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Nice to see Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes turn up on Film4. It may be worth noting that Film4 is doing a "Sci-Fi July" season, which is why all of these films are turning up (including Minority Report making the move from BBC1 to Film4 for its first screening there yesterday evening)

Also next week Channel 4 is premiering Ad Astra at 9 p.m. on Saturday 16th and Greta Gerwig's take on Little Women at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday 17th.

Having covered the big premieres of the week in the above posts (it is a bit of a shame that Channel 4 and Film4 could not have co-ordinated better to avoid the last five minutes of Ad Astra clashing with the first five minutes of Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes. Or maybe that is a meta-joke about being in two places simultaneously?), there are some items of interest in terms of repeats as well.

BBC2 is showing a double bill of Bette Davis films with Dark Victory at 1:45 p.m. and Now, Voyager at 3:25 p.m. on Saturday 16th. That double bill gets repeated (with DOG-tags) on BBC4 from 8:45 p.m. on Thursday 21st (with Now, Voyager first and Dark Victory at 10:40 p.m.). The Bette Davis evening on BBC4 is most exciting for a very rare showing of the 1983 documentary Bette Davis: A Basically Benevolent Volcano at 8 p.m., albeit in a 45 minute version (the original one hour length film is up here at the moment :-$ )

BBC4's classic television strand on Wednesday evenings (to celebrate the centenary of the BBC) continues on Wednesday 20th with three really interesting sounding half hour programmes from the Second City Firsts series of Birmingham-produced plays from the 1970s: Club Havana from 1975 at 10 p.m. (featuring Julie Walters' first screen appearance); Glitter from 1976 at 10:30 p.m. (with the first screen appearance of Toyah Willcox, two years before Jubilee! The attached clip is a bit of a spoiler, since it is the final performance scene as the teenager wanting to get onto Top of the Pops finally makes it... sort of); and Girl from 1974 at 11 p.m. with Alison Steadman involved in the first lesbian kiss on British television!

And ITV4 has a rare showing of Alien³ at 10 p.m. on Wednesday 20th.

colinr0380 wrote: Wed Jul 13, 2022 3:56 pm Girl from 1974 at 11 p.m. with Alison Steadman involved in the first lesbian kiss on British television!

I wonder what the BBC's copy of this will be like? The play was lost for a while but was found again on a tape whose video quality was somewhat degraded, and that's the version I saw on Amazon Prime a few years ago. It's not broadcast quality as you would normally expect it, but it's watchable.

This wouldn't be the first time the BBC has broadcast something of substandard video quality if they think the material is of sufficient interest - see for example the previously lost episodes of Steptoe and Son which turned up on Galton and Simpson's own lo-fi copies (in black and white when the 1970s episodes were originally in colour). They still got shown.

A Hitch in Time (CFF), Sat 23rd July, Talking Pictures. (on before)
The Cat (1966), Sat 23rd July, Talking Pictures.
The Flanagan Boy, Sat 23rd July, Talking Pictures.
Terminator: Dark Fate, Sat 23rd July, Channel 4. Or...
Red Sonja, Sat 23rd July, Legend.
Sputnik (2020), Sat 23rd July, Film4.

Room at the Top, Sun 24th July, Talking Pictures.

Go Go with Matt Monro (short), Mon 25th July, Talking Pictures.

The Glass Cage (1955), Tue 26th July, Talking Pictures. Also Sat 6th Aug.
Evita, Tue 26th July, Great Movies Classic.

Edge of Eternity + The Law vs Billy the Kid, Wed 27th July, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)

The Boy Who Never Was (CFF), Fri 29th July, London Live.
Girl Happy + Jailhouse Rock + Elvis on Tour, Fri 29th July, Sky Arts.


Four episodes of The Roads to Freedom are scheduled for BBC4. Never heard of it before but apparently it's never been on home video format and has not been repeated since about 1977. Seemingly contains "nude scenes and frank sexual references", which might interest some.

jlnight wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 6:51 pmFour episodes of The Roads to Freedom are scheduled for BBC4. Never heard of it before but apparently it's never been on home video format and has not been repeated since about 1977. Seemingly contains "nude scenes and frank sexual references", which might interest some.

