News

Jeannette Charles, the Queen Elizabeth II look-alike who played the British monarch for laughs in National Lampoon’s European Vacation, in the first Naked Gun movie and in the last Austin Powers film, has died. She was 96.

Charles died Sunday at a hospice facility in Great Baddow, Essex, England, her daughter, Carol Christophi, announced. “Mum was a real character and a force of nature. She had an amazing life,” she said. “She was always respectful of the queen and adored the royal family.”

Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022, also at age 96.

Charles spent more than four decades doubling for the head of state before she wound down her career in 2014.

“I think the first time I was recognized [as the queen] was on a trip [in 1971] to Capri in Italy, with my Italian pen friend Florence,” she recalled in a 2012 interview. “Someone shouted ‘Princess Elizabeth’ in Italian, my friend explained her majesty had...

Coming up on March 1st from AppleTV+ is yet another joyful and whimsical British comedy ‘The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin.’ Led by Mr Great British Back-off host Noel Fielding in the titular role and propped up by some of the biggest and best names in British comedy.

The six-episode Apple Original centres on Dick Turpin (Fielding), who sets out on a journey of wildly absurd escapades when he’s made the reluctant leader of a band of outlaws — and tasked with outwitting corrupt lawman and self-appointed thief-taker Jonathan Wilde (Hugh Bonneville).

In this irreverent retelling set in the 18th century, Turpin is the most famous but least likely of highway robbers, whose success is defined mostly by his charm, showmanship and great hair. Together with his gang of lovable rogues, Turpin rides the highs and lows of his new endeavours, including a brush with celebrity, all whilst trying...

As fans of Mel Stuart's 1971 film "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" can likely tell you, author Roald Dahl hated the film. His original 1964 novel, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," was, he felt, not a whimsical, sentimental story, but a Dickensian odyssey into a surreal landscape. Additionally, Dahl hated the casting of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, preferring British actor Spike Milligan. Too much was changed from his original text. Why adapt a book to screen, Dahl felt, if you're going to alter everything? 

Despite the author's objections, Stuart's film became deeply beloved among the children who saw it in the '70s and '80s, and many grew up holding the film -- which has plenty of Dahl-like bitterness and horror regardless -- very close to their hearts. "Willy Wonka" eventually became part of the ever-churning nostalgia machine, and decades after its release, aging Gen-Xers were suddenly able...

For more than 40 years, Aardman Animations has been producing classics like “Wallace & Gromit,” “Chicken Run” and “Shaun the Sheep.” Now, following in the footsteps of pioneers such as Peter Lord, David Sproxton and Nick Park, new recruits have come on board at the company’s headquarters on Spike Island in the port city of Bristol, in the West of England, replenishing its creative treasure chest.

Variety steps along the gangplank to meet some of the more recent additions to the crew: Dan Ojari and Mikey Please, the creators of Oscar-nominated “Robin Robin” (see here); kids’ comedy series “Lloyd of the Flies” creator and director Matthew Walker, and co-director and voice director Jane Davies (see here); and Lucy Izzard, the creator, writer and director of “The Very Small Creatures,” a BAFTA nominated preschool series (see below).

“The Very Small Creatures,” commissioned by U.K. pay-tv operator Sky, is a stop-motion series for one to three-year-olds.

It seems only natural that Severin Films would follow up its two Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee box sets with a collection of some of the more offbeat entries in the filmography of Peter Cushing, Lee’s legendary Hammer Films co-star. Cushing Curiosities collects five films and the remaining episodes of a TV series that highlight the diverse aspects of Cushing’s always authoritative on-screen persona. Featuring crisp new 2K restorations sourced from original elements, Severin’s compelling new set comes complete with loads of bonus materials, including some priceless audio interviews with the man himself and commentaries by historians, as well as Peter Cushing: A Portrait in Six Sketches, a 200-page book by film historian Jonathan Rigby.

Cushing appears as a stiff-necked yet urbane airline pilot in 1960’s Cone of Silence, a modestly compelling exposé based on the actual investigation into a 1952 airplane crash. Reprimanded for a crash that killed his copilot,...

Wonka, the phantasmagorical musical starring Timothée Chalamet as the world’s most famous chocolatier, opens in cinemas in time for the holiday season this week. The film, directed by Paul King of Paddington fame, arrives on the big screen with a lot of audience skepticism. We already have two very popular adaptations of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s most beloved novel, and the idea of a prequel following young Willy Wonka feels unnecessary given that the book isn’t exactly about him. Still, there is a reason that Dahl adaptations remain popular, even as the author long faced pushback for some of his more bigoted views.

