Clive Swift

After a serial killer strangles several women with a necktie, London police identify a suspect—but he claims vehemently to be the wrong man.

There's something pretty grisly going on under London in the Tube tunnels between Holborn and Russell Square. When a top civil servant becomes the latest to disappear down there Scotland Yard start to take the matter seriously. Helping them are a young couple who get nearer to the horrors underground than they would wish.

Dinah is a famous model and actress who is getting tired of life in the limelight and wants to take a break. While shooting a commercial spot for meat, she meets Steve, a stuntman. Dinah and Steve hit it off and decide to head to an island to get away from it all, bringing along four of Steve's friends. Before long, Dinah is reported missing and everyone is looking for her, making their getaway anything but tranquil.

When the ailing husband of an adulterous wife is discovered bludgeoned to death and suspicions fall on the older woman's young lover, the newly widowed woman claims that it was she who was solely responsible for the death despite evidence that points to the contrary in this dramatic account of true-life 1935 trial that shocked all of England. Though notable evidence and strong suspicion suggests that the murder may have been of crime of passion perpetrated by the jealous lover only half her age, Alma Rattenbury (Helen Mirren) confesses to the murder of her husband and is soon brought to trial. Despite the fact that Alma is already being deemed guilty by the general public for her adulterous indiscretion alone, her lawyer, star attorney T.J. O'Connor (David Suchet), remains convinced that his client will eventually be cleared of all charges.

Scholar Dr. Black's seemingly mundane assignment of sorting through the assets of the Barchester Cathedral library takes an eerie turn when he comes across the papers of the late Archdeacon, who plotted to gain his position through murder. However, he soon comes to discover something truly horrific about the wooden choir stalls in the church, which are tied to a famous local tree and a sinister local legend.

Paxton, an amateur archeologist, travels to the town of Seaburgh and inadvertently stumbles across one of the lost crowns of Anglia, which, according to legend, protect the county from invasion. On digging the crown up, Paxton is stalked by its supernatural guardian.

A fanciful biopic of legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini as a very young man.

Noble Moroccan Othello finds his life with beautiful, fiercely loyal Desdemona thrown tragically out of balance when secretly jealous, scheming confidante Iago begins an insidious campaign of lies and treachery.

Peter Hall's film adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy, filmed in and around an English country house and starring actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Henry Bolingbroke has now been crowned King of England, but faces a rebellion headed by the embittered Earl of Northumberland and his son (nicknamed 'Hotspur'). Henry's son Hal, the Prince of Wales, has thrown over life at court in favour of heavy drinking and petty theft in the company of a debauched elderly knight, Sir John Falstaff. Hal must extricate himself from some legal problems, regain his father's good opinions and help suppress the uprising.

Michael Frayn play part of TV series The Wednesday Play.

Adaptation of the novella by Robert Louis Stevenson

Play dealing with the life of British Army lieutenant Siegfried Sassoon, and his protests against the inhumanity of the First World War

An adaptation of Winifred Holtby's classic novel

Peter Nichols adapted his own hit play to the screen, based on his experiences in hospitals. A riotous black comedy that's as timely today as ever, it contrasts the appalling conditions in a overcrowded London hospital with a soap opera playing on the televisions there. In an ingenious touch, the same actors appear in the "real" story as well as the "TV" one, thus blurring the distinctions even further. Jack Gould directs such outstanding British actors as Lynn Redgrave, Colin Blakely, Eleanor Bron, Jim Dale, Donald Sinden, Mervyn Johns, and, in only his second film, Bob Hoskins. The renowned Carl Davis composed the score.

An adaptation directed by Claude Whatham for the BBC's Theatre 625 slot. Essentially a recording of John Barton's acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company production starring Catherine Lacey (the Countess), Ian Richardson (Bertram), Lynn Farleigh (Helen), Clive Swift (Parolles) and Sebastian Shaw (the King), it was broadcast on 3 June 1968.

