Mike Leigh at the BBC

Synopsis

A 6-DVD box set rounding up Mike Leigh’s work for the BBC, showcasing all of his surviving work, and including his contributions to the influential Play For Today series. Features Hard Labour (1973), The Permissive Society (1975), Nuts in May (1976), The Kiss of Death (1977), Who’s Who (1979), Abigail’s Party (1977), The Grown-Ups (1980), Home Sweet Home (1982), Four Days in July (1984) and Five-Minute Films - Afternoon, Birth of the Goalie, Old Chums, A Light Snack and Probation (1975).


Hard Labour: Leigh’s first drama for the BBC. Shot entirely on location in Leigh’s native Salford, it depicts the grinding daily routine of stoical domestic cleaner Mrs Thornley and her cantankerous family. Hard Labour features a moving central performance from Liz Smith (The Royle Family) and early appearances by Ben Kingsley and Bernard Hill. It also marks the first collaboration between Mike Leigh and Alison Steadman, who was to take leading roles in Nuts in May and Abigail’s Party.


The Permissive Society: Funny and moving, a tentative, awkward first date in a Lancashire high rise flat is interrupted by the young man’s elder sister, returning prematurely after being stood up. The title is, of course, ironic.


Nuts in May: Leigh’s second ‘Play For Today’ offering follows a self-righteous vegetarian couple on their attempt to enjoy an idyllic camping holiday in Dorset, where their rigid notions of peace and quiet are challenged by other campers who have a more relaxed approach to life.


In The Kiss of Death, David Threlfall gives a brilliant performance as Trevor, an off-beat undertaker’s assistant with a dry sense of humour and a healthy resistance to conformity. He and his best friend Ronnie are confronted by, and finally escape, the clutches of two predatory and fiercely conventional young women, Sandra and Linda. Filmed on location in Oldham.


Who’s Who? is a film about toffs and snobs. Richard Kane stars as Alan, an obsequious autograph hunter, who works as a clerk for a City stockbroker, and whose wife breeds pedigree chinchilla cats. Through Alan’s eyes we look at the lives of his upper class employers and the younger Sloane Ranger set at his firm.


Abigail’s Party: Immediately after its smash-hit run at The Hampstead Theatre, London, this 1977 stage play about a suburban evening of hilarious disaster, gross embarrassment and untimely death presided over by the monstrous Beverly, for which performance Alison Steadman won two best actress awards, was wheeled by Mike Leigh into an electronic TV studio. Leigh attributes the phenomenal success of his most popular TV show in part to the fact that on its third showing, storms raged throughout the British Isles, when there was a highbrow programme on BBC 2, an ITV strike blacking out Channel 3, and no Channel 4, as it didn’t yet exist.


Grown-Ups: A young working-class couple, Dick and Mandy, move into a council house, to find their old teacher living next door with his wife. Their new life is plagued by endless visits from Mandy’s lonely elder sister Gloria, a situation that finally erupts into a major catastrophe involving the neighbours.


Home Sweet Home: The tragic-comic tale of a lonely postman, the social workers who chivvy him about his estranged teenage daughter, and his secret affairs with the wives of his fellow postmen.


Four Days in July: A wonderfully engaging and bitterly humorous take on "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. Set (and shot) in Belfast in July 1984, around the annual 12th July Loyalist Parades, the film examines the communities on both sides of the divide. Through the depiction of a Catholic couple and a Protestant couple, each on the brink of the birth of their first child, Mike Leigh explores the daily lives of the divided community.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2009

Year of production

1973-84

Notes

Several of the plays are available for purchase individually

Subjects

Drama; Media studies

Keywords

Leigh, Mike; television drama

Credits

Director

Mike Leigh

Writer

Mike Leigh

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£59.99

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

706 minutes

Year

2009

Sections

Title

Hard Labour

Synopsis

Hard Labour - Leigh’s first drama for the BBC. Shot entirely on location in Leigh’s native Salford, it depicts the grinding daily routine of stoical domestic cleaner Mrs Thornley and her cantankerous family. Hard Labour features a moving central performance from Liz Smith (The Royle Family) and early appearances by Ben Kingsley and Bernard Hill. It also marks the first collaboration between Mike Leigh and Alison Steadman, who was to take leading roles in Nuts in May and Abigail’s Party.