People love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, first published in 1964, because it’s as delicious as the confectionaries made by Wonka. The story of five varied children who win a contest to tour a secretive factory is cheeky, strange, occasionally grotesque,...

The winners of the 19th annual AIBs have been revealed at a glittering awards dinner in London. The AIBs reward the best international journalism and factual productions across TV, radio, and digital platforms. Over 400 hours of content were submitted to the 2023 competition and 50 judges around the world evaluated the shortlist.

Guests from countries as diverse as South Korea, Norway, Canada, Germany, South Africa, the UAE, Taiwan, France, and the UK joined the celebration at Church House Westminster, right alongside Westminster Abbey. The evening’s host was veteran journalist and news anchor Simon McCoy.

Opening the evening, Aib chief executive Simon Spanswick said: “this competition is needed more than ever, as we face a world in increasing chaos and danger. In many areas, that chaos and danger threaten media freedom and the ability of journalists to hold power to account.

“That’s why journalists and producers need to shout about their...

Miriam Margolyes, who played Professor Sprout in the “Harry Potter” film franchise, is lending her voice to a new kids project titled “Badjelly,” Variety can confirm.

Based on the Spike Milligan children’s book “Badjelly the Witch: A Fairy Story,” the animated series will bring to life Milligan’s original tale about two siblings who go searching for a lost cow – and stumble upon a cast of magical creatures.

Margolyes is set to play Badjelly in the project, who is described as “the wickedest witch in all the world.” When she bumps into brother and sister Tim and Rose on their adventures in the great black forest high jinks ensue. Tim will be voiced by Malachi Hall (“The Flatshare”) while Ava Diakhaby (“Shortland Street”) plays Rose.

The 13-part series is aimed at 7-11 year old and is set for delivery in 2025. The show is already in production.

“’Badjelly’ delivers a...

Netflix typically refuses to release its actual viewership numbers to the public, making its weekly top-10 lists a fascinating peek into how streaming services actually operate. Netflix may pour millions into their original programs, but their ten most popular films or TV tend to (at least partly) be 25-year-old movies experiencing a seemingly random renaissance. Case in point: one of the hottest films on Netflix right now is Danny DeVito's 1996 family film "Matilda" based on the 1988 novel by Roald Dahl. 

"Matilda," critically acclaimed upon its release, is about the titular young girl (Mara Wilson) who lives with caustic, greedy, tacky, and abusive parents. Her new school is a bleak, Dickensian nightmare overseen by the bestial, cruel Mrs. Trunchbull (Pam Ferris). The only person who treats Matilda with kindness is the put-upon Miss Honey (Embeth Davidtz) who sees how bright and gentle Matilda is. 

Matilda sees little respite from her...

Severin Films is celebrating the late Peter Cushing with an unprecedented box set highlighting the most unexpected gems from the filmography of the legendary horror actor.

Cushing Curiosities, releasing August 29, presents 6-discs of rarely seen feature films and television broadcasts restored and scanned from original vault sources, plus a curated plethora of Special Features that celebrate Cushing’s unique career like never before.

From Hammer Films to Star Wars, he remains one of genre films’ best-loved actors. Now celebrate six of the most unexpected, rarely seen and decidedly curious performances from the legendary career of Peter Cushing: Cushing delivers a rare villain turn in the 1960 aviation thriller Cone Of Silence. That same year, Cushing brought gentle dignity to The Boulting Brothers’ cold-war drama Suspect. In 1962’s The Man Who Finally Died, Cushing co-stars opposite Stanley Baker as a former Nazi hiding a grave post-war secret.

Cushing returns to his...

To celebrate the 4k restoration of The Three Musketeers & The Four Musketeers both available from 8th May, we are giving away two pairs of the films on Blu-Ray.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1970s swashbuckling classic, Studiocanal are delighted to announce a brand-new 4K restoration of the star-studded The Three Musketeers. Directed by Richard Lester,the film will be available to own on 4K Uhd for the very first time, on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital from May 8. To accompany the release, the equally thrilling sequel, The Four Musketeers, has also enjoyed the same 4k treatmentand will be available to own on the same day.

Starring Oliver Reed (Women in Love), Richard Chamberlain (The Towering Inferno) and Frank Finlay (Othello) as the titular Musketeers with Michael York (Logan’s Run) as D’Artagnan, The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers boast exceptional supporting casts featuring many of the most lauded stars...

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was considered a family classic by many, but the source material's author, Roald Dahl, was not one of them, mainly due to the casting of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. Dahl was famously dismissive of the adaptation, though he reportedly did not enjoy the process of turning any of his books into films, period. While Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory enjoyed immense success, Dahl himself was perhaps the film's biggest critic, attacking several core elements of its filmmaking.

