David Threlfall – MRQE

“Troy: Fall of a City”

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A rich story of love, intrigue, betrayal and belonging told from the perspective of the Trojan royal family at the heart of the siege of Troy.

Red Monarch (TV)

Sat, 30 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

British comedy satirising Stalin’s inner circle as an absolute monarchs court. In the face of rampant abuse of power and poisonous distrust some still manage to keep faith with the Bolshevist creed until the very end. In front of the firing squad a stalwart bolshevist of the first hour exclaims: “Even in the best democracy errors are being made!”

Scum (TV)

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A hard and shocking story of life in a British borstal for young offenders. [This is the original version scheduled for broadcast on ‘Play for Today’ on 8-Nov-1977 but withdrawn by the BBC because it was deemed too controversial. Director Alan Clarke edited the film and released it in cinemas in 1979 (See ‘Scum (1979)’). The BBC would eventually broadcast the original on 27-Jul-1991.]

The Queen’s Sister (TV)

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

An in-depth biopic of Princess Margaret from the days following her father’s death in 1952 until the 1970s. She was known to be a flamboyant royal but she remained a stickler for protocol. She had many controversial romances and also infamously kissed the daughter of the US ambassador. Also the film gives some focus on what others thought of Margaret, from normal people of the era to a backbench MP opposed to her 1961 wedding. Written by Reece Lloyd

“Nightsleeper”

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Set on a sleeper train traveling from Glasgow to London, a government agency desperately tries to intervene in the rapidly-escalating events onboard. Can two people whove never met, one on the train and one not, work together to save the lives of its disparate group of passengers as the Heart of Britain service hurtles towards what might quite literally be its final destination?

Mary, Mother of Jesus (TV)

Sat, 23 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Mary, Mother of Jesus is a 1999 made-for-television Biblical film that retells the story of Jesus through the eyes of Mary, his mother.

Housewife, 49 (TV)

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Downtrodden wife and mother Nella’s life takes an unexpected turn for the better after she joins the Women’s Voluntary Service office in Barrow-in-Furness during the Second World War. However, her new-found happiness is shattered when her son Cliff leaves to join the troops – provoking a painful confrontation with her husband Will.

The Ark (TV)

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Noah, a farmer and family man, is instructed by an angel to build an ark in the middle of a desert in order to save both his family and the faithful from a devastating flood. A seemingly impossible task, especially when his sons refuse to believe him and help, Noah risks ridicule and humiliation from the degenerate townsfolk as well as his loving but exasperated family, in his quest to carry out his God-given task.

A Murder of Quality (TV)

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

At the request of his old war time colleague Ailsa Brimley, George Smiley agrees to look into the murder of Stella Rode. Brimley had only just received a letter from her saying she feared for her life at her husband’s hand. The husband, Stanley Rode teaches at Carne School, but Smiley is doubtful that he had anything to do with his wife’s death. As Smiley investigates, he learns that Stella was a nosy busybody who loved to learn other’s little secrets and then gossip about them – or possibly blackmail them. When a student is killed and Smiley unearths a secret, he has the evidence to name the killer.Based on John Le Carré’s 1962 thriller (his first) in which George Smiley is brought out of spy retirement to solve a murder in a British public school. The setting is based on Le Carre”s own schooldays in Sherborne and his brief experience teaching at Eton.

“Shameless”

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The story of a young group of siblings pretty much abandoned by their parents, surviving by their wits – and humor – on a rough Manchester council estate. Whilst they won’t admit it, they need help and find it in Steve, a young middle class lad who falls for Fiona, the oldest sibling, and increasingly finds himself drawn to this unconventional and unique family. Anarchic family life seen through the eyes of an exceptionally bright fifteen year old, who struggles to come of age in the context of his belligerent father, closeted brother, psychotic sister and internet porn star neighbors.