I remember it from the 1977 repeat but wasn't old enough to see it then, let alone previous repeat in 1972 or first broadcast in 1970. It was considered quite adult for its time, including a gay character (played by Daniel Massey). Based on a trilogy of novels by Jean-Paul Sartre.

It has indeed never been on home video and I'm reliably informed won't be, as the Sartre estate won't approve a commercial release.

The episodes are introduced by Colin Baker, who had one of his earliest TV roles in the serial. Presumably the remaining nine episodes will be broadcast over the following two or three weeks.

Really good next week. As noted by jlnight the big premiere of the week is the fifth in the Terminator series Terminator: Dark Fate on Channel 4 at 9 p.m. on Saturday 23rd, although the most exciting film of the week is Film4's premiere of the Russian sci-fi film Sputnik at 11:15 p.m. on Saturday 23rd.

BBC1 has a surprise double bill of premieres on Sunday 24th with Emma. (aka the film that puts the period in period drama!) at 8 p.m. and The Mule at 10:30 p.m., which I only know of at the moment from Mark Kermode's rant about it apparently being a wish fulfillment fantasy about a 90 year old having threesomes with women one-quarter of his age!

BBC4 is showing River at 9 p.m. on Monday 25th, which as with the director's previous film Mountain is narrated by Willem Dafoe.

Clashing against BBC4's showing of The Roads To Freedom on Wednesday 27th is Film4's premiere of Skin at 11:40 p.m.
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In terms of repeats, the big one has been noted above with the Jean-Paul Satre adaptation The Roads To Freedom showing for the first time on television since 1977 on BBC4 at 10 p.m. on Wednesday 27th with a five minute introduction by Colin Baker and the first four of the thirteen episodes showing in a row. GaryC, the RadioTimes in talking about the Colin Baker intro say "One of the few surviving cast, he had an early TV role in episode five, airing next week", so they will probably be doing a few weeks of quadruple bills as they did with Boys From The Blackstuff.

BBC2 has been airing the My Life As A Rolling Stone documentary series over the last few weeks and the final episode on Charlie Watts on Saturday 23rd is followed at 10 p.m. by a restored 1978 concert Some Girls, Live in Texas.

Film4 is showing Misery at 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday 26th as a tribute to James Caan. And Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? is showing on BBC4 at 9 p.m. on Thursday 28th
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And I cannot let the occasion pass without noting that the long running Australian soap opera Neighbours is coming to an end on Friday 29th with Channel 5 showing the finale at 9 p.m. that evening (with these neighbours as good friends, who needs enemies!). It does not look as if Margot Robbie is returning to Ramsey Street but it apparently does have Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan along with Guy Pearce all making an appearance to see the soap opera off.

It was amazing to look through the cast list to see who made brief single episode appearances or a run of a dozen episodes at most: Russell Crowe, Luke and Chris Hemsworth (not together though), Leigh Whannell made his acting debut there before going on to write and act in the first Saw movie; Ben Mendelsohn; Briony Behets (from the original Australian 70s version of The Long Weekend); Natalie Imbruglia; Holly Valance. Even Dave Bautista, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Julian Clary turn up in single episodes apiece! Though there is an argument that that this is getting into less of a cast list and more a great dinner party roster.

(It is the only other piece of media I know aside from The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 that gave a dog a dream sequence!)

And in an interview with Channel 5 controller in the RadioTimes a couple of weeks ago it was interesting to note that the second longest running Australian soap opera, Home and Away, apparently has a "life of show contract" that means Channel 5 cannot cancel it the way they did with Neighbours. The history of this is that back in the 1980s and 90s the BBC had Neighbours and the ITV channel had Home and Away which duelled it out in the ratings for the key 5:30 p.m. slot (i.e. the slot between children's programming ending and the 6 p.m. main evening news bulletin, so they overlapped with two audience demographics). But when Channel 5 came along in 1997 they first poached Home and Away from ITV then when the BBC were not willing to pay for the production of Neighbours they took that too. Neighbours despite arguably being the more famous/better show of the two (Home and Away's bronzed bodies and histrionic yet simultaneously wafer thin plotlines could never compete with the indelible characters of Madge and Mrs Mangel, at least to me!), seemed to get a raw deal after its channel hop and never felt as if it took to Channel 5 as well as Home and Away did, not least because suddenly it had a commercial break in the middle of it!