The Willy Wonka movie was different to its source material, not least due to changing the title from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; a change Dahl reportedly despised. The writer also apparently took issue with the casting of Gene Wilder, finding him "pretentious", while Dahl wanted Spike Milligan or Peter Sellers to portray the candy man. Additionally, Dahl...

The Cure’s keyboardist Roger O’Donnell has responded to Paul Weller’s diatribe against his bandmate Robert Smith.

Earlier this week, Paul Weller hit out at The Cure frontman in an interview, calling him a “fat c***” and suggested he would like to “slap him”.

Weller’s comments were made when an interviewer for the cover story ofRecord Collector suggested that a song from Noel Gallagher’s forthcoming album sounds like “A Forest” by The Cure.

Weller didn’t seem to be too happy with this assertion, with the writer describing him as going into a state of “revulsion”.

"Really??!“ Weller said."I can’t f***ing stand them.”

“F***ing fat c***, with his lipstick and all that b*llocks. He is my age as well, isn’t he?" Weller said.

"He’s a f***ing kn*b end," he continued. "I don’t like him. There you go.

Monty Norman, the composer behind the iconic James Bond theme, has died at the age of 94.

A statement posted on his official website said, “It is with sadness we share the news that Monty Norman died on 11th July 2022 after a short illness.”

Norman most famously composed the score for “Dr. No,” the 1962 James Bond film starring Sean Connery. His theme for James Bond, as arranged by fellow Englishman John Barry, would go on to become the theme for the entire franchise.

As Norman said on his site, “We recognized we needed a fresh, contemporary sound for the main theme, and in the up-and-coming young John Barry we found a wonderful arranger, so the whole thing worked very well.”

But controversy erupted decades later when Barry claimed authorship of the theme, resulting in Norman suing the Times of London for libel over a 1997 story (“Theme Tune Wrangle Has 007 Shaken and...

Christopher Lee, born on this day in 1922, had an amazing career of fantastic performances and remains the greatest villain actor in film history. He was the last classic horror star and Wamg thanks him for all the monster memories.

Christopher Lee was married to his wife Birgit (Gitte) for 54 years.

Here, according to Movie Geeks Jim Batts, Dana Jung, Sam Moffitt, and myself, are Christopher Lee’s ten best roles.

10. Frankenstein

It’s only fitting that The Curse Of Frankenstein, the film that truly began England’s Hammer Studios’ theatrical run of full color gothic horror epics, should team their greatest stars, Peter Cushing as Baron Victor Frankenstein and Christopher Lee as his monster. This was the first big screen incarnation of the monster after Universal’s 30’s and 40’s classics with Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, and, of course, Boris Karloff. Because the Jack Pierce make-up is owned by that studio,...

Beryl Vertue, the acclaimed UK TV exec behind Sherlock and Men Behaving Badly, has died aged 90.

Vertue’s daughters Sue Vertue and Debbie Vertue said in a joint statement: “It’s with the heaviest of hearts that we have to share the sad news that mum passed away peacefully last night. It wasn’t Covid, it was just her nearly 91-year-old body saying enough is enough.”

They described her as “our best friend, our mentor, our adviser, our role model, our holiday companion, our giggle-maker and our boss,” adding: “She was more than a mother to us – she was also a friend. To many in the industry she was more than a friend – she was often a mother.”

Multiple UK TV figures paid tribute to Vertue, who set up and steered successful independent drama company Hartswood Films in 1979. Both Sue Vertue and Debbie Vertue now work for Hartswood and Sue...

Barry Cryer, the much loved British comedian and TV writer, has died at the age of 86.

Cryer was most known on UK shores for being a founding member and consistent panelist on long-running BBC Radio 4 surreal comedy show I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, first appearing when it launched in April 1972 (and briefly sharing hosting duties before Humphrey Lyttelton took that on full time), and last making a guest appearance in 2020.

Outside of Radio, Cryer was a noted writer for comedians, with the wide roster of performers he penned material for including the Two Ronnies, Morecame and Wise, Spike Milligan, Richard Pryor, Bob Hope, Bruce Forsyth and Rory Bremner.

He also wrote episodes for TV comedy series Doctor In The House, and wrote and appeared in further TV work.

Cryer married his wife Theresa in 1962 and the pair had four children and seven grandchildren.

Tributes this morning...

Disney Plus has added a content disclaimer to the beginning of 18 episodes of “The Muppet Show,” which started streaming on the platform on Friday.

“This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now,” the disclaimer reads. “Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together.”

