Churchill's Secret (2016 TV Movie) User Reviews

Watchable because it doesn't go over familiar territory

[phd_travel · 8/10 · 14 July 2017]

Surprisingly I enjoyed this more than some of the other movies about Churchill recently. Probably because it doesn't go over familiar ground that has been done to death. This movie concerns a stroke he had. His party's attempted to cover it up. Another interesting aspect is his children's reactions to his illness and recovery. It's not a flattering portrayal of his family life but as we do know there were some alcohol problems with his children.

Michael Gambon acts very well even if he isn't physically like Churchill as much as some of the other portrayals. Michael Macfayden steals some scenes as the belligerent drunk son. Lindsay Duncan is the most elegant looking Clementine of recent screen portrayals.

Worth a watch even if you think you have seen too many biopics about him.

An interesting two hour drama

[colinevans-20130 · 7/10 · 4 March 2016]

I have a certain familiarity with this period in British history, a time that is often disregarded as being uninteresting, but it is a fascinating story. How a man, exhausted after his war efforts, continues to run the country, despite his failing health.

Hard not to draw comparisons between this and A Gathering Storm from a few years back, where the great Albert Finney played the great man.

I am surprised there was mileage in this story to produce a two hour drama, but what was done, was done very well. I agree that Michael Gambon was very good, whether he was Churchill or not, I'm still not utterly convinced. Nevertheless the two hours passed briskly, and we found ourselves enjoying it.

Historical based TV drama on a little known part of Winston Churchill's life

[t-dooley-69-386916 · 6/10 · 11 March 2016]

This 100 minute long film was made for UK TV and stars the incomparable Michael Gambon as Churchill. It is 1953 and he has just suffered a second stroke. Proving that spin was alive and well even back then, the powers that be and the Tory party wanted to keep the truth hidden. So he is whisked off to his ancestral home to recover.

The film is based around the nurse who was drafted in to care for him – this is Ramola Garai ('Suffragette') who plays Millie Appleyard and she is both convincing and a lovely on screen presence. The drama unfolds around the International situation and the warming up of 'the Cold War' and domestic policies as well as the far too cosy a relationship Churchill had with the Newspaper moguls.

So is it any good? Well with a coterie of great actors it was always hard to make this fail. Lindsay Duncan plays Clemmie Churchill and is – as always- excellent. The massively talented Bill Patterson plays Lord Moran and we have 'Ripper Street's own Mathew Macfadyen playing Randolph Churchill at his swaggering best. The drama was never going to be edge of seat stuff but the performances are all solid enough to hold your attention. I actually really enjoyed it even though it could have been better, but I was hooked for the full run – recommended.

Great Britain's hidden crisis

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 11 September 2016]

Michael Gambon as Winston and Lindsay Duncan as Clementine Churchill lead a good cast in a good recreation of the 50s and the hidden crisis that the United Kingdom had at the time. If you can imagine a situation where Barack Obama suffered a stroke and Joe Biden was also incapacitated with bad jaundice then you have some idea of what Great Britain was going through. And the media stayed silent.

After leading the Conservative Party to victory in 1951 Churchill two years later sustains a serious stroke and it's touch and go. Anthony Eden as Foreign Secretary was considered the heir apparent, in fact he had even expected to lead the party in 1951, but patiently put his ambitions on a backburner.

Alex Jennings plays an increasingly impatient Anthony Eden who felt that Churchill had just stayed on and Eden was ambitious to have his turn at the top of the greasy pole. What you're seeing here concerning them is true enough. What is not shown is that when the torch passed Eden got himself and the country in a royal mess over the Suez Canal and his government barely lasted two years.

My favorite is Michael Macfayden as Randolph Churchill. Winston's only son was the belligerent drunken lout you see here. But like his three surviving sisters could never come out from so great a shadow. Oddly enough Winston's relationship with his father Randolph was somewhat the same.

The only equivalents I can see in our history was when Grover Cleveland had that cancer operation one of the very first performed in his second term and no one knew until 20 years later. Also Churchill's counterpart FDR spent an entire month during World War II almost in seclusion at Bernard Baruch's estate in South Carolina and the public never knew at the time. Roosevelt was in almost terminal exhaustion from war leadership and he would die within two years of that.

Churchill's Secret is good history for the viewer.

