Beatrix, the tail of the curious mouse, a heart-warming Christmas film inspired by the true encounter between a six-year-old Roald Dahl and his idol Beatrix Potter. A magical story of what really can happen when you are brave enough to follow your dreams. Joining Dawn French who plays Beatrix, the cast includes Jessica Hynes, Rob Brydon, Alison Steadman, Nina Sosanya, Bill Bailey and Nick Mohammed.

Chris Shepherd directs a short animation in tribute to Joe Orton (Entertaining Mr Sloane, Loot) to mark the 50th anniversary of his death. Joe Orton would write letters of complaint using the pseudonym of Edna Welthorpe. Using this persona, Orton would wind up companies, vicars and even ridicule his own plays. In this short we see what mayhem ensues when Edna writes to Smedley Jams and Littlewood home catalogue service.

15-year-old Jack is on a French Exchange trip with his school. But his mum won't stop ringing to check-up on him. On his last night, his host falls ill and Jack is forced to spend the last day of the trip with his French teacher; the sexy, chic, mysterious Camille. But she is due to endure a family lunch to celebrate her cantankerous father's birthday. Jack's young yet sophisticated philosophy charms Camille and as the day goes on they bond. Without realising, they help each other to overcome their parallel family problems, teaching Jack a few lessons along the way.

An uplifting and touching documentary special which tells the story of one of Britain's best loved sitcoms as it comes to an end after 17 years. Featuring unprecedented access to creators James Corden and Ruth Jones as well as the cast and crew, including filming the final episode as they all say goodbye to the much-cherished show.

Mike Lawton, Maurice Horton, and Melvin Orton are three men who come to Venice. One of them is a hit man sent to take out a mobster. Another is a lech looking for a little action with a woman he never met, whom he was set up with. And one of them was sent by his employer to inspect a property his boss wants to buy. All three men stay at the same hotel. But when the bellboy gets their names mixed up and gives info meant for someone else. So one of them meets a Realtor who will whatever she has to, to close the sale. And another follows a woman looking for romance. And another goes to the home of the mobster who thinks he's sent there to kill him.

School headmaster Brian Stimpson is obsessed with timeliness, order, and discipline. Brian misses his train after meticulously preparing a speech for an education conference. With no one else to turn to, he asks young former student Laura Wisely for a ride. Laura, upset over a break-up, agrees to drive him in her parents' car - which alarms her mother and father, who worry that she has run away with a married man and subsequently alert the police.

Near Christmas, Robert "Bob The Builder" McGraw Jr. and his machine team gang of talking construction vehicles are preparing for the Winter Christmas Holiday celebration season. Bob's twin brother Thomas "Tom The Zoologist" McGraw (who lives in the Arctic Circle near the North Pole) is coming for Christmas, Spud The Scarecrow is trying to be good to get presents and a big Christmas concert is coming up with the rock band Lenny Lazenby and the Lasers (including Elton John). but unfortunately, a huge ULTIMATE DISASTER has happened with the Christmas tree and the town hall has nearly smashed to SMITHEREENS!!. will the concert work out? will Tom get there for Christmas? will Spud be on the nice list? will the tree and the town hall be alright??? find out these answers, in "A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER".

An episode of the BBC drama series Second City Firsts. Jackie is leaving the army. While waiting for her car to arrive, she encounters Corporal Harvey, the woman who used to be her lover.

Boasting an amazing selection of the most watched, most influential and most highly acclaimed programmes ever made, The 50 Greatest Television Dramas presents a long overdue assessment of the rich heritage television drama has to offer. Channel 4 invited over 200 of Britain's top television drama professionals – writers, directors, producers and commissioners – to take part in an exclusive poll to discover what they consider the finest dramas ever produced.

Following the death of their friend, two girls in their late twenties embark on a road trip to spread his ashes. Seph and Alex take turns driving. Dan is in the glove compartment, in tupperware, decreasing in volume as the trip progresses.