The disclaimer has been added to a total of 18 episodes throughout the show’s five seasons, including those guest hosted by Jim Nabors, Joel Grey, Steve Martin, Peter Sellers, Cleo Laine, James Coco, Spike Milligan, Crystal Gayle, Kenny Rogers, Beverly Sills, Jonathan Winters, Alan Arkin, James Coburn, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Debbie Harry, Wally Boag and Marty Feldman. The label has been added to each episode for a different reason; but for example, during Cash’s episode,...

Goldfinger actress and model Margaret Nolan died on October 5. She was 76.

Nolan was known as the gold-painted model in the memorable title sequence for the 1964 James Bond film in which she also played Bond’s masseuse Dink. In the same year, she also appeared in the popular Beatles pic A Hard Day’s Night Night. In addition, she was seen in the Carry On franchise from 1965 through 1974. She also appeared in Spike Milligan’s Q series as well as the film Ferry Cross the Mersey and Marcel Carné’s 1965 pic Three Rooms in Manhattan. She also appeared in the 2011 Yvonne Deutschman comedy The Power of Three.

Most recently Edgar Wright cast her in his upcoming film Last Night in Soho which will be released by Focus Features on April 23, 2021. Wright took to Twitter to pay tribute to the actress and model. “It’s my sad duty to report that actress and artist,...

Margaret Nolan, an actress and artist known as the gold-painted model in the title sequence for the 1964 James Bond film “Goldfinger,” died Oct. 5, her son, Oscar Deeks, confirmed to Variety. She was 76.

Director Edgar Wright first announced the news of Nolan’s death on Twitter. In a touching tribute, Wright wrote: “She was the middle of Venn diagram of everything cool in the 60’s; having appeared with the Beatles, been beyond iconic in Bond and been part of the ‘Carry On’ cast too.”

She was the gold painted model in the iconic Goldfinger title sequence and poster (she also played Dink in the movie), she appeared in the classic A Hard Day's Night, Carry On Girls, No Sex Please We're British & many others, frequently sending up her own glamourpuss image. 2/4 pic.twitter.com/RyUs7fS6P7

— edgarwright (@edgarwright) October 11, 2020

Nolan was born on Oct. 29, 1943 in Somerset, England and grew up in London.

Most stories of tortured film productions turn on the tragedy of missed opportunities: We’ll never know if Alejandro Jodoworsky’s “Dune” or the original version of Terry Gilliam’s “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” would have delivered on their directors’ audacious visions. “Ghost in the Noonday Sun” is a different situation. The 1974 pirate comedy, which starred Peter Sellers as a 17th century troublemaker named Dick Scratcher, actually got made — and it sucked. In fact, everyone involved felt that the movie was a mistake. Sellers, at the height of his commercial and creative powers, clashed with director Peter Medak on a nightmarish shoot riddled with practical challenges and indecision; Columbia shelved the project, dumping it on home video a decade later, Medak’s career was forever tarnished, and Sellers died by the end of the decade.

In the grand tradition of “Jodoworsky’s Dune” and “Lost in La Mancha,...

Most stories of tortured film productions turn on the tragedy of missed opportunities: We’ll never know if Alejandro Jodoworsky’s “Dune” or the original version of Terry Gilliam’s “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” would have delivered on their directors’ audacious visions. “Ghost in the Noonday Sun” is a different situation. The 1974 pirate comedy, which starred Peter Sellers as a 17th century troublemaker named Dick Scratcher, actually got made — and it sucked. In fact, everyone involved felt that the movie was a mistake. Sellers, at the height of his commercial and creative powers, clashed with director Peter Medak on a nightmarish shoot riddled with practical challenges and indecision; Columbia shelved the project, dumping it on home video a decade later, Medak’s career was forever tarnished, and Sellers died by the end of the decade.

In the grand tradition of “Jodoworsky’s Dune” and “Lost in La Mancha,...

Movie junkies, rejoice. Director Peter Medak has made an instructive and nightmarishly funny documentary about how actor Peter Sellers drove him crazy and nearly trashed his career. The Ghost of Peter Sellers (now available on demand) recounts the filming of Ghost in the Noonday Sun, a 1973 pirate-epic folly so riven by fits, fights and clashing egos that its producers decided never to release it. “We all just wanted to kill ourselves,” said Medak after the film’s first screening.

On Cyrus, where this 17th-century adventure was shot, disaster was in the air from Day One,...

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“The Fine Art Of Seduction?”

By Raymond Benson

The winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival was a thoroughly “mod,” Swinging London-set comedy directed by rising star filmmaker Richard Lester, who was just coming off the huge success of helming the Beatles in A Hard Day’s Night.