Northerner Joe Lampton becomes involved with Lord Ackerman, the powerful chairman of a pharmaceutical concern, his beautiful wife Alex, and daughter Robin. But trouble starts when Joe is made Managing Director of one of Ackerman’s companies and makes a shocking discovery: his predecessor committed suicide...

A middle-aged professor's young bride and his assistant plan to commit a double murder disguised as a "Crime Passionel", but discover too late that one of their intended victims has become a fellow conspirator.

A surreal adaptation of Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur", chronicling Arthur Pendragon's conception, his rise to the throne, the search by his Knights of the Round Table for the Holy Grail, and ultimately his death.

An adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's 1966 short story of the same title, broadcast as part of the BBC's "BBC2 Playhouse".

A British couple are shocked out of their suburban malaise when British intelligence agent Stewart shows up at their door and wants to use their house for a stakeout. Stewart reveals that their neighbors are undercover Russian KGB spies, part of a Soviet espionage network.

Daisy and Onslow find the secret diary of Hyacinth and start reading in it. The rest of this TV-special are clips from prevous episodes.

A British Company in the WWI trenches await an inevitable German attack in this 1988 adaptation of R.C. Sherriff's play.

When disaster hits the Titanic, the Doctor uncovers a threat to the whole human race. Battling alongside aliens, saboteurs, robot Angels and a new friend called Astrid, can he stop the Christmas inferno?

Set during the period of growing influence of the Indian independence movement in the British Raj, the story begins with the arrival in India of a British woman, Miss Adela Quested, who is joining her fiancé, a city magistrate named Ronny Heaslop. She and Ronny's mother, Mrs. Moore, befriend an Indian doctor, Aziz H. Ahmed.

The Pickwick Papers is a twelve-part BBC adaption of The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, first broadcast in 1985. It starred Nigel Stock, Alan Parnaby, Clive Swift and Patrick Malahide, with narration spoken by Ray Brooks.

Compelling drama from screenwriter Colin Welland set in a city comprehensive school of low expectations and ambitions. Pupil Latimer does not conform to the macho culture and is labeled a homosexual, leading to bullying by both the pupils and some of the teachers.

If you were a famous English novelist doing a whistle stop tour of the United States to promote your books, wouldn't you welcome with open arms the chance of a quiet weekend away from it all in a remote corner of Long Island? Of course you would. Well, let what happened to Evan Lorrimer be an awful warning....

When Pericles discovers the dread answer to Antioch's riddle, he flees for his life straight into famine, shipwreck, love, fatherhood, and another shipwreck; he loses his wife and daughter, and doesn't find them again until the story moves us through resurrection, attempted murder, pirates, prostitution, and divine revelation.

18th-century England and Ireland viewed through the eyes of four beautiful high-born sisters - Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox, great-granddaughters of a king, daughters of a cabinet minister, and wives of politicians and peers.

At the Tranquil Repose mortuary, the Doctor and Peri uncover a sinister plot to create a new breed of Daleks under the supervision of the mysterious Great Healer.

"All I said was the gramophone's too loud." Tony and Zoe Lyle 's silly row starts like any other, but Tony finds that Zoe means it this time. She's walking out and he's got a week to save a marriage that he hasn't looked at in 18 years, and with it all the trappings of a good life in Maida Vale.

A quick drink in the buffet before going home. Freddie's nerves are taking a hammering lately; the economy is in dire trouble and who can blame a businessman for the occasional drink? His wife and mistress for a start.

This retrospective documentary looks back on the making of director John Boorman's 1981 movie, Excalibur. Self-described as the toughest film he ever made, Excalibur told the tale of King Arthur and the Sword in the Stone and helped start the careers of actors Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, Helen Mirren and Patrick Stewart. In this one hour film, they join other cast and crew to share their memories from the filming of this Arthurian masterpiece. Documentary originally released in 2013 with the title Behind The Sword In The Stone; a later, renamed version with updated biographical information on the actors involved was then released in 2016. The 2016 version has since been shown on various on-demand channels.