GaryC wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 5:38 pm

colinr0380 wrote: Wed Jul 13, 2022 3:56 pm Girl from 1974 at 11 p.m. with Alison Steadman involved in the first lesbian kiss on British television!

I wonder what the BBC's copy of this will be like? The play was lost for a while but was found again on a tape whose video quality was somewhat degraded, and that's the version I saw on Amazon Prime a few years ago. It's not broadcast quality as you would normally expect it, but it's watchable.

The copy of Girl shown had a lot of constant streaking lines across it throughout so it is presumably the same as the streaming version, but I presume the first lesbian kiss angle won out over any qualms about broadcasting it. The continuity announcer did have to note that "Beyond the slight visual decline enjoy another game changing drama ahead of its time" to mitigate the quality issues. The other two episodes were in much better shape, and in some ways we just have to be grateful that anything from this era survives even in poor quality given the extensive seeming tape wiping that went on throughout the BBC.

I'm just thankful that the BBC is using its centenary to finally do something like this with its older material, even if it is on the doomed BBC4 'archive' channel.

colinr0380 wrote: Thu Jul 21, 2022 4:23 pm The other two episodes were in much better shape

I haven't watched them yet, but it seems that Glitter was not broadcast from its original broadcast tape either - the existing copy is a Umatic tape which apparently was in the possession of a TV engineer. I did notice a tracking line near the bottom of the screen throughout.

Club Havana must therefore be the only one of the three still kept on its original tape.

There are quite a few missing Second City Firsts, including the only lost Mike Leigh, Knock for Knock.

Next week will be the first four episodes of Roads of Freedom, with five the following week and presumably the final four the week after. I'm aiming to record to keep as the series isn't available on disc and is unlikely to be in the foreseeable future.

Yes, I noticed the tracking at the bottom of Glitter too, though that was nowhere near as bad as the tracking lines flickering all over the image of Girl.

The Clue of the Missing Ape (CFF), Sat 30th July, Talking Pictures. (on before)
Wings of Danger, Sat 30th July, Talking Pictures. Also Thu 4th Aug.
The Steel Bayonet, Sat 30th July, Talking Pictures. Also Fri 5th Aug.
Live a Little, Love a Little + The Trouble with Girls + Elvis: That's The Way It Is, Sat 30th July, Sky Arts.
Robbery (1967), Sat 30th July, Talking Pictures. Also Mon 1st Aug. Or...
The L-Shaped Room, Sat 30th July, London Live. (been on TPTV)

Mask of Dust, Sun 31st July, Talking Pictures. Also Mon 1st Aug.
Top Secret (1952), Sun 31st July, Talking Pictures. Also Mon 1st Aug.
Our Miss Fred, Sun 31st July, Talking Pictures. Also Tue 2nd Aug. Or...
The Birds, Sun 31st July, Sky Arts.

Restless Natives, Mon 1st Aug, London Live. (been on TPTV, will probably be cut here)
No Retreat, No Surrender, Mon 1st Aug, 5Action.

Tubby Hayes - A Man in a Hurry, Tue 2nd Aug, London Live.

The Violent Men + Thunderhoof, Wed 3rd Aug, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)
Jet Storm (1959), Wed 3rd Aug, Talking Pictures.