The Knack is directed in the same style as Hard Day’s, which borrowed heavily from the signature traits of the French New Wave—radical editing and jump cuts, handheld camerawork, on the street cinema verité, breaking the fourth wall, intentionally arty shots, and a relatively low budget… plus Lester’s trademark absurdist humor, surrealism, and a wacky British sensibility that he had exhibited ever since working with Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan on such fare as The Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film (1959).

Adapted by Charles Wood from a stage play by Ann Jellicoe,...

In 1973, five years after his last Pink Panther film and nine years after Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb, Peter Sellers was set to appear alongside Anthony Franciosa and Spike Milligan in a piratical romp entitled Ghost In The Noonday Sun. If you haven't seen it, don't fear that you're slacking. It never got a cinema release, eventually making it onto video in 1985 and DVD in 2016. Director Peter Medak described making it as the single worst experience of his career. In this documentary, revisiting the Cyprus location, he sets out to explain why.

It's worth stating upfront that there isn't much dispute about the facts of what happened. What was always at stake was the distribution of blame. As far as Sellers was concerned, that all belonged to Medak - who was ultimately left to carry the can - but others...

The life of accomplished film actor Peter Sellers has been one of the most infamous in Hollywood history. Known most for his creation of Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther movies, Sellers was also the star of classic films such as Being There, Dr. Strangelove, and Lolita. The Oscar-nominated actor struggled with depression and addiction throughout his career and often clashed with fellow actors and directors. One such director is Peter Medak, who outlines his tumultuous working relationship with Sellers in his new documentary The Ghost of Peter Sellers.

In 1973, Medak enlisted Sellers to star in his pirate comedy movie Ghost in the Noonday Sun, where the two had a disastrous working experience that Medak is still reeling from to this day. The trailer for the documentary shows Medak emotional over the experience, detailing Sellers using drugs and faking a heart attack during the filming. The final product stayed...

Alice in Wonderland

Blu ray

Kino Lorber

1933 / 1.33:1/ 76 min.

Starring Charlotte Henry, W.C. Fields, Gary Cooper

Cinematography by Bert Glennon, Henry Sharp

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod

Written by Harvey Kurtzman with art by Jack Davis, Mad‘s 1954 parody of Alice in Wonderland stands as a succinct critique of Paramount Pictures’s 1933 adaptation. The film stars crowd pleasing performers like Cary Grant and W.C. Fields yet manages to be one of the most uniquely disturbing studio pictures ever made.

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod and written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and William Cameron Menzies, the movie began production in 1932, the centennial of Lewis Carroll’s birth. Carroll’s classic was ripe for Paramount – the studio on Melrose was ground zero for absurdist humor in the early ’30s. McLeod had just wrapped the Marx Brothers’ sublime Horse Feathers while the Mankiewicz-scripted Million Dollar Legs was released the same year – both...

Christopher Lee, born on this day in 1922, had an amazing career of fantastic performances and remains the greatest villain actor in film history. He was the last classic horror star and Wamg thanks him for all the monster memories.

Christopher Lee was married to his wife Birgit (Gitte) for 54 years.

Here, according to Movie Geeks Jim Batts, Dana Jung, Sam Moffitt, and myself, are Christopher Lee’s ten best roles.

10. Frankenstein

It’s only fitting that The Curse Of Frankenstein, the film that truly began England’s Hammer Studios’ theatrical run of full color gothic horror epics, should team their greatest stars, Peter Cushing as Baron Victor Frankenstein and Christopher Lee as his monster. This was the first big screen incarnation of the monster after Universal’s 30’s and 40’s classics with Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, and, of course, Boris Karloff. Because the Jack Pierce make-up is owned by that studio,...

British screenwriter and playwright Charles Wood, known for such productions as “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Tumbledown” and “Iris,” has died at the age of 87.

His death, on Saturday, was confirmed to Variety by his agent Sue Rodgers at Independent Talent.

Born into a theater family, he began working in his local theater when he was a teen. After studying theatrical design at art college, he spent several years in the British army. After an assortment of jobs, he began to write professionally from 1959, with the completion of his play “Prisoner and Escort,” drawing on his army experience.

His first screenplay was 1965 comedy “The Knack … and How to Get It,” based on Anne Jellicoe’s play. Directed by Richard Lester, and starring Rita Tushingham and Michael Crawford, it won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Wood was nominated for the BAFTA for British screenplay.

Among many films with Lester,...

Andrew Blair Oct 15, 2019

From fanzines to forums, Doctor Who fan opinion has evolved over the years

This article comes from Den of Geek UK.

Whenever an episode of Doctor Who is broadcast now it’s quite easy to get a sense of how it’s been received within online communities. Websites review the episodes and people comment on those, folk post on social media and forums, and podcasts offer dissection and discussion in the aftermath.

