An Englishman Abroad
8:35 pm - 9:50 pm, Wednesday, August 5 on Talking Pictures TV (82)
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About this Broadcast
The actress Coral Browne travels to Moscow and is shocked to find a mysterious Englishman standing in her dressing room. She assumes he must be from the embassy, but it turns out that he is the notorious spy Guy Burgess. Alan Bennett's drama, starring Browne as herself with Alan Bates and Charles Gray
strong-language
subtitles
General
Movie/Drama
Cast & Crew
Alan Bates
(Actor)
.. Guy Burgess
Coral Browne
(Actor)
.. Herself
Charles Gray
(Actor)
.. Claudius
Harold Innocent
(Actor)
.. Rosencrantz
Vernon Dobtcheff
(Actor)
.. Guildenstern
Czeslaw Grocholski
(Actor)
.. General
Matthew Sim
(Actor)
.. Boy
Mark Wing-Davey
(Actor)
.. Hamlet
Faina Zinova
(Actor)
.. Hotel receptionist
Douglas Reith
(Actor)
.. Toby
Peter Chelsom
(Actor)
.. Giles
Judy Gridley
(Actor)
.. Tessa
Bibs Ekkel
(Actor)
.. Scarf Man
Alexei Jawdokimov
(Actor)
.. Tolya
Molly Veness
(Actor)
.. Mrs Burgess
Denys Hawthorne
(Actor)
.. Tailor
Roger Hammond
(Actor)
.. Shoeshop assistant
Charles Lamb
(Actor)
.. George
Trevor Baxter
(Actor)
.. Pyjama Shop Manager
Innes Lloyd
(Producer)
John Schlesinger
(Director)
Alan Bennett
(Writer)
More Information
Did You Know..
Alan Bates
(Actor)
.. Guy Burgess
Coral Browne
(Actor)
.. Herself
Charles Gray
(Actor)
.. Claudius
Harold Innocent
(Actor)
.. Rosencrantz
Vernon Dobtcheff
(Actor)
.. Guildenstern
Czeslaw Grocholski
(Actor)
.. General
Matthew Sim
(Actor)
.. Boy
Mark Wing-Davey
(Actor)
.. Hamlet
Faina Zinova
(Actor)
.. Hotel receptionist
Douglas Reith
(Actor)
.. Toby
Peter Chelsom
(Actor)
.. Giles
Judy Gridley
(Actor)
.. Tessa
Bibs Ekkel
(Actor)
.. Scarf Man
Alexei Jawdokimov
(Actor)
.. Tolya
Molly Veness
(Actor)
.. Mrs Burgess
Denys Hawthorne
(Actor)
.. Tailor
Roger Hammond
(Actor)
.. Shoeshop assistant
Charles Lamb
(Actor)
.. George
Trevor Baxter
(Actor)
.. Pyjama Shop Manager
Innes Lloyd
(Producer)
John Schlesinger
(Director)
Alan Bennett
(Writer)
Born:
May 09, 1934
in
Leeds
Best Known For:
His brilliantly observed plays.
Early-life:
Alan Bennett was born in Armley, Leeds, on May 9, 1934 to a butcher and a housewife. After attending Leeds Modern School, he gained an honours degree in Modern History at Oxford University's Exeter College. He did his National Service with the Joint Services School for Linguists in Bodmin and Cambridge before returning to Oxford as a temporary junior history lecturer. In 1959, he joined Dudley Moore, Peter Cook and Jonathan Miller to form satirical group Beyond the Fringe, which took the Edinburgh Festival by storm.
Career:
Beyond the Fringe went on to perform in the West End and on Broadway to huge success - although the painfully shy Bennett was uncomfortable in the spotlight. He continued to act and write plays, later turning to TV and movies. His most famous works include Forty Years On (his first stage play, produced in 1968), An Englishman Abroad, Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf, A Woman of No Importance, A Private Function (1984), Prick Up Your Ears (1987) and The Madness of King George (1994), for which he gained an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. Arguably his best work is Talking Heads, a series of award-winning monologues. More recently he's won plaudits for the critically acclaimed The History Boys (2006), The Habit of Art and The Lady in the Van (2015).
Quote:
'Life is rather like a tin of sardines - we're all of us looking for the key.'
Trivia:
The History Boys won three Laurence Olivier Awards and six Tony Awards. It was nominated for two Bafta film awards.