A washed-up actor has a nervous breakdown and believes that he really is the movie monster that he has been hired to play. Created as an episode of Nigel Kneale’s “Beasts” horror anthology miniseries.

Being one of 101 takes its toll on Patch, who doesn't feel unique. When he's accidentally left behind on moving day, he meets his idol, Thunderbolt, who enlists him on a publicity campaign.

The weekly brass band rehearsal is an enjoyable, light-hearted occasion. Then Mathew, the conductor, introduces James, a newcomer to the village, who is an enthusiastic bandsman from the north, where they do these things properly.

Four wealthy, middle-class friends gather for a Christmas dinner in a country cottage only to find that the past will not rest while they feast.

Keeping Up Appearances remains one of Britain's best loved series. Running for 5 years throughout the 90s, millions of viewers tuned in to watch the delightfully monstrous Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet) as she attempted to climb the social ladder, only to be endlessly let down by her family. In this 90-minute celebration we feature the very best and most hilarious moments from the series, and cast, crew and celebrity fans pay tribute to the show and share backstage secrets. Featuring an exclusive interview with Dame Patricia Routledge, who shares her memories of the show, we learn how she came to be cast, how she developed the character, and what happened when the cameras stop rolling.

Adaptation of Shakespeare's play.

Based on the 1925 novel The Sailor's Return by David Garnett. A sailor returns to his hometown to open a pub bringing with him his new black wife. Very quickly they find themselves ostracised by the community.

Alvin Rakoff's adaptation of Arnold Wesker's The Kitchen for Play of the Week. The Kitchen, first preformed in 1957, was Wesker's first work and his most performed play. The Kitchen has been produced in sixty cities including Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Paris - where it was the first widely recognized production by Théâtre du Soleil in 1967, Moscow, Montreal and Zurich.

The Gentle Touch is a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television for ITV which ran from 1980-1984. Commencing transmission on 11 April 1980, the series is notable for being the first British series to feature a female police detective as its leading character, ahead of the similarly themed BBC series Juliet Bravo by four months.

The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, The Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right many wrongs.

A young and idealistic Doctor Stephen Daker arrives at Lowlands University to work at the Health Centre, but has to cope with an eccentric set of colleagues.

Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.

Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis, as well as a large cast of notable actors and actresses.

A Canadian-produced fantastic anthology series scripted by famed science-fiction author Ray Bradbury. Many of the teleplays were based upon Bradbury's novels and short stories.

Gentlemen and Players is a British television series produced by TVS Television for the ITV network. An aspirational late 1980s drama series, Gentlemen and Players dealt with the struggles and intrigues involving two business rivals, Bo Beaufort and Mike Savage. Two series were made between 1988 and 1989, comprising 13 episodes in total.

Born and Bred is a light-hearted British drama series that aired on BBC One from 2002 to 2005. Created by Chris Chibnall and Nigel McCrery, Born and Bred's cast was led by James Bolam and Michael French, who play a father and son who run a cottage hospital in Ormston, a fictional Lancashire village in the 1950s. Bolam and French's characters are later replaced by characters played by Richard Wilson and Oliver Milburn.

The Old Guys is a British comedy television series that revolves around two aging housemates: Tom Finnan and Roy Bowden. The pair live across the street from Sally, whom they both find attractive. Tom moved in with Roy after Roy's wife Penny deserted him. Baby boomer Tom has little in life but his daughter Amber, who is dating Steve. Roy is a suburban pensioner who believes that he is one of the country's leading intellectuals.

The BBC Television Shakespeare is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and produced by BBC Television. It was transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to 27 April 1985 and spanned seven series. Development of the series began in 1975 when Messina saw that Glamis Castle would make a perfect location for an adaptation of Shakespeare's play As You Like It. On returning to London, he envisioned an entire series devoted exclusively to the dramatic works of Shakespeare. After encountering numerous problems trying to produce the series, Messina eventually pitched the idea to the BBC’s departmental heads and the series was greenlighted. The series as a whole received generally negative reviews from critics.