Prior to the internet, the main outlet for review and opinion pieces were the printed fanzines that sprang up in the late seventies and eighties. Prior to that the main source we have for viewers’ responses were the BBC Audience Research reports, which weren’t carried out for every story and mostly only looked at one episode per story. What’s interesting to see is how contemporary opinion doesn’t always match up with current...

Sam Moffitt’s article about movies and shows was originally posted May 15th, 2015. In honor of the new hit movie version of Downton Abbey, We Are Movie Geeks is reposting this list

By rights I should hate the English. Seriously, my background is almost entirely Scots and Irish. I grew up hearing about the troubles the English gave to the Scots and Irish, both in school and from my parents.

Yet I do not, I love the English. How can I hate a country that gave us not only Monty Python but also Benny Hill and the Carry On Films? How can I bear any ill will to a country that gave us writers of the caliber of Ramsey Campbell, Brian Aldiss, Michael Moorcock and J. G Ballard? How can anyone hate a country that not only prizes eccentric behavior but encourages it? Take Mr. Kim Newman for instance, a...

Previously unseen correspondence between the two comedians and musician Alan Clare is to be sold at auction

They were never known for their sense of decorum and linguistic restraint, but a cache of previously unpublished letters by Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers proves – if there were ever any doubt – their humour was not for the fainthearted.

The comic geniuses, who along with Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine made up the cast of the wildly popular Goon Show, deployed their anarchic wit and eccentric punctuation to wincing effect in the letters, which were written to their friend, the jazz pianist Alan Clare.

The excruciating experience of making a film that never should have been put before the cameras is revisited in ghastly, jaw-dropping detail in The Ghost of Peter Sellers. While viewers will inwardly gasp and cringe at the unseaworthiness of the comic pirate saga that was produced only because the then-red hot Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan were involved, for Peter Medak, the director of the unreleased 1973 farce and of this unvarnished look at its production 45 years later, this can't-take-your-eyes-off-it documentary feels like both a mea culpa and a purge of lingering ghosts. Film-wise viewers and Sellers fans ...

The excruciating experience of making a film that never should have been put before the cameras is revisited in ghastly, jaw-dropping detail in The Ghost of Peter Sellers. While viewers will inwardly gasp and cringe at the unseaworthiness of the comic pirate saga that was produced only because the then-red hot Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan were involved, for Peter Medak, the director of the unreleased 1973 farce and of this unvarnished look at its production 45 years later, this can't-take-your-eyes-off-it documentary feels like both a mea culpa and a purge of lingering ghosts. Film-wise viewers and Sellers fans ...

The 1973 movie Ghost in the Noonday Sun, with Spike Milligan, never reached the big screen. Now its director, Peter Medak, reveals why

In 1973, Peter Sellers persuaded his friend Peter Medak to direct a pirate comedy that he had developed with fellow comic genius Spike Milligan – only to then sabotage the production. Sellers’s tantrums and cancelled shoots were among the disasters that took their toll, ensuring that the film was never seen in cinemas.

Now Medak has made a feature documentary that lifts the lid on the “nightmare” of the comedy’s collapse, and of goings-on behind the scenes that were “more outrageous and funnier than the movie itself”.

Ring Twice for Miranda

Stage II at New York City Center Through April 16, 2017

During Ring Twice for Miranda, while witnessing the frequent long and drawn-out arguments scenes that pepper this play’s landscape, I was reminded of Andy Warhol’s Chelsea Girls. What kept your attention during that film’s interminable arguments among Warhol’s characters was hope of some kind of satisfying resolution. Playwright Alan Hruska is by trade a litigation lawyer, so he knows how to argue. Unfortunately his characters do not share his real life expertise. I kept saying to myself “come on, get on with it!” My impatience had me physically squirming much as I did when, eons ago, I first viewed Chelsea Girls! In addition, specters of the post-apocalyptic Spike Milligan/Richard Lester film collaboration The Bed Sitting Room floated about me. Absent from Miranda’s world was the clear social satire and whimsy which sustained Mr.

Hugh Bonneville and Gillian Anderson play the Mountbattens in Gurinder Chadha cheekily Downtonised but watchable version of history

‘Our time frame for leaving won’t work!” exclaims Lady Mountbatten, for a moment overwhelmed by the task of quitting India in 1947. Something familiar about that? As well as an enjoyably soapy and cheekily Downtonised view of history, director Gurinder Chadha could be offering a satirical stab at what Indexit meant to a country about to split into two as a punitive condition of liberty; maybe the UK will also have to contemplate partition of its own, north and south. With co-screenwriters Moira Buffini and Paul Mayeda Berges, Chadha creates a watchable costume drama from India’s birth agonies. And with its streak of subversive humour, it even reminded me weirdly of Spike Milligan’s Puckoon, about the division of Ireland.