Unknown Episode In a Great Man's Life

[yakster1 · 7/10 · 25 March 2016]

You would think by this time we would know everything there is to know about Churchill and then this comes along. As a huge admirer of Sir Winston I managed to see this on ITV in Canada, not as easy as one might assume even in this day and age. The acting is top notch with every character and having seen many stoke victims, Michael Gambon nails the speech and movement impediments that come as a result. There have been a few complaints of adding the fictional character of nurse Millie Appleyard but I have a copy of Lord Moran's diaries and in referring to them after viewing this he makes many references to several nurses during this period but never by name. She is just a composite character in order to establish some continuity, something that has been in movies since forever. Having stood in his study in Chartwell, filming it there just added another air of authenticity. This would be a welcome addition to a decent trilogy along with The Gathering Storm and Into the Storm.

must see it

[Kirpianuscus · 7 February 2018]

It is one film who must see it. first - for a form of admirable grace to tell a story in inspird manner. for the images and atmosphere and Michael Gambon work. not the last, for the virtue to not be usefull to compare it with the others films about Churchill. because, scene by scene, it becomes a personal story. about politics, family, duty and time. it has the virtues of a confesion . because it brokes the problems of phsical resemblance, historical accuracy, comparaisons between history book and the vision of Charles Sturrige. it is easy to define as a beautiful TV film. but, if you are real honest, you admit than is more than a beautiful film.

Watchable but fails to score many points

[verna-a · 6/10 · 7 July 2022]

I scarcely ever like biopics, and as it turned out I wasn't going to start with "Churchill's Secret". The main reason is that they nearly always take a lend of a famous personality to provide audience motivation and engagement, rather than relying on the merits of the story and the screenplay. The Churchill legend is tapped here and it turns out to be a weak basis for a rather dull and slow movie. In some ways I didn't mind spending a couple of hours in this world, mainly because of the Chartwell setting which brought recollections of a past visit. The character actors do well with what material they have, and are well-costumed and coiffed. I think it's a weakness that the film focuses on family drama rather than evoking national and global tensions, which are referred to, but not effectively exploited. Lindsay Duncan is beautiful to look at as Clemmie, but she is rather unlikeable, which is a pity. Michael Gambon ticks a familiar box as a senior British male actor in portraying Churchill, but his depiction didn't especially evoke Churchill for me. It's a tough call, but it's one of the weaknesses making this film an "also ran".

Absolute masterclass in acting.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 3 March 2016]

A look at the later life of one of Britain's most famous Prime Ministers, Winston Churchill, running the country at 78, having recently had a stroke, is taken home by wife Clemmie to have absolute peace away from Cabinet. Desperately ill, he is Nursed by the wonderfully capable Nurse Millie Appleyard.

I have to say I am at a loss to read such poor reviews for Churchill's Secret, I too waited with huge anticipation for this drama, and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. A lavish production, a great story seldom told, I thought this was rather captivating. The part where Clemmie tells Millie about the death of the child was heartbreaking, but incredibly well acted.

What a phenomenal combination Michael Gambon and Lindsay Duncan are, two of my all time favourites, each showcasing their true majesty. Gambon added a gravitas, a stubbornness, and somehow a fragility into Churchill, when he is on screen, it's simple, you watch him. Lindsay Dunca, too, just awesome as his concerned, but very British wife, Clementine. Add the likes of Romola Garai, Bill Paterson and Tara Fitzgerald, and there was only really going to be one outcome.

Jonathan Smith's novel, brought beautifully to life by Stewart Harcourt and co. Worth the wait, and well worth seeing. It was moving, with a slight dash of humour, interesting, a brilliant piece of drama.

9/10

CHURCHILL (NO SPOILERS)

[dishlady69 · 6/10 · 7 January 2018]

The cast for this film was amazing. It's hard to have a declared spoiler as we generally know how the story ends from the history books. The movie allows a little glimpse into the internal family conflicts of the most famous Prime Minister in British history. I'll say that not enough explanation is given regarding concerns for Eden, who is barely visible in the film though he was arguably a major rival for the PM and trying to trip up the aging Churchill to make a name for himself. There's another movie that treats this aspect of Churchill's life more thoroughly. This film is more homey.