The Frozen North (short), Thu 4th Aug, Talking Pictures.
Scene By Scene (Jane Russell), Thu 4th Aug, BBC4. (followed by Gentlemen Prefer Blondes + Some Like it Hot)

Private Elvis (doc), Fri 5th Aug, Talking Pictures.
Break Out (CFF), Fri 5th Aug, London Live.
A Touch of Love, Fri 5th Aug, London Live. (been on TPTV)

colinr0380 wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:42 pmI cannot let the occasion pass without noting that the long running Australian soap opera Neighbours is coming to an end on Friday 29th with Channel 5 showing the finale at 9 p.m. that evening (with these neighbours as good friends, who needs enemies!). It does not look as if Margot Robbie is returning to Ramsey Street but it apparently does have Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan along with Guy Pearce all making an appearance to see the soap opera off.

It turns out that Margot Robbie is in there as well!

EDIT: The finale episode was quite fun. Margot Robbie only very briefly appears as part of a montage of Zoom-callers from the show's history wishing everyone the best from afar. Kylie and Jason physically appear on Ramsey Street but do not do too much but smile and cuddle each other whilst watching the rest of the block party from a conveniently high up to be filmed at a separate time scene. But it was cute to see them all there.

Surprisingly the MVP of the celebrity returnees turns out to be Guy Pearce, who fully gets into the spirit of the exercise and has the chance to reprise his role as Mike from the show, spending the first half of the proceedings being shown around the empty houses on the street by the girl he left behind all those years ago so that they can reminisce about the old days. Eventually it becomes a second chance to rekindle their relationship and get the happy ending for them both that never occurred when Mike left all the way back in 1989. That was a really touching send off for the show.

Rather quiet next week with just two big films showing in Le Mans '66 (or Ford vs Ferrari in its original US title) on Channel 4 at 9 p.m. on Saturday 30th (I'm not sure that I can buy Christian Bale having a British accent ) and Film4 showing Blumhouse's Fantasy Island at 9 p.m. on Tuesday 2nd.

Though the big news is that, after a few fallow months since April, David DeCoteau is back with more delirious "Wrong"-retitled Vivica A. Fox starring TV movies! Channel 5 is showing Dangerous Love (aka The Wrong Blind Date) at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday 3rd and Deadly Reunion (aka The Wrong High School Sweetheart) at 2:15 p.m. on Thursday 4th. That takes the DeCoteau/Fox alliance up to nine films premiered so far this year. Will they make it to ten before the end of the year?
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As GaryC notes, BBC4 is continuing The Roads To Freedom by showing episodes 5-9 from 10 p.m. on Wednesday 3rd. Brace yourself for three and three quarter hours of back-to-back Satre adaptation!

Big Catch (CFF), Sat 6th Aug, Talking Pictures. (on before)
The Little Car (short), Sat 6th Aug, Talking Pictures.
Dalekmania, Sat 6th Aug, Talking Pictures.
The Saint's Return, Sat 6th Aug, Talking Pictures. Also Tue 9th Aug.
An Eye for an Eye (1966), Sat 6th Aug, Legend.

The Very Best of Peter Sellers, Sun 7th Aug, Talking Pictures.
Mods and Rockers (short), Sun 7th Aug, Talking Pictures.
Too Late for Tears, Sun 7th Aug, Talking Pictures.
Frenzy, Sun 7th Aug, Sky Arts. Or...
Sudden Fear, Sun 7th Aug, Talking Pictures.
The Winter Guest, late Sun 7th Aug, Film4.

Wide Boy (1952), Mon 8th Aug, Talking Pictures.

You Only Live Once, Tue 9th Aug, London Live. Or...
The London Nobody Knows, Tue 9th Aug, Talking Pictures. (been on London Live)

Les Bicyclettes de Belsize, Wed 10th Aug, Talking Pictures.
The Legend of Tom Dooley + Al Jennings of Oklahoma, Wed 10th Aug, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)

EDIT:
D.O.A. (1950), Thu 11th Aug, Talking Pictures.
Calamity the Cow (CFF), Thu 11th Aug, London Live. (been on TPTV)

Lured, Fri 12th Aug, Talking Pictures. (on before)
Spree, Fri 12th Aug, Film4.


No Retreat, No Surrender is a no-show.

Really good next week for both new films and repeats.