Young couple Jackie and Leo move from North London to a suburban home in the green belt paradise of Southern England. At the birthday party of a neighbor, they soon discover the strict social hierarchies of village life.

Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie reunite for a TV special to mark the 30th anniversary of their partnership.

Summer, 1948. 14-year-old Alan has just three wishes: that there will be lasting peace, that England will win the Ashes, and that he will finally kiss classmate Ann. So when he's cast opposite her in a play that requires a kiss and England seem to be doing well in cricket, life couldn't be better.

Beverly and Laurence are entertaining their new neighbours, Angela and Tony as well as Sue, whose teenage daughter, Abigail, is having a party. Over drinks and small talk, class differences and relationship difficulties emerge.

Writer and Director Mike Leigh discusses the techniques used to create his plays.

The true story of jockey Bob Champion who overcame cancer to win the 1981 Grand National

A family comes to terms with tragic loss, exploring the psychological and practical implications. It raises awareness of the under-reported social issue of mental health in rural settings and how conversations about feelings prevent a spiral towards suicide.

A short comedy by Mike Leigh about the romance between a young woman and a man who communicates only through jokes and humor...

Santa and his helpers oversleep and risk causing a toy shortage at Christmas.

Mike comes home on leave from Ulster. After six years in the Army he has to decide whether to sign up again or not. His parents want him to leave the army and come home, but the family flare-ups and bickerings are not conducive to helping him choose.

A drama about a couple on the edge of divorce, their solicitors, their daughter and of course, their dog.

A gentle, sweet, funny, romantic story of love in later life. Following a couple in their sixties, Dave and Fern who get to know one another over the course of 23 dog walks. Set against the dramatic background of the changing seasons of one year.

The Ugly Duckling teams up with friend Scruffy, and the lovable misfits embark on a journey that helps them realize that their differences are what make them special.

Henry Wilt is a more or less failed teacher who fantasizes about murdering his dominant, non-attentive wife Eva. At a party who gets stuck in an inflatable doll and makes a complete fool of himself. Eventually, he dumps the doll in a hole at a building site. However, he has been witnessed getting rid of the doll and when his wife disappears on the night after the party, the police and Inspector Flint have strong suspicions on Mr Wilt.

The Snow Queen holds Ellie responsible for ruining her plans to freeze the world and sets out to seek revenge. She kidnaps Dimly the flying reindeer and once again Ellie and her friend Peeps the Sparrow are forced to travel, this time to the South Pole, where the Snow Queen and her Trolls have taken up residence.

The hardships faced by a woman trying to survive a bloody civil war while caring for the abandoned child of the deposed former ruler.

A middle-class couple go camping in Dorset, but peace and quiet elude them.

Ron and Tina's lives are changed when long lost friend Nina calls, reawakening memories of when Ron was the charismatic 'King of the Teds' and both women loved him. A painful question carried for forty years will finally be answered.

Royal Shakespeare Company's televised adaptation of Moliere's play with Antony Sher in the title role of Tartuffe.

The death of his safe cracking grandfather has landed Johnny as the only one left alive who can open a safe for a degenerate crew of violent gangsters,but he's just a junkie with little more on his mind than getting that next fix.

Comedy about a couple expecting their first baby.

In this spell-binding story brave Jack climbs the Beanstalk to the magical world of Beanland. He and his new friends Dilly (the small but fearless Bean girl) and Ambrose (the nervous donkey) are drawn into all sorts of exciting adventures as they attempt to rid the Beanland of the wicked Giant. This exciting and beautifully animated re-telling of the classic tale is filled with fun, humour and wonderful music to delight children of all ages time and time again.

A short satirical film devised by and starring Alan Rickman, Jim Broadbent and Alison Steadman about the seven sins of stage acting.

