Drama (Nick Balmer)

The last in a pair of TV specials written by Dennis Potter before his death, and a pseudo sequel to “Karaoke“, also featuring REG.

The mind of a dead writer Daniel Field (Albert Finney) is probed by scientists who wish to understand memory. REG only appears in this through the eyes of the writer, as he remembers his life in the 20th century. REG appeared in “Karaoke” as the editor of the writer’s latest film. A brilliant series, well worth looking out for.

Best REG line:

Action / Drama (Sculby)

Well-crafted but overly complex (and long) spy thriller with British Intelligence and the KGB playing a cat-and-mouse game to find the mole in each other’s apparatus. A basic course in spy jargon might have helped us comprehend John Hopkins’ convoluted script, adapted from John Trenhaile’s novel.

Here is what is written on the back of Codename Kyril video jacket:

The head of the KGB dispatches an agent, Codename Kyril (Ian Charleson – Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan), to flush out a high-ranking Kremlin traitor who has been leaking crucial secrets to the British.

Under the guise of a staged defection, rumors fly in Moscow and in London that Kyril carries the name of the spy’s identity. What Kyril doesn’t realize is that he is on a suicide mission, hunted by both the KGB and British Intelligence (M16).

Waiting in England is Royston (Edward Woodward- “The Equalizer”, Over My Dead Body), the London Station Chief of M16 whose mission is to find and stop Kyril.

The story becomes a web of plots and counter-plots, spies and double agents, climaxing in a surprising and action -packed finale.

Best REG line:

(Sir Harry Parkins)

Out of Work, out of luck and out of money, George Thompkins (Charley Boorman) is tired of life in a sleepy village, he needs excitement, and fast.

Returning from the pub he stumbles upon a mysterious metal box. Breaking the box open at his home he discovers £ 300,000 in cash accompanied by a grisly severed hand. George is about to learn that big money breeds big trouble.

Interrupted by Hazel, his gentle landlady and her devious sister Veronica, George makes a run for it. While George is burying the money in a wood Hazel suffers a fatal heart attack. Seizing the chance Veronica blames her sister’s death on an attack by George. The motive? Her life savings. Now George, the world’s most unprofessional criminal is on the run from both the mob and the law.

Tracked down by a pair of vicious henchmen George is taken to the mansion of Sir Harry Parkins (Richard E. Grant), a debonair mastermind who governs his criminal dealings with a sadistic zeal. Convinced that George is the chancer who stole his £ 300,000 and separated the previous bagman from his hand, Sir Harry demands that George assumes the dead man’s role or pays with his life. With his hand chained to a cash box wired with tamper-deterrant explosive, George becomes Sir Harry’s latest cash courier. And so begins his journey through a rollercoaster underworld, inhabited by a host of bizarre characters who all share one thing in common – they’re all after George’s money.

Friend or foe, George can trust no one. Bounced from the voluptuous nurse, the menacing machinations of a terrorist gang and the clutches of British Intelligence, George is perpetually saved and betrayed by those around him. Mistaken in turns as a murderer, gangster and a spy and thrown from speeding cars and spiraling helicopters, George has to use all his wits to avoid a nasty end and find peace in paradise. But who with? A chance of a new life appears, a beautiful but unloved woman who also dreams of freedom.

Two abandoned souls desperate to start a new life, Eilean and George fall passionately in love and plot their escape. Who needs money anyway? Seizing their chance, the lovers head for the airport to live their dreams together… But surely, a little spending money wouldn’t hurt, would it?

Charley Boorman
Richard E. Grant
Sharon Devlin
Carole Ashby
Nick Holder
Kevin Howarth

Bald Eagle Motion Pictures Limited

Best REG line:

Drama (Father Rothschild)

Richard is currently shooting "Bright Young Things" which features him in a cameo role. The film is an adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies and tells the story of a group of wild young London party people in the late 1920s. The main stars include Emily Mortimer, Stockard Channing, Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton and Harriet Walter, with cameo appearences by Dan Aykroyd, Jim Broadbent, Simon Callow, Sir John Mills and Peter O’Toole.

Best REG line:

Drama / Horror (Dr. Jack Seward)

A sumptuous retelling of the well worn Dracula story, teaming REG up with his old mate Gary Oldman and introducing him to Winona Ryder for the first time (they went on to work together in The Age of Innocence). Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, it’s a lavish and rich production, teaming with costumes, make-up and way too much blood. REG plays Dr Jack Seward, sidekick to Dr. Van Helsing, played by Sir Anthony Hopkins, or Tony to you. He gets to wear some great frock coats and a goatee.

Click here to read about the "Reel Story behind Bram Stokers Dracula…." It’s just a little snippet courtesy of the Radio Times website.

Best REG line: I shall have to invent a new classification of lunatic for you.