A superb production and deeply moving

[vanilla_airlines-776-350384 · 9/10 · 13 April 2016]

I cannot understand how few reviewers here are complimentary. Michael Gambon delivers a magnificent performance, true to what we know of Churchill's personality and complex nature. It doesn't matter to me that the actor doesn't look very much like the great man - he PRESENTS a great man in a health crisis to perfection. LIndsay Duncan is 'Clemmie' exactly as I remember her from the public image of the time. The way her hair is done is exquisitely correct. I was eleven and I remember the drama of Churchill's illness from the newspapers. I remember, as a boy, noting that Churchill's personal doctor was a certain Lord Moran who came and went initially at the famous front door of Number 10. We all knew that Chartwell was the Churchill country seat (not his 'ancestral home' which, as we know, was Blenheim Palace where he was born.) It was wonderful that the filming took place at Chartwell. We also knew that Churchill's children were difficult, particularly the boorish Randolph, and that Sir Winston was probably to blame for having neglected them through his undoubted self-absorption. Romola Garai, as always, creates a memorable personality with her entirely believable ace nurse. The casting is superb, the settings perfect and the art direction highly sensitive. And the cars! How I loved the shiny cars of my childhood. There's a pristine, bulbous Austin that I remember admiring as a boy. Delicious visual details are abundant in the film. There were many moments when I was surprised by my own tears, notably when Lady Churchill, having warmed sufficiently to the newly-met young nurse, poured out the story of the child she and Winston had lost; to this wise, down-to-earth, delightful young woman.

These were probably the last days of the "right to rule" self-image of the Tory Party. For England's powerful middle classes it was still normal to think of a Labour Government as a temporary aberration. The moment I saw the book that Winston inscribed to his nurse I recalled that not even the first volume of "A History of the English-Speaking Peoples" had yet been published. But it didn't matter in the slightest. It was not a gaffe. It was an inspired and moving moment in the plan of this outstanding film. The acting skills on display in 'Churchill's Secret' are - I submit - breathtaking. Why do we take for granted the artistry of our wonderful British actors? We need to show them our love with the compliments they deserve.

Matthew Macfadyen killed it !

[hnanhq · 6/10 · 9 August 2022]

The movie has some pretty good picture and landscapes and beautiful shots, actors all are stunning , romola wasnt at her best but was good, churchill himself , michel gambon has played so profissionaly and well, the mother of the family , linsay duncan was awesome and really acted well , like a strong mother and wife trying to hold the family and keep everyone calm and not to show any signs of weakness to upset or worry her dear ones, as i said in the title Matthew Macfadyen really killed it with a 10-15 min performance, churchil daughters i didnt get them , nor by acting nor the story speaking of story , well, didnt got me , i watched it for the actors , and even after finishing the movie , story never interested me.

Magnificent

[rps-2 · 10/10 · 11 September 2016]

The Brits do television so well. This is a classic example of that. The film covers the last years of Churchill's last term as prime minister after he had suffered a stroke. It's interesting that the filmmakers would focus on a bad period in the life of a national icon yet still pay great tribute to him while also staying historically accurate. (Can you imagine, for example, Hollywood doing a film based on Ronald Reagan's last years with Alzheimer's?) Nor did they sugarcoat Churchill's dysfunctional family. Randolph comes off as an arrogant, drunken jerk, which he was. There are superb performances all around. This is a very British and a very good motion picture!

Historically Unconvincing Costume Picture

[l_rawjalaurence · 5/10 · 20 March 2016]

Set in 1953, Charles Sturridge's drama concentrates on one of the major political secrets of the Fifties - the stroke experienced by Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Michael Gambon), the news of which was kept from the public sphere through the machinations of his private secretary Jock Colville (Patrick Kennedy) and the powerful media barons led by Max Aitken, aka Lord Beaverbrook (Matthew Marsh).

There is a good story to tell here about politics, and the concept of releasing information on a "need to know" basis, something beloved of Sir Humphrey Appleby and his fellow civil servants in YES MINISTER. Concepts of "truth" and the public interest really do not matter; so long as the wheels of government keep running in the way they have always done, then everyone is happy. It was one of the lessons of this incident that the Conservatives and their civil servants realized that they could govern without Churchill, or his deputy Sir Anthony Eden (Alex Jennings).