Hugh Bonneville plays Mountbatten of Burma, brought in to oversee the...

It's fairly common knowledge that Roald Dahl despised Mel Stuart's Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, the 1971 film adaptation of his classic children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Not only was he averse to Wilder's performance as eccentric candy-peddler Willy Wonka (the author wanted Spike Milligan for the role), he was irritated that it placed more emphasis on Wonka at the expense of the book's good-hearted hero Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum). (For the record, Dahl allegedly hated most adaptations of his books, at one point terming Nicolas Roeg's big-screen interpretation of The Witches "utterly appalling.") So perhaps it's fitting that Tim Burton, who directed the 2005 re-adaptation of Dahl's novel, similarly found the 1971 version lacking, telling BBC News in an interview: "I don't want to crush people's childhood dreams, but the original film is sappy." But while Burton's film proved very successful both critically and commercially -- it grossed...

American treasure and crown jewel in Gene Wilder's spectacular oeuvre Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory turns 45 this week. To celebrate, not only have we justly singled out the crime that was Gene Wilder getting passed over for an Oscar, but we're also giving fans an anniversary-based roundup of obscure facts and trivial bits about everyone's favorite vaguely sinister candy factory. 1. Wilder only accepted the role on one condition In a letter to director Mel Stuart, Wilder wrote that he'd read the script and would take the part on the condition that, "When I make my first entrance, I'd like...

American treasure and crown jewel in Gene Wilder's spectacular oeuvre Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory turns 45 this week. To celebrate, not only have we justly singled out the crime that was Gene Wilder getting passed over for an Oscar, but we're also giving fans an anniversary-based roundup of obscure facts and trivial bits about everyone's favorite vaguely sinister candy factory. 1. Wilder only accepted the role on one condition In a letter to director Mel Stuart, Wilder wrote that he'd read the script and would take the part on the condition that, "When I make my first entrance, I'd like...

The day monster kids have dreaded for some time has arrived. Mournful, nostalgic, and melancholy – it’s the end of an era for more than one generation of horror fans. It seemed like Christopher Lee would live through all eternity, but unlike some of the characters he played, there’s no bringing him back to life this time. He made it to 93 and went out on a high note, appearing in the final Hobbit film just this past winter. He had an amazing career of fantastic performances and remains the greatest villain actor in film history. Rip to the last classic horror star and thank you for all the monster memories.

Christopher Lee was married to his wife Birgit (Gitte) for 54 years.

Here, according to Movie Geeks Jim Batts, Dana Jung, Sam Moffitt, and myself, are Christopher Lee’s ten best roles.

10. Frankenstein

It’s only fitting that The Curse Of Frankenstein,...

BBC

When Doctor Who returned to TV in 2005, it banished the Classic Series’ reputation for wonky special effects and low production values forever. The brand used to be mocked everywhere by the likes of Spike Milligan and Fry & Laurie. Now it took pride of place on the Beeb’s Saturday night schedule and the comedians, from Simon Pegg to Peter Kay, were lining up to take part.

However, despite the show’s capacity to wow being greatly increased, it remains a modest offering by Hollywood standards. Digital technology has made hordes of rampaging Daleks easier to realise, but the adventures are still all shot on video, and there are tight budgets that have to be stuck to. The protracted scheduling of Series 6 and 7 were dictated as much by what was in the coffers as by dramatic effect.

This article calls out 10 weird, wild and downright entertaining examples of corner-cutting in the universe of NuWho.

By rights I should hate the English. Seriously, my background is almost entirely Scots and Irish. I grew up hearing about the troubles the English gave to the Scots and Irish, both in school and from my parents.

Yet I do not, I love the English. How can I hate a country that gave us not only Monty Python but also Benny Hill and the Carry On Films? How can I bear any ill will to a country that gave us writers of the caliber of Ramsey Campbell, Brian Aldiss, Michael Moorcock and J. G Ballard? How can anyone hate a country that not only prizes eccentric behavior but encourages it? Take Mr. Kim Newman for instance, a brilliant writer whose work appears regularly in Video WatchDog and Videoscope Mr. Newman dresses himself, has his hair and mustache styled and speaks in the manner of someone from the 19th Century!

Gold has ordered a new biography series about comedians - with a difference.

The Interviews - a six part series - will focus on a different star in each episode by using their appearances on British chat shows.

