Linda Spurrier

Freed at last by death from tyranny of an elderly, querulous mother, Esme Fanshaw is persuaded to take a man, Amos Curry, into her house as a paying guest. At first wary of him, Esme becomes increasingly fond of this dapper little man with his mysterious summer occupation. When she finally learns the nature of this occupation she is at first shocked then sympathetic.

Queen Elizabeth I visits late 1970s England to find a depressing landscape where life has changed since her time.

When widowed cabbie Ray and retired teacher Jim meet by chance, they discover they long for the same things from life: adventure, challenge and love. Together Ray and Jim discover that being 64 means a new beginning: it's time to try the things they never dared in their youth.

Geoffrey Carr is a wealthy, key player in Britain's emerging computer industry, and newly married to Frances , a much younger woman, with wilful daughter Clare from a previous marriage. He'll do anything to make them happy, including stretching his finances to buy a Georgian estate in County Wicklow, where Frances grew up. Frank Crossan is an Irish Republican hitman on the run from British authorities. Seeking refuge with old girlfriend Kate, he creates a plan to kidnap a wealthy Brit for a ransom to fund a major arms deal. Their two worlds collide when Frances and Clare are brutally snatched away to a bleak hideaway and taken hostage. Geoffrey initially wants to cave in to the kidnapper's demands “ but nothing is simple when a personal crisis plays out against the forces of political intrigue, high finance and with the eyes of the media on them.

Superficial people are revealed and drastically changed by circumstance or luck in this a tale of death, seduction, blackmail and theft among British and Americans in Florence in the turbulent days just before World War II.

The story of the marriage of the poet T. S. Eliot to socialite Vivienne Haigh-Wood, which had to cope with her gynaecological and emotional problems and his growing fame.

When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality and starts to find success with his writing, Halliwell becomes increasingly alienated and jealous, ultimately tapping into a dangerous rage.

The tragic story of world-renowned cellist Jacqueline du Pré, as told from the point of view of her sister, flautist Hilary du Pré-Finzi.

A film with no spoken dialogue, just follows the music and lyrics of Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem, which include WWI soldier poet Wilfred Owen's poems reflecting the war's horrors. It shows the story of an Englishman soldier (Wilfred Owen) and a nurse (his bride) during World War I. It also includes actual footage of contemporary wars (WWII, Vietnam, Angola, etc.)

Rose and Antonia are two old friends who meet up again after the second world war. Unhappy in their relationships, they plan to 'accidentally' murder each others husbands.

The story of Professor Stephen Hawking's early years. It is 1963, and our young cosmologist celebrates his 21st birthday. At the party is a new friend, Jane Wilde - there is a strong attraction between the two. Jane is intrigued by Stephen's talk of stars and the Universe. But she realises that there is something very wrong when Stephen suddenly finds that he is unable to stand up.

Filmed in India, Rumer Godden’s story has been adapted and directed by the Jewel in the Crown team. Two English schoolgirls arrive in New Delhi, 1959. Their diplomat father has secured them a beautiful Eurasian governess. 15-year-old Una suspects an ulterior motive. But her father’s affairs take second place to her own when she has a secret affair with the Indian gardener.

Two con artists hire an unwitting medical-school student (Kate Beckinsale) as a secretary for their latest scam.

The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.

Armed with a self-effacing manner and a lively sense of humour, Nicky quickly discovers that being a good cop doesn't always win you friends. Stuck away from the land of the living as a night detective, he learns that new friends are in short supply”the other detectives look upon him with suspicion and his boss DI Carter doesn't do much to make his new recruit welcome. Although his methods can, at times, be unorthodox, Nicky always tries to do the right thing, even if it does make him unpopular with his new colleagues.

Two sisters who set up a London fashion house for society of the early 1920s.

Birds of a Feather is a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC One from 1989 until 1998 and on ITV from 2013. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers. The first episode sees sisters Tracey Stubbs and Sharon Theodopolopodos brought together when their husbands are sent to prison for armed robbery. Sharon, who lived in an Edmonton council flat, moves into Tracey's expensive house in Chigwell, Essex. Their next-door neighbour, and later friend, Dorien Green is a middle-aged married woman who is constantly having affairs with younger men. In the later series the location is changed to Hainault. The series ended on Christmas Eve 1998 after a 9-year-run.

The lives of Bodie and Doyle, top agents for Britain's CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5), and their controller, George Cowley. The mandate of CI5 was to fight terrorism and similar high-profile crimes. Cowley, a hard ex-MI5 operative, hand-picked each of his men. Bodie is a cynical ex-SAS paratrooper and mercenary whose nature ran to controlled violence, while his partner, Doyle, comes to CI5 from the regular police force, and is more of an open minded liberal. Their relationship is often contentious, but they are the top men in their field, and the ones to whom Cowley always assigned to the toughest cases.

From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions.

Instead of spending her golden years lying down, the indomitable Hetty Wainthropp found her calling late in life. Combining common sense, her husband, and her pocketbook, this senior sleuth takes on all the cases the police deem too minor.

A highly respectable middle-class married woman watches a window cleaner fill his bucket at her kitchen sink and has a sudden urge to rip off his shirt. They make love right there - the mad, bad, no-chance- to-breathe and when-can-we-do-it-next kind of sex. And both she and her windows end up with a special sparkle. then there is trouble. Big trouble. For this is an up-till-then contented doctor's wife, a devoted mother with her own career as an optician. She doesn't DO adultery, especially not with a working class bloke who drinks too much, thinks too little and has a wife and four children, one of whom is her daughter's best pal.