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Comedy and Crime for BritBox in May

Broadcasting

Comedy and Crime for BritBox in May

There’s a host of content coming to BritBox UK next month.

Let’s start with the comedy and Thames Television classic Shelley arrives (May 12th) with the first four series from 1979 to 1982 and a 1980 special edition. A perpetually unemployed, sardonic `freelance layabout’ with a ‘doctoral degree’ battles with authority, the tax-man, his landlady and his girlfriend as he finds himself in all sorts of situations. Starring Hywel Bennett, Belinda Sinclair and Josephine Tewson.

BBC One sitcom Just Good Friends (May 26th) will also bring nostalgic laughs as Jan Francis, Paul Nicholas and Sylvia Kay feature in the three series of 1983 to 1986 along with the two Christmas specials (1984, 1986). Former lovers meet again years after their original romance failed and decide to let the past go and establish a friendship, despite disapproval from friends and family.

Movies arriving in May include Close My Eyes (1991), An estranged brother and sister begin an intense sexual relationship, behind the curtain of their otherwise normal lives. Starring Saskia Reeves, Alan Rickman, Clive Owen and Lesley Sharp. Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987). Realistic story of working-class Yorkshire life, alternately serious and light-hearted, as two schoolgirls have a sexual fling with a married man. Starring Siobhan Finneran, Michelle Holmes, George Costigan and Lesley Sharp and Florence Foster Jenkins (2016). The story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite having a terrible singing voice. Starring Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, Simon Helburg and Rebecca Ferguson.

This Is England (2006). A rebellious young boy joins a group of skinheads and gives his life a new direction until he meets a man named Combo, a former member of the crew and ex-convict, who starts his own clan. Starring  Stephen Graham, Thomas Turgoose, Joseph Gilgun and Vicky McClure.

Crime features Killing Escobar (2021) From May 5th this crime documentary follows the untold story of the attempted assassination of Pablo Escobar, while at the height of his powers, by a small team of elite mercenaries. Featuring a heart-stopping dramatic reconstruction, access to never-before-seen footage of the mission and first-person accounts from both the mercenaries and the cartel.

From May 19th there’s the arrival of No Body Recovered (2021). In January 2020, father of three Mike O’Leary disappeared on his way home from work. Police immediately launched an investigation. But how do you solve a mystery without a body? Psychopath with Piers Morgan (2019). Piers Morgan ventures behind bars for an encounter with diagnosed psychopath Paris Bennett.

The Killing of PC Harper: A Widow’s Fight for Justice (2022). Documentary with Sir Trevor McDonald about the brutal killing of PC Andrew Harper, the investigation to catch his killers and the campaign to change the law by his grieving widow, Lissie. The Trial of Louise Woodward (2021). Documentary revisiting the gripping and controversial trial of Louise Woodward, a British nanny accused of murdering an American baby in her care.

Confessions of a Serial Killer with Piers Morgan (2019). Through intense prison interviews, Piers Morgan revisits the crimes of three convicted serial killers and learns more about their motives. In the Footsteps of Killers (2021). Emilia Fox and Professor David Wilson, Britain’s leading criminologist, investigate famous unsolved murder cases. By visiting the scenes of the crimes and reinvestigating the evidence, they attempt to get to the bottom of what really happened.

Murder in the Car Park (2020). March 1987, a man lies dead in a south London pub car park, an axe in his head. This true-crime docudrama series examines the still-unsolved murder of private detective Daniel Morgan.

Also, BritBox will launch an Agatha Christie film collection on the 19th May, including Death on the Nile (1978), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Mirror Crack’d (1980) and Endless Night (1972). And Laurence Olivier Presents (1976) brings his anthology series featuring a collection of plays in which Laurence Olivier acts or directs.

Fans of Call The Midwife can watch last year’s Retrospective Special when it arrives on May 5th.  The documentary reflects on 10 years of Call the Midwife, full of births, deaths, love stories, faith and family. Viewers are also given an insight into how the costume, design, music and make-up teams work to finesse every detail seen on screen.

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