Film4 is showing the Jennifer Lopez film about this newfangled Facebook thing, a pro-Chinese co-producers attitude and featuring the requisite thick-thin font styled title Second Act at 9 p.m. on Saturday 6th. Channel 4 is showing Call of the Wild at 3:40 p.m. on Sunday 7th, in which Harrison Ford tries to out grizzle a dog. And Film4 is showing Spree at 9 p.m. on Friday 12th, which looks like a similarly social media-addled crazy dude companion piece to the crazy dame film I Blame Society from a few months back. Will any of these reach the alternately comic, horrific and strangely tragic heights of Alan Resnick's Alantutorial series?

In terms of repeats Film4 comfortably win the week. jlnight has mentioned the repeat of Alan Rickman's film The Winter Guest at 1 a.m. on Monday 8th. Just as exciting is a showing of Kathryn Bigelow's Blue Steel at 11 p.m. on Saturday 6th and Unfaithful at 11:10 p.m. on Tuesday 9th (which is the US remake of Claude Chabrol's La Femme Infidèle with an extra Adrian Lyne Fatal Attraction-but-opposite-gender sheen to it)

And BBC4 completes The Roads To Freedom from 10 p.m. on Wednesday 10th with episodes 10 to 13.

colinr0380 wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 3:28 pm And BBC4 completes The Roads To Freedom from 10 p.m. on Wednesday 10th with episodes 10 to 13.

I'm three episodes down, one more from last week to go and five more broadcast tonight. Enjoying it so far but I won't say much until I've seen more of it.

The Buddha of Suburbia is the next in this slot, with the first two episodes showing on the 17th, with an introduction by Hanif Kureishi.

It is wonderfully morose stuff. Who would have thought that the cat drowning subplot by a man tortured by his homosexuality and wanting to punish himself by torturing animals would have been the light relief contrast to the depressing backstreet illicit abortion seeking plot?

Cup Fever (CFF), Sat 13th Aug, Talking Pictures. (on before)
Rhubarb (1969 short), Sat 13th Aug, Talking Pictures.
The Uncle (1966), Sat 13th Aug, Talking Pictures. Also Tue 16th Aug.
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson, Sat 13th Aug, Legend. (recently on TPTV)
Who You Think I Am (2019), Sat 13th Aug, BBC4.
That'll Be the Day, Sat 13th Aug, London Live. (been on other channels)
Sisters with Transistors, Sat 13th Aug, Sky Arts.

Go West (1925), Sun 14th Aug, Talking Pictures.
Marnie, Sun 14th Aug, Sky Arts.
This Was a Woman, Sun 14th Aug, Talking Pictures.

Nightbeat, Mon 15th Aug, Talking Pictures.

Phaedra (1962), Tue 16th Aug, London Live.
Wings of the Morning, Tue 16th Aug, Talking Pictures.

Count Three and Pray + Zane Grey: Set-Up, Wed 17th Aug, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)
Song of London (short), Wed 17th Aug, Talking Pictures.
The Assistant (2019), Wed 17th Aug, Film4.

The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming, Thu 18th Aug, Great Movies Classic.
Saint Frances, Thu 18th Aug, Film4.

Jeffrey (1995), Fri 19th Aug, London Live.
The Toll (2021), Fri 19th Aug, Film4.

Such a self-destructive Marnie thing to do to premiere just after the due date to vote for Marnie on the list project poll

jlnight wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2022 10:09 amThe Assistant (2019), Wed 17th Aug, Film4.

That should be quite exciting as I presume that is the post-Weinstein scandal film (or unfunny and disempowering version of Devil Wears Prada) about the daily life of a executive assistant casually being pushed into morally compromising situations, seemingly tackling its subject obliquely rather than bluntly. I only know it from its Red Letter Media review so far, but they were pretty positive on it.

Really good next week. The Assistant is on Film4 at 11 p.m. on Wednesday 17th and is the same film mentioned above, so I am particularly excited to see that.

Juliette Binoche goes catfishing in Who You Think I Am showing on BBC4 at 9 p.m. on Saturday 13th. And the big US film of the week is the premiere of The Invisible Man (2020) on ITV1 at 10:45 p.m. on Friday 19th.

