Steps Back | Play for Today

1: Beginnings | Watching

Journalist Tom Sutcliffe presents a documentary exploring the various ways directors begin their feature films. Includes mentions of Saul Bass and D...

12 Monkeys (1995)

Sombre time-travel thriller in which a convict from 2035 is sent back in time to find the cause of a virus which has wiped out most of the planet's populat...

2: Big | Watching

The news that unwraps the mysteries of cinema continues as Tom Sutcliffe explains how size can emphasise the importance of objects.

28 Days Later (2002)

28 days after a killer virus is accidentally unleashed from a British research facility, a small group of London survivors are caught in a desperate str...

3: Screens | Watching

This week, through films such as All That Heaven Allows and Videodrome, Tom Sutcliffe explores how cinema has portrayed television as a sinister and da...

4: Punch | Watching

Tom Sutcliffe presents a documentary exploring the history of the punch in cinema, featuring examples from films throughout the ages, with contributions ...

5: Unseen | Watching

Tom Sutcliffe presents a documentary exploring how what is left unseen on the movie screen can be just as important as what is shown.

6: Freeze | Watching

Final part of the series that unwraps the mysteries of cinema. Tom Sutcliffe explores the emotional impact of slowing down or stopping the action altoge...

Alien (1979)

A commercial spacecraft on its way home is diverted to investigate a mysterious signal on a nearby planet, where it picks up a deadly, parasitic life form that ...

Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

To avoid her Sikh parents' disapproval, soccer-obsessed teenager Jess Bhamra hides the fact she has joined a local female football team, where he...

Bhaji On The Beach (1994)

A day trip to Blackpool to see the lights, a harmless break from the routine for a mini-bus full of women from the Asian's Women's Centre. It all s...

Black Panther (2019)

Prince T'Challa, the Black Panther, hopes to lead his people to a brighter future but faces many threats, including a challenge to his throne from a rut...

Buster (1988)

Lively biopic telling the story of Great Train Robber Buster Edwards, a small-timer who fell in with more ambitious thieves. After the gang robs a London to Gl...

Calendar Girls (2003)

Comedy drama based on the true story of 12 Yorkshire ladies who find a compelling way to raise money for charity: a nude calendar. Stars Helen Mirren a...

East is East (1999)

BAFTA-winning comedy-drama with Om Puri, Linda Bassett and Jimi Mistry, which takes a wry look at a Pakistani chip shop owner's efforts to raise his kids...

Episode 1 | Elstree: Britain's Hollywood

David Puttnam presents the first of two programs celebrating the 75th anniversary of Elstree, once home to six separate film studios...

Episode 2 | Elstree: Britain's Hollywood

David Puttnam presents the second of two programs celebrating the 75th anniversary of Elstree, once home to six separate film studio...

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

Over the course of five social occasions, a committed bachelor must consider the notion that he may have discovered love.

Gregory's Girl (1981)

Witty and unsentimental coming-of-age comedy about a boy (John Gordon Sinclair) who falls hopelessly in love with a girl who becomes the new star playe...

Hitchcock: 1: It's Only Another Movie | Omnibus

During a career spanning 50 years of filmmaking, from the silent era into the age of television, Alfred Hitchcock became as f...