Unfortunately this production misses just about every opportunity to reflect on past history. Instead Sturridge transforms it into a soupy family melodrama with echoes of THE KING'S SPEECH. Gambon makes a fair stab at Churchill, even though he looks nothing like the Old Man; but Lindsay Duncan, as Clemmie, looks to be impersonating Vanessa Redgrave (who memorably played the same role in THE GATHERING STORM (2002)) rather than developing a performance of her own. Although she protests a lot about her love for Winston, she seems more preoccupied with keeping her errant offspring under control, led by Randolph (Matthew Macfadyen) and Diana (Tara Fitzgerald). None of them, it seems, are very happy with their lives, and take every opportunity to voice their discontents. In the end we feel rather sorry for the old boy, not just because of his desire to continue in power, but because he has to contend with such an appalling family.

Stewart Harcourt's script doesn't really know whether to sympathize with Churchill or to criticize him for his self-absorption. Great man he might have been; but he seems to have been neglectful of his family. In the end Harcourt abandons this issue and opts instead for the traditional happy ending where Churchill makes a great recovery from his illness and gives a speech to the party conference in Margate.

The script is full of anachronisms; and although Sturridge makes strenuous efforts to hold our interest by using heritage film conventions such as cutaway shots of old vehicles, interior scenes with orange lights focusing on the characters' faces, and exteriors of Chartwell (where much of the production as filmed), the drama as a whole fails to come to life.

If viewers want to find out more about Churchill's life from recent films, they would be better advised to dig out THE GATHERING STORM (2002) and its sequel INTO THE STORM (2009).

I THANK THE GODS FOR YOUR UNCONQUERABLE SOUL

[nogodnomasters · 10/10 · 27 April 2018]

In the summer of 1953 Churchill (Michael Gambon) suffered a stroke. With Anthony Eden (Alex Jennings) in the US having a gall bladder operation (outpatient surgery today) it was decided to hide his ailment from the press, the world , and the opposition party. The film also looks at Millie Appleyard (Romola Garai) a fictional nurse who has headed to Australia with her fiance to "put his dreams before mine." The dry martini family is called home and their bickering continue.

The performances were outstanding. The theme of the film was to show us how the dreams and aspirations of great people affect the lives of everyone around them. As stated, "There is a price to pay for greatness, but the great seldom pay it." We see the price his family had to pay, and "the rock" his wife had to be to stand by his side, realizing that it was all about him.

The fictional and slightly anachronistic nurse, a woman who (plot spoiler) follows her own dreams was placed there as an alternative to living your life for your own dreams instead of your spouse as Lady Churchill (Lindsay Duncan) gallantly did.

Churchill's Secret

[jboothmillard · 8/10 · 13 March 2016]

I mainly know about the former British Prime Minister focused in this TV made film through his work during World War II, and the "V for Victory" sign, so I was interested to see a dramatisation of his later years, directed by Charles Sturridge (FairyTale: A True Story, Lassie). Basically set in June 1953, it has been two years since Sir Winston Churchill (Sir Michael Gambon) has been elected Prime Minister for the second time. Winston and his wife Clemeintine 'Clemmie' (About Time's Lindsay Duncan) are hosting a dinner party at Downing Street, when during his speech he starts slurring, and he eventually collapses. Winston's doctor Lord Moran (Bill Paterson) diagnoses him as having a serious stroke, there are fears he may not survive, he is taken to his country home Chartwell for treatment and recovery, but his illness is kept under wraps. Publicly it is said that Winston is suffering exhaustion, the newspaper owners consent to printing this deception, meanwhile Winston's children arrive to watch over him, Winston's son Randolph (The Three Musketeers' Matthew Macfadyen) is drinking and causes feuds, Winston's daughter Sarah (Detectorist's Rachael Stirling) is struggling with her film career, and Clemmie is reflecting on the loss of their infant daughter. The Cabinet is informed of the events concerning Winston and his health, Lord Moran sends plain-spoken Yorkshire nurse Millie Appleyard (Romola Garai) to look after the great man. With the help of Millie and the devotion of his wife, Churchill survives and recovers to address the Conservative party conference later in the year. Winston Churchill retired two years later, and the country was unaware of Churchill's secret until long after his death on 24th January 1965. Also starring The Elephant Man's John Standing as Lord Camrose, Downton Abbey's Daisy Lewis as Mary Churchill, Matilda Sturridge as Rosie Hopper, Me and Orson Welles' Christian McKay as Christopher Soames, Brassed Off's Tara Fitzgerald as Diana Churchill and The Queen's Alex Jennings as Anthony Eden. Gambon gives a great performance as the well-respected British statesman who suffered a terrible illness that was never known about, and many of the supporting cast members get their moments, I certainly had no idea of this hidden event of history, this is well written, and you are drawn in to see how the great man and his family suffered, a most worthwhile drama. Very good!