Kenneth Williams, The Two Ronnies, Les Dawson, Oliver Reed, Spike Milligan, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore will each feature in an instalment of The Interviews, with Dawn French providing a voiceover for the series.

As well as using footage with interviewers such as Michael Parkinson, Terry Wogan, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Ross, Graham Norton, Michael Aspel, Des O'Connor and Mavis Nicholson, the series will use clips from personal documentary interviews and radio specials.

Gold's commissioning editor Iain Coyle described the series as a "compelling show that perfectly captures the personalities of our comedy legends".

"The Interviews is a unique way of doing biography through chat show appearances, as the guests' stories are told straight from the horse's mouth,...

Michael Palin Cbe has achieved that rare feat of being not only a man of multiple trades - actor, comedian, writer, presenter and political campaigner - but a master of them all.

Best known for being one sixth of iconic comedy group Monty Python, Palin has carved a hugely successful and varied career in showbusiness.

His achievements range from winning the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor in 1989 for his role in A Fish Called Wanda, to travelling across the world in 80 days, to reuniting with his fellow Pythons for a hugely anticipated series of live Monty Python shows last year.

In the name of getting to know one of Britain's most famous men a little better, we headed to BAFTA HQ on Tuesday night (March 17) for the latest in BAFTA's live strand A Life in Television. Host David Walliams certainly extracted a host of fascinating facts about Palin's life (and...

When Prince Charles called Joan Rivers "utterly irreplaceable" on Friday, he was paying tribute not only to a groundbreaking comedian but also his friend. Like millions around the world, Charles, 65, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, expressed sadness about her death on Thursday. For Charles, who since his youth has been a fan of zany humor, Rivers was one of those often-edgy performers who put a smile on his face, regularly joining him at fundraisers or for events at his country home. She was a guest at his wedding to Camilla in 2005, and when he turned 60 three years later,...

Mike Myers is one proud papa!The "Austin Powers" star stopped by "The Late Show" on Thursday, where he showed David Letterman the first public pics of his adorable kids, Spike and Sunday.The late night host had to ask how the actor and his wife, Kelly Tisdale, came up with three-year-old Spike's unusual name."Spike is very common Liverpool nickname if your name is Eric," he revealed. He's also a fan of Spike Milligan, the poet and comic.Of course, he also had a hilarious explanation for his daughter's moniker. "Me and my wife Kelly hate Sundays -- I'm not even kidding -- and we wanted to turn it around and make it a good thing," he admitted. Regarding the 4-month-old's middle name, the funnyman said, "Molly is because of my auntie Molly in Liverpool, England, who was my dad's sister but more like my grandmother who I...

How cute are Mike Myers' kids?! The actor shared the first pictures of his children, Spike and Sunday, on The Late Show With David Letterman Thursday. Myers named his 3-year-old son after his father, explaining, "Spike is very common Liverpool nickname is your name is Eric." He's also a fan of Spike Milligan, the poet and comic. Why did Myers and his wife Kelly Tisdale choose the name Sunday? "Me and my wife Kelly hate Sundays—I'm not even kidding—and we wanted to turn it around and make it a good thing." Regarding the 4-month-old's middle name, the Shrek star said, "Molly is because of my auntie Molly in Liverpool, England, who was my dad's sister but more like my...

Richard Lester’s directing career has had a rather tortured epilogue. His last completed film was the dreadful, unloved Return of The Musketeers (1989), during the making of which his long-time friend and troupe-member Roy Kinnear died after a freak accident. To add insult to injury, the Comic-Con crowd has been burning Lester in effigy ever since Richard Donner’s cut of Superman II was released in 2006. Donner had been fired as director of the 1980 sequel half way through filming and Lester was hired to finish the job. Since the release of the Donner cut, expressing a preference for the original, jokier version is rather like suggesting that Cesar Romero was a better Joker than Heath Ledger.

I do wonder sometimes whether the fanboys realise what an important, highly influential and iconoclastic director they’re dismissing when they’re kicking sand into Lester’s face. Martin Scorsese would certainly correct them (sternly,...

You only need look at the opening scene of A Hard Day's Night, Richard Lester's fleet-footed day in the life of The Beatles, to see just how much of an impact the film has had. As the first chord of the title track rings out and the group evade screaming fans to board a train to London, it's clear that this was the moment the music video was born.

A Hard Day's Night pre-dated MTV by almost two decades, but the channel would probably never have existed had it not been for Lester's beautiful synchronisation of music with images here. 50 years on from its original release, and with a new digital restoration heading back to cinemas, this film is still as fun and lively as ever.

It was Lester's anarchic short The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (starring Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers) that caught the attention of The Beatles and studio United Artists,...