GB
A drama-documentary presented by Alan Yentob, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role. Every word spoken by the actors in this film is sourced from the letters that Van Gogh sent to his younger brother Theo, and of those around him. What emerges is a complex portrait of a sophisticated, civilised and yet tormented man.
Apr 2010
The struggle of Houser's legal feud against American lawyer Jack Thompson, over the morality of the "Grand Theft Auto" video game series.
Sep 2015
Ten years ago, in an award-winning series, Stephen Fry first spoke about living with manic depression and began a national conversation about mental health. A decade later, we return to the subject to understand where he and thousands of others diagnosed with bipolar (as it is now called) are now.
Feb 2016
As the hype reaches fever pitch ahead of the big kick-off in Germany, a stellar line-up work their magic in an essential selection of comic set pieces. Featuring favourite characters and brand new scenarios. Mixing running gags, quickies, send-ups and musical numbers. The top team includes Jonathan Watson, Grado, Greg Hemphill, Jack Docherty, Ford Kiernan and Karen Dunbar.
Jun 2024
In the Jewish tradition of arguing with God, Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz decide to put God on Trial.
Sep 2008
A celebration of the sitcom Still Game, featuring interviews with the cast, celebrities who have appeared on the show and super fans. Including a look at some favourite moments.
Dec 2014
Powerfully redemptive and darkly comedic revenge thriller set in the vicious world of stand-up comedy, starring Stephen McCole and Malcolm Shields.
Jun 2009
Christmas is not a jolly time for the Rev. I.M. Jolly. His wife has gone home to his mother, his parishioners are revolting, His Father Christmas has the kids in tears and his turkey is frozen solid. Is it surprising that the Swear Box is full? In this hilarious Christmas Special, the inimitable Rikki Fulton takes the outrageous, cynical, Doomsday-faced Jolly on a disaster-filled seasonal odyssey bringing mayhem and mirth from Christmas Eve to Hogmanay.
Dec 1993
When best-selling author James Fuller Hayes comes to Glasgow to publicise his personal account of the Spanish Civil War, a surprise reunion with two of his old comrades from the International Brigade reveals contradictory & devastating information. Technically, this was the last Play For Today ever made by the BBC, but it wasn't broadcast under the strand.
Feb 1985
The Fringe, Fame and Me is the story of how a small Scottish arts festival that began 75 years ago this year became a national institution – a crucible where new stars are forged, careers made, and sometimes, dreams dashed. Told by the stars who first found fame at the Edinburgh Fringe, this is the inside story of what it takes to make a name here, from those who enjoyed overnight success to those who slogged for years to make it. Through their triumphs, favourite jokes, and sometimes painful failures, we’ll discover a hidden history of British comedy – revealing how the gags we find funny and the comedians we love reflect our changing culture.
Aug 2022
Video Compilation of the Scottish TV Comedy Sketch Show. Stand out characters include Supercop, an idiot motorcycle policeman whose catchphrase was 'Alright Stirling, oot the car' and whose goggles would spring off his helmet; Dirty Dickie Dandruff; Gallowgate Gourmet, the unbelievably unhygienic TV chef; and McGlinchey, a colourful wide-boy.
Nov 1986
A man frantically searches for a pen while stuck on a train journey somewhere in Scotland.
Aug 1995
Using only archive film and a new musical score by the band Mogwai, Mark Cousins presents an impressionistic kaleidoscope of our nuclear times – protest marches, Cold War sabre-rattling, Chernobyl and Fukishima – but also the sublime beauty of the atomic world, and how x-rays and MRI scans have improved human lives. The nuclear age has been a nightmare, but dreamlike too.
Aug 2015
Cast and crew discuss the 1973 film The Wicker Man, directed by Robin Hardy.
Dec 1998
Rev IM Jolly at the award ceremony
Dec 1995
Comedy set in a chaotic Hogmanay party. Beth and Eric Baird's Hogmanay goes horribly wrong as family, friends and neighbours descend on their home. As they count down to the bells in traditional Scottish style, a lively evening is assured as drink flows and Beth's legendary steak pie comes out of the oven. Secrets are revealed, tempers fray, scores are settled and a gazebo is destroyed.
Dec 2013
Dying of cancer, an old woman trapped in her Glasgow flat relieves her pain by drinking morphine and whisky cocktails and dreaming of her youth and dancing to the bittersweet music of The Inkspots.
Jan 1995
The life and work of the documentary pioneer.
Feb 2014
A summer evening in Edinburgh, 1776. The ailing philosopher David Hume has an unexpected visitor.
Jun 1989
The story follows former football hooligan Ray Knight (Steven Mackintosh), a normal everyday family man who works as a security guard at a financial trading company in Canary Wharf, the symbol of corporate wealth which looms high over the impoverished communities below. Newfound social responsibilities are trampled underfoot when Ray's racist past is revived amid tensions between Whites and Asians jostling for position on the council housing list. Among those who are wanting to be rehoused in a new development is Ray's alcoholic ex-wife Sadie (Camille Coduri), and his teenage daughter Nikki (Sadie Thompson). After a failed attempt to rehouse Sadie and Nikki, and soon discovering that Nikki is involved in heroin addiction, Ray's anger drives him to re-join a BNP organisation led by his old friend Larry Knowles (Keith Barron).
Apr 2004