Drama Smörgåsbord - Disc 17

Drama Smörgåsbord - Disc 17

Einstein And Eddington

A BBC film starring Andy Serkis, David Tennant, Lucy Cohu, Jodhi May, Donald Sumpter, Jim Broadbent, Rebecca Hall, Richard McCabe.

"In the spring of 1914, with Europe on the brink of war, no one had heard of an obscure German physicist called Albert Einstein. A British astronomer, Arthur Eddington, realised that Einstein's theories could unlock whole new ways of thinking about time and space. Despite the danger of being labelled traitors, the two men began a unique correspondence. An eclipse in Africa provided an opportunity to prove Einstein's theories to the world. Eddington, an unlikely hero, set out on a journey that would change people's perceptions of the universe forever."

Emerald Falls is an Australian Network Ten film from 2008.

"When Joni Ferguson (Georgie Parker) decides life is too short to play safe, she buys an almost derelict bed and breakfast in the Blue Mountains. Six months later, the business isn't doing very well. Joni's life is sent into a further tailspin at the sudden death of her trusted friend and confidante, local doctor Henry Forbes (Andrew McFarlane). However, Joni's son, Zac, is convinced that Forbes was murdered. Not only do his observations, research, Colombo-style deduction and simple 15-year-old intransigence yield results... but he also he unravels more than he bargained for."

Small Island was a 2009 BBC film.
"A story of Jamaicans and Londoners involved in the Second World War. London 1948: Hortense joins Gilbert, her new husband, in England where he is lodging with Queenie Bligh. The women have both married in unpromising circumstances. As Hortense remembers her life in Jamaica and the love she had for Michael and his betrayal of her, Queenie also remembers her night of passion with the same Michael when her husband was away at war. Will they uncover the secret they share? Hortense begins her new life in England and soon learns it is not the golden land she hoped it would be. She and Gilbert suffer racism and ignorance, but in adversity they discover new qualities in each other and begin to fall in love. Queenie is shocked when her husband Bernard returns to her after years away."
Starring Naomie Harris, Ruth Wilson, David Oyelowo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ashley Walters, Hugh Quarshie.


The Dinner Party
A BBC film from 2007 with Alun Armstrong, Alison Steadman, Lee Evans, Jessie Wallace, Rupert Graves, George Cole.
"Aspiring to be middle class by living in a charming village can have its drawbacks. For instance, you have to attend horrible dinner parties like the one at the heart of Tony Grounds's bitter drama. The repellent, perma-tanned Roger (Rupert Graves, doing wonders with a cartoonish role as a wealthy yob who uses his financial influence to subjugate and bully his wife - played by Elizabeth Berrington - and his so-called friends) is celebrating his birthday with a lavish meal at his beautifully appointed house. His guests include Leo and Jackie (Lee Evans and Jessie Wallace), a pair of newcomers who've fled the capital for what they think will be a nice life in the country, and his badminton partners Juliet and Jim (Alison Steadman and Alun Armstrong). It's a dreadful evening, full of recrimination, flirtation, gruesome snobbery, disappointment, anger, despair and, finally, violence. Just about everyone is awful, which makes The Dinner Party a bit wearing. But Armstrong rides to the rescue with a pitch-perfect performance as a downtrodden salesman with a slutty wife and a wayward daughter, who finally sees through Roger."