All grown up and gunning for political power in a small North Wales community, Glen Marcus and his best mate harbour a dark secret which seems to be coming back to haunt them. But can the daughter of Tina Trent, a local woman just returned from Alaska, be the same girl the two lads buried fourteen years earlier? Only local policeman Max Bracchi can solve the case with the help of a wrongly accused tramp, Tin Man.

Ben never knew his father; he was killed in 9/11 when Ben was just a baby. Eleven years later, Ben goes to spend the summer with his grandparents, hanging out with Priti, the girl next door, and his wayward cousin, Jed. Priti is a livewire and a Muslim who gradually begins to suspect her older brother is a terrorist. The trio set out to investigate and uncover more than they expected in this family film.

A man takes to a remote hideout with his sick wife, where they live in isolation as he battles to protect her life, and his own sanity, from a supernatural threat plaguing humanity. When a drifter happens upon their cabin and they take him in, old wounds are exposed and a harrowing twist reveals the true nature of the catastrophe that has befallen the couple.

Every cub reporter wants a front page 'splash' and the journalists from The Brit, a top-selling daily tabloid, are no exception. They're on the trail of a sensational story and their jobs depend on it.

A high-living property developer whose world unravels under a mountain of debt, forcing him to move in with his parents.

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.

A down on his luck Irishman in London decides to play snooker for money.

A hostage situation takes an unusual turn.

The Shipmans and the Wests get together once again for Christmas. Bryn is cooking dinner, Dawn is in shock, and there are revelations in the pub on Christmas Eve.

Documentary about the love affair between the British and their caravans, which saw the country establish the world's largest caravan manufacturer and transformed the holiday habits of generations of families. In telling the intriguing story of caravanning in Britain from the 1950s through to the present day, the film reveals how caravans were once the plaything of a privileged minority, but after World War II became a firm favourite with almost a quarter of British holidaymakers.

When Dorset postman Clive Peacock is forced into early retirement, the years ahead look bleak. But on his last day in the job, in a moment of unexpected rebellion he makes a decision that will change his life. As he makes his final collection from the postbox in the small seaside town where he lives, he decides to deliver the letters himself, by hand, no matter the destination. Mounting his trusty bicycle, he sets off on what proves to be an odyssey of self-discovery. Pursued by the police and lionised by the media, Clive becomes both a fugitive and a reluctant hero.

Jenny, a single mother raising two daughters after her husband leaves, is aided by her widowed mother, Mary. But Jenny struggles to stay afloat after Mary suffers a devastating stroke and develops dementia.

A forgotten gem made for the British arts anthology series Without Walls, this half-hour drama imagines the two 19th century impressionist painters on a modern-day talk show–-exploring their friendship and historic conflict over the Dreyfus Affair. Resembling Patrick Watson’s Witness to History in its dramatization of the past, filmmaker Paul Morrison goes one step further by creating a behind-the-scenes world around the show; and in doing so, he offers up a clever satire, as timely as ever, on the medium’s exploitation of two men who are united through art, but divided over politics. For this short piece, Morrison assembled a wonderful cast, featuring Henry Goodman (this year’s Love Gets a Room), Michael Pennington, Louise Jameson (Doctor Who) and Alison Steadman (Life is Sweet).

Friends and fans pay tribute to a great comic talent in this celebration of the life and work of the hugely popular Victoria Wood, who died of cancer in April 2016 at age 62. Victoria wrote some of television's greatest comedy sketches and musicals, won two BAFTAs for her drama Housewife, 49, and was once voted by the British public as the person they would most like to have as their next door neighbour.

The play tells the story of Christine Potts, who undergoes an unexpected mastectomy, and struggles to cope with the aftermath and the deficiencies of her post-operative care.

About a personal experience of claustrophobia and how to deal with it. When you can't have another cup of coffee or another brandy because you just gotta get on the plane. And there you are. And suddenly there's a flight attendant saying "good morning".

An unconventional promo for the 1994 single of the same name by British band Pulp. Various celebrities are interviewed about their memories of losing their virginity, and frontman Jarvis Cocker reminisces about his.

A young boy wants to work with a famous creature/fx man but gets more than he bargained when one of the creatures, The Ultra-Gorgon, takes him under his wing. Literally.

A camping trip seems like the perfect way for a group of friends to spend a vacation they will never forget. Unfortunately, no one will be left alive to remember the trip! Something lurks in these barren woods, something more insane than a chainsaw-wielding psycho, something more brutal than machete swinging mama's boy and more savage than a tribe of flesh-eating cannibals. There's a LOONY loose!

Fitness fanatic, Donald Leek, indulges in a monthly Chunky Monkey experience with, someone vaguely resembling movie-songstress, Julie Andrews, who he's expecting at 7:30pm. His obsession with Ms. Andrews (and her posterior) is somewhat disturbing to say the least. Before she arrives however, he has to dispose of the body parts of Mr Azam, manager of his favourite Indian restaurant, who has neglected to send him a Christmas card. He is interrupted by a peculiar assortment of unwelcome visitors, amongst them, Jesus Christ and a one-testicled self-made millionaire. Each one is as unhinged as their host, who retaliates to the intrusion in extreme fashion

DC Davies investigates the murder of a limousine driver who is found in his limo, his neck was slashed with a broken bottle. The investigation focuses on his previous evening's customers but it appears the driver also had secrets. He'd been living in Uruguay until a few months before and apparently had undergone extensive plastic surgery. The case takes a decisive turn when the victim is identified as a former London cabbie who disappeared after a passenger left a case with 2 million pounds in his cab.

The story behind the murder of 16-year-old Becky Watts, who was killed by her stepbrother Nathan Matthews and his 21-year-old partner Shauna Hoare in Bristol in February 2015. This programme documents the huge police manhunt that unfolded in the wake of her disappearance, and the police investigation which eventually brought her murderous stepbrother to justice.

A colourful trip back in time, as Debbie McGee hosts a 1970s-style dinner party.

A look at the production of Play for Today: Abigail's Party (1977).

A quiet and put-upon house cleaner breaks her silence.

While researching the work of author D.H. Lawrence (Kenneth Branagh), Kate (Alison Steadman) begins a romance with a fellow academic, and learns about Lawrence's love affair with the married aristocrat Frieda Von Richthofen (Helen Mirren) in this made-for-television drama. As Lawrence and Von Richthofen fall deeper into their forbidden relationship, Kate grows more familiar with Lawrence's work, such as the sensuous Lady Chatterly's Lover.

In 1962, the young pianist, John Ogdon wins international success in Moscow and embarks on a whirlwind career. Ten years later he suffers the onset of mental illness that threatens to destroy his playing, marriage and sanity.

Colin Pasmore tests his strength against his family ties but finds them stronger than he ever imagined.

Danny Duggan runs a failing building contractors, and resorts to sub-gangster thuggery to keep the business afloat. However, with the bottom falling out of the building game, Duggan finds that playing at gangster is only fun when you're on the winning side.

Alan Bleasdale’s television debut, this beautifully observed drama stars Alison Steadman as a woman having a passionate tryst with the boy next door while her husband is at work.

When Marjorie's husband of 20 years dies of a brain tumour, she's hit financially as well as emotionally. The money she makes packing tights in a factory isn't enough to cover her rent, and her TV is repossessed. Soon after the funeral she meets Arnold, a wealthy pub landlord, who squires her to the local Conservative Club ball in an effort to cheer her up. Life with Arnold promises not only companionship but undreamt-of luxury, but Marjorie's friends and family do not necessarily approve.

A film exploring the Queen's love of country life - whether in Scotland, Norfolk, or Windsor - through the eyes of those who came into contact with her and shared her passion.

When teacher Tony Scannell decides he wants to be ordained as a Catholic Priest his decision has wide ranging effects on his family and loved ones.