NORTHANGER
ABBEY (JANE AUSTEN)
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Catherine
Morland (Felicity Jones,
Meadowlands) has an ordinary life
and a feverish imagination. When
she gets invited to Bath,
Catherine is immersed in a world
of elaborate balls and handsome
men. When one suitor takes her to
his family estate, Northanger
Abbey, Catherine becomes mired in
a world of fact and fantasy. Is
there a dark mystery behind the
locked doors of Northanger Abbey?
Why has her budding romance
suddenly been cut short? Also
starring JJ Feild (The Secret Life
of Mrs. Beeton), Andrew Davies
adapts Austen's gentle parody of
gothic fiction.
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DAVID COPPERFIELD (CHARLES DICKENS)
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The
story begins with David's
childhood, which is an unhappy
one. His father dies before he
was born and his mother
re-marries the frightful Mr.
Murdstone, whose sister moves
into their house soon after.
David is soon sent away to
boarding school. David doesn't
complete his education, because
his mother dies and he's then
sent to a factory. There,
Copperfield meets Mr. Micawber,
who is later sent to debtors
prison. At the factory, he
experiences the hardship of the
industrial urban poor until he
escapes and walks to Dover to
meet his only relative, his
unmarried, eccentric aunt Betsey
Trotwood. She agrees to raise
him, and renames him
"Trotwood Copperfield"
and addresses him as
"Trot". After
finishing his schooling, he goes
to London to seek a career. |
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BRAVO TWO ZERO
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Andy
McNab's Bravo Two Zero. This is
the true story of the most
highly decorated British patrol
since the Boer war: an eight man
SAS team inserted behind Iraqi
lines during the Gulf War in
January 1991. Their mission was
to take out the scud missiles
which Saddam Hussein was using
to terrorize his enemies, as
well as to sever strategic
communication lines between
Baghdad and North West Iraq.
This top secret mission was
called "Bravo Two
Zero" and it was commanded
by Sergeant Andy McNab. Of the
eight who went out, only five
returned. Dropped into
"scud alley" carrying
210-pound packs, McNab and his
men soon found themselves
surrounded by Saddam's army.
Their radios didn't work; the
weather was brutally cold. And
they had been spotted. For the
SAS, the Bravo Two Zero patrol
has always been seen with mixed
feelings. On one hand, its most
famous ever action is a tale of
remarkable endurance and
heroism; on the other hand, only
one of the eight-man patrol
managed to escape death or
capture.
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PERSUASION (JANE
AUSTEN)
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Persuasion
is a 1995 period drama film
directed by Roger Michell and
based on Jane Austen's 1817 novel
of the same name. In her
theatrical film debut, the British
actress Amanda Root stars as
protagonist Anne Elliot, while
Ciarán Hinds plays her romantic
interest, Captain Frederick
Wentworth. The film is set in 19th
century England, nine years after
Anne was persuaded by others to
reject Wentworth's proposal of
marriage. Persuasion follows the
two as they become reacquainted
with each other, while supporting
characters threaten to interfere.
The
film was adapted by the writer
Nick Dear, who considered the
story more mature than Austen's
other novels. He characterised it
as one of realism and
truthfulness, particularly in
telling the story of two people
separated and then reunited. As
Austen's narrative style conveys
Anne's thoughts internally, Dear
and Root felt
compelled
to express the character's
emotions using comparatively
little dialogue. Persuasion was
shot in chronological order,
allowing the actress to portray
Anne's development from being
downtrodden to happy and
blossoming. |
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THE
GATHERING STORM (10 PARTS)
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An
excellent film for all Patriots !
The
film opens in 1934 with Winston
Churchill deep in his wilderness
years, and struggling to complete
his biography of his ancestor the
Duke of Marlborough, which he
hopes will revive his fortunes.
During
the same period, a young official
in the government, Ralph Wigram (Linus
Roache) has become concerned about
the growth of the German Luftwaffe
(air force), and is convinced by
his wife to leak information about
it to Churchill. Shortly
afterwards, Churchill uses
Wigram's information to launch an
attack on Prime Minister Stanley
Baldwin.
The
narrative jumps forward to
September 1939, with the
declaration of war against Germany
at the start of World War II, and
the announcement that Churchill
will be taking over command of the
Royal Navy again as First Lord of
the Admiralty. Churchill travels
to London, and is met by a Royal
Marine corporal who informs him
that the fleet have already been
signalled that "Winston is
Back", to which Churchill
replies, "He bloody well
is."
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BOUDICCA
- THE WARRIOR QUEEN (11 PARTS)
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The
Celtic queen who shook the
Roman Empire. Wife of a
king. Mother of two
daughters. Leader of her
tribe in first century
Briton. Boudica is one of
history's first and fiercest
women warriors.
Sickened
by ceaseless war, the king
of the Iceni accepts a
treaty with the Romans in
exchange for his tribe's
continued independence. But
oppressively high taxes
impoverish the tribe and
soon the Romans want
something more - slaves.
Refusing to submit, the
Romans, led by the greedy
and psychotic Emperor Nero,
move to crush the Iceni and
control their lands. When
the king dies mysteriously,
his wife, Boudica, is left
alone to face the rapacious
Romans and save her people.
Drawing
on the strength of her
warriors, mystical druidic
powers, and her own pain,
Boudica unites the
historically fractious
tribes of Briton to unleash
a stunning onslaught on the
Roman colonial camps. The
ferocity of Boudica's
attacks will shake the
foundations of the Roman
empire and make her a
legend.
Taken
from the pages of Roman
history books, the
spine-tingling tale of the
fearsome Queen Boudica, who
dared to take on the most
powerful army on earth,
bursts into life as a story
of love, treachery, and
unquenchable thirst for
revenge. |
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DR
JEKYLL AND MR HYDE
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Dr
Henry Jekyll (John Hannah),
a great scientist, handsome,
and renowned throughout the
scientific community, is
developing a formula that
will revolutionise human
nature by isolating criminal
elements. However, when he
experiments on himself he
undergoes a schizophrenic
transformation - unlike
other versions of this story
there is no physical change.
What follows is the struggle
of two opposing
personalities battling for
the soul of one man.
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WALLIS
AND EDWARD
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In
1936, Edward VIII abdicated in
order to marry the woman he loved,
Wallis Simpson, a twice divorced
American. These events caused a
scandal around the world and
Wallis has since been demonised as
the woman who stole the King of
England. Wallis and Edward is the
first time that the events have
been considered from Wallis's
point of view. The drama follows
the beginning of their affair
whilst Edward was Prince of Wales
and Wallis was still married to
Ernest Simpson. |
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MARGARET
THATCHER THE
IRON LADY
(DOCUMENTARY)
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Margaret
Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher,
LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts, 13
October 1925 – 8 April 2013) was
a British politician, who was the
Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, and the
Leader of the Conservative Party
from 1975 to 1990. She was the
longest-serving British Prime
Minister of the 20th century and
is currently the only woman to
have held the office. A Soviet
journalist dubbed her the
"Iron Lady", a nickname
that became associated with her
uncompromising politics and
leadership style. As Prime
Minister, she implemented policies
that have come to be known as
Thatcherism. |
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