This film is currently unavailable
Shelter
Two strangers (Wendy Craig and Colin Blakely) come together in a park shelter and engage in a frank, confessional and confrontational conversation.
Director: Alan Clarke
Overview
The earliest surviving Half Hour Story episode directed by Alan Clarke is a witty two-hander scripted by Alun Owen. Two strangers (Wendy Craig and Colin Blakely) come together in a park shelter and engage in a frank, confessional and confrontational conversation.
Owen’s teleplay uses its novel conceit as the basis for a verbally incendiary exploration of class, sexual politics and the merits of the city of Norwich. While such a display of sexual and political power-posturing may seem very much of its time, Clarke’s approach to the material always keeps it fresh. The almost Gothic ornateness of Holland Park Orangery make for a setting more akin to a Tennessee Williams play than something from a British TV drama; while Clarke’s expressive use of framing is always astute.
Related
Palestine 36 Palestine 36
Period drama 2025 120 mins Director: Annemarie Jacir
Acclaimed Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s most ambitious work is a powerful exploration of the events leading up to the Arab Revolt of 1936.
Plainclothes Plainclothes
Drama 2025 97 mins Director: Carmen Emmi
Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey lead a Sundance-prize winning ensemble in this knockout cruising drama from debut director Carmen Emmi.
Young Hearts Young Hearts
Drama 2024 99 mins Director: Anthony Schatteman
A gentle and sincere story of queer love between two young teenage boys, told with warmth and humour.
Solo Solo
Drama 2025 102 mins Director: Sophie Dupuis
Emerging drag queen Simon begins a passionate, yet destructive relationship with an alluring new man, as his mother re-enters his life after 15 years
Christy Christy
Drama 2025 95 mins Director: Brendan Canty
Deeply moving portrait of a young man thrown out of his foster home, trying for a new start after moving in with his estranged brother in Cork.
A Night Like This A Night Like This
Drama 2025 101 mins Director: Liam Calvert
Two seemingly mismatched men form an unexpected connection over the course of one cold London night, in this warm-hearted debut from Liam Calvert.
Made in Britain Made in Britain
Drama 1982 76 mins Director: Alan Clarke
Tim Roth burst onto British screens with his coruscating performance as a teenage skinhead in this TV play from Alan Clarke and David Leland.
The Fifty-seventh Saturday The Fifty-seventh Saturday
1968 26 mins Director: Alan Clarke
Veteran character actor Ronald Fraser plays a middle-aged man trapped in the dull routine of his Saturday-afternoon love affair.
Stella Stella
1968 26 mins Silent Director: Alan Clarke
Alun Owen and director Alan Clarke's extraordinary power-play charts the explosive sexual dynamic between the titular heroine and her obsessive lover.
Rita, Sue and Bob Too Rita, Sue and Bob Too
Drama 1987 93 mins Director: Alan Clarke
A married man seduces two teenage babysitters in Alan Clarke’s mix of bawdy comedy and social comment, based on Andrea Dunbar’s Bradford plays.
Goodnight Albert Goodnight Albert
1968 26 mins Director: Alan Clarke
Alan Clarke directs Roy Minton’s intimate play detailing the frank yet touching relationship between a brash young miner and his gran.
The Ceremony The Ceremony
Thriller 2024 92 mins Director: Jack King
When night falls, two Bradford car wash workers are dragged into an escalating moral crisis.
Palestine 36 Palestine 36
Period drama 2025 120 mins Director: Annemarie Jacir
Acclaimed Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s most ambitious work is a powerful exploration of the events leading up to the Arab Revolt of 1936.
Ghost Trail Ghost Trail
Thriller 2024 106 mins Director: Jonathan Millet
Tense, morally complex political thriller about a man hunting down fugitive war criminals from the Assad regime in Syria, inspired by true events.
Plainclothes Plainclothes
Drama 2025 97 mins Director: Carmen Emmi
Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey lead a Sundance-prize winning ensemble in this knockout cruising drama from debut director Carmen Emmi.
What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day? What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?
Documentary 2005 45 mins Director: Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly’s second collaboration with pop band Saint Etienne traces the hidden history of East London’s Lower Lea Valley before its Olympic makeover.
Young Hearts Young Hearts
Drama 2024 99 mins Director: Anthony Schatteman
A gentle and sincere story of queer love between two young teenage boys, told with warmth and humour.