Hyacinth Bucket (whose name, she insists, is pronounced "Bouquet") is a suburban housewife in the West Midlands. She would be the first to tell you that she is a gracious hostess, a respected citizen, and a well-connected member of high society. If you don't believe that, just ask her best friend Elizabeth, held captive in Hyacinth's kitchen; or the postmen and neighbours who bristle at the sound of her voice; or Richard, her weary and compliant husband. In fact, Hyacinth's reputation could be as perfect as her new lounge set, if not for her senile father's love of running wild in the nip. Oh, and she would prefer it if her brother-in-law was a sharper dresser. And that her husband was more ambitious. And that her sisters were more presentable. And do take your shoes off before you come in the house, dear. Mind that you don't brush against the wallpaper.

A British television anthology of stories, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, and a twist at the end. With early episodes written and presented by Roald Dahl, the series featured a plethora of big name guest stars.

Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning during 1951 and continuing into 2013. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been shown in color, although color television video productions were extremely rare in 1954. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, though the program began with live telecasts of dramas and then changed to videotaped productions before finally changing to filmed ones. The series has received eighty Emmy Awards, twenty-four Christopher Awards, eleven Peabody Awards, nine Golden Globes, and four Humanitas Prizes. Once a common practice in American television, it is the last remaining television program such that the title includes the name of the sponsor. Unlike other long-running TV series still on the air, it differs in that it broadcasts only occasionally and not on a weekly broadcast programming schedule.

Beasts is a series of six television plays by Manx writer Nigel Kneale, unconnected but for a bestial horror theme, made by ATV for ITV in the United Kingdom and broadcast in 1976.

Hazell is a British television series that ran from 1978–1979, about a fictional private detective named James Hazell.

The Alan Titchmarsh Show is a British daytime chat show presented by Alan Titchmarsh. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2007 and currently airs on weekday afternoons. The show's main focus is the "Best of British" theme with many of the shows' segments focusing on fashion, health, nature, cookery and animals.

Dead of Night was a British television anthology series of supernatural fiction, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in 1972. It ran for a single series; of its seven 50-minute episodes, only three—"The Exorcism", "Return Flight", and "A Woman Sobbing"—are known to survive in the BBC's archives. Another programme made by the Dead of Night production team under Innes Lloyd, The Stone Tape, intended to be the eighth episode, does survive in the archives but was not broadcast under the Dead of Night banner. BBC Four rebroadcast "The Exorcism" on 22 December 2007.

Waugh on Crime

Victorian Scandals

The Nesbitts Are Coming

BBC2 Playhouse is a one hour UK anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas created by Sara Pia Anderson and produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Among its many notable guest stars were Helen Mirren, Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Liam Neeson, Paul Scofield, Deborah Kerr, Ben Kingsley, Donald Pleasence, Brenda Blethyn, and Peggy Ashcroft. It premiered in the UK on March 13, 1974 and ran through May 20, 1983.

Mr Pickwick, Tupman, Winkle, Snodgrass and Sam Weller begin their travels through the England of stage-coaches and coaching inns.

Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years is an 8-part 1981 drama serial based on the life of Winston Churchill, and particularly his years in enforced exile from political position during the 1920s and 30s. It was written and directed by Ferdinand Fairfax and Churchill was played by Robert Hardy. Hardy's brilliant performance as Churchill won critical acclaim and a BAFTA award in 1982. He reprised the role in The Sittaford Mystery, Bomber Harris and War and Remembrance and at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the end of World War II in 1995 when he quoted a number of Churchill's wartime speeches in character.

Bless Me Father is a British sitcom starring Arthur Lowe, Daniel Abineri, Gabrielle Daye, Patrick McAlinney, David Ryall, Derek Francis and Sheila Keith. It was aired on ITV from 1978 until 1981 and described the adventures of an Irish Catholic priest, Father Charles Duddleswell and his young curate in the fictional parish of St. Jude's in suburban London. 21 episodes, written by Peter De Rosa, were aired. De Rosa wrote the books on which the series was based using the pseudonym of Neil Boyd which was also the name of the young curate character; Boyd also served as the narrator in the series of novels upon which the series was based. It was made for the ITV network by London Weekend Television. The series was set in 1950 and 1951 and marked a departure from the middle class 'bank manager' roles associated with Lowe such as that in Dad's Army. The other regular characters included Mrs Pring, the housekeeper, the hard-drinking Dr Daley, the non-religious neighbour Billy Buzzle, and abbess Reverend Mother Stephen.