Film4's other premieres of the week, as noted by jlnight, are Saint Frances at 11:15 p.m. on Thursday 18th and The Toll at 11:10 p.m. on Friday 19th.

Plus Channel 5 has a new Fred Olen Ray TV movie in A Mother's Secret (aka Dying For A Daughter) at 2:20 p.m. on Thursday 18th (sadly I doubt Channel 5 will be showing the director's film from this year, Piranha Women, in that timeslot any time soon! )

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Repeat-wise along with The Buddha of Suburbia with an introduction by Hanif Kureishi on BBC4 at 10 p.m. on Wednesday 17th, BBC4 is also doing an "Elgar night" on Sunday 14th which includes the 1962 Ken Russell Elgar film for Monitor showing at 10 p.m.

Go Kart Go (CFF), Sat 20th Aug, Talking Pictures. (on before)
4D Man, Sat 20th Aug, Talking Pictures.
Your Witness, Sat 20th Aug, Talking Pictures. Also Thu 25th Aug.
Eagles Over London, Sat 20th Aug, Talking Pictures. Also Tue 23rd Aug. (been on London Live)
Robbery (1967), Sat 20th Aug, Legend. (recently on TPTV)

Bedelia, Sun 21st Aug, Talking Pictures.
Psycho (1960), Sun 21st Aug, Sky Arts.

Perfect Understanding, Mon 22nd Aug, Talking Pictures.
Silent Playground, Mon 22nd Aug, Talking Pictures.

Relentless (1948) + Zane Grey: The Mission, Wed 24th Aug, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)

Guilty? (1956), Thu 25th Aug, Talking Pictures.
Blinker's Spy-Spotter (CFF), Thu 25th Aug, London Live.

The Lovers!, Fri 26th Aug, London Live. (been on TPTV)

Rather quiet next week with a couple of films that had flown under my radar until their premieres.

Film4 is showing the horror film The Vigil at 11:20 p.m. on Saturday 20th (the first feature film from the director of the recent Firestarter remake) and Arkansas at 9 p.m. on Wednesday 24th (with Vivica A. Fox, so even if David DeCoteau doesn't make it to ten films this year, Fox has!)

And BBC4 are beginning the second series of Norwegian drama State of Happiness from 9 p.m. on Saturday 20th.

Soapbox Derby (CFF), Sat 27th Aug, Talking Pictures. (on before)
Another Man's Poison, Sat 27th Aug, Talking Pictures.
The Pianist, Sat 27th Aug, Talking Pictures.

The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan, Sun 28th Aug, Talking Pictures. Also Wed 31st Aug.
Rear Window, Sun 28th Aug, Sky Arts.

The Water Babies, Mon 29th Aug, London Live. (been on TPTV)

Rage at Dawn + The Outlaws Is Coming, Wed 31st Aug, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)
The Wild Affair, Wed 31st Aug, Talking Pictures. Also Wed 7th Sep.
Black '47, Wed 31st Aug, Film4.

Fern, the Red Deer (CFF), Thu 1st Sep, London Live.

Corruption (1968) + Fanatic (1965) + Attack of the Giant Leeches, Fri 2nd Sep, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club)


Buddha of Suburbia had an interesting cast: Susan Fleetwood from the brutal Play For Today Don't Be Silly, Nisha K. Nayar who later starred in Tracy Beaker, and Vicky Murdock from Alan Clarke's Christine! Not sure about the 2-hour runtime. I thought it was originally shown in hour long episodes.

jlnight wrote: Sun Aug 21, 2022 8:26 amBuddha of Suburbia had an interesting cast: Susan Fleetwood from the brutal Play For Today Don't Be Silly, Nisha K. Nayar who later starred in Tracy Beaker, and Vicky Murdock from Alan Clarke's Christine! Not sure about the 2-hour runtime. I thought it was originally shown in hour long episodes.

Yes, in the RadioTimes listing last week's screening was billed as "Episodes 1 & 2". Episodes "3 & 4" are showing in the same two hour block this Wednesday.