BRILLIANT MOVIE ABOUT CHURCHILL'S TWILIGHT YEARS

[monkmangraham · 10/10 · 27 September 2022]

When Winston Churchill was voted out of office in the British general election of 1945 his wife Clementine wanted him to retire. Sound advice you would think, after he had led the nation to victory through the five horrific years of World War II. But Winston refused to go, and in 1951 he became Prime Minister again, at the age of 76. 'Churchill's Secret' is set in the year 1953. The Prime Minister is now 78 and his health is failing.

After collapsing at a dinner at 10 Downing Street, his long serving doctor, Charles Moran (Bill Paterson), diagnoses a stroke. His incapacity poses a problem for the government because his heir apparent, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden (Alex Jennings), is also ill. His cabinet colleagues decide to cover up the PM's health issues until a detailed diagnosis is made.

Clementine insists he is cared for at home, and Fleet Street' s press barons - including Winston's trusted wartime colleague Lord Beaverbrook - are invited there to seek their agreement to keep the PM's illness out of the newspapers.

There is extensive footage of Chartwell, Churchill's country home in the Kentish countryside. It includes beautiful gardens in which he is taken in a wheelchair by his devoted carer, Nurse Appleyard (Romala Garai)), a fictional character but probably true to life bearing in mind the miraculous recovery he ultimately made.

Churchill, played by Michael Gambon, is as feisty as ever and clearly frustrated by the dire effects of his illness. However, his nurse is equally feisty and is in no way fazed by his irritable behaviour. And when Randolph (Matthew Macfadyen), his rude and overbearing son, patronises her with 'You don't know who I am do you?' she replies 'I don't care if you 're the Queen of Sheba you're not seeing my patient at the moment.' At the end of the film, Winston tells her he could never have recovered without her and presents her with a book, with a signed message of thanks.

Like many other leaders in history Churchill doesn't want to lose power. In his case it is particularly motivated by a belief he still has important things to accomplish - notably the attainment of world peace in the light of the development of nuclear weapons. His cabinet colleagues believe he should go, particularly Anthony Eden. In one memorable scene, the old man is seen painting as he informs an exasperated Eden he is staying on. His deputy, R A Butler (Chris Larkin) and long serving PPS Jock Colville (Patrick Kennedy,) also counsel retirement, but Winston is determined to speak at the forthcoming Conservative Party conference.

One by one Churchill's daughters arrive - Sarah (Rachael Stirling), Diana (Tara Fitzgerald) and Mary (Daisy Lewis) - and their conversations reveal their mental health has been substantially strained through living in the shadow of their father's fame and eminence. They fight both amongst themselves and with Randolph. Sarah chides her brother about his failure to win an election, while he positions her as an actress in plays and films that nobody has ever heard of. They all disparage Clementine, beautifully played by Lindsay Duncan. But she takes comfort from Dr Moran's assertion that she is her husband's 'rock'.

Directed by Charles Sturridge, 'Churchill's Secret' is a very well researched movie. Its historical accuracy is complemented by a convincing cast and excellent screenplay by Stewart Harcourt. It contains a lot of aspects of Churchill's life and family that I for one have not been aware until now. One to treasure without doubt.

Poor secret

[Lejink · 2/10 · 2 March 2016]

Having recently read biographies of Rab Butler, Harold MacMillan and Anthony Eden, I had a degree of foreknowledge about the events depicted in this ITV drama. Did I then or now think it warranted a two hour drama, well, no I didn't and having watched it, I think so even less. I looked forward to a behind-the-scenes insight into the political machinations of the time, which saw the news of the P.M.'s stroke blacked out by the media while he made a slow recovery from his illness. In the wings was his long-time second-in-command, Anthony Eden, itching to get into number 10, but, by an unfortunate coincidence, he was also also a recovering invalid from a botched operation carried out abroad.

All I got here though was about two thirds of the time devoted to the Churchill family dynamics as three very different daughters and one hard-drinking son converge on the Churchill country house in Chartwell, with the other third dealing more with the politics culminating in Churchill recovering sufficiently to deliver his party leader speech at the Conservative Party Conference at Margate in 1953.