Title

Permissive Society, The

Synopsis

The Permissive Society - Funny and moving, a tentative, awkward first date in a Lancashire high rise flat is interrupted by the young man’s elder sister, returning prematurely after being stood up. The title is, of course, ironic.

Title

Nuts in May

Synopsis

Nuts in May: Leigh’s second ‘Play For Today’ offering follows a self-righteous vegetarian couple on their attempt to enjoy an idyllic camping holiday in Dorset, where their rigid notions of peace and quiet are challenged by other campers who have a more relaxed approach to life.

Title

Kiss of Death, The

Synopsis

In The Kiss of Death, David Threlfall gives a brilliant performance as Trevor, an off-beat undertaker’s assistant with a dry sense of humour and a healthy resistance to conformity. He and his best friend Ronnie are confronted by, and finally escape, the clutches of two predatory and fiercely conventional young women, Sandra and Linda. Filmed on location in Oldham.

Title

Who’s Who

Synopsis

Who’s Who? is a film about toffs and snobs. Richard Kane stars as Alan, an obsequious autograph hunter, who works as a clerk for a City stockbroker, and whose wife breeds pedigree chinchilla cats. Through Alan’s eyes we look at the lives of his upper class employers and the younger Sloane Ranger set at his firm.

Title

Abigail’s Party

Synopsis

Abigail’s Party: Immediately after its smash-hit run at The Hampstead Theatre, London, this 1977 stage play about a suburban evening of hilarious disaster, gross embarrassment and untimely death presided over by the monstrous Beverly, for which performance Alison Steadman won two best actress awards, was wheeled by Mike Leigh into an electronic TV studio. Leigh attributes the phenomenal success of his most popular TV show in part to the fact that on its third showing, storms raged throughout the British Isles, when there was a highbrow programme on BBC 2, an ITV strike blacking out Channel 3, and no Channel 4, as it didn’t yet exist.

Title

Grown Ups, The

Synopsis

Grown-Ups: A young working-class couple, Dick and Mandy, move into a council house, to find their old teacher living next door with his wife. Their new life is plagued by endless visits from Mandy’s lonely elder sister Gloria, a situation that finally erupts into a major catastrophe involving the neighbours.

Title

Home, Sweet Home

Synopsis

Home Sweet Home: The tragic-comic tale of a lonely postman, the social workers who chivvy him about his estranged teenage daughter, and his secret affairs with the wives of his fellow postmen.

Title

Four Days in July

Synopsis

Four Days in July: A wonderfully engaging and bitterly humorous take on "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. Set (and shot) in Belfast in July 1984, around the annual 12th July Loyalist Parades, the film examines the communities on both sides of the divide. Through the depiction of a Catholic couple and a Protestant couple, each on the brink of the birth of their first child, Mike Leigh explores the daily lives of the divided community.

Title

Five-Minute Films

Production Company

Name

BBC Television

Distributor

Name

2 Entertain Video

Email

DVDenquiryline@bbc.com

Web

http://www.2entertainvideo.co.uk/ External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7612 3000

Fax

020 7612 3003

Address

BBC Worldwide
33 Foley Street
London
W1W 7TL

Notes

Specialises in distributing archival film and television titles, predominantly licensed from the BBC (the principal shareholder is BBC Worldwide). Sale on DVD through retail outlets. As of 2016 2Entertain is being gradually wound down and its output reduced. If something is not available via them it is advisable to try the BBC Store at https://store.bbc.com/

 

Available from retail outlets