A motley group of London con artists pull of a series of daring and intricate stings.

A Ghost Story for Christmas is a strand of annual British short television films originally broadcast on BBC One from 1971 to 1978, and later revived in 2005 on BBC Four. With one exception, the original instalments are directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark and the films are all shot on 16 mm colour film. The remit behind the series was to provide a television adaptation of a classic ghost story referencing the oral tradition of telling supernatural tales at Christmas.

Shadows is a British Supernatural television anthology series produced by Thames Television for ITV between 1975 and 1978. Extending over three seasons, it featured ghost and horror dramas for children. Guest actors included John Nettleton, Gareth Thomas, Jenny Agutter, Pauline Quirke, Brian Glover, June Brown, Rachel Herbert, Jacqueline Pearce and Gwyneth Strong. The series was also notable for reviving the character of Mr. Stabs. Notable writers for the series included J. B. Priestley, Fay Weldon and PJ Hammond.

Against the sumptuous background of Peterborough Cathedral and its environs, one is carried into Trollope's world of the intriguing machinations of the clerical establishment of Barchester. Backed by the authenticity of the period detail, the portrayal of all the characters accurately conveys the whole range of human emotions within the stories.

Valentine is famous for writing parenting guide books and being the perfect woman, wife and mother. But out of the blue, her husband announces he wants a divorce, and their children side with him. As their daughter is about to marry, circumstances repeatedly force the estranged spouses back together.

The Expert is a British television series produced by the BBC between 1968 and 1976. The series starred Marius Goring as Dr. John Hardy, a pathologist working for the Home Office and was essentially a police procedural drama, with Hardy bringing his forensic knowledge to solve various cases. The Expert was created and produced by Gerard Glaister. The series was also one of the first BBC dramas to be made in colour, and throughout its four series had numerous high quality guest appearances by actors such as John Carson, Peter Copley, Rachel Kempson, Peter Vaughan, Clive Swift, Geoffrey Palmer, Peter Barkworth, Jean Marsh, Ray Brooks, George Sewell, Anthony Valentine, Bernard Lee, Lee Montague, Geoffrey Bayldon, Mike Pratt, Edward Fox, André Morell, Brian Blessed, Nigel Stock, Philip Madoc and Warren Clarke.

First Among Equals is a ten-part serial based on Jeffrey Archer's 1984 novel First Among Equals, produced by Granada Television for the ITV network and first shown in 1986. As in the novel, the series follows the careers and personal lives of four fictional British politicians from 1964 to 1991, with each vying to become Prime Minister. Several situations in the novel are drawn from Archer's own early political career in the British House of Commons. While the novel depitcts the fictional characters interacting with actual political figures from the UK and elsewhere, this adaptation uses different names for the real-life politicians.

Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time. It originally starred Kevin Whately as Dr Jack Kerruish, Amanda Burton as Dr Beth Glover and Simon Shepherd as Dr Will Preston, though the roster of doctors would change many times over the course of the series. Cardale was based on the Staffordshire village of Longnor for the final series, but was previously based in the Derbyshire village of Crich, although certain scenes were filmed at other nearby Derbyshire towns and villages, most notably Matlock, Belper and Ashover.

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.

The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.

Cuckoo is every parent's worst nightmare - a slacker full of outlandish, New Age ideas. Ken is the over-protective father of a girl who's impulsively married an American hippie on her gap year.

Charles Dickens' classic novel is given its first television adaptation in this classic 1969 BBC production. Paul Dombey is a well-to-do shipping firm owner, who lacks a son to take over the family business. After rejecting his daughter's affection, he reconciles with her before his death.