I found the inter-family drama to be boring and uninteresting. The very obvious point is made that Churchill's personality dominated those of his wife and children as they unattractively find ways to bicker amongst themselves even as their father fights death in the same house. As for the political background, Rab Butler is dismissed as a non-entity, Anthony Eden appears only fleetingly and Harold MacMillan doesn't show at all. Just when you think you're being served up a family melodrama, the film does an abrupt about turn to focus on Churchill's return to health and political action.

What we also get is the creation of a fictitious nurse who is brought in to provide special care for the great man and predictably becomes a lightning rod between the sometimes difficult relationship of Churchill and his wife Clementine. As a device, I found it an unnecessary distraction. There's also a lot of questionable guff floating about too as the ailing P.M. recalls childhood memories in his distracted state concerning the early death of an infant girl-friend which causes him to sing "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" on occasion.

I wasn't impressed with the acting either. Martin Gambon looks nothing like Churchill, a difference highlighted all the more as a portrait of the real Winston is for some reason prominently displayed in some scenes and besides barely tries to reproduce his master's distinctive voice. Lindsay Duncan is similarly unconvincing as the wife / matriarch figure Clemmy Churchill and acts like she's permanently sitting on a very sharp pin, while Nurse Appleyard could have walked off the set of "Call The Midwife" so stereotypical is her character. Did I mention the (in)action was slow and ponderous too?

This was thin fare in my opinion and added little to my insight of either the 1950's political situation, the internal workings of the Churchill family or the character of a great man in decline.

Not so fast

[ktcv · 9/10 · 31 May 2019]

Churchill (Gambone) was fantastic acting. Others too. This was a slightly fictionalized account of the turmoil that presented post WWII. I was very impressed with the sets and the settings, ...a valuable look at political influence and the fine wine of older relationships. The young girl mentioned was far more than a young girlfriend and I don't believe that reviewer was paying the movie much attention at all!

Brilliant!!

[derbyjderby · 9/10 · 22 October 2019]

If you rangefinder 8,you either are not British or do not know your History,or both!

Easily forgettable

[benbrae76 · 1/10 · 1 March 2016]

I looked forward to this production with anticipation of something great, particularly with the wealth of acting talent on hand. But oh dear! What a disappointment!

Michael Gambon/Churchill took to his bed and seemed to want to stay there and forget about the whole thing.

The rest of the cast looked equally bored and I'm not surprised. Even their combined talent couldn't rescue this tedious and utterly pointless badly-constructed and ill-scripted piece of alleged 'factual' drama in which one of the central characters...the nurse...was actually fictitious. As for the plot...what plot? There's very little plot in it to discuss.

No doubt there will be those who will drool over it and call it 'art', but it's already gone to the back-burner of my mind as easily forgettable, and never to be watched again.

In short it was a waste of time and effort for both cast and viewer.

Offensive and irrelevant rewrite of history

[sekgraham · 1/10 · 21 November 2017]

There is very little that is factual or worthwhile about this film. Churchill was not only a key architect of D-Day, he was central to its success. He was not the dithering, raving fool relegated to the sidelines of launching Operation Overlord as portrayed here.

The story of an angst-ridden Churchill, hysterically raving against the Normandy invasion and being soundly chastised by Eisenhower and Montgomery, is pure fiction posing egregiously as "history". There is little to commend this film as it laboriously drags itself through one of the most momentous periods in true history. The characters do not reveal their true nature but are simple, badly drawn (and highly erroneous) caricatures, the story telling is pure torture and its irrelevance to a meaningful interpretation of history and the men who made it cannot be understated.

I cannot help but find it offensive that this movie could ever have been made under the title of Churchill, as if this is the definitive interpretation of the man. It is a travesty, adding nothing of value to the volumes of historical analyses that have taken him as their subject.

This would send an insomniac to sleep

[godfreygordon · 1/10 · 3 June 2016]

Settling down for a nostalgic immersion in a post war period drama, with a martini in my hand, I was surprised to be nodding off after ten minutes or so. I now realize the potential of this movie as a sleeping pill and intend to keep it in the drug cabinet. I have recently watched too many of Michael Gambon's performances slide into apparent mordancy with dismay. A bad double episode of Downton without Maggie Smith is one way to describe this tedious rubbish. There was so much dramatic potential in the story which was routinely squandered, presumably in order to dumb it down for a broader audience. I would have thought that a two hour monologue by the late Les Dawson about his piles would have been more entertaining. Do something else. Don't waste an evening on this.