Alan Bridges

Resolving the riddle of the Sphinx makes Oedipus the king of Thebes, but he also resolves another mystery – and it destroys him.Read More »

Adrian Harris, a former British operative who defected to Russia after he was discovered to be a Soviet spy, is interviewed in his dismal Moscow flat by a group of journalists from the Western press. The interview is highly antagonistic on both sides and as Harris is encouraged to resort more and more to whisky, the interviewers become more and more aggressive. The play ends with a twist that changes our understanding of the interview we have just seen.

This gripping, almost claustrophobic piece tackles such themes as class, patriotism, childhood, institutions and political values. John Le Mesurier called this the best part he ever had on television. His compelling performance earned him a BAFTA.Read More »

Mark Cunliffe:
“You don’t know how low I was, how down. Everything was like it was raining all the time. The way the rain sort of glints all dull like on the slates. On the roof”

In 1978, tired of and frustrated by not having the power over the BBC’s drama department Dennis Potter went some way to realise his dream of being a writer with total control over his work by forming the independent production company Pennies From Heaven (or PFH) Ltd with producer Kennith Trodd and his agent Judy Daish. Two years later, the companies independent nature came to fruition thanks to a deal with BBC rival, LWT to produce six new plays by Potter along with three other plays comprising of two from Salford socialist Jim Allen and one writer/performer Ken Campbell.Read More »

Quote:
At last, the British film classic The Shooting Party receives the digital restoration that does justice to its sweeping vistas and heartbreaking snapshots of an era in its death throes. Set in 1913 England, on the brink of what would be the war to end all wars, the film focuses on an assortment of upper-crust acquaintances who gather for a weekend of hunting and society niceties (billiards, cards, draping oneself in jewels the evening after stomping around all day in the muck). Presiding over the festivities is a masterful James Mason as Sir Randolph Nettleby, a sort of benevolent dictator of his breathtaking estate, as his family and friends dip in and out of the action, adhering to the strict code of class conduct for all of their affairs–sport, self-advancement, illicit love.Read More »