Maureen Lipman

The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

The Griswolds win a vacation to Europe on a game show, and so pack their bags for the continent. They do their best to catch the flavor of Europe, but they just don't know how to be be good tourists. Besides, they have trouble taking holidays in countries where they CAN speak the language.

In 1940, the Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle against the might of the Luftwaffe for control of the skies over Britain, thus preventing an attempted Nazi invasion.

Rita, a witty 26-year-old hairdresser, wants to 'discover' herself, so she joins the Open University where she meets the disillusioned professor of literature, Dr. Frank Bryant. His marriage has failed, his new girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whisky. What Frank needs is a challenge... and along comes Rita.

It's Julie's last night as a mini-cab driver and it's a night full of adventures she'll never forget.

The experiences of two young Jewish boys evacuated from Manchester to Blackpool during the Blitz.

John Smith has been happily involved in a bigamous marriage for five years. He lives with Stephanie in Finsbury and Michelle in Stockwell. Fortunately, for John, he's a taxi driver which involves varying shift work! Simple? Well, when John unwittingly becomes a have-a-go hero and the Finsbury and Stockwell police forces discover something suspicious in their paperwork, John's happy bubble is about to be burst. The action of the movie takes place during the next hectic 24 hours as John, with the assistance of his gullible neighbor Gary, rush between North and South London attempting to thwart the police and prevent the two loving wives coming face to face!

A king whose beard is long and beloved. An aspiring barber looking for acknowledgement. A kingdom unaware of the dark secret behind their ruler's lush beard.

The British governor of a tiny island nation in the Caribbean Commonwealth finds his idyllic existence thrown into chaos when an American drilling company finds a huge source of natural mineral water there.

A corrupt parish council embezzle EU money to pay for their decadent lifestyles instead of funding the cultural development of their town. They soon find themselves having to perform the unimaginable task of producing one of the great Shakespearean plays for the most important festival in the EU cultural calendar.

A young Jew in 1911 Wales tries to make his living by selling fabrics door to door, but to do so he must hide his nationality. On one of his sales he meets and falls in love with a demure young woman with a strong-willed father and a Jew-hating brother. The two fall in love and she becomes pregnant, but only then does she learn of his ethnic background. When anti-Jewish riots break out, the two are forced to flee and become separated.

A dark-themed and redesigned West End production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's seminal Broadway musical tells the story of farm girl Laurey and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud.

The girls of St Trinian's decide they are being asked to do too much work so they go on strike.

Disappointed with humanity, God wants to revoke his contract with humanity and wants to take back the stone tablets containing the ten commandments. To this end an angel is sent out to affect the personal lives of three humans so an appropriate child may be conceived.

It's all in a day's work for high-flying literary agent Alexander; manuscripts to read, deals to be done, celebrity clients to be taken out to lunch, but first there is an author to deal with whose latest book the agent thinks is, frankly, not up to scratch. However he hadn't counted on the author's resourcefulness.

Rebellious and irreverent, Captain Jack is a man on a mission. Come hell or high water, he's determined to follow in the footsteps of Whitby's unsung hero, Captain Scoresby, who set sail from the town bound for the Arctic in the 18th Century. Assembling a crew of oddballs and misfits, the cantankerous captain weighs anchor and voyages into the unknown. His ship has been certified unseaworthy, and he's pursued by the Royal Navy, NATO and journalists, but nothing is going to stop Captain Jack fulfilling his wildest dream.

Christopher Columbus believes he can find an alternative route to the far East and persuades the King and Queen of Spain to finance his expedition...

Seven (or six - depending on the version) short stories of conquest, desperation and the will to overcome.

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.

A young woman trades her upper-class existence for a new life in an economically depressed suburb of London.

Documentary celebrating the British sitcom and taking a look at the social and political context from which our favourite sitcoms grew. We enjoy a trip through the comedy archive in the company of the people who made some of the very best British sitcoms. From The Likely Lads to I'm Alan Partridge, we find out the inspiration behind some of the most-loved characters and how they reflect the times they were living in.

In 1939, Sir Robert Thorndyke takes aim at Adolf Hitler with a high powered rifle, but the shot misses its mark. Captured and tortured by the Gestapo and left for dead, Sir Robert makes his way back to England where he discovers the Gestapo has followed him. Knowing that his government would turn him over to German authorities, Sir Robert goes underground in his battle with his pursuers.

Comedy drama about the trials and tribulations of three sets of parents as they finally realise that their children have grown up and reluctantly they have to let them enroll at Cambridge University.

A traumatized and troubled teenager is sent to an all-girls detention home where she strikes up an unlikely friendship with a fellow inmate.

When Elfrida Philips abandons London for a country village, she settles in quickly. She is very poor, but has a tiny cottage, her four-legged friend Horace, and friendships of good neighbors. Tragedy upsets her newfound tranquillity, and she takes refuge in a rambling house with a new gentleman friend in Corrydale. But the group proves to be greater than the sum of its ill-fitting parts, and as the solstice passes, and as Christmas approaches, the healing power of love, begins to work its magic. (Filmed at Dunrobin Castle, Golspie, Sutherland)

British comedy legend Victoria Wood entertains a star-studded audience including Julie Walters, Judi Dench and Dawn French in this 1988 special. Watch her crack jokes, play the piano and answer light-hearted questions.

When D. C. Dangerous Davies, not held in high regard by his superiors, is assigned to find a notorious criminal kingpin, he uncovers the details of 15-year-old cold case.

On a day in the summer of 1912, the family of retired matinee idol James Tyrone grapples with the morphine addiction of Tyrone's wife Mary, the illness of their youngest son Edmund, and the alcoholism and debauchery of the older son Jamie. As day turns into night, guilt, anger, despair, and regret threaten to destroy the family.

Rough, tough and politically incorrect in the way that only the best 70's dramas can be, Regan was a pilot film for The Sweeney - one of the major television successes of the last fifty years. Featuring John Thaw as the irascible Detective Inspector Regan and Dennis Waterman as his loyal 'oppo' Detective Sergeant Carter, Regan was an immediate critical and ratings hit, resulting in four series of The Sweeney and two successful feature films. Jack Regan is a good copper, but his tough, intuitive style is becoming unfashionable in a Scotland Yard seeking a new image. When a policeman is mysteriously murdered, Regan breaks all the rules to find the killer - but he finds there are men in the Flying Squad prepared to break him.

A would be private eye gets mixed up in a smuggling case.

Vinny Mathews is a small time boxing promoter who struggles with his conscience over what to do with a fighter he knows is unfit to face his opponent. However, Mathews needs sponsorship and this would be the ideal opportunity to mix with the "frilly shirted" sportsmen who enjoy their lavish lifestyle as fighters slug it out as the steak is served!

This star-studded gala celebrates the centenary of the birth of legendary Broadway composer Richard Rodgers. Rodgers' contribution to musical theatre was extraordinary, including 900 published songs, 40 Broadway musicals and several film scores. Rodgers, together with lyricists Lorenz Hart and later Oscar Hammerstein II, wrote many of the best known musicals of the 20th Century, including Babes In Arms, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. This performance at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, directed for the stage by Simon Callow, includes songs, dance, staged numbers and anecdotes featuring leading stars from both Broadway and London's West End. The cast comprises luminaries drawn from Oklahoma!, Kiss Me Kate, Chicago, The King and I and other recent productions as well as from television. This musical extravaganza features many of Rodgers' best-loved classics.

Doting parents must adjust to life without their children as their offspring leave for college and form relationships.

Four men attempt "The Knowledge" examination to qualify as London taxi drivers.

Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, wakes up in his bed to find himself transformed into a large insect. After the metamorphosis, he becomes confined to his room and neglected by his family.

After his best friend dies, Charlie hits the road and stumbles into Lighthouse Hill, a village where residents seem to know a lot more about him than they should.

Biopic of Arthur Lucan, who portrayed Old Mother Riley for over twenty years on stage and screen.

A dark and delicious foray into Angela Carter's extraordinary life with animation by Peepshow Collective, rare archive and family photos, and contributions from Angela's friends, family, students and admirers.

A musical version of the life of the 17th Century English radical politician, John Wilkes, who campaigned for the right for voters to determine their representatives, not the House of Commons.

A scholarly king and his three companions swear off the society of women for three years, only to have a diplomatic visit from a French princess and her three ladies-in-waiting thwart their intentions.

A tribute to the work of monologist and comedienne Joyce Grenfell, performed by Maureen Lipman.

A movie in three acts following three couples who, over three years, each host a Christmas party. The camera stays in the kitchen and we are treated to Ayckbourn's beautifully detailed look at middle class life.

The local social cricket team are up to bat and sometimes it seems they are one batsman short of of an eleven. There are good secrets and not so good secrets that come to light during the course of the day. Roger is the ultimate captain rallying his troops whilst ignoring his greatest strength, Miriam, who makes the 'fantastic' teas with or without the 'non-compulsory' help. The days builds to a climax where it seems that everything must change forever. But will it?

Adaptation of the play by Alan Ayckbourn.

Mr Wyman is an elderly man whose increasingly unreliable memory has landed him in a geriatric ward. Here he is visited by his daughters Val and Molly, and Molly's husband Harold, and looked after by the ward's two male nurses, Vic and Donald, who are in competition for a promotion. Donald needs the money as he and his girlfriend are trying to buy a house but are having difficulty arranging a mortgage. From the window at which he sits, Mr Wyman can see a wall. He repeatedly pesters Donald with questions about what is on the other side. Donald constructs a fantasy of the future he dreams of with his girlfriend: a house and garden inhabited by a married couple.

"Rose" is a filmed one-woman theatrical performance. A moving reminder of some of the harrowing events that shaped the century. It remains sadly relevant today as racial tensions escalate, and allegations of